PENSACOLA, Florida (CNN) -- Seven people are in custody in connection
with the shooting deaths of a Gulf Coast couple known for adopting
special-needs children, and one more person is sought, the sheriff of
Escambia County, Florida, said Tuesday.
Byrd and Melanie Billings did not have any children together, but they
cared for 16 children over the years.

Byrd and Melanie Billings did not have any children together, but they
cared for 16 children over the years.

All seven people will face murder charges in the deaths of Byrd and
Melanie Billings last week, authorities said. The suspects include a
16-year-old.

"We've got the primary individuals and suspects in custody today,"
Sheriff David Morgan said. The eighth person is believed to have aided
and abetted the crime, he said, and authorities know that person's name
and location.

But police would not divulge many details regarding the investigation
into the deaths, saying only that the couple was killed during a home
invasion robbery. Video Watch sheriff describe crimes »

Some information uncovered during the investigation, involving elements
outside Florida, was turned over to federal authorities in a meeting
Monday, the sheriff said.

He identified the seven suspects as:

• Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., 35

• Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Sr., 56

• Wayne Thomas Coldiron, 41

• Gary Lamont Sumner, 30

• Fredrick Lee Thornton, 19

• Donald Ray Stallworth, 28

• An unidentified juvenile, 16

Prosecutors plan to charge the teen suspect as an adult, Escambia County
State Attorney Bill Eddins said.

The younger Gonzalez, a former National Guard member, is believed to
have been the organizer of the crime, Morgan said.

He has said the crime was "very well-planned and methodical." Video
Watch surveillance video of the home invasion »

Gonzalez isn't the only suspect with military experience. Stallworth is
a staff sergeant and maintenance mechanic with the 1st Special
Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, based at Hurlburt Field in
Fort Walton Beach, Florida, according to Lt. Mark Lazane of Air Force
Special Operations. He was arrested Tuesday in Alabama.

Sumner, Thornton, Stallworth and the juvenile are from Okaloosa County,
Florida -- one county away from Escambia County, where the crime
occurred -- and knew each other from an auto detailing group, Morgan said.

Authorities initially said the senior Gonzalez faced charges of evidence
tampering for allegedly trying to disguise a vehicle spotted at the
Billingses' home. However, charges against him were upgraded to murder,
the sheriff's office said Tuesday.

Police have released two surveillance tapes taken from the front and
rear of the Billingses' home. Each shows a vehicle pulling up to the
property and five people dressed in black and wearing masks entering the
home through two entrances, including a utility door left unlocked,
something Morgan said is not uncommon in the community. Authorities
believe that drivers remained in both of the cars.

Both the Billingses were shot multiple times, Morgan said.

Items were taken from the home "that you would normally expect to be
taken in a robbery," Escambia County State Attorney Bill Eddins said.
The items included a safe, but neither Eddins nor Morgan would divulge
additional items or say whether any stolen items had been recovered.

Investigators know who the actual gunmen were, Morgan said, but he would
not tell reporters. Video Watch experts describe the "military-style"
attack »

Asked whether the suspects had expressed remorse, the sheriff said,
"Everyone expresses remorse when they're caught."

Eddins said prosecutors have not decided whether the seven will be tried
together or whether to seek the death penalty. Four of the suspects were
to appear in court Tuesday, he said.

Melanie Billings' biological daughter, Ashley Markham, said the couple
initially had 17 children. Byrd and Melanie Billings each had two
biological children; the rest were adopted. Three have died over the
years, she said. The couple had no biological children together .Video
Watch Markham say, "Love was never scarce" »

Morgan, however, has said the couple had 16 children, with two who have
died and others who have grown older and no longer live in the
Billingses' home.
advertisement

Nine of the couple's children was home at the time of the incident,
Morgan said, and police believe that three of them saw the intruders.
One managed to flee the home and seek help at a neighbor's house, the
sheriff said.

The Billingses lived in Beulah, west of Pensacola, near the Alabama
state line.

On Jul 15, 11:59*am, H the K wrote:
PENSACOLA, Florida (CNN) -- Seven people are in custody in connection
with the shooting deaths of a Gulf Coast couple known for adopting
special-needs children, and one more person is sought, the sheriff of
Escambia County, Florida, said Tuesday.
Byrd and Melanie Billings did not have any children together, but they
cared for 16 children over the years.

Byrd and Melanie Billings did not have any children together, but they
cared for 16 children over the years.

All seven people will face murder charges in the deaths of Byrd and
Melanie Billings last week, authorities said. The suspects include a
16-year-old.

"We've got the primary individuals and suspects in custody today,"
Sheriff David Morgan said. The eighth person is believed to have aided
and abetted the crime, he said, and authorities know that person's name
and location.

