Bad News Pensacola, UPDATE

Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan cryptically called the Billings murder a “humdinger.” He said it would make a good mystery movie; that there were more details that would be released in the coming weeks and months. Today, we learned a tiny bit more. You can check out the story as it develops by reading our local mullet-wrapper/bird cage-liner, a link to which is posted at the bottom of this page.

The Billings have been portrayed in the media as a wealthy, generous couple who opened their hearts and home to as many as 17 children over the years, most of them disabled in some way. Not much has been written about their past, or how Byrd Billings attained his wealth.

Turns out, Byrd Billings bankrolled bars. Topless bars, to be exact. Specifically, one particular place called “The Backseat” here in Pensacola. It was a dump, and please don’t ask me how I know. And others, reportedly. He bankrolled “numerous” nightclubs too, but the type of such clubs is left unspecific.

In today's Sunday edition, the Pensacola News Journal reported that twenty years ago Billings and a former girlfriend tried to illegally adopt a baby. They were sentenced to probation. Billings did end up legally adopting that child, then he and his future wife Melanie continued doing that up to the present. Most of the kids they adopted were "special needs" children.

However, the PNJ also details another scheme in which Billings tried to copyright the names of his children, and he sued the state of Florida for infringement whenever any of its agencies used one of those names inappropriately.

“Bizarre” is how the PNJ describes some of Billings’ activities.

As Billy Mays might say, But wait, there's more! Billings was also in the used-car business, owning a number of lots over the years. He not only sold cars, but he financed ‘em and repossessed ‘em too. He may have stumbled into the used car business by first being in the car detailing business, which he was. Coincidence of coincidences, one of the suspects in his murder worked at a car-detailing business.

So what does this tell us about the man, Billings? Well, not much, and certainly nothing that we can point to and go, “AHA!” But the businesses that Billings was involved in have a reputation for seediness and sleazyness, and it causes us to at least raise an eyebrow. We know…come on, let’s not be coy…we know the types of people he was associating with…had to associate with in the topless bar biz. And the used car business on top of that. So along with that raised eyebrow we wonder, did he know any of his killers? Or did he have past dealings with any of them? The Sheriff says no, but the police will lie and say anything right up to the point of trial when they are finally under oath. And maybe not even then, but that's my ex-New Yorker skepticism and cynicism talking.

The couple’s oldest daughter, Ashley is bristling at the innuendo being bandied about, and you can't really blame her. She told the PNJ that her father’s business dealings were always above-board. Perhaps. We do not like to speak ill of the dead or those who cannot defend themselves. But for all of his good press, let's not be so quick to canonize Byrd Billings. Not just yet.

Eight people have been arrested so far, seven men and one woman. Well, six men and a sixteen year-old boy who’s being charged as an adult. All of the men have been charged with murder and are being held on either no bond or a bond so high that it's like, fuggedaboudit, you ain't goin' nowhere. The woman, by the name of Pamela Wiggins, was only charged as an accessory and, astoundingly is free on a $10,000 bond. The low bond has most people in Pensacola going, "Uhhhhh, say WHAT???"

This Wiggins woman: now here is a bit of a puzzle. She owns a number of properties here in the Pensacola area, one of which she had rented to the alleged “mastermind” of this plan. Although she was no real estate mogul (and no one had ever heard of her before this case), business must've been good for her because Wiggins was found on her 47-foot yacht (the Classy Lady, heh) moored at a fancy-schmancy marina in nearby Gulf Shores, Alabama. Sheriff Morgan inexplicably asked her to just saunter over hear to P'cola at her leisure, which she did, and then she was arrested. But she must be singing like a canary because the perception is that she's getting some extra-special treatment.

On the evening of the crime, police say that Wiggins' SUV was parked near the Billings’ house, and it was into said SUV that the guns and stolen safe were transferred. It was in the backyard of her own home that the safe was buried. Police said that this Wiggins was at the scene of the murders, in her SUV, but she was not driving it. Police say she was only a passenger. We are left to wonder whether there is yet another person involved here and whether a ninth arrest will be made? It would seem so.

