John Molchan, You are the Weakest Link

Dear Mr. Molchan,

I am writing this to obtain clarity after your pronouncement that Rakeem Florence’s recantation was moot due to the fact there was overwhelming evidence and his testimony being corroborated by the surveillance video. I take exception to both statements, specifically in the Patrick Gonzalez Jr. case.

I want to first remind you that this young man was a black 16 year old. He knew people that were on the periphery of this investigation. Your former boss, Mr. Eddins, informed the public this is a capital case. Florence is of the demographic most prone to false confessions. He is the only person of color, besides his family members, when he is interviewed by law enforcement. The circumstances of the crime, ie the media circus, the Sheriff constantly on television calling for public outrage as well as public help in finding the perpetrators of these murders, all culminate in a situation that probably seems like a no win situation to young black man. Imagine coming forward with information (which he & Thornton got straight on the way to police station) and realizing you could easily become a scapegoat. He was in over his head when he got there. Even his mother thought he only knew about some aspect of the murder; she did not believe her son was there.

This is an excerpt of the cross examination by Michelle Hendrix of Florence in Donnie Stallworth’s 2^nd trial, which ended in a hung jury.

Do you know if Florence or Thornton ever talked to Hugh Wiggins, prior to them coming forward?

Here is a story that Gary Sumner’s mother told to me. Prior to the murders, Sumner and Wiggins had a business arrangement. Wiggins provided some capital to help Sumner stay afloat. As so, Wiggins called Sumner and told him he had dropped off a white van, after hours, at the shop. The next morning, Gary gets in and grabs the keys left in the dropbox. He gets into the van to move it inside. He claims there were 4 dead bodies in the back. He got out of the van, called Hugh to say the message was received. He believed it was a threat. Now whether you believe this story or not. It does not even matter if it was true. All that matters is that the teenagers thought it was true.

Also, I find it fascinating that you never called Florence to testify in Stallworth’s third trial, but I do know why. Michelle Hendrix impeached him with all the other testimonies he gave in the other cases, ex. Coldiron, Gonzalez Jr. etc. She really proved his testimony was worthless. Despite that you seem absolutely sure he was telling the truth. I am going to take a moment to speculate why you are all on-board with Florence and his testimony. I think you are more invested in this story than you are about finding the truth. Morgan conducted a shotty investigation, which the SAO never questioned just prosecuted. No one seriously looked at the family, who should have been scrutinized because they financially gained so much from their parents death. Morgan is a keystone cop. And yet, you took this far-fetched narrative rather than looking at the real issues. Here are some really good suspects: Hugh Wiggins, Justin Billings, Cab Tice. Remember originally Blue Markham told police he sold the van used in the crime to Cab Tice.

Here is just some of the cross-examination by Hendrix:

In fact, Florence tried to withdraw his plea on April 27, 2011. Yet now you seem to think Florence is disingenuous. This young man is the prime demographic of the textbook case of false confessions. As Ms. Hendrix proved in her cross-examination, his testimony was never consistent. He was not a good witness and you realized this as well. You opted not to put him on the stand in Stallworth’s third trial. It seems obvious you believe Florence was single-handedly the reason the jury was hung. So in your repetitive trials against Stallworth, after running him out of money, forcing him to opt for a public defender, you did not investigate whether there was something hinky with Florence’s testimony. You could and definitely should have further inquired as to why his story was ever changing. I mean, if the interest is in justice, that would have been the only prudent course. Yet your concern was the win; it was never justice.

Interestingly, I emailed Rakeem and asked him to explain what he called “evidence” of his coercion. This is his reply:

I hope, Mr. Molchan, you realize he is asserting you coerced him and provided the narrative that was factually questionable. You mention that the video surveillance corroborates both Florence’s testimony and Thornton’s testimony. It sounds like the reason it matches the video is because you crafted his testimony. Now ethically, it plainly looks to be improper for you to blast him on the news, knowing he does not have the same access to those media resources you have. Nevertheless, you are the one saying his recantation is moot, especially since he is accusing you of coercing this testimony. Convenient.

OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE

In reading every page of the thousands of documents dumped into the public domain prior to trial & the trial transcripts, I must presume you either do not know what evidence is, or you are so arrogant to think the pittance of information presented in Gonzalez Jr.’s trial, would put him on death row if presented today.

Here are some excerpts from the trial transcript of Mr. Eddins’s opening statement:

The above is from pg 246 of the transcript volume 2 of the Patrick Gonzalez Jr. Trial.

The highlighted portion is misleading. There was no “proof” only testimony by admitted co-conspirators.

This entire section is factually anemic because Leonard Gonzalez Sr. never testified in his son’s case, nor was his statement entered into evidence. In fact, this is a violation of Rule 4-3.4(E) of the RULES REGULATING THE FLORIDA BAR. That rule provides: A lawyer shall not … in trial, allude to any matter that the lawyer does not reasonably believe is relevant or that will not be supported by admissible evidence, assert personal knowledge of facts in issue except when testifying as a witness, or state a personal opinion as to the justness of a cause, the credibility of a witness, the culpability of a civil litigant, or the guilt or innocence of an accused. The state attorney was doing none of these things; he was exaggerating the totality of the evidence. This statement alludes to Sr. testimony which was never admitted. Carol Brant was Sr.’s common law wife and her testimony would only be admissible if it were corroborating Sr’s testimony, but it was not. These statements potentially taint the jury with facts which were never admitted into evidence, such as the Brady violation by not submitting the most recent criminal history of Smith and Eisa which was unknown by the defense and would have contributed to the weight their testimony carried to the jury.

