Trial set for Billings' murder suspect

PENSACOLA, Florida (WALA) - The first of seven suspects in the murders of Byrd and Melanie Billings is set to go to trial next month. A pre-trial conference was held Monday morning in an Escambia County Florida courtroom.

Leonard Patrick Gonzalez, Jr. is thought to be the mastermind behind the robbery and murder of the Billings last July. During the commando-style raid on the Beulah home, prosecutors say that Gonzalez and six others took a safe out of the house and shot the couple to death.

Gonzalez’s trial is set for October 25 and Monday, the court called a pre-trial conference to make sure both sides would be ready. State Attorney Bill Eddins commented after the proceeding.

"The Court has moved the case along, the preparations along,” Eddins said. “He's monitored the preparations and the standard death penalty motions have been filed and disposed of in that case, so that's behind us. The defense lawyer, a week or so ago at that hearing, assured the court that he was ready and would be prepared to try the case."

Eddins said the discovery process has gone quickly and smoothly over the last year. It’s required a dedicated team to go over thousands of pages of documents.

"We're very satisfied with the progress of the case,” said Eddins. “In a major case such as this, involving this many defense lawyers and this many witnesses, this is probably faster than most cases of this nature would move."

The prosecution is seeking the death penalty and anticipate a “Change of Venue” motion by the defense. Eddins will ask the judge to keep the trial in Escambia County and bring a larger jury pool in to choose from. The trial is expected to last about two weeks; one week for the guilt phase and a few days to get through the sentencing phase.

Each of the suspects in the murders will be tried separately. The next two on the list are Wayne Thomas Coldiron and Donald Ray Stallworth. Those trial dates are set for January and March 2011. Eddins hopes to finish up all seven trials by the end of next year.

Gonzalez’s attorney could not be reached for comment.