But police would not divulge many details regarding the investigation
into the deaths, saying only that the couple was killed during a home
invasion robbery. Video Watch sheriff describe crimes »

Some information uncovered during the investigation, involving elements
outside Florida, was turned over to federal authorities in a meeting
Monday, the sheriff said.

He identified the seven suspects as:

• Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., 35

• Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Sr., 56

• Wayne Thomas Coldiron, 41

• Gary Lamont Sumner, 30

• Fredrick Lee Thornton, 19

• Donald Ray Stallworth, 28

• An unidentified juvenile, 16

Prosecutors plan to charge the teen suspect as an adult, Escambia County
State Attorney Bill Eddins said.

The younger Gonzalez, a former National Guard member, is believed to
have been the organizer of the crime, Morgan said.

He has said the crime was "very well-planned and methodical." Video
Watch surveillance video of the home invasion »

Gonzalez isn't the only suspect with military experience. Stallworth is
a staff sergeant and maintenance mechanic with the 1st Special
Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, based at Hurlburt Field in
Fort Walton Beach, Florida, according to Lt. Mark Lazane of Air Force
Special Operations. He was arrested Tuesday in Alabama.

Sumner, Thornton, Stallworth and the juvenile are from Okaloosa County,
Florida -- one county away from Escambia County, where the crime
occurred -- and knew each other from an auto detailing group, Morgan said..

Authorities initially said the senior Gonzalez faced charges of evidence
tampering for allegedly trying to disguise a vehicle spotted at the
Billingses' home. However, charges against him were upgraded to murder,
the sheriff's office said Tuesday.

Police have released two surveillance tapes taken from the front and
rear of the Billingses' home. Each shows a vehicle pulling up to the
property and five people dressed in black and wearing masks entering the
home through two entrances, including a utility door left unlocked,
something Morgan said is not uncommon in the community. Authorities
believe that drivers remained in both of the cars.

Both the Billingses were shot multiple times, Morgan said.

Items were taken from the home "that you would normally expect to be
taken in a robbery," Escambia County State Attorney Bill Eddins said.
The items included a safe, but neither Eddins nor Morgan would divulge
additional items or say whether any stolen items had been recovered.

Investigators know who the actual gunmen were, Morgan said, but he would
not tell reporters. Video Watch experts describe the "military-style"
attack »

Asked whether the suspects had expressed remorse, the sheriff said,
"Everyone expresses remorse when they're caught."

Eddins said prosecutors have not decided whether the seven will be tried
together or whether to seek the death penalty. Four of the suspects were
to appear in court Tuesday, he said.

Melanie Billings' biological daughter, Ashley Markham, said the couple
initially had 17 children. Byrd and Melanie Billings each had two
biological children; the rest were adopted. Three have died over the
years, she said. The couple had no biological children together .Video
Watch Markham say, "Love was never scarce" »

Morgan, however, has said the couple had 16 children, with two who have
died and others who have grown older and no longer live in the
Billingses' home.
advertisement

Nine of the couple's children was home at the time of the incident,
Morgan said, and police believe that three of them saw the intruders.
One managed to flee the home and seek help at a neighbor's house, the
sheriff said.

The Billingses lived in Beulah, west of Pensacola, near the Alabama
state line.

People say the world is getting crazier but I am not so sure. I have
a theory about crazy human behavior that explains why we are seeing
ever more weird behavior. Human behavior is a broad bell curve and
because humans come in discrete units called "people", the edges of
the bell curve become ragged and discontinuous dwindling to zero as we
go far enough out. As population rises, that raggedness gets filled
in and ever more extreme behavior becomes visible. The population as
a whole is not getting crazier, we just begin to see the edges of
behavior moving further out.
News media loves sensation and what better place to find it than at
the ragged edges of the bell curve. While they never report on the
relative normalcy of the population, they do report on the ever
weirder behavior of the ragged edge making it seem as if the whole
population is getting weirder.

Frogwatch wrote:
On Jul 15, 11:59 am, H the K wrote:
PENSACOLA, Florida (CNN) -- Seven people are in custody in connection
with the shooting deaths of a Gulf Coast couple known for adopting
special-needs children, and one more person is sought, the sheriff of
Escambia County, Florida, said Tuesday.
Byrd and Melanie Billings did not have any children together, but they
cared for 16 children over the years.

Byrd and Melanie Billings did not have any children together, but they
cared for 16 children over the years.

All seven people will face murder charges in the deaths of Byrd and
Melanie Billings last week, authorities said. The suspects include a
16-year-old.

"We've got the primary individuals and suspects in custody today,"
Sheriff David Morgan said. The eighth person is believed to have aided
and abetted the crime, he said, and authorities know that person's name
and location.

But police would not divulge many details regarding the investigation
into the deaths, saying only that the couple was killed during a home
invasion robbery. Video Watch sheriff describe crimes »

Some information uncovered during the investigation, involving elements
outside Florida, was turned over to federal authorities in a meeting
Monday, the sheriff said.

