Fla. couple who adopted 12 children found slain

[Anna]

Thanks to all for all the updates!

Blanket immunity?  He must be singing like a bird.

If this was robbery, why not just tie everybody up and take the safe?  Were they afaid of being recognized by voice or something of that nature? 

Agree, there is more to learn about motive in this but seems LE is doing a good job and with all the agencies involved, they are likely to get to the bottom of this.  Just wish none of them got any immunity from anything.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/17/florida.couple.funeral/
Slain Florida couple's funeral set for Friday
July 17, 2009
PENSACOLA, Florida (CNN)  -- A funeral will be held Friday for a Florida couple killed in what police say was a carefully planned home-invasion robbery.
 Eight people have been arrested in last week's shootings of Byrd and Melanie Billings in their sprawling home near Pensacola, Florida, which they shared with their many children. The couple was known for adopting children with special needs.

Friday's service scheduled for noon at Pensacola's Liberty Church was expected to include readings by the couple's daughters, followed by a burial at the Pensacola Memorial Gardens.

The couple at one time had 13 adopted children, but three of the adopted children have died over the years. Byrd and Melanie Billings also each had two biological children of their own, but no biological children together.

Nine of the children were at home at the time of the home-invasion, and authorities think three children saw the intruders. One managed to flee and seek help at a neighbor's house.

Seven men -- one of them a 16-year-old -- are charged with murder in the killings. An eighth person, Pamela Long Wiggins, faces charges of accessory after the fact of felony murder.
 Authorities said Thursday they located "valuable evidence," including a stolen safe and several guns. Authorities believe at least one of those guns was used to kill the Billingses, said state attorney Bill Eddins. Video Watch authorities detail findings »

Police said they planned to interview two more people in the couple's slaying.
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Friends and relatives attended a visitation Thursday, which featured pictures of the family on posters and video monitors in the church lobby. A constant stream of cars arrived and departed during the three-hour service. The Billingses' caskets were closed.

They were "the sweetest people you would want to meet in your life," their dog groomer, who declined to give her name, said as she left the church.

[islandmonkey]

Thanks to all for all the updates!

Blanket immunity?  He must be singing like a bird.

If this was robbery, why not just tie everybody up and take the safe?  Were they afaid of being recognized by voice or something of that nature? 

Agree, there is more to learn about motive in this but seems LE is doing a good job and with all the agencies involved, they are likely to get to the bottom of this.  Just wish none of them got any immunity from anything.

Anna~The blanket immunity was for another incident, not the double homicide.........in fact I think he will get the DP for this one as he has an extensive record, and so do many including Pam Long Wiggins who is a suspect in an arson in Albany, NY that burned down one of her properties that was in foreclosure.

[MuffyBee]

Thanks to all for all the updates!

Blanket immunity?  He must be singing like a bird.

If this was robbery, why not just tie everybody up and take the safe?  Were they afaid of being recognized by voice or something of that nature? 

Agree, there is more to learn about motive in this but seems LE is doing a good job and with all the agencies involved, they are likely to get to the bottom of this.  Just wish none of them got any immunity from anything.

Anna~The blanket immunity was for another incident, not the double homicide.........in fact I think he will get the DP for this one as he has an extensive record, and so do many including Pam Long Wiggins who is a suspect in an arson in Albany, NY that burned down one of her properties that was in foreclosure.

BBM

 

[islandmonkey]

http://www.pnj.com/article/20090717/NEWS01/907170323


Article and photo about which property the safe was found:

Billings safe found in suspect's backyard
Kris Wernowsky • kwernowsky@pnj.com • July 17, 2009


  Pamela Wiggins had the safe.



Her red minivan carried the evidence away after the slaying of Byrd and Melanie Billings inside the couple's sprawling rural Beulah home, according to arrest reports.

A view of her backyard in Gulf Breeze on Thursday revealed where authorities dug through piles of brick and earth earlier this week for what law enforcement officials called a "medium-sized" safe — the object of desire in the July 9 home invasion that has attracted national attention.

With the recovery of that pivotal piece of evidence and several guns, including a murder weapon, the major investigative phase of the case is at an end, State Attorney Bill Eddins said at a Thursday morning news conference.

"There are obviously some loose ends to tie up," he said.

Wiggins' husband, Hugh, told investigators that the safe was stolen during the robbery at the Billingses' home and that it was hidden in the backyard of one of his wife's homes, the report said.

Wiggins owns at least six houses in the Gulf Breeze area. Her address listed in phone directories and also in the Sheriff's Office's arrest report places her primary residence in the 1200 block of Ramblewood Drive. That is where investigators found the buried safe.

Out on bond
Wiggins posted $10,000 bond and was at that Gulf Breeze residence by Thursday afternoon.

Wiggins' bond was lower than the seven other defendants' because her alleged crime is less severe and because she cooperated with investigators, Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said. Prosecutors have not ruled out filing additional charges against her.