Mr. Molchan, to recap, there was no legitimate, untainted testimony evidence that Gonzalez Jr. plotted anything. Not to point out the obvious but Thornton’s testimony was concocted in tandem with Florence’s.

As for the physical evidence, your office destroyed the red van you claimed was used in the crime. That evidence is no longer admissible. Carol Brant passed away. So, there are two co-conspirators, who developed their story together and now one has said it was false. You have no credible person to say Jr. plotted this crime. As for physical evidence. In the video, the shooter grabs Bud and Bud grabbed him in this struggle. This is confirmed by the only eyewitness, the child in the room. GMA reported the child stated:

“The child told police he heard one of the men say, “You’re gonna die — one, two, three.” The boy said his father then grabbed one of the suspects and that his mother got shot in the shirt.”

There is DNA under Bud’s nails. And a profile for that DNA was developed. But Patrick Gonzalez Jr. is excluded as a contributor.

There is no DNA evidence to put Jr. at the seen or any of his DNA on any clothing. And let’s talk about the guns. The murder weapon was never linked to Gonzalez Jr. except by Hugh Wiggins who had possession of all the guns, the bloody clothes and the safe. Now tell me why he would not be the logical suspect? Remind me again who the owner of the weapons was. There seems to be no report showing the ATF established whose guns they were. You have Jr.’s fingerprints on the 2 of the guns not shot in this crime. You never established he did anything but touch those guns. Let’s say he did touch them, there is no evidence to suggest he touched those guns that night or during any crucial timeframe. Fingerprints do no come with a time stamp.

Morgan is a keystone cop and the SAO hitched its wagon to his “investigation”. Your office did not question it when he did not investigate the family, the people with the most to gain. What about Cab Tice? Remember Blue Markham told investigators that he sold the van used in the crime to Cab.

With real leads uninvestigated, how in the hell can you claim you are competent. There is so much reasonable doubt,. To sum it up, no physical evidence, no credible circumstantial evidence, leads not investigated. If Gonzalez Jr.’s case was tried today, how could you justify the amount of energy and taxpayer dollars you wasted aggressively pursuing a unviable set of cases. These are people’s lives, Mr. Molchan. There is so many unanswered questions, and you are a public servant. Years ago, I was told there is “no justice in Florida”. I have to say there seems to be so much tunnel vision.

Checkmate, Mr. Molchan. Your case is inviable. It’s time to put your ego aside and find the truth.

The Famous Chicken Video Distraction

I wasn’t going to dignify this video with a response but I reconsidered. It is important to speak out when it is necessary and this video reverberates the lack of respect this man has for his constituents. This was an overblown social media story that was essentially a misunderstanding but instead of correcting the misperception, Sir David decided to mock and even arrest a constituent because this misunderstanding.

Without further adieu, the Famous Chicken Video….

The fact he is the citizen thought they heard a gunshot and it was simultaneously when the deputy rolled by with his window open. If you perhaps heard, then exactly what happened might be ambiguous. That being said the deputy didn’t stop to say check on the animal or attempt to locate the owner as he would have probably done had it been a conventional pet. The fact he didn’t stop added to the misunderstanding of what happened. Had he stopped, he could have cleared the situation up immediately. But instead, he drove away knowing that there were witnesses. The owner was subsequently arrested for filing a false police report because he stated the officer shot the chicken.

Morgan is effectively mocking his constituents and looks like an ass in doing so. This situation was unfortunate but it was preventable with clarification and by not belittling the situation or people involved. It shows how low Morgan is for assuming he is any better than anyone, particularly when this same deputy was allowed to resign last week after being caught in a prostitution sting involving him providing illegal drugs for sex.

Now view the moral high ground the Sheriff is taking. He sounds like a jackass for talking down to citizens and building the moral high ground for this deputy because he obviously above shooting a chicken, right?

Ridiculous and sad that the Escambia County Sheriff even says you should be glad he and his office have a “modicum of character and integrity” for NOT ARRESTING A DEPUTY WHO COMMITTED MULTIPLE FELONIES, BUT DID NOT SHOT A CHICKEN.

Russian Roulette in Escambia

Public safety in Escambia County is officially a joke. EMS is falsifying certification, failing to train EMT’s. The fire department well, that is a known issue. They both fall under Public Safety in Escambia County.

In the past several days, Escambia County has seen changes in personnel at the management level. After some rumbling about poor leadership and questionable management practices individuals at the top levels are gone. The employees spoke out and received some well-deserved attention. The Escambia County Professional Firefighters, the representing union, took the initiative to act against labor practices that caused the employees to lose confidence in the leadership. The union brought attention to the problems that plagued the employees. The result was favorable to the employees and those performing inadequately in leadership positions are no longer hindering progress of those simply doing the job they are being paid to do.

The recent news is refreshing to many in other parts of the county working for inept leaders. The Escambia County Sheriffs Office is another example of a county agency void of effective leadership. The ECSO has been under the microscope for some length of time. Complaints of LET fund mishandling to numerous lawsuits of misconduct or mistreatment of employees are at a high never seen by any other Sheriff in this county.

The Northwest Florida Police Benevolence Association, the representing union for ECSO employees, could learn some moves from Professional Firefighters. If some action was taken by PBA to expose the corrupt practices that have become so common at the ECSO. The employees could work again with some degree of confidence the leadership had the ability to effectively lead the agency. Exposing the corruption would place in the open how ineffective and destructive David Morgan has been during his time as Sheriff.