Now, either Wiggins was the one who was supposed to disable the security system in the Billings place or she was not. Police aren't saying. But if she was, then she was in on the planning and is more than just an "accessory" driver...err, passenger/gun hider/safe burier. If she was not the security system disabler, then is there still yet another arrest to be made?

There is also a rumor...just a rumor, mind you...that there is another safe in the house. Ooh, did the crooks get the wrong one? Or is this just a bit of police disinformation?

I think it's the latter. See, the police are calling this a home-invasion/robbery. Maybe I've watched too many episodes of Miami Vice, but I'm thinking that it was a home-invasion/murder. I think the robbery was just the ruse, the cover of the real crime, which was the execution of the Byrd and Melanie Billings.

Whatever the real reason for the murders was, it's a strange, sad, captivating case - at least for us here where it happened.



The Pensacola News Journal Homepage

Bad News Pensacola, Again...

Here we go, Pensacola has been thrust into the national spotlight. As usual, not in a good way, either. A week ago, a wealthy, well-respected and -loved local couple was killed. This particular couple cared for 17 children, most of them adopted, many of them with “special needs.” Byrd and his wife Melanie Billings were known for their kindness, philanthropy, and donations to charity. They had a large home on a big piece of property just west of town. A disturbing fact of the crime was that it was committed in the evening, still during daylight, while many of the children were home.

HERE is a link to a pretty good story in the Pensacola News Journal.

We were shocked, of course. We learned right away that the killers were caught on a surveillance camera video. Released to the media, the tape showed an older, red Dodge van drive up to the house. Three people got out and went inside. The front door was not locked. There are still parts of the country where the need for that is not perceived. Very quickly, they came back out and drove away. Police did not say so, but I suspected there were other cameras around the place, maybe some inside the house as well.

Because if there are cameras outside, there are usually cameras inside too, and in this case there were. These reportedly show the actual shootings of the couple but were, understandably, not released to the media. However, a tape from another outside camera was released, and it showed four people dressed in “ninja” garb approaching and entering the house through an unlocked back door.

All in all, the intruders were in the house for about four minutes. Clearly, this was well thought-out, well-planned, well-rehearsed and well-orchestrated. The only glitch was that the security cameras had not been turned off. Police cannot explain why – they only say that the person in charge of doing so did not.

Our Escambia County Sheriff, David Morgan has been circumspect and terse, releasing only incomplete bits of information. On the day after the murders, he described the intruders as, “white.” A reporter pressed him: White males? Morgan gave him a steely stare. “White,” he repeated. “Just white.” Aha. Okay. Might not have all been men, I get it.

The arrests came quickly. The van was found immediately, of course. You can’t hide a big, red Dodge van, especially when it’s been plastered all over Channel 3 news. Sure enough, it was parked, semi-hidden behind a mobile home in a trailer park in town. Three people were in custody right away; more soon followed. So far, a total of seven are behind bars, including a sixteen year-old boy – maybe one or two more to go.

The obvious motive is robbery. The killers made off with a safe which was said to have been in the couple's master bedroom. But Sheriff Morgan likens this event to a movie, with numerous twists and turns to the plot. And it causes one to think: What does he mean? Was it just robbery…or something more? What do you keep in a safe that you would not (or cannot) deposit in a bank? It was noted almost in passing that among the law enforcement personnel involved in the investigation, there were members of the FBI and DEA participating too. DEA?

We are not surprised to find out that some of the people involved have extensive criminal records. Lots of jail time. Police say that the way that everyone (including the killers to the victims) is related to each other in this case is a complex web. In events like this, we never know the full story right away. It will come in time though – probably when the book is published.

You hate to hear about murders like this, especially when they happen in your backyard. Nobody likes to see their town portrayed in a bad light. If you live in, oh, let’s say New York City it’s not so bad because with all of the millions of people who live there you know a lot of bad stuff is going to happen.