Wiggins did not answer the door at her Gulf Breeze home when visited by reporters. Two Escambia County deputies who arrived in an unmarked car were seen entering her home shortly after 3 p.m. A sheriff's spokeswoman could not confirm why the deputies paid her the afternoon visit.

The Billingses were known throughout the Pensacola area for adopting special-needs children, nine of whom were in the couple's Beulah home when the killings occurred.

(2 of 2)


The weeklong investigation has netted eight arrests, including Wiggins, 47, and her friend, Leonard Gonzalez Jr., 35, the man investigators called the "organizer" of the precise military-style raid on the couple's home.



The seven men accused in the raid are in Escambia County Jail with no bond on two open counts of murder each. The cases will head to a grand jury in the coming weeks.

Eddins also confirmed Thursday afternoon that the recovered safe was "medium-sized, but small enough for one person to carry." Eddins declined to reveal its contents.

Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said he could not comment about reports that there was more than one safe in the home.

While Eddins refused to say what kinds of weapons were recovered, police reports show that at least three guns were carried into the home. Several spent 9 mm casings were recovered.

Wiggins' minivan
Investigators still are searching for two "persons of interest" with possible connections to the case, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said. One of those people is someone investigators believe was tasked with disabling the couple's extensive room-to-room surveillance system from a remote location, but didn't, Morgan said.

Wiggins — a Gulf Breeze property manager — is charged as an accessory after the fact. The charge carries a possible 30-year state prison sentence upon conviction. She was taken in for questioning Wednesday afternoon after she was found at an Orange Beach, Ala., marina on her yacht named "Classy Lady." She was arrested as the evening waned.

Her role in the elaborate home invasion was unclear until new details emerged Thursday through arrest reports.

Before the planned invasion of the Billings compound, a red minivan was left near the Beulah crime scene to aid in the planned escape, investigators said.

That minivan belonged to Wiggins, according to a police report.

Defendants cooperating with investigators said the guns used during the robbery and killings were transferred to Wiggins' minivan, which was later seen at a her antique shop in the 4300 block of Gulf Breeze Parkway, according to an arrest report.

Wiggins was a passenger in the minivan while the guns and the Billingses' safe were inside the vehicle. She "had knowledge these weapons were used by the suspects during the commission of the home invasion (and) double homicide," the arrest report said.

A neighbor reported that a red vehicle sped away from co-defendant Leonard Gonzalez Sr.'s Palm Court home in Escambia County with several people inside. Another larger 15-passenger van seen in surveillance footage from the Billingses' home was found behind Gonzalez Sr.'s trailer.

Both vans were recovered.

Marina Management President Leo Cyr said Wiggins kept her yacht docked at Palafox Pier in downtown Pensacola until about January of this year. The lease on the slip was in Pamela Wiggins' name, he said. He never met the Wigginses personally.

"They kept it here for a while and then she got into us for about $3,000," he said. "We came here one day and the boat was gone."




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 Newest first Oldest first
ralphie-redryder wrote:

How dare the authorities set her bond at an exhorbitant $10,000? I think $9.75 would have been much more appropriate and sensible.
1. She is neither "classy" nor a "lady".
2. If she bolts, whoever set her bail should be held ACCOUNTABLE!
3. Apparently these miscreants have created a new term---SMUG SHOTS. Hopefully those looks will be wiped off by either Old Sparky or some amorous cellmates.
7/17/2009 9:06:06 AM How dare the authorities set her bond at an exhorbitant $10,000?  I think $9.75 would have been much more appropriate and sensible.  <br />1. She is neither "classy" nor a "lady".<br />2. If she bolts, whoever set her bail should be held ACCOUNTABLE!<br />3. Apparently these miscreants have created a new term---SMUG SHOTS.  Hopefully those looks will be wiped off by either Old Sparky or some amorous cellmates. ralphie-redryder
Recommend  New post  Reply to this Post  Report Abuse 


bigtime4all2 wrote:

How can she be married to Hugh if she is still married to this Malden dude? I believe her bail was too low - she obviously had a lot to do with the whole thing - send up down with the rest of them...
7/17/2009 8:54:10 AM How can she be married to Hugh if she is still married to this Malden dude?  I believe her bail was too low - she obviously had a lot to do with the whole thing - send up down with the rest of them... bigtime4all2
Recommend  New post  Reply to this Post  Report Abuse 


terrwe wrote:

still the sherriffs department has done a great job in finding these scumbags.I rest a little easier knowing that they have been working so hard.Thanks to all the people who have worked to bring these people to justice.
7/17/2009 8:51:04 AM still the sherriffs department has done a great job in finding these scumbags.I rest a little easier knowing that they have been working so hard.Thanks to all the people who have worked to bring these people to justice. terrwe
Recommend(1)  New post  Reply to this Post  Report Abuse 


terrwe wrote:

There has to be more to this story.I am sure that the sherriffs dept. is watching this,for loss of better words,lady.We can only hope this is a tactic for getting more information from her.I hope that she will be dealt with to the full extent of the law.Still the
7/17/2009 8:47:28 AM There has to be more to this story.I am sure that the sherriffs dept. is watching this,for loss of better words,lady.We can only hope this is a tactic for getting more information from her.I hope that she will be dealt with to the full extent of the law.Still the terrwe
Recommend(1)  New post  Reply to this Post  Report Abuse 


1 2 3 4 5 >> LastFull page view See more comments per page and quote other replies


The back yard of Pamela Wiggins home at 1247 Ramblewood Drive in Gulf Breeze. Wiggins is a suspect in connection to the robbery and murder of Melanie and Byrd Billings. The Billingses' safe was found by ESO investigators in a hole in the center of a large pile of bricks in the back yard of Wiggins' home. (Katie King / kking@pnj.com)

The DEA rumors addressed
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said he didn't contact the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate Byrd and Melanie Billings.

Speaking at a Thursday morning news conference, Morgan addressed a prevalent rumor that the DEA was asked to investigate the couple who were found shot to death July 9 inside their home in Beulah.

Morgan said that the DEA was brought in to examine potential drug-related crimes involving the suspects in the homicides.

"The Billings family, to the best of my knowledge, is not the focus of any investigation by the DEA," he said. "I am not sure where that started. But please, today, let's put that to rest."

David Melenkevitz, spokesman for the DEA in Miami confirmed his agency's involvement but declined to discuss the case.

Edited to remove ads, etc. (No text of story or commentary removed) MB
 

[islandmonkey]

Thanks to all for all the updates!

Blanket immunity?  He must be singing like a bird.

If this was robbery, why not just tie everybody up and take the safe?  Were they afaid of being recognized by voice or something of that nature? 

Agree, there is more to learn about motive in this but seems LE is doing a good job and with all the agencies involved, they are likely to get to the bottom of this.  Just wish none of them got any immunity from anything.

Anna~The blanket immunity was for another incident, not the double homicide.........in fact I think he will get the DP for this one as he has an extensive record, and so do many including Pam Long Wiggins who is a suspect in an arson in Albany, NY that burned down one of her properties that was in foreclosure.

BBM

 

That's right Muffy~I found it here

http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=10740008&nav=menu37_3

Pamela Wiggins had long Albany history

Posted: July 16, 2009 02:06 PM PDT

Updated: July 16, 2009 02:39 PM PDT

Video Gallery <1>

Woman swept up in Fla. murders was Albanian
3:46
 
 
 
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Pamela Wiggins had long Albany history
 
 
 
 
 
By Jennifer Emert - bio | email

ALBANY, GA (WALB) -  Investigators have recovered the murder weapon used to kill a prominent Florida couple, and tonight, we know the 8th suspect in those murders is a woman who was born and raised in Albany.

47-year old Pamela Long Coco Wiggins is charged as an accessory after the fact to the murders of Melanie and Byrd Billings.

They were shot to death in their home outside Pensacola last Thursday while nine of their 17 children were in the house.

Eight suspects are now charged in connection the deadly military-style home invasion. Prosecutors say robbery was the primary motive.

Pamela Wiggins grew up in Albany, owned several rental properties and got a divorce here in 1992.

Pamela Long Coco Wiggins was born here in Albany 1961 and graduated from Albany High School in 1979. After several marriages, she has a string of last names on her records including Wiggins and Maldin.

She still has family here. In fact, we tracked down her mother in Northwest Albany but she didn't want to talk about her daughter's arrest.

Pamela Long Coco and her then-husband Tom owned a house on West First Avenue from 1986 to 1995. Neighbors say the couple was always busy with renovations.

 "They were over there working hard most for the time you could tell they were busy doing stuff most of the time, but they seemed like nice people," a neighbor told us.

One of the most interesting things we found was this property on Park Lane now owned by Phoebe. The large home that used to be on this lot burned, and firefighters say it was suspicious.

"The fire was an intentionally set fire. We found pour patterns throughout the structure so we know it was intentionally set," said Albany Fire Chief James Carswell.

 Carswell said he remembered the case and called Pamela a strong suspect at the time. But she was never charged with a crime in that fire. "At some point when we were doing the interview she got a lawyer, we got no more progress on the investigation from her."

The case remains open, though. We also learned that Pamela Long filed for bankruptcy in 1993 on a property she owned on North Slappey.

We also learned today that she divorced Tom Coco here in Dougherty County in 1992, and records indicate she sold her remaining property in Albany back in 2001.

Wiggins posted a $10,000 bond Thursday.




ON TOP OF THAT~according to the local news, she remarried last yr to Wiggins and wasn't even divorced from Malden, and I found her marriage license to Link IIRC in 2002 or 2003 in Escambia county (I guess she gets around) literally!!!