The PBA was criticized during the budget debacle in 2018. Eric Haines used the leverage a raise would have on officers and open a contract that was not due to be negotiated. Haines lied to the BOCC and to any citizen that he tried to sway to his side of the argument. Haines was aware he could use the raise to strong arm the union. He didn’t care about the deputies getting a raise. He wanted to spend someone else’s money to achieve a diabolical goal of stripping the contract PBA had negotiated.

Haines argued continuously that the main problem facing the ECSO was officer retention. The truth is poor leadership is the cause of officers leaving the agency. The numbers do not show that the pay increase helped ECSO retain officers. The mass departure of experienced officers to other agencies continues to burden Haines. The main cause of failed leadership practices is the person that can determine the solution and there would be little expectation of Haines firing himself. He still believes he was an actual cop.

The Firefighters had less reason to complain than the officers at the ECSO. It is public knowledge that a Federal Judge has determined in a court decision that Haines had a bias toward female employees. It would be reasonable to believe that Haines should be removed from his position and Morgan should be investigated by the Governor. Any person in a leadership position should not be bias toward male or female. It is either ignorance or arrogance for Morgan to ignore the opinion found in court documents concerning Haines unprofessional behavior toward females. Morgan has the ultimate ability and a sworn duty to protect employees from predators like Haines.

The PBA should understand that sitting back playing catch up is not proven to be the best plan to achieve success. The ECSO has an observable history, with Morgan and Haines at the helm, that would demonstrate an absence of conscious and ability to take the agency into the future. The employees have the right to be protected by the union. The dues payments of the employees are for the purpose of job protection and PBA is responsible to attempt to provide that protection. All employees should call on the President of PBA to form a plan and seek a path that is best for employees. It can be done and was just proven to be an achievable goal by Professional Firefighters.

Kudos to the Firefighters for having the courage to make your own path and demand the leadership your professional talents deserve. Now the ECSO should be next to be evaluated, perhaps by the Governor as Doug Underhill suggested.

The most ironic part of that suggestion is that if the Governor does get involved it will be the entirety of local government that will be investigated including Underhill, who has been caught inappropriately using grant money to the tune of over $2m from the feds and state. He was asked to repay the money back to the county because he usurped money that he was not entitled to.

Bottom line, when you call 9-1-1, you are taking a huge risk of getting an inexperienced, poorly trained first responder, be it EMT, firefighter, or deputy. This is what the county is today.

How Morgan & the PNJ Will Be Downfall of the Billings Convictions

Criminal Justice expert Dr. Edward J. Bronson recently analyzed the pre-trial publicity in the Billings Murder case. It was a fascinating look at just the local newspaper coverage. The reason he was called to look at this has to do with the fact that it has become an inarguable fact that press coverage prior to trial impacts jury verdicts. There have been 44 empirical studies with 5500+ people by dozens of social scientists over the last three decades.

The biggest shocker of Dr. Bronson’s analysis was that the Billings Murder case–overall–is the 27th highest publicized case EVER. This case rivals OJ, the Lindbergh baby, Bundy, Zodiac, Son of Sam and Jon Benet Ramsey just for starters. The average high publicity case has around 100 articles written about the case, pretrial. The PNJ & InWeekly did 250 articles on this case. Each of these articles were biased against the defendants, particularly Pat Gonzalez Jr. Not one of these articles were by anyone close to Gonzalez Jr or who advocated his character in any way, despite his contributions to the community, although the Sertoma club “Man of the Year” award was mentioned in passing as was high martial arts career. Not one of these articles offers any other theory of the crime or any leads outside the narrative the Sheriff concocted.

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled to delay a trial by 9 mos because of 1 news comment by an attorney on a Sunday morning at 6 AM. The judge determined the attorney had the potential to have tainted the jury pool with this one appearance. In comparison, Sheriff Morgan held press conferences up to twice a day locally; he spoke on Dateline NBC, Nancy Grace, Oprah Winfrey and Larry King to name a few. He said things like, “extremely gruesome scene”, “hateful, senseless crime” “bad seed” (speaking of Gonzalez Jr.), “stupid thugs” and referred to the Billings as “very good Christian people”. Adding on to the fact, Morgan greeted the Grand Jury panelists prior to the indictments of Gonzalez Sr and Jr. He shook each person’s hand and said things like, “I’ve done my job; now it’s time for you to do yours”. This seems like a directive from the highest law enforcement officer in the community.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The PNJ articles were extremely damaging as they are the only point of printed news in the area. 174 times the death penalty was mentioned in relation to this crime—prior to any trial commencing. This is extremely damning because the implication is that these people deserve death, before the facts of the case or the defenses were laid out.

Dr. Bronson noted that he had never seen more inflammatory comments within the PNJ by the reporters and in letters to the editor prior to trial. There was no possible way a reasonable person could consider that an unbiased jury could be had in this community. Judge Geeker doesn’t think this is an issue but ultimately this will go to the US Supreme Court, who has no ties to Escambia County corruption.

As for the media circus that propelled Morgan’s career and ultimately kept him in office, here’s the take away: David Morgan whored himself out to every news outlet possible. He was the source of most people’s knowledge of this case. As the community and world has seen with every instance in Morgan’s tenure where he smiles pretty for the camera, he seldom is the most accurate point of information. He stretches the truth and even lies to make himself seem important. Why would it be any different with this case? Good news for all the defendants, because if Pat Gonzalez gets a new trial, the flood gates of motions and lawsuits will dominate what was the old news of this case….with Morgan as the punchline.

Dr. Edward Bronson Expert Testimony exhibit2-expert test.