But in sleepy southern towns like Pensacola we like to think we’re removed from, and maybe somehow immune to the type of ghastly crime that pervades “the big cities.” I don’t lock my door during the day, even if I have to go out. My shed in the backyard is always unlocked, and my Harley back there is usually unsecured, easy-pickings for someone with a pickup truck and a ramp. I think I live in a “fairly safe” neighborhood. It’s a myth, of course, a false sense of security. Bad people are everywhere, even here, even in Pensacola, Florida.

The only bit of comfort I get out of this case is that arrests were made so astonishingly quickly. Thank goodness for modern technology. In the old days, the bad guys might have gotten away with it. Or at least it would’ve been much harder to catch them. To their credit, Sheriff Morgan and his whole department worked tirelessly, around the clock and quickly rounded up the suspects. Who doesn’t like to see justice served?

The Name Game

And now I find out - a little late, as usual - that the tallest building in the western hemisphere, formerly the tallest building in the world, the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois will soon be known as the Willis Tower. What the… Willis Tower? Whatchootalkingabout, Willis?

It seems that the Willis Group Holdings, an insurance company based in London, England is renting office space in the 1,450 foot tall Sears Tower. The rental agreement specifies that they can put their own corporate name on the building.

Why on earth would they do that, you ask? Why change the name of an iconic landmark that’s had the same identity since 1973?

Simple. First of all, because they can. But then… It turns out that the Aon Corporation, also a big competing insurance conglomerate which is based in Chicago, has their headquarters in the third-largest building in that city, the 1,136 foot tall Aon Center.

Get the picture? Willis will now be able to say that “their” building is taller than Aon’s.

Well whoop-de-friggin-do. This is what passes for important executive decisions in the new Corporate America.

It is worth noting that Sears, Roebuck & Co. commissioned the building for their corporate headquarters - the building that would bear their name. So regardless of who owns the actual piece of real estate, it can legitimately be called the “Sears” building forever.

Not that Willis now owns the Sears Tower, mind you…just as Aon doesn’t own the Aon Center. Willis is taking only 140,000 square feet of the Sears Tower, in which there is 3.8 million square feet of rentable space. So Willis is utilizing less than half of one percent. Sticking their corporate logo on the buildings is more than a little disingenuous since neither controls the entire property. Willis and Aon are merely the "primary tenants" in their respective buildings. The real owners of the buildings are allowing Willis and Aon to use them as billboards.

On the other hand, when the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company bought the Pan Am Building in Manhattan from that airline in 1981, they didn’t immediately put their own name on it (although they probably could have). That didn't happen until Pan Am went out of business in 1991. And although the building has been sold yet again (in 2005), the new owners (an investment group) have so far opted to leave the “MetLife” logo on the building, perhaps recognizing the landmark recognition value.

The Old Pan Am Building

The "New" MetLife Building

It will be curious to see whether people (especially Chicagoans) will accept and adapt to the name change, or whether it’ll continue to be known as the Sears Tower. It would be funny if it was the latter. Can you imagine the CEO of Willis, overhearing people - perhaps his own employees - referring to “his” building by its former name? “No, it’s the WILLIS TOWER, you idiots! WILLIS TOWER! Get it through your heads, it’s not the Sears Tower anymore. WILLIS TOWER!!” Then he goes home and kicks his dog. Heh. It would serve him right. (The CEO, not the dog.)

Speaking of landmarks and name-changes, in New York City there are Consolidated Edison electric power plants in various places. One is in Queens, close to LaGuardia Airport. It has five pairs of twinned smokestacks. It is distinctive enough to be used as a reporting point for the helicopters that are always buzzing around the city. Air traffic controllers refer to this point as, no surprise here, the “ten stacks.” It is even marked that way on an aeronautical chart.

Nearby, slightly north of the "ten stacks" but up in the Bronx there used to be another power plant. It only had five single smokestacks, and the La Guardia controllers referred to it that way: the “five stacks.” We had to know which was which because of their importance due to their proximity to the approach/departure path of one of the airport’s runways.

Eventually, the actual five smokestacks themselves were torn down, leaving nothing but a big brick building that was eventually demolished. For a while, controllers referred to that piece of land as the “no stacks.” Those of us who flew around the city regularly knew which building they meant, but it often confused out-of-town pilots. I always chuckled when I heard a controller tell a pilot to, “…report the no-stacks” and that pilot would reply, “Wilco.” Heh-heh, the no-stacks.


