8 people arrested and charged - 7 men for murder, one woman accessory to murder. Four of the 7 suspects are cooperating with investigators. A safe – the size of a large microwave oven, was stolen. It contained adoption papers, passports, family prescription drugs, and jewelry. The safe was found buried in the yard of the female arrested in this case. Drug Enforcement Administration assisting in probe.
One female, who was arrested, is wealthy – safe was found in her backyard.
The parents of 17 children, 13 of them adopted (earlier numbers 16/12 were not correct due to death of a child), were gunned down July 9 2009 at their home during a SWAT team style home invasion by 5 armed men.
This terrifying crime was executed with “military precision,” and it is a gripping example that paramilitary tactics can be used against innocent civilians. No 911 call can ever help a family in a case like this. Self defense is also not possible with so many murderers entering the home from two directions. This undoubtedly will lead to copy cat crimes. It may even become a new form of home grown terrorism.
The criminals were quickly rounded up because the 9 bedroom home had plenty of surveillance equipment to keep track of the children. The police has arrested 7 men and one woman. The youngest male is 16 and will be tried as an adult. These main perpetrators are day laborers and auto detailers. Authorities are still seeking at least one more accomplice who they believe failed his assignment to disable the house’s surveillance system. The invading team assumed the surveillance tape system was not operational.
The speed and method of the attack, and two teams – some dressed in ninja-like garb – entering the house from two fronts had all the hallmarks of a SWAT-style intrusion usually seen in drug raids or war zones. According to surveillance videos from outside the house, the charge and retreat lasted no more than 4 minutes.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has long worried about military tactics seeping into general culture. Then, earlier this year, the US Department of Homeland Security issued a report about right-wing extremism that cited concern about veterans being recruited for terrorism or recruited by white supremacist organizations in preparation for a race war. The report was criticized by veterans groups and some conservative politicians as being unpatriotic. Janet ”from another planet” Napolitano forgot to think all the way thru the issues to realize that USA has also left-wing extremists and one of them had just been posted on FBI’s most wanted terrorist list. I guess Janet is not checking FBI’s most wanted terrorist lists.
The planning and the large number of perpetrators (5 home invaders, 2 drivers waiting outside) make this case highly unusual, says Gary Kleck, a criminology professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Unlike most robberies, which are crimes of opportunity, these attackers seemed to expect a confrontation, which carries huge physical and legal risks, including the death penalty, if caught.
“For it to be as carefully planned, coordinated, and executed quickly, that’s why police are labeling it as military-style,” says Professor Kleck. “The way it was carried out itself seems to justify the label.”
Military strategy has become “normalized” in American culture through video games, movies, and the common use of police SWAT teams for even low-level drug raids, says Peter Kraska, an Eastern Kentucky University criminologist who studies SWAT tactics.
“For criminals to take the same kind of approach shouldn’t surprise anyone,” Professor Kraska says. “You would not only see certain police types attracted to it, but ordinary folks – if they’re seduced by it in popular video, they might be seduced by it in real life, as well.”
The slain couple, Byrd and Melanie Billings, were high-profile residents of their small Panhandle town whose adoption of 13 children, many with special needs, had been reported in newspapers. They had 17 children overall, each parent had 2 biological children but the couple had no children together. Some were grown up and had left the home, one or more had died ( I am not clear about if more than one had died, there have been conflicting reports) and nine children were in the home at the time of the attack. The children were not harmed and it has been reported many of them were sleeping during the crime, but some may have seen the murderers.
Radley Balko, an editor at Reason magazine, says he’s documented growing numbers of cases in which robbers dress up as SWAT teams to get into homes, including a recent case in Maryland’s Prince George’s County.
Speaking independently from the Florida case, he says, “It’s troubling, as SWAT raids become more common, that criminals are sort of learning what’s happening with police tactics.”
Criminals are also learning from shows like CSI. It is really unbelievable that people have become such animals, stalking, planning and executing their crimes in cold blood. Unfortunately there will be copy cats – a silver lining here is that the criminals in this case were caught so quickly, hopefully other murdering gangs will think this crime was a bad idea.
Usually so many people involved in high profile murders would be very risky for the criminals because someone will talk, brag or confess. That is our only hope that this type of crime is not spreading too fast.
I remember reading about this wonderful couple a few years ago. It is very hard to understand that so many people would be willing to kill them. http://www.pnj.com/article/20090710/NEWS01/907100342
condron.us
4 responses so far ↓
Warrant One Girl - asil // July 15, 2009 at 2:26 PM |
Good Morning Newsbird. Thought you might have not seen this, Arlenearmy posted it for me and it is wonderful.
newsbird // July 15, 2009 at 5:10 PM |
asil,
That is just fantastic! The guy is really good!
We need that split in the voters to keep two parties in the USA. Right now there is no balance.
They have a great website name and logo, way to go… I ‘ll donate to them because this is what the African American voters need to hear and it is also good for whites.
Thank you for sharing! This really is a geat one. It should be “must see”
ds.mama // July 17, 2009 at 12:41 PM |
“Down Syndrome children have physical deformities, typically heart abnormalities, making their life expectancy very short”
There was just no good reason to throw in this line of negativity into this super post. My child is not deformed… in fact she is quite beautiful and her life expectancy is around 60 years. Please don’t continue to perpetuate incorrect, outdated information. Thanks.
newsbird // July 17, 2009 at 1:28 PM |
I am sorry, I see it now as you do, I made it look like this was a general problem. I felt I had to to explain why some of the children (1-3 have been reported) had died. People may think they were bad parents or neglected them … unfortunately some of the Down Syndrome children do have heart problems and do not live to their 20s. It is most likely that this couple adopted some that had sever medical problems.
I am glad that your daughter is thriving. Again, I agree – I should not have made that comment. I have edited the post.