“MAJOR DRUG BUST” Purely Accidental

Sir David got some face time with this drug bust done several days ago. He was out of town at a marketing conference in New Orleans. This also allowed him time to develop this overblown story of a 4 year investigation that culminated in the seizure of $500K of drugs. There are many details of this “investigation” that are being propagated & are false.

To clarify, this pursuit may have been originated 4 years ago, but was it continually worked and on-going? The answer is yes and no. The dealer, Alfred Hayes, went by the nickname “E”. E has been tracked by a “stingray”. The deputies got a line that a deal was going down but prematurely hit the house only to find the money for drugs and no actual drugs. The money “was seized” but no arrests were made and paradoxically, the money was never recorded at the ECSO.

This week, the “bust” in the spotlight, a source who was inside the holding area reported Melissa Buchanan was stopped on a routine traffic stop. No one knows her from Adam. She is in possession and trafficking of a quantity of methamphetamine and is taken into custody. In the holding room at the ECSO, she is overheard trying to cover her own ass to try to make a deal. She calls E but he’s callous as to her arrest but she gives him 30 minutes to arrange her release. After the time expired, in her panic and feeling of being shunned, she dimed him and his cousins out. E is the grandson of a woman that owns a nursing home. The family had been selling prescription drugs of people who had passed on. This is common knowledge in the community.

The prevarication of events in the press conference were a self-serving narrative developed over the days following these arrests for maximum political collateral for Sir David’s re-election efforts. An accidental arrest turned sting…not a prolonged investigative effort that finally paid off. Misdirection and misrepresentation of events…sounds vaguely familiar for the stories Sir David likes to deliver to the unknowing people of the county.

Why Not Having a Law Enforcement Officer as Sheriff Hurts Escambia County

Speaking to the skills Morgan brought to the ECSO, this is an example of a case from an actual court deposition of Chris Baggett. I have cut and pasted the relevant portions and as to not disclose any true case information:

The problems in this case are huge in terms of conviction. The fact that no one person was acting as a lead investigator by delegating exactly the job he is asking for help with and by FOLLOWING UP to make sure nothing but his directions are followed leaves room for the defendant’s counsel to attack the provenance and evidence, the accuracy of said evidence and even the intentions of the
investigators to try to circumvent the law.

Working for Judge Mapother a lifetime ago, there was one rule that anyone could get fired for and that was lack of documenting a case. If there is no documentation, it did not happen. Or at least, you cannot prove it happened. In criminal cases, if statements are not taken on the record or recorded in some form, they cannot be proven in court. That is what we have here.

_____________________________________________

Why is any of this important? Well this is important because in looking at the statistics of cases of the Circuit Criminal Court in Escambia County, the number of cases that are sent to the State Attorney that end up being dismissed for one reason or another—like improper evidence or insufficiency,–both of these are typically problems that initiated prior to the State Attorney receiving the case–shows that the State Attorney is more likely to dismiss and plea bargain a case than to fully prosecute it. Here are the statistics:

Nearly 20% of defendants had their cases dismissed or acquitted. 72% took a plea. Both are results of the state being unwilling to take their evidence in front of a judge and jury. 92% of cases are not being fully prosecuted since 2009. One has to wonder how many of these cases were screwed up by either poor police work or malicious arrests that Sir David seems to love. Just a note for the people awaiting a trial in the deputy sexual assault case, there is historically slim to no chance of this ever getting before the jury…ie no real chance for justice to any responsible level.

Escambia Kids Re-Victimized by State Attorney

This case has been close to my heart as a mother and a criminologist because I know the psychological damage that occurs when a child is sexually assaulted. Now factor in the fact the kids’ mother put them in a situation to be exploited by law enforcement. What does that tell the kid? Family can’t be trusted to protect them and neither can the justice system. How dare Anne Patterson let Mark Smith get away with this. The man used his little girl to lure teenage girls in his home. He drugged and videotaped them as he raped them. Yet his charges have now been reduced from 3 counts to 1 and it isn’t even sexual battery; it is simple felony battery on a minor. In theory, since he plead not guilty and the video evidence is conveniently no longer available, Mark Smith could walk AND GET HIS BADGE BACK! WTF!!!!!!!

I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked. When I did the Erin Ambrose story, I found pictured of her with her friend the Honorable Judge Frydrychowicz. Of course, the pictures not to be found now but they are both runners in local events. Look for them together as well as the dirty deputies that Ms. Ambrose–excuse me–Mrs. VonAnsbach Young colludes with.

Everyone that reads this and that lives in Escambia County, I sincerely beg you to help the families of the young victims of the ECSO and now the State Attorney’s Office. Every child in Escambia County is now at risk of being exploited, molested, raped and ignored since this son of bitch is going to walk. That’s not justice. If you ever wanted to help change your community, this is the opportunity for the citizens to take back the community from the good ole’ boys. VOTE MORGAN OUT 2016. Call the State Attorney’s office…flood their office with calls asking them why they would do such a thing. Call the Sheriff, ask him why he helped a sexual predator go free. DO SOMETHING, I BEG YOU!

The Angry Man@the GOP Sheriff Forum

Wow! That is the only thing I can say.

I read about John Johnson’s speech. It didn’t go as planned. He tried to make a point by asking if women and children felt safe going to Walmart after 9pm. The woman he asked didn’t play along. She said she did…OOPS!

Next I watched Doug Baldwin’s speech.