Looking at the above map (you might have to right-click and select "Open Link in New Window"), the former Con-Ed "five stacks" plant in the Bronx was just across the water from the “ten stacks," close to where the box with the word “Bronx” in it appears on the blue route. The area has changed a lot now, and the power plant itself it gone. An old-timer like me could pinpoint the location from the air, but it’s irrelevant. I doubt any of the current air traffic controllers would know anything about the "no-stacks."

I guess I’m a bit of a traditionalist. To me, it'll always be the "Pan Am Building." And so I lament the changing of the name of the Sears Tower. It’d be like changing the name of Central Park to, oh, “Trump Park” or "The Michael Jackson Memorial Park." It might happen, but nobody is ever going to call it that. Certainly not I.

Billy Mays, Conclusion

I guess I should say a word about Billy Mays, the television pitchman who I made fun of in an earlier blogpost. Mr. Mays died this past Sunday, June 28th at his home in Tampa, Florida. Mays apparently died in his sleep. The doctors have so far ruled it a heart attack. He was 50. He leaves behind an ex-wife and 24 year-old son, as well as his current wife and three year-old daughter.

I wish I felt…something…about Billy Mays’ death...something other than indifference. Like I said about Michael Jackson, we live then we die. Some of us get to live a really long time and die of natural causes; others get taken “before their time,” whatever that is.

I admired Billy Mays because he was very good at what he did, even though I didn’t like it very much.

Rest in peace, Billy.

Air New Zealand: Up Front and Out In The Open

My friend Gene usually sends me these things long before I ever find them. But not this time - hah!

If you've traveled by airline at all (and who hasn't?) you've had to sit through one of those mandatory pre-takeoff safety briefings. You know, where the cabin attendants tell you things like how to buckle your seatbelt and what to do in the "unlikely" event of a water landing. Most of us pay scant attention to these briefings. Yes, yes...I know the oxygen mask bag will not inflate, and I know that the nearest emergency exit may be behind me, and for cryin' out loud yes, I know it's a federal crime to smoke in the bathroom. Heard it a million times, toots. But the FAA requires that the briefings be given, and so they are.

Airlines handle them differently. Some use a video briefing which is harder to ignore, and some of these (like Delta's) are quite well done. Southwest Airlines doesn't use video briefings, but gives its cabin crews a lot of latitude in their live presentation. I'm sure we've all heard by now of SWA's "Rapping Flight Attendant." Yawn. Look, just get me to my damn destination and don't try to make a bad comedy act out of the flight, mm'kay?

Well, now. Along comes Air New Zealand. Like all airlines these days, Air New Zealand is feeling the pinch of reduced revenue from fewer passengers and less freight. Recently, the airline created an ad campaign stressing that, unlike some other airlines, Air New Zealand had no hidden fees. Everything was all up-front and out in the open. Then they created this video passenger safety briefing. Heh-heh. Never let it be said that New Zealanders don't have a sense of humor.



Here's the TV commercial. It's done in a similar vein.



There's a story behind the new commercial and passenger briefing, and you can read it HERE.

I can't remember the last time I saw a TV commercial for an airline. None of them seem to be advertising anymore. And who can blame them? Can you imagine what their main selling point would be? "We torture you slightly less than our competition. The good news is, because we don't have any direct flights and everything connects through Atlanta, you hopefuly won't be on any of our planes long enough to notice what a crappy airline we really are."

Reportedly, Air NZ saved a lot of money on both their TV commercial and passenger safety briefing by using regular employees rather than real actors. In fact, if you watch the television commercial again, look at the :13 second mark. One of the baggage handlers is Air NZ's CEO, Rob Fyfe.

Air New Zealand. Nothing to hide, eh? Everything is out in the open, eh? Clever, that. I say, good on ya Air New Zealand!



