The Deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings

On July 9, 2009, several men dressed as ninjas invaded the home of Byrd and Melanie Billings, a wealthy Florida couple who were known for adopting children with special needs. Video surveillance cameras set up to help them monitor their 14 children captured their murders. Nine of their children were home at the time.

Current Developments

Four Sentenced in Billings Murders
Aug. 4, 2011
A Florida judge has given four defendants reduced sentences for their cooperation in prosecuting the ringleader of a home invasion robbery that resulted in the deaths of a couple known for adopting disabled children. The four were sentenced in the deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings who were killed in their bedroom in a July 2009 robbery conducted by men dressed as ninjas.

Previous Developments

Second Man Convicted in Billings Murder Case
Jan 14, 2011
A second defendant has been found guilty by a jury in the murders of a Florida couple who were known for adopting special-needs children. Wayne Coldiron was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion robbery.

Jury Votes Death for Billings Gunman
Oct. 26, 2010
A North Florida jury took less than five hours to find guilty the gunman who shot a couple known for adopting special-needs children then quickly voted the next day to recommend the death penalty. Patrick Leonard Gonzales Jr. was convicted of killing Byrd and Melanie Billings during a home invasion robbery.

Trial Begins for Gunman in Billings Murders
Oct. 25, 2010
Jury selection has begun for a Florida man accused of being the ringleader of a plot that left dead a couple known for adopting special needs children. Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr. is charged with being the gunman in the home invasion robbery and murder of Byrd and Melanie Billings on July 9, 2009.

More Charges Filed in Billings Murder Case
Sept. 3, 2010
Ten people have now been charged for crimes in connection with the July 2009 home invasion robbery and murder of a Florida couple known for adopting special needs children. A Mississippi grand jury has indicted three people with trying to get rid of some of the guns used in the robbery of Byrd and Melanie Billings in Buelah, Florida home.

Florida Couple Shot Multiple Times
Nov. 24, 2009
Autopsy reports on a slain Florida couple known for adopting disabled children show that they both were shot multiple times in the bedroom during a home-invasion robbery. Byrd and Melanie Billings were killed in their Beulah home July 9.

Florida Wants Death Penalty for Billings Suspects
Oct. 12, 2009
Prosecutors in Pensacola announced they will seek the death penalty for four men accused of the murders of a Florida couple known for adopting children with special needs. Two others accused in the killings and a woman charged as an assessory will not face the death penalty.

7 Plead Not Guilty in Billings Murders
Aug. 13, 2009
All 7 suspects in the home-invasion robbery and murder of a Florida couple known for adopting disabled children entered not guilty pleas to first-degree murder charges. Six men and a 16-year-old boy were charged in the deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings on July 9.

Woman Arrested in Florida Home Invasion Case
July 17, 2009
A female real estate agent who allegedly hid the safe stolen from a wealthy Florida couple during a home invasion robbery has been charged with accessory to felony murder after the fact. Pamela Laverne Long Wiggins turned herself in to authorities accompanied by her lawyer.

7 Arrested in Florida Home Invasion Murders
July 15, 2009
Authorities have now arrested seven people in connection with a home invasion raid that took the lives of a wealthy Florida couple known for adopting children with special needs. The suspects conducted a well planned commando type raid on the home of Byrd and Melanie Billings last week west of Pensacola.