I was very impressed with Baldwin’s articulation, coolness and value based approach. While I don’t necessarily agree with his politics, he was very persuasive. Hell, one of Ronnie Mac’s biggest supporters told me he was there and he would have voted for Baldwin had the election been held that night. He was that swayed by Baldwin’s speech.

Then I watched this:

This is just an attack on the people of the county. Sir David has lost his shit! He’s an angry man. He has NOTHING positive to say and basically says “Don’t judge me; I didn’t want this job to begin with”.

To that I say, I agree…you should just move along, because you have just pillaged the people of Escambia County. His reluctance to be a politician was so overtly a lie. He’s always wanted to be the center of attention. His $30,000 smile is proof of that. Plus if he was so reluctant, why is he running for a third term since he clearly feels under-appreciated? No one buys that BS.

Yeah, you used county money to feed into religious organizations that, in turn, contributed to you. Should we look at each agency you donated to, compare the staff of said organization with donations within proximate timing of their campaign contributions to you and see how that shakes out?

Again he went on about “parsed words”.

Needless to say, my feelings in regards to his speech, was a bit angry at how he blamed everyone and said crime statistics don’t show Escambia County is a more dangerous place. Numbers don’t lie. This is just January – June 2015 compared to the entire year of 2014. Already there is a big disparity that is absolutely unexcuseable.

Mr. Morgan, coming from I’m sure what you’d call, “a coward behind a keyboard”, as a sheriff, you are a liar and a FAILURE. Your job is to make Escambia County safe…no, ifs ands, or buts. The buck stops with you. Can’t take the heat? Get out of the fire or the reluctantly held seat that you didn’t want to start with?

VMO 2016 #6-Sheriff Morgan is All About Double-Talk

Sir David is the King of Contradiction, or Hypocrisy, Flip-Flopery, if you like. When he gets questioned about something he said, his favorite excuse is “I did not say that” or “What I said was taken out of context”. That within itself shows the lack of responsibility for words he careless uses regarding that come back to bite him in the ass.

Running for Sheriff
When Sir David filed for Sheriff, I had to laugh, because he spoke to the Pensacola Biz Net Aug 4, 2011 & he made the following statement:

“I believe in term limits from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet….. You lose touch with reality when you’re spending other people’s money. So that’s why I’m a big advocate of term limits…..term limits.I believe in term limits from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet… We have to stop putting our county down…we have alot of problems in Escambia County. Take the Billings Case…..I encourage you to follow that case through to end of the last prosecute, then ask for the public record of how much it cost us, the taxpayers. It cost hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions of dollars”

“I would like to do a second term as the Sheriff of Escambia County but let me make this statement to this group as I make to a lot of these groups, I believe in term limits from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. If I go stupid and run for a third term do not vote for me, do not vote for me…. Because you need to cycle people out of these positions.”-Sheriff David Morgan, 2010

2. Billings Case: DEA involved?

Here is an article from NorthEscambia.com that sums up the mystery.

Is The DEA Involved In The Billings Case?

July 16, 2009

There are conflicting reports this morning as to whether or not the DEA has become involved in the Billings murder investigation.

“As Escambia County Sheriff, I have no knowledge of any DEA involvement in this case,” David Morgan said Wednesday night. “I have not spoken to any representative of the Drug Enforcement Agency today.”-CNN

But CNN was reporting early Thursday morning that the DEA was on the case. CNN quotes a DEA spokesman in Miami, David Melenkevitz, as saying that the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department did call for the DEA’s assistance.

David Melenkevitz, a spokesman for the DEA, said his agency is assisting with the investigation but would not comment further. He said Escambia County officials have also sought help from other federal agencies including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. —CBS News July 16, 2009

Even Sir David’s repeater (not reporter), Rick Outzen, who has claimed that Sir David is the best sheriff Escambia County has had in years wrote this:

It has been a week since Bud and Melanie Billings were killed. The seven men who the authorities believe are responsible and one female accomplice have been arrested. The media wants to know why, what was the safe taken from the home and why are the FBI and DEA possibly involved.

CNN is reporting early Thursday morning that the DEA is on the case, despite denials by Sheriff Morgan the prior night on Anderson Cooper 360. They say that David Melenkevitz, a DEA spokesman in Miami, has said that the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department did call for the DEA’s assistance.– Rick Outzen, Rick’s Blog, July 16, 2009

Now if this is a humdinger as Sir David had claimed and the alphabet soup (FBI, ATF, FBI & Homeland Security) were participants, then Sir David may not be the BIGGEST LIAR IN ESCAMBIA COUNTY (He’d still be in the top 10, if not the top 5). Here’s why I say that, they actually responded. Now anyone can call these agencies and ask for assistance, but they may not actually show up. But there are credible sources saying, as early as 1 week after the murders that the DEA was brought in, contrary to Morgan’s statement. There appears to be solid reasons that the DEA was a participant in this case.

To end speculation, I have proof of their involvement.

Corroborated by an FBI source, there were 2 ACTIVE DEA investigations into Byrd & Melanie Billings at the time of their murder. DEA only gets involved on high level drug cases. They don’t show up for insignificant possession/personal use cases where there is no chance of trafficking. Their presence speaks for itself and is contrary to Sir David’s version of events.

*Also, these DEA cases, one initiated in 2005 and the other in 2007, are still, TODAY, active investigations.

Think about that for a moment.