Blooper Reel of TV commercial

Requisite Michael Jackson Post

I must apologize for my tardiness. I received word this morning from the administrators of this website that all Bloggers must have posted something about Michael Jackson’s death within 24 hours of the event. Mea culpa, baby!

Is there anything I could write that you already haven’t heard or thought? Didn't think so.

We live, we die. No getting around that. Michael Jackson was a very public, controversial figure. Now he’s dead. So sorry. I liked his music. He leaves behind an incredible legacy. Okay, let’s move on.

Here is my favorite Michael Jackson song.

The King (Air) And I

I mentioned before that we've been shopping for an airplane to buy. The search continues, and it occupies every working minute that I'm not flying the helicopter. In fact, this week I'll be driving over to Jacksonville, Florida to look at a particularly attractive jet. Jets are hot right now if you're looking to buy one (not so hot if you're trying to sell one).

In the meantime, we leased a ship, a Beechcraft King Air 200; a type that we are considering to buy. It's a twin-engine, turbine-powered plane with eight passenger seats (plus two pilots). It weighs 12,500 pounds fully loaded. The wings span 55 feet.

King Airs have always been known for their roomy cabin, load-carrying capability and utter dependability. Out on the wings, the Pratt & Whitney PT-6 engines are legendary in their reliability and safety. This particular King Air (a 1982 model) is a "nice enough" aircraft, with new paint and interior, but the engines have a lot of flight time on them and are, to be kind, tired.

There she is, in all her glory, N58GA

My former boss had one just like it (with better engines) in which he routinely flew down to Honduras where it stayed for a week and then came home. That King Air never gave us any problems...never broke...never did anything but start up and fly.

With two aircraft at his disposal now, things can be complicated for my current Boss. On some trips, it can be a toss-up as to which one to take. The helicopter limits him to just four passengers, while the King Air can take more people in air-conditioned comfort. We have no air-conditioner in the helicopter, and sitting in it on the ground for any length of time is brutal, especially these days where the temperature has been in the upper-90s, even with that big fan on top turning.

This past Sunday we had a King Air flight in which we took one of our guys from his home in Alabama to a jobsite in West Virginia. The Boss would not be onboard, and we'd be coming home empty. The schedule had us returning to Home Base around midnight. As I was driving up to the airport, my phone beeped.

"Look, I want you to be honest with me," the Boss started out. "When you get back tonight, would you mind flying the helicopter down to Pensacola instead of driving your car, and then coming down to Destin in the morning to pick me up?"

I certainly didn't mind making the short, 20-minute flight home instead of the one-hour drive. But I'd really planned on sleeping-in on Monday morning; it had been a long week that drove right on through the weekend. No such luck. Picking the Boss up in Destin at 8:30AM would mean waking up around six. Oh well...

I really like flying airplanes. Don't tell the Boss, but in some ways I like flying planes more than helicopters. My helicopter pilot friends clutch their hearts, grimace and swoon like they're going to pass out when they hear me say such blasphemous things. Many helicopter pilots find airplanes to be deathly boring and unchallenging. To them, only the rush of helicopter flying will feed their need.

But on our flight home on Sunday, as we cruised along serenely at 24,000 feet, I was able to climb in the back and retrieve some crackers and sodas. (Don't worry, there are always two of us flying.) I could've used the potty if need be; there is one installed. Helicopter flying is fun, no doubt, but airplane flying is just so much more relaxed. As I've mentioned before, if I take my hands off the controls of the helicopter - even if only to open a bottle of water - it immediately tries to turn itself upside down. Keeps you busy, that.

It'll be a while until I am checked-out and proficient enough to fly the King Air by myself. But I quite like flying with another pilot for a change. I've been a "lone wolf" (one-man show) all my life. Operating as a crew of two is cool because it feeds my unfulfilled airline pilot fantasies. I always really wanted to be an airline pilot. I have no idea how I fell into helicopters, really. It's just the path I ended up on, and I honestly can't complain. It's been a fun life so far. But sometimes I do wonder...

Hey, our King Air may not be a mighty 707 headed for Paris or London, but at night, as I squint at that big instrument panel jam-packed with all its "old school" round dials and switches, it might as well be.