Loose ends still need tying in Fla. couple deaths

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) -- Investigators have found a safe stolen during a precisely executed, deadly home break-in at the home of a wealthy Florida Panhandle couple, authorities said Thursday.

Melanie and Byrd Billings, who were known for adopting 13 children with special needs, were fatally shot last week. Surveillance cameras captured footage of masked men -- some dressed as ninjas -- slipping into front and back doors of their home near Pensacola.

Eight people have been charged -- seven with murder and one with being an accessory after the fact

State Attorney Bill Eddins wouldn't say where the safe was found, what was in it or what else might have been taken from the home.

He also said investigators have found several guns, including at least one they believe was used to kill the Billingses.

Eddins said the case was mostly wrapped up.

"In our opinion this was a home invasion robbery where the people stole a safe," he said. "It was as simple as that as to the motive."

But Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said at a news conference with Eddins that other motives may emerge and there are still people investigators want to talk to.

"We have some people of interest that we're continuing to look at and I can tell you that those are now numerous people," Morgan said.

One of those people may have been someone who failed to carry out an assignment to disable surveillance cameras at the sprawling nine-bedroom home.

Morgan said a major hole in the investigation is why the cameras weren't turned off, marring an otherwise perfect crime. The surveillance videos led investigators to a red van used as a used as a getaway car and eventually to the suspects, a loosely connected group of mostly day laborers who knew each other through a power washing business and an auto detailing operation.

"It is a combination of friendships, casual business relationships that brought this group together," Morgan said.

Deputies on Wednesday arrested the eighth suspect, 47-year-old Pamela Long Wiggins, charging her with accessory after the fact to murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

The other seven -- six men an a 16-year-old boy -- each face two counts of murder.

Wiggins was freed on a $10,000 bond, the teen is being held in detention and the six men are jailed without bond.

Morgan has said Wiggins is a friend and landlord to 35-year-old Leonard Gonzalez Jr., described as a "pivotal person" in organizing the break-in. Gonzalez, who is charged with murder, proclaimed his innocence in court Tuesday.

Morgan said Thursday that Wiggins led them to evidence, though he would not be more specific.

Morgan also confirmed that the Drug Enforcement Administration is assisting with the investigation of the suspects, but he said the agency is not investigating the Billings family.

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.

Nine of the couple's 13 adopted children were home during the break-in. Three saw the intruders but were not hurt. The couple also had four children from previous marriages.

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Associated Press writers Melissa Nelson in Pensacola and Tamara Lush in Miami and the AP News Research Center in New York contributed to this report.