KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2010 / NEWS
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Ninja-inspired murder suspect on trial for leading attack
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a karate instructor charged with leading a group of armed men dressed as ninjas in robbing the home of a wealthy couple and killing the pair as their nine special-needs children cowered or slept nearby.
Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., 36, could get the death penalty if convicted of organizing the break-in at Atyrd and Melanie Billings' home in a rural area near Pensacola on the night of July 9, 2009.
Gonzalez wore arm and leg chains as he was brought into the court Monday morning. His defense attorneys asked that their desks be moved so that the roughly 200 potential jurors would not see the chains. Sheriff's deputies later removed the his wrist chains. Gonzalez has also been charged with attacking another inmate in jail with a pencil.
to steal a cash-filled safe. Their adopted children were not physically harmed in the attack.
Seven co-defendants have been charged with first-degree murder. Several could testify against Gonzalez and name him as the man who fatally shot Byrd Billings and his wife.
Defense attorneys on Monday told potential jurors that Gonzalez was a married father of six and a longtime karate instructor who grew up learning martial arts at a karate studio owned by his stepfather and mother.
Several potential jurors said they did not feel comfortable deciding if Gonzalez should live or die. One man told the court that he felt strongly the death penalty was a waste of taxpayers' money because of the lengthy appeal process.
and Walton counties before considering relocating the trial.
Among the evidence expected to be submitted at the two-week trial is surveillance video taken from the sprawling home the night of the killings. The shadowy, timelapse video shows armed intruders dressed in black barging into the couple's living room. Melanie Billings is seen protectively grabbing what appears to be a child.
The Billinges were fatally shot in their bedroom, where there were no video cameras. A safe that was taken from the family's home contained nothing of value, but a second safe that wasn't stolen had $164,000 in cash, court records show.
According to autopsy reports, Melanie Billings, 43, was shot twice in her chest, and in the face and head. Byrd Billings, 66, was shot multiple times in the head and legs.
In his initial interview with investigators, Gonzalez suggested a group of car dealers with a grudge against Byrd Billings wanted him "whacked."
The crime scene photos document dozens of bullet holes throughout the living room and bedroom and a trail of blood along the living room floor.
Gonzalez also told investigators that he and one of Byrd Billings' grown sons, Justin, had worked together as "enforcers" to get payments from people who had gotten behind. His attorney, John Jay Gontarek, did not return calls seeking comment.
The nine children in the home, all between the ages of 4 and 11 at the time of break-in, have varying special needs ranging from Down syndrome to fetal alcohol syndrome and autism.
Previously released records of interviews by sheriff's investigators show that one child told investigators that he heard a knock on the door and that "two bad men" said. "You're going to die, one, two, three" and then, "no way, no way."
The silent surveillance video footage from the children's bedrooms shows two of children remaining still during the breakin. A third child is in her bedroom alone when the attackers arrive, and their van can be seen through her window. The girl walks to the window and appears to watch the men enter. The girl then gets back
in the bed and pulls the covers around her. She gets up a second time before returning to bed and putting her head on the pillow as the tape ends.
The records show that child was sleeping in his parents' bed when they were killed.
The Billingses' adult daughter told Winfrey that she and her husband are raising the children in the home where their parents died.