I just have to trust that the sheriff let her out to follow her and find the other persons of interest, nothing else makes sense to me. Today I am going to drive by her house that is on the sound and see if there is any activity there.

[islandmonkey]

 

Woman charged in Billings killings had Georgia ties
By RHONDA COOK


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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A Florida real estate agent was released on $10,000 bond Thursday, the day after she was charged as an accessory after the fact to the Florida Gulf Coast murders of Melanie and Byrd Billings.

 AP This photo provided Wednesday July 15, 2009 by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's office shows real estate agent Pamela Laverne Long. Police do not believe she was at the house the night the Billingses were killed but they do believe she rented property to one of the suspects, 35-year-old Leonard Gonzalez Jr., whom Morgan described as a "pivotal person" in the operation.

Related
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The Billings were parents of 17 children, most of them adopted and with special needs.

Pamela Long Wiggins, 47, was the eighth person arrested in connection with the deadly home invasion last week at the Billings’ nine-bedroom house in the Beulah community near Pensacola on the Florida panhandle. The other seven have already been charged with murder and Pensacola police are looking for one more person.

Wiggins is the only suspect not charged with murder. She is accused of knowing about the fatal shootings after the fact.

Wiggins history is somewhat confusing but she has Georgia ties.

Public records indicate Wiggins lived in Albany from the mid 1980s until around 2002. Her widowed mother still has a house in the southwest Georgia city; Doris Long did not return messages left on an home answering machine or voice mail.

During those years Wiggins was in Albany, she married Charles Thomas Coco, who died in 2007.

She married a second time on May 5, 2007, according Jimmy Malden Jr. Malden said he left Wiggins five months later but they still are not divorced.

“I’m still fighting. It’s still pending. I’m still trying to get the title to my Harley [Davidson motorcycle],” Malden said.

He said he has been trying to divorce her for 1 1/2 years.

Yet, prosecutors said Wiggins was her “married name,” and CNN reported that records show she married Hugh Gregory Wiggins last year, and one of the accused killers may have been a witness to the ceremony, “Leonard P. Gonzalez.”

Neighbors told the Pensacola Daily Journal Wiggins had two children — a teenage son and younger daughter.

Records show she owns eight residential properties in Santa Rosa County, Fla., and her Magnolia Antique Mall is the registered owner of The Classy Lady, the 47-foot yacht moored at an Orange Beach marina where police found her on Tuesday.

Wiggins’ previous husband, Malden, said his former wife seemed to have a lot of cash that couldn’t be easily explained and she boasted about her wealth and “her position in society,” he said.

Police said one of her links to the July 9 crime was her tenant, Leonard Gonzalez Jr., a suspect police said had a critical role in planning the crime.

Gonzalez’s father, Leonard P. Gonzalez Sr. also is charged. The senior Gonzalez owned a power-washing company that Billings once hired.

Police and prosecutors said images captured on the Billings’ home’s security cameras led investigators to the suspects. The videos showed masked men dressed as ninjas coming through the front and back doors. They trained for 30 days, authorities said.

“The execution was basically flawless,” Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan told reporters. “The one gaping hole that would not have made this a perfect operation, if you will, was the fact that the surveillence system was not disabled. I guess the question was why was it not?”

The suspects, ranging in age from 16 to 56, were in the house only four minutes.

Nine of the couple’s 13 adopted children were home during the break-in and three of them saw the intruders. The couple also had four children from previous marriages.

The videos led investigators to a red van used as a getaway car and eventually to the suspects, a loosely connected group of mostly day laborers who knew each other through the Gonzalez washing business and an auto detailing operation.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.



http://www.ajc.com/news/woman-charged-in-billings-93336.html

[no rose colored glasses]

Thanks for all the articles 

[islandmonkey]

http://www.pnj.com/article/20090717/NEWS01/907170323


Article and photo about which property the safe was found:

Billings safe found in suspect's backyard
Kris Wernowsky • kwernowsky@pnj.com • July 17, 2009


  Pamela Wiggins had the safe.



Her red minivan carried the evidence away after the slaying of Byrd and Melanie Billings inside the couple's sprawling rural Beulah home, according to arrest reports.

A view of her backyard in Gulf Breeze on Thursday revealed where authorities dug through piles of brick and earth earlier this week for what law enforcement officials called a "medium-sized" safe — the object of desire in the July 9 home invasion that has attracted national attention.

With the recovery of that pivotal piece of evidence and several guns, including a murder weapon, the major investigative phase of the case is at an end, State Attorney Bill Eddins said at a Thursday morning news conference.

"There are obviously some loose ends to tie up," he said.

Wiggins' husband, Hugh, told investigators that the safe was stolen during the robbery at the Billingses' home and that it was hidden in the backyard of one of his wife's homes, the report said.