3. Super Predator/ Thug Culture is the Downfall of America

“I take issue with the time African Americans. We are Americans…The blacks that currently reside in the United States are not from Africa. Those sorts of terms society has chosen to use are divisive in nature. So what are the issues in the minority organizations within Escambia County? Many are real and many are perceived. I will tell you I think many are perceived. Here is why, again, let’s go back to the history of our nation and where we are today. Not that many years ago, the thought of electing an African American president would have been unthinkable in the United States of America. I would remind African American’s that you are a little over 13% of the entire population of the United States…..If those 13 % were the only ones that voted for President Obama, he would not have won that election….the statistics are if we are such a racist nation, why do we currently have an African American president?”

When asked for a response to the assertion that racism is merely a perceived social problem, Sir David responded with a statement to Channel 3 WEAR that his comments were taken out of context and that those who propagate information about his rant have “a motive”.

And the best statement ever out of his mouth:

“I challenge someone to find an incident where anyone could have said that I am racist.”

The irony is every word he said prior to that statement is a jab at every ethnicity. He uses statistics to belittle the African-American people and remind them they are but 13% of the population. You can add hypocrite to his tile of racist.

4. Rotary Club assertion that Muslims are like Nazis.

Dr. James Scamanaci, known for his blog, CJsstreetreport.blogspot.com reported for DailyKos the following:

In the wake of two Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies firing 15 bullets at Mr. Roy Middleton in late July 2013, which created a national story, Sheriff Morgan delivered prepared remarks before the Rotary Club of Pensacola. The Pensacola News Journal carried the Public Information Office’s edited version of the Sheriff’s remarks.

Sheriff Morgan: ‘Muslims are Nazis’

At the 3:45 mark of the uncut version that the Street Report came to possess, Sheriff Morgan, after recommending to his Rotary Club audience reading Winston Churchill’s three-volume memoirs, Sheriff Morgan stated the following:

“And what you’ll find striking, and I find striking by the way, is the policy of appeasement that we go through in an almost a cyclic mode through our communities and our societies. An appeasement across the board. We intend to appease crime; we intend to appease political opponents; we intend to appease those who have different religious beliefs than we do. And the frightening thing about these volumes is this, if you changed NAZI to Muslim, you’ll have a terrific eye opener…”

5. Triple Murder of the Smith Family

In a press release, 5 days after the bodies were found and all news was hushed, Sir David made this eloquent statement regarding the brutal murders.

“It’s witchcraft, I’ll say that right now. The method of the murder, blunt force traumas, slit throats, positions of bodies and then our person of interest has some ties to a faith or religion that is indicative of that. Those of you that follow any of that will also note that at the time of death we believe on Tuesday it also coincides with what’s referred to as a blue moon, which occurs every three years.”

In response to that ignorant statement, every Wiccan, homeopath, occult personality came forward to refute this statement of “witchcraft”. I contacted Michelle Belanger, occult expert, known for her work on “Paranormal State” as well as her writing on the subject. When I spoke to her she was baffled how a person of Sir David’s authority and assumed intelligence would make such a reckless statement. She made 2 videos for YouTube regarding Sir David. Here is a bit of what she had to say:

“The biggest problem in Pensacola right now is you got a Sheriff who is jumping to all kinds of conclusions. He’s creating his own kind of red herrings. …My other problem with Sheriff Morgan is, your average person doesn’t know what a Wiccan is, doesn’t know what a Pagan is. They hear these words from an authority figure, like Sheriff Morgan. What he is doing, either through his own ignorance or his own willful misdirection of the actual facts of the case. He’s betraying the trust that people have put into him……..He is misleading people who he’s their only source for whether or not that’s true. And because he’s seen as an authority figure, they are not going to go out and Google to find out that he’s actually talking out of his posterior in a grievous way that could honestly incite hate crimes.”

Sir David’s response: “It was a misconception.”

Sheriff- 'Witchcraft' Comments a Misconception - YouTube.clipular

**Sidenote: Morgan claimed the family was reclusive and that hampered investigation. When WKRG Channel 5 out of Mobile interviewed the Smith Family about the witchcraft factor, the family denied there was anything suggestive of Blue Moon or witchcraft based on the information given to them. They also refuted Morgan’s claim of the family being reclusive.**

The fact in this murder is that one of the sons is a cybercrimes expert at Homeland Security. Sir David said that they KNOW that fact wasn’t the motive for murder. He still says that theory was still “in play,” but that his office had also investigated financial gain and Richard Smith’s connection to the Department of Homeland Security as possible motives.

Specifically, the way he phrased it in an exclusive with WEAR-TV 3’s Amber Southard, who is now his new Public Information Officer that out earns most lietenants at the ECSO, was there were three possible motives: National security, witchcraft, monetary gain. Two are still on the table, as there were no national security implications involving the death of 49-year-old Department of Homeland Security employee Richard Thomas Smith.

No chance that he’s wrong on the Homeland Security angle but witchcraft is possible?

It hurt my head to even put that sentence together.

Sir David has many more loosy goosy “out of context”, “misunderstood” or “wrong perception” excuses. This is just the highlight reel, folks.

Corruption & How it Affects Pensacola

Corruption is a word people use but do not fully appreciate. Corruption means deviation from morality, honor and duty. It destroys political legitimacy. We have a system in place that puts trusted people in positions to make decisions for us and to keep our society the place it is. When that trust is severed for personal gain, we all lose. Not only have we been duped by a con-artist, but we have been robbed of our ability to discern who is for us and who be against us.

A case in point is my interest in the Billings Murder case. As a person who wants to not only understand the tragedy of the murder of these two people, but to understand how the disposition of the case could have gone so horribly wrong. What evidence led to the incarceration of 8 people whom the state claims to be guilty, when the initial evidence points to an entirely different direction? Whether you believe my questions are legitimate or not, if I am barking up the wrong tree, whose time am I wasting besides my own?