He identified the seven suspects as:

• Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., 35

• Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Sr., 56

• Wayne Thomas Coldiron, 41

• Gary Lamont Sumner, 30

• Fredrick Lee Thornton, 19

• Donald Ray Stallworth, 28

• An unidentified juvenile, 16

Prosecutors plan to charge the teen suspect as an adult, Escambia County
State Attorney Bill Eddins said.

The younger Gonzalez, a former National Guard member, is believed to
have been the organizer of the crime, Morgan said.

He has said the crime was "very well-planned and methodical." Video
Watch surveillance video of the home invasion »

Gonzalez isn't the only suspect with military experience. Stallworth is
a staff sergeant and maintenance mechanic with the 1st Special
Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, based at Hurlburt Field in
Fort Walton Beach, Florida, according to Lt. Mark Lazane of Air Force
Special Operations. He was arrested Tuesday in Alabama.

Sumner, Thornton, Stallworth and the juvenile are from Okaloosa County,
Florida -- one county away from Escambia County, where the crime
occurred -- and knew each other from an auto detailing group, Morgan said.

Authorities initially said the senior Gonzalez faced charges of evidence
tampering for allegedly trying to disguise a vehicle spotted at the
Billingses' home. However, charges against him were upgraded to murder,
the sheriff's office said Tuesday.

Police have released two surveillance tapes taken from the front and
rear of the Billingses' home. Each shows a vehicle pulling up to the
property and five people dressed in black and wearing masks entering the
home through two entrances, including a utility door left unlocked,
something Morgan said is not uncommon in the community. Authorities
believe that drivers remained in both of the cars.

Both the Billingses were shot multiple times, Morgan said.

Items were taken from the home "that you would normally expect to be
taken in a robbery," Escambia County State Attorney Bill Eddins said.
The items included a safe, but neither Eddins nor Morgan would divulge
additional items or say whether any stolen items had been recovered.

Investigators know who the actual gunmen were, Morgan said, but he would
not tell reporters. Video Watch experts describe the "military-style"
attack »

Asked whether the suspects had expressed remorse, the sheriff said,
"Everyone expresses remorse when they're caught."

Eddins said prosecutors have not decided whether the seven will be tried
together or whether to seek the death penalty. Four of the suspects were
to appear in court Tuesday, he said.

Melanie Billings' biological daughter, Ashley Markham, said the couple
initially had 17 children. Byrd and Melanie Billings each had two
biological children; the rest were adopted. Three have died over the
years, she said. The couple had no biological children together .Video
Watch Markham say, "Love was never scarce" »

Morgan, however, has said the couple had 16 children, with two who have
died and others who have grown older and no longer live in the
Billingses' home.
advertisement

Nine of the couple's children was home at the time of the incident,
Morgan said, and police believe that three of them saw the intruders.
One managed to flee the home and seek help at a neighbor's house, the
sheriff said.

The Billingses lived in Beulah, west of Pensacola, near the Alabama
state line.

People say the world is getting crazier but I am not so sure. I have
a theory about crazy human behavior that explains why we are seeing
ever more weird behavior. Human behavior is a broad bell curve and
because humans come in discrete units called "people", the edges of
the bell curve become ragged and discontinuous dwindling to zero as we
go far enough out. As population rises, that raggedness gets filled
in and ever more extreme behavior becomes visible. The population as
a whole is not getting crazier, we just begin to see the edges of
behavior moving further out.
News media loves sensation and what better place to find it than at
the ragged edges of the bell curve. While they never report on the
relative normalcy of the population, they do report on the ever
weirder behavior of the ragged edge making it seem as if the whole
population is getting weirder.



I think the population is getting crazier *and* the edges are moving
further out.

H the K wrote:

I think the population is getting crazier *and* the edges are moving
further out.

Wow, is that ever true. Just look at how your behavior has moved closer
to the edge over all the years you've been in this newsgroup.

Johnson

On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:56:41 -0400, Johnson
wrote:

H the K wrote:

I think the population is getting crazier *and* the edges are moving
further out.

Wow, is that ever true. Just look at how your behavior has moved closer
to the edge over all the years you've been in this newsgroup.

Johnson

Filters work well.
--

John H

Just John Again wrote:
On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:56:41 -0400, Johnson
wrote:

H the K wrote:

I think the population is getting crazier *and* the edges are moving
further out.
Wow, is that ever true. Just look at how your behavior has moved closer
to the edge over all the years you've been in this newsgroup.

Johnson

Filters work well.
--

John H

They have been working very well. I haven't seen the asshole in days,
makes the group a lot more pleasant. I guess it's not hard to see what
the problem was over the years based on how smoothly the group is
running without the presence of the pink army...