Wiggins owns at least six houses in the Gulf Breeze area. Her address listed in phone directories and also in the Sheriff's Office's arrest report places her primary residence in the 1200 block of Ramblewood Drive. That is where investigators found the buried safe.

Out on bond
Wiggins posted $10,000 bond and was at that Gulf Breeze residence by Thursday afternoon.

Wiggins' bond was lower than the seven other defendants' because her alleged crime is less severe and because she cooperated with investigators, Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said. Prosecutors have not ruled out filing additional charges against her.

Wiggins did not answer the door at her Gulf Breeze home when visited by reporters. Two Escambia County deputies who arrived in an unmarked car were seen entering her home shortly after 3 p.m. A sheriff's spokeswoman could not confirm why the deputies paid her the afternoon visit.

The Billingses were known throughout the Pensacola area for adopting special-needs children, nine of whom were in the couple's Beulah home when the killings occurred.

(2 of 2)


The weeklong investigation has netted eight arrests, including Wiggins, 47, and her friend, Leonard Gonzalez Jr., 35, the man investigators called the "organizer" of the precise military-style raid on the couple's home.



The seven men accused in the raid are in Escambia County Jail with no bond on two open counts of murder each. The cases will head to a grand jury in the coming weeks.

Eddins also confirmed Thursday afternoon that the recovered safe was "medium-sized, but small enough for one person to carry." Eddins declined to reveal its contents.

Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said he could not comment about reports that there was more than one safe in the home.

While Eddins refused to say what kinds of weapons were recovered, police reports show that at least three guns were carried into the home. Several spent 9 mm casings were recovered.

Wiggins' minivan
Investigators still are searching for two "persons of interest" with possible connections to the case, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said. One of those people is someone investigators believe was tasked with disabling the couple's extensive room-to-room surveillance system from a remote location, but didn't, Morgan said.

Wiggins — a Gulf Breeze property manager — is charged as an accessory after the fact. The charge carries a possible 30-year state prison sentence upon conviction. She was taken in for questioning Wednesday afternoon after she was found at an Orange Beach, Ala., marina on her yacht named "Classy Lady." She was arrested as the evening waned.

Her role in the elaborate home invasion was unclear until new details emerged Thursday through arrest reports.

Before the planned invasion of the Billings compound, a red minivan was left near the Beulah crime scene to aid in the planned escape, investigators said.

That minivan belonged to Wiggins, according to a police report.

Defendants cooperating with investigators said the guns used during the robbery and killings were transferred to Wiggins' minivan, which was later seen at a her antique shop in the 4300 block of Gulf Breeze Parkway, according to an arrest report.

Wiggins was a passenger in the minivan while the guns and the Billingses' safe were inside the vehicle. She "had knowledge these weapons were used by the suspects during the commission of the home invasion (and) double homicide," the arrest report said.

A neighbor reported that a red vehicle sped away from co-defendant Leonard Gonzalez Sr.'s Palm Court home in Escambia County with several people inside. Another larger 15-passenger van seen in surveillance footage from the Billingses' home was found behind Gonzalez Sr.'s trailer.

Both vans were recovered.

Marina Management President Leo Cyr said Wiggins kept her yacht docked at Palafox Pier in downtown Pensacola until about January of this year. The lease on the slip was in Pamela Wiggins' name, he said. He never met the Wigginses personally.

"They kept it here for a while and then she got into us for about $3,000," he said. "We came here one day and the boat was gone."




Next Page1 | 2Previous Page
In Your Voice| Read reactions to this story
 Newest first Oldest first
ralphie-redryder wrote:

How dare the authorities set her bond at an exhorbitant $10,000? I think $9.75 would have been much more appropriate and sensible.
1. She is neither "classy" nor a "lady".
2. If she bolts, whoever set her bail should be held ACCOUNTABLE!
3. Apparently these miscreants have created a new term---SMUG SHOTS. Hopefully those looks will be wiped off by either Old Sparky or some amorous cellmates.
7/17/2009 9:06:06 AM How dare the authorities set her bond at an exhorbitant $10,000?  I think $9.75 would have been much more appropriate and sensible.  <br />1. She is neither "classy" nor a "lady".<br />2. If she bolts, whoever set her bail should be held ACCOUNTABLE!<br />3. Apparently these miscreants have created a new term---SMUG SHOTS.  Hopefully those looks will be wiped off by either Old Sparky or some amorous cellmates. ralphie-redryder
Recommend  New post  Reply to this Post  Report Abuse 


bigtime4all2 wrote:

How can she be married to Hugh if she is still married to this Malden dude? I believe her bail was too low - she obviously had a lot to do with the whole thing - send up down with the rest of them...
7/17/2009 8:54:10 AM How can she be married to Hugh if she is still married to this Malden dude?  I believe her bail was too low - she obviously had a lot to do with the whole thing - send up down with the rest of them... bigtime4all2
Recommend  New post  Reply to this Post  Report Abuse 


terrwe wrote:

still the sherriffs department has done a great job in finding these scumbags.I rest a little easier knowing that they have been working so hard.Thanks to all the people who have worked to bring these people to justice.
7/17/2009 8:51:04 AM still the sherriffs department has done a great job in finding these scumbags.I rest a little easier knowing that they have been working so hard.Thanks to all the people who have worked to bring these people to justice. terrwe
Recommend(1)  New post  Reply to this Post  Report Abuse 


terrwe wrote:

There has to be more to this story.I am sure that the sherriffs dept. is watching this,for loss of better words,lady.We can only hope this is a tactic for getting more information from her.I hope that she will be dealt with to the full extent of the law.Still the
7/17/2009 8:47:28 AM There has to be more to this story.I am sure that the sherriffs dept. is watching this,for loss of better words,lady.We can only hope this is a tactic for getting more information from her.I hope that she will be dealt with to the full extent of the law.Still the terrwe
Recommend(1)  New post  Reply to this Post  Report Abuse 


1 2 3 4 5 >> LastFull page view See more comments per page and quote other replies


The back yard of Pamela Wiggins home at 1247 Ramblewood Drive in Gulf Breeze. Wiggins is a suspect in connection to the robbery and murder of Melanie and Byrd Billings. The Billingses' safe was found by ESO investigators in a hole in the center of a large pile of bricks in the back yard of Wiggins' home. (Katie King / kking@pnj.com)

The DEA rumors addressed
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said he didn't contact the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate Byrd and Melanie Billings.

Speaking at a Thursday morning news conference, Morgan addressed a prevalent rumor that the DEA was asked to investigate the couple who were found shot to death July 9 inside their home in Beulah.

Morgan said that the DEA was brought in to examine potential drug-related crimes involving the suspects in the homicides.

"The Billings family, to the best of my knowledge, is not the focus of any investigation by the DEA," he said. "I am not sure where that started. But please, today, let's put that to rest."

David Melenkevitz, spokesman for the DEA in Miami confirmed his agency's involvement but declined to discuss the case.

Edited to remove ads, etc. (No text of story or commentary removed) MB
 

Thanks Muffy~I'm still half asleep this am.........

[Leroy]

ON TOP OF THAT~according to the local news, she remarried last yr to Wiggins and wasn't even divorced from Malden, and I found her marriage license to Link IIRC in 2002 or 2003 in Escambia county (I guess she gets around) literally!!!

I just have to trust that the sheriff let her out to follow her and find the other persons of interest, nothing else makes sense to me. Today I am going to drive by her house that is on the sound and see if there is any activity there.

Im - this why I think they set her bail so low....LE wanted her out in hopes she leads them to further evidence in this case.  If/when she does this and they have all they need from her being out, hopefully they will be re-arresting her and charging her with murder.

[Leroy]

Friends, loved ones
remember Fla. pair
Crucial evidence found in Billings
case
Updated: Friday, 17 Jul 2009, 7:19 AM EDT
Published : Friday, 17 Jul 2009, 7:15 AM EDT

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - Visitation was held Thursday for a Gulf Coast couple murdered one week earlier. Byrd and Melanie Billings were found shot to death in their Florida home last Thursday.

"It's just terrible. It's just terrible. It's just hard to put into words really," said family friend Becky Biggs.

"What do you say? It's just unreal that somebody could do something like that to people like Melanie and Byrd," said Biggs.

One after the other, friends, neighbors, even strangers arrived for a visitation at Liberty Church in Pensacola to show support and outrage.

One family friend, Wanda Moredo, had a clipping of the suspect's pictures from the paper. "You see these people? They are trash," said Moredo.  "If I had a trash can I would throw them right in front of them. I wanted to burn it. I want them all to pay, every one of them."

Moredo was visibly upset at Thursday's visitation, but says she'll never forget Byrd's kind heart.

"Me and Bud were just good friends, and when I moved to Pensacola, I'll just never forget his big smile," she said. "He just smiled all the time. That's what I'm going to remember about Bud, his smile."

Becky Biggs worked with many of the Billings' special needs children. She says Melanie couldn't have been nicer.

"She was a very nice person, very friendly. She never had a bad word to say," said Biggs. "We pretty much saw her on a regular basis, just a very nice person."

The couple will be laid to rest Friday, but residents know the family is still in need.

"We wish them the best," said one supporter. "Our hearts are with them right now and we know it's a tough time and we're here for them."

The funeral service will start at 11 a.m. Friday at Liberty Church in Pensacola. Burial will follow at Pensacola Memorial Gardens.

Crucial evidence found in Billings case

Hundreds of friends and family members gathered at Liberty Church Thursday, for a visitation for Byrd and Melanie Billings. While they prepared to say goodbye to them, developments continued to break in the investigation.

Just hours after the eighth arrest in the case, deputies seized critical evidence.

State Attorney Bill Eddins said, "We have located the safe, and the safe is being processed at this time. We have located several guns in various locations, one of which we believe is the murder weapon."

They found all this after they arrested Pamela Long Wiggins for accessory after the fact. A police report states that Wiggins' husband told deputies the safe was buried behind one of her properties. Investigators say Wiggins owned a red mini-van that was used to move the safe and the weapons and investigators also say Wiggins was in that van with the evidence.

Investigators believe she may be the last missing piece in the crime.

Sheriff David Morgan said, "The investigation has been consistent, even with the last individual placed under arrest. It is a combination of friendships, casual business relationships that brought this group together."

Investigators won't comment on what was inside the safe or anything else that was taken, but it does give them a more defined motive.

Eddins said, "This was a home invasion robbery. I personally find it that simple."

Sheriff Morgan said, "We do believe as it progresses, the investigation continues, additional motives will be found."

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/national/south/nat_wala_pensacola_friends_loved_ones_remember_florida_couple_20090717714_2650096

[islandmonkey]

ON TOP OF THAT~according to the local news, she remarried last yr to Wiggins and wasn't even divorced from Malden, and I found her marriage license to Link IIRC in 2002 or 2003 in Escambia county (I guess she gets around) literally!!!

I just have to trust that the sheriff let her out to follow her and find the other persons of interest, nothing else makes sense to me. Today I am going to drive by her house that is on the sound and see if there is any activity there.

Im - this why I think they set her bail so low....LE wanted her out in hopes she leads them to further evidence in this case.  If/when she does this and they have all they need from her being out, hopefully they will be re-arresting her and charging her with murder.

I feel pretty sure about this one from what I'm hearing, then I want them all charged as the others are now for 2 counts capital murder.......I check the arrest records everyday to see what's up, but her's has confidential info that has been redacted and that leads me to believe their is more to this story.

Sad coincidence is there IS a realtor in Gulf Breeze named Pam Long.....she's been inundated with calls because in the beginning many didin't know if this Pam Long, Link, Maldin, Coco, Wiggins etc was a realtor or just an investor....can you imagine being the OTHER blonde Pam Long, that has to suck big time!

[islandmonkey]

 

Arrest warrants except for Long-Wiggins.......

[islandmonkey]

Watching local press conference  re: Billings murders, only RX for the kids and personal effects found in safe 


Pieces of Ch!T!!!!!!!!!! The Redneck Riviera 8 are going to hell in a handbasket.

[MuffyBee]

Watching local press conference  re: Billings murders, only RX for the kids and personal effects found in safe 


Pieces of Ch!T!!!!!!!!!! The Redneck Riviera 8 are going to hell in a handbasket.

BBM
Someone (?) must have seen the safe at some time.  And maybe that someone started trying to think of all that MIGHT be in the safe.  And talked about it to someone esle, and maybe the story got added on, and added on until maybe before long, it was decided there IS something of great value in the safe.  UNLESS whatever this group of murdering thieves were looking for wasn't in the safe.  Is there something they were after that might be stored elsewhere?  Were there rumors perhaps gold or platinum had been purchased and stored there?  Drugs?   Certain paperwork that would have value?     It sounds like a lot of people and planning went into this for a safe that yielded zip.  Was anything removed from the safe?  I find it strange it was decided to just grab the safe.  No one forced one of the Billings to open the safe?  Just went in and killed the Billings, grabbed the safe and ran?  Something is strange.  This is't the whole story, imo.  Unless besides the security cameras not being turned off, someone didn't do their homework about the contents of the safe.  Were these thieving murderers that stupid?  A month of planning/practice and someone didn't turn off the security cameras and the safe they stole didn't have value to thieves?     They were very dumb or we are missing something, imo.  Or just maybe the safe was taken so it would appear to be a robbery, when in fact it was a hit.

[no rose colored glasses]

Watching local press conference  re: Billings murders, only RX for the kids and personal effects found in safe 


Pieces of Ch!T!!!!!!!!!! The Redneck Riviera 8 are going to hell in a handbasket.

  That is all that is in the safe? I thought for sure there would have been jewels and money 

[islandmonkey]

Watching local press conference  re: Billings murders, only RX for the kids and personal effects found in safe 


Pieces of Ch!T!!!!!!!!!! The Redneck Riviera 8 are going to hell in a handbasket.

BBM
Someone (?) must have seen the safe at some time.  And maybe that someone started trying to think of all that MIGHT be in the safe.  And talked about it to someone esle, and maybe the story got added on, and added on until maybe before long, it was decided there IS something of great value in the safe.  UNLESS whatever this group of murdering thieves were looking for wasn't in the safe.  Is there something they were after that might be stored elsewhere?  Were there rumors perhaps gold or platinum had been purchased and stored there?  Drugs?   Certain paperwork that would have value?     It sounds like a lot of people and planning went into this for a safe that yielded zip.  Was anything removed from the safe?  I find it strange it was decided to just grab the safe.  No one forced one of the Billings to open the safe?  Just went in and killed the Billings, grabbed the safe and ran?  Something is strange.  This is't the whole story, imo.  Unless besides the security cameras not being turned off, someone didn't do their homework about the contents of the safe.  Were these thieving murderers that stupid?  A month of planning/practice and someone didn't turn off the security cameras and the safe they stole didn't have value to thieves?     They were very dumb or we are missing something, imo.  Or just maybe the safe was taken so it would appear to be a robbery, when in fact it was a hit.

In a word, YES~they were stupid....they even committed these murders while it was light outside. We are hearing about a hit around here, so the stealing of a safe for no reason could make sense, but IF it's a hit, why involve so many people........I think they are definitely holding back some info and other leads are being developed, because otherwise this is just ludicrous to think nine people would split the contents of a safe. I can't wait to find out the entire story, and last night I did hear something I DID NOT know on the local news, when Byrd first moved here he opened a strip club.............(insert shocked face here).

[islandmonkey]

Watching local press conference  re: Billings murders, only RX for the kids and personal effects found in safe 


Pieces of Ch!T!!!!!!!!!! The Redneck Riviera 8 are going to hell in a handbasket.

  That is all that is in the safe? I thought for sure there would have been jewels and money 

Now there was some jewelry that from what they said was in their for sentimental reason, nothing really expensive......let me see if it has hit Pensacola News Journal yet and post if it has:


Safe contained meds, jewelry
July 17, 2009

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  The safe stolen from the Billingses' home contained children's medication, family documents and jewelry "of sentimental value."


 
The family's attorney, Crystal Spencer, made the announcement before the couple's funeral this morning.


She said she made the statement to put an end to the swirl of speculation and rumor about the safe's contents.


Spencer did not take questions following the brief announcement.

http://www.pnj.com/article/20090717/NEWS01/90717010

[islandmonkey]

  Latest article from PNJ:

Police find gang link in Fla. killings 
Updated 7/17/2009 11:43 AM ET  E-mail | Save | Print 

   
  Enlarge By Mari Darr Welch, AP
 
Escambia Sheriff David Morgan stands with State Attorney Bill Eddins and Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille during a press conference in Pensacola, Fla,. on Thursday. Eddins said investigators also found several guns. 
 

 

By Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY
The suspects in the shooting deaths of a Florida couple who adopted disabled children have ties to illegal drug activity and a gang, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said in an interview.
Information about drugs and weapons found by police was passed to federal law enforcement authorities, including the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration, Morgan said. Some of the information was related to other ongoing federal investigations, he said.

MORE: Person of interest in Fla. couple's slaying found
Police have charged seven men with murder and one woman with aiding the men after the slayings.

They have recovered a stolen safe and several guns, including one that police say was used to kill Melanie Billings, 43, and her husband, Byrd Billings, 66.

Prosecutor William Eddins said the case is a simple home invasion robbery that went bad. He said the case is ready to go before the grand jury, and he could seek the death penalty.

Morgan said police are continuing to investigate leads.

"We've been asked by the state attorney to stay with the one basic motive," Morgan said. "The other motives in this case will be developed in the next few weeks or months."

Police have interviewed three people, one of whom they believe was supposed to have disabled the Billingses' surveillance system, Morgan said. "All three of these people could conceivably be that suspect," Morgan said.

The system was not disabled, and it recorded masked men arriving and leaving.

Police arrested Pamela Long Wiggins, 47, on Wednesday. They said she transported the stolen safe and some of the guns. She was released on $10,000 bond. Morgan said Wiggins had provided useful evidence.

All of the men, who Morgan said trained for 30 days to prepare for the robbery, are charged with two counts of murder and remain in jail.

Florida law says that if two or more people set out to commit a crime, each person is equally guilty for every act committed.

"It's a huge help for prosecutors in prosecuting groups like this," says Howard Scheinberg, a Florida prosecutor for 21 years.

The state law has one exception: if a defendant can prove that a partner in the crime committed an unforeseeable act independently.

Morgan compared the crime to the Tate-LaBianca murders in Los Angeles in 1969, committed by a cult led by Charles Manson, because it is unusual to have such a large group of people commit a crime together.

Manson prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi sees few similarities. Manson, he said, wanted to start a race war and was not motivated by money. In addition, Manson's followers stabbed most of their victims and avoided homes with children.


http://content.usatoday.com/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=pensacolanewsjournal&sParam=35657990.story

[no rose colored glasses]

Thanks Island, a strip club.....    There is much more to this story, nothing makes sense, but I'm sure it all will unravel soon.