Victimology is essential to law enforcement. Why was this person killed? Was it greed? Jealous? Business? Insurance Money? These all help gauge who committed the crime. Bud Billings lifestyle must be understood. Here is an excerpt that perfectly describes the circumstance of this case.

“The Proximity hypothesis suggests that crime is less a function of life-style, but rather is based on close proximity…In a related concept is the equivalent group hypothesis, which points out that criminals and victims overall share similar characteristics because they are not entirely separate groups. People who commit crimes are probably at higher risk for victimization, both because of proximity to other criminals and because of their own lifestyles, which involve going out at night and associating with other young males who are involved in crime. In such associations, they place themselves at risk for becoming the victim of crimes themselves. Some support for this concept comes from research that indicates that crime victims as a group self-report a high amount of criminal activity. This hypothesis does not indicate that all victims are criminals, but that criminals as a group are at higher risk for becoming victims at some point because of the high-risk nature of their activities and associations.

So when I reached out to Andrea McDermott to gain some perspective as to what the situation around the family was at the time of the murders, I was surprised to get a response. It must be understood that I have reached out to everyone. Very few people respond for one reason or another. I told Andrea I got Bud’s FBI file last week. I am aware of the his conviction for trafficking in stolen vehicles in 1987 and some of the other “loosy lou” practices he had with odometers and cars that he acquired that “fell off a truck”.

I also shared my on-going suspicions about Justin and Blue. Andrea felt similarly. She asked me what I planned to do with the information she was giving me and I said I was looking for the truth, which is the truth. She reluctantly started sharing her perspective looking at the family from the standpoint of someone within the inner realm. After all, as Melanie’s lifelong friend, she was privy to many details that were innate to the family that strangers may never know. Certainly, she was unsettled by the dispensation of the case. There were elements that just did not jive with what she knew to be true and now her friend has been murdered and every fiber within her was screaming “there is a misrepresentation of the facts”. So when I asked questions, she answered because she believes people, who were at least accomplices in some capacity, got away with murder. She discussed things with Rick Outzen who wrote an article hinting at things but he never put the concerns she had out there. We all know Outzen’s integrity. He wants the truth but only if it does not reflect badly on his buddies, Eddins and Morgan, which this would.

Andrea began telling me about how Bud’s bad heart and age had made his dealings in the car business laborious. He planned on shifting it to Blue and Ashley. After beginning to do just that, everything started falling apart. He realized they did not have ability to maintain this business and his hands in money laundering, which is a common knowledge fact among everyone around Bud, required that this business run in perpetuity to fulfill his obligations with Mexican criminal elements, or cartels. Ashley and Blue were going to get him killed, screwing with the Mexican’s money. So he took the business back from them. Blue and Ashley were on the verge of divorce. Blue was losing his “gravy train”. Bud’s intention was to sell off his business because that would be the only way out of his debacle.

Now the speculation comes in here. Do the cartels get nervous about the business changing hands with their participation woven into the fabric of the business or could Blue and Ashley have put their differences aside to try to reclaim the business from Bud? Either scenario creates a concern about Bud. Murder has been committed for far less motives than ensuring the perpetuation of financial stability by the cartel or Blue and Ashley.

Add another dimension to this. Justin. What is Justin’s story? He had a fight about a week before where he was relegated to a trailer on the property–not to be in the house. What was the fight about? We can imagine money or Justin’s future as a 20 year old. There are a number of different things that create friction between a father and his son. But what makes this situation different is the reasoning of this fight. This fight was about Justin inappropriately touching of one of the special needs girls. That was the fight and is a pattern of behavior that spans back to inappropriate acts with Nikki, Ashley’s daughter with CP. There was an inappropriate relationship that was there that made military school necessary to get Justin out of this house. At roughly $2-3K in SSI, state assistance via cash and food stamps PER KID, if someone in the house is “suspected” of inappropriate behavior, those kids are going to be taken by the State. Justin was a loose cannon and a liability to the family.

This becomes a Pandora’s box of issues within the house. Over the years, Bud was accused of inappropriate sexual conduct with some of the older girls in the house. Ashley made the statement to people that she had been raped as a young teenager. Sex abuse does not “pop” up in a house. It is typically learned behavior. People who were sexual abused will either sexually abuse others or they will internalize their rage and self destruct without proper therapy and in some case that happens in lieu of therapy. So to hear that Bud was accused in the past is not unbelievable because both Justin’s and Ashley’s actions are manifestations of sexual abuse and the common denominator is Bud.

Actions taken by Justin immediately after, led the people closest to him, Ashley, Patricia Bosco, and Cambra Lee, question whether he was involved. They all accused Justin to the police regarding his behavior prior to and after the murder, but no one has to take their word for it. Look at the Youtube videos. Within minutes of his parents’ brutal murder, Justin is calm, emotionless, talking a bullshit story and when tested, he has gunshot residue on his hands. A thing that is not easily transferable. I found this info on the FBI.gov site (https://leb.fbi.gov/2011/may/the-current-status-of-gsr-examinations).

…A comprehensive analysis of the sample can eliminate false positives, leaving GSR as the only possible source. In this area, recent research and studies in the search for false positives have only brought about increased confidence in characterizing particles as GSR.

Justin showed up after deputies arrived. That is documented. He had neither access to the gun at his parents’ home (as he contends) nor the bodies of his parents that are the only reasonable explanations of transfer gunshot residue. In the absence of that, the trace amount is pertinent. The deputies dismissed this because of an overgeneralized understanding of the crime scene and a flimsy excuse of handling of fireworks. In some cases, fireworks have some forms of gunpowder in them, but the testing used would not pick up this type of powder as it is organically, chemically different that true residue left by a fired gun. Primarily different in the shavings of metal that are microscopically ejected in the process of firing a gun. An excerpt from the following book, can more carefully explain this fact. Scientific Foundations of Crime Scene Reconstruction: Introducing Method to Mayhem, By Jon J. Norby

So you have these people in the inner circle of Bud Billings who had issues with Bud. To eliminate them WITHOUT investigating any angle or scenario pertaining to them is just reckless. Law Enforcement 101…the people closest are the ones who are more likely to be involved in any act of violence. They have intimate knowledge of people, routines, possible reactions and overall circumstances which can be exploited in opportunistic timing. That is not just TV logic. That is criminalistics.

Color me surprised when Andrea mentioned to me that she had been warned that talking to me may not be a good idea. Why? I am just looking for some understanding of the crime. Who is ok with a justice system that allows people involved in a murder to go free? Is it really wrong to want to see the guilty people punished? In this case, new people, implicated into the crime means that some of the people accused were wrongly accused. I say this because we have X number of participants in this crime. If you put the people that admit to being there, the ones linked to the crime by corroborating evidence (not false confessions) and people now believed to be involved, knowing the circumstances of the family, the entire narrative put out for public consumption, begins to fall apart. The next question is why? Why was a false story with bits of truth sprinkled delivered to the media? Why would law enforcement (ie Sir David) misrepresent facts about this crime? Why is it a problem to bring the actual facts to light? Who benefits by not investigating this crime?

Let’s go back to these pictures:

Outside of this case, how many times have you seen Sheriff Morgan hug and console a grieving family member after a murder? I would wager that number is zero. If the public did not know it prior to this case, these pictures speak volumes. There seems to be a personal relationship here. These people were not strangers thrown into a situation who were not known to each other. Pensacola is a small town. I can link together one particular link in Arety Kapatanis. Arety was a supporter of Morgan’s first election and she was close to Bud Billings. Had someone come to Morgan with the best interest of the family, perhaps in a PR situation, asking that the family laundry not be aired in this investigation? Possibly. But that should not prevent it from being investigated.

I can understand trying to preserve family dignity completely and maybe as a favor, Morgan agreed to spare a family as well as other people close to his money (ie Arety) from the public ridicule of having to put the Bud’s businesses in public like the career of laundering money, the entire business with the cartels, the “inappropriateness” of relationships in the family, Ashley’s marriage that is falling apart, Blue being halfway out the door after the business debacle and the other general family dysfunction. This is the general state of the family at the time of the murder, according to Andrea. Why wouldn’t she have reservations when none of these things have been looked at and had to have something to do with the intimacy of this crime?

The damnedest things about all of this is that Andrea, like myself, can’t seem to express these concerns because of a narcissistic Sheriff who slam dunked this huge case in less than 1 week’s time. He did this without a point person heading the investigation effectively, without records of interviews, without investigators conferring with each other and all of them on their own little mission within this three-ring circus and while Morgan is making hourly appearances on the news. Suddenly while people are scrambling around a phone call comes from a man who is concerned the van on TV is his that he sold to Terri Poff. But the truth of the matter is they have a van in close proximity to the crime scene that is abandoned. They already have it.

Being good investigators, someone checks it out. They approach a mentally unstable man who has been up for 3 days cooking meth in the van they are looking to investigate. Of course, his reaction was panic. Of course, he was trying to cover it and after seeing the news, he thinks he is going to be linked to this murder. He’s a paranoid schizophrenic. He would have thought he was being linked if the van had looked nothing like the one on tv. He was high and paranoid. During this time frame, Patrick’s (Gonzalez Jr.) name came up in the ECSO. This leads to a shit storm of speculation of involvement. Then after hours of interviews Lenny confesses to the crime in some way. He would have confessed to most anything after the number of hours of interviews, which were unlogged, catalogued or recorded in any way. This is the point where just enough truth and speculation merge with opportunity. I say that because no one could predict the reaction, sleep depravity and severity of the mental illness of Leonard Gonzalez Sr. That was pure luck and it was the catalyst that propelled the story of Morgan’s first official high profile case, that was solved with all the deputies going 60 different ways up until the moment Tama Barber swears, under oath and cross-examination, that they encounter people telling them about the suspects on TV. A measure of ye Old Sheriff that corrupts the investigation by having everyone and their mother seeing and knowing something. It also denies justice when people who haven’t even been questioned are put on TV and asserted as being the people who did this horrible crime. From that point on, investigators chase the story on the news to which they find enough truth to railroad 8 people while leaving the people with the motives, Ashley, Blue, Justin & Cab, and people with incriminating evidence in their possession that cannot be explained away, Hugh Wiggins, who had the gun, bloody gloves and the only thing taken from the robbery. Would you find comfort if this were the case and it was your family on a slab? Why would anyone think Andrea’s questions or mine are a threat to anything? If we believed space aliens did this, no one would give it a second thought, right? But because the speculation IS possible and because this does make sense, it threatens the status quo of what Pensacola knows about this crime. It also dents Sir David’s armor that he shined up real pretty for the cameras. Would he really look back at his investigation as a genuine effort find justice? HELL NO!

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Is The DEA Involved In The Billings Case?

Think about that for a moment.

No chance that he’s wrong on the Homeland Security angle but witchcraft is possible?

Share this:

Like this:

Like this: