Justin Billings

[4Kat]

I noticed an error in the first statement taken by LE of Justin.

It says the date of the statement is 07/09/09.

However, during questioning, LE Tom Watts refers to the murders as "last night."

Page 6, Line 7

http://media2.fox10tv.com/billings/rcf317-404.pdf

Is the date wrong on the statement transcript or did Watts misspeak?

I'm really confused. They keep switching back and forth between past and present tense.

Is it common for people who live in the Florida/Alabama area of the country to say THERE when they mean HERE?

I think Watts simply misspoke when he said 'last night' because he references 'tonight' often in the questioning.

I see what you mean. It is confusing because on Page 3 Line 12 the interviewer asks: He was out there tonight? Referring to Justin's friend, Greg Clear.

I wonder if the interview started on the 9th and continued past midnight?

 

[Miss Muffet]

I see what you mean. It is confusing because on Page 3 Line 12 the interviewer asks: He was out there tonight? Referring to Justin's friend, Greg Clear.

I wonder if the interview started on the 9th and continued past midnight?

He switches back to 'tonight' on page 23.

It must be a regional thing----not being specific about here/there and is/was.

 

[Miss Muffet]

Okay just reread extremely well detailed report from Investigator Zack Ward, whose documentation is excellent and on page 1077 he details when he first enters the home and the info about Melanie and Byrd he specifically states that an employee from TSI security helped him with the surveillance equipment he does not at all mention Justin which I find extremely compelling. His investigative reports are so detailed and appear to be very factual. NO Justin? What's up w/that? This in the Fox news documentation.

If you read the second transcript, Justin helped more than one officer with the video equipment at different times. It's making me sick that Justin was used to help multiple police with the cameras. (Ward might not have been one of them, but he could have left it out of his report regardless of how factual it is. Many reports are proving to not be all-inclusive). They're getting all over him for knowing details, but he clearly did see everything on camera. The officers are laying into him during questioning simply because they think he shouldnt' have seen everything. Meanwhile, he helped more than one man with the camera. He even saw what happened to this father. The more I read Justin's transcripts, the more I feel like Justin is just a young kid who tried to help the police while dealing with the losss of his parents. The police should have NEVER had Justin help/watch those tapes.

 

[4Kat]

He switches back to 'tonight' on page 23.

It must be a regional thing----not being specific about here/there and is/was.

I can't be sure, but I believe the interview was done at the station the same night and not at the scene. That's why we get "was there" and not "is here"

I'll have to look at it again later tomorrow with a fresh mind.

 

[Gypsy Road]

Haven't read the docs yet, but have read the thread. Just thinking out loud here...Regarding Justin knowing that a safe was missing - could one of the children who were present during the murders - could one of them have told April that the perps shot and killed their mommy and daddy and also took a safe with them and then April relayed the info to Justin?????

Sorry if I am way off on this. I guess I need to go read the docs in their entirety!

 

[4Kat]

Haven't read the docs yet, but have read the thread. Just thinking out loud here...Regarding Justin knowing that a safe was missing - could one of the children who were present during the murders - could one of them have told April that the perps shot and killed their mommy and daddy and also took a safe with them and then April relayed the info to Justin?????

Sorry if I am way off on this. I guess I need to go read the docs in their entirety!

Gypsy Road, I haven't seen anything like that. It's not to say it's not there, I haven't read everything yet. At this time, I believe LE's first indication about the missing safe came from either Justin or what they could see in the surveillance tapes. I'm sure we will find out soon enough.

BTW, good luck in reading the docs. There is sooo much there and they are not in any kind of structured time line.

 

[LaceSprocket]

I just want to throw this out there about Justin, too.

I read the docs provided by PNJ - they are...confusing to say the least. I am discovering other docs released by other sources, which makes it more confusing. At any rate...

I recall reading a statement taken from Justin on the night of the murders (from the PNJ links). He was one of the first to lead investigators to the surveillance system and helped them "operate" it. I recall reading HIS statement where he watched the tapes up until his saw the murders, then in his words, he states he had to stop watching them from that point - on THAT particular night (the night of the murders).

Then, in another statement read somewhere, they called in a technician from the security company to help with the tapes, as well. Rather than relying on a "user" of the system - the son of the murder victims, no less.

Just my opinion?

Justin was probably eager to help the investigators, but become too distraught to continue. It's not mentioned, but I am going to assume that they brought in a technician from the surveillance company to help, as well. Justin may have known how to operate the tapes, but tHe investigators probably had questions regarding the whole system that Justin could not answer - either from lack of knowledge or his emotional state.

At any rate, they probably called in a technician for credibility purposes as well. They probably needed someone with intimate knowledge of the system to help support the case at large.

At any rate, I agree with the poster above - eager or not, Justin should not have viewed those tapes on that evening. The technician could have accomplished the same discovery without the unimaginable emotional damage caused by Justin viewing those tapes...so soon.

He's 20 (or something), but still very young and from what I'm gathering, although a legal adult, not emotionally mature and lacked the life experience to really handle the events of that evening. Regardless of his eagerness to "help" - which I am going to assume, was his way of dealing with the shock and grief of the moment.

JMO.

 

[mfcmom]

Look I am not coming down on Justin, in fact I am hoping that we can find some exculpatory evidence. Agree that the different documents are confusing, however, why did LE come down so hard on this kid, considering he had just lost his parents in such a violent fashion? I do however, think that some of what is being written here is biased. IMO

 

[Gene]

I noticed an error in the first statement taken by LE of Justin.

It says the date of the statement is 07/09/09.

However, during questioning, LE Tom Watts refers to the murders as "last night."

Page 6, Line 7

http://media2.fox10tv.com/billings/rcf317-404.pdf

Is the date wrong on the statement transcript or did Watts misspeak?

I'm really confused. They keep switching back and forth between past and present tense.

Is it common for people who live in the Florida/Alabama area of the country to say THERE when they mean HERE?

I think Watts simply misspoke when he said 'last night' because he references 'tonight' often in the questioning.

On my Page 6, line 7 it does not say "last night" it says "that night:

Q: Well, we are talking about that night, I mean, while you were standing out there on the driveway.....Someone called you or you called them?

He does mispeak (that night) and then he triest to correct himself (I mean)....and then he is specific (while you are standing on the driveway).

I believe that the first interview is late on the evening of July 9 and the second is on July 10. Both happen at the police station.

But I agree with you, it is confusing. Note that there is a mistake with the transcription. The numbering of the first interview is screwed up. The first page of the first interview is numbered 1/15 and handcorrected to 1/31. The mistake continues until 14/15 and then suddenly jumps to 15/31. There are so many errors, it is a wonder that this does not effect the prosecution process.

 

[Miss Muffet]

Look I am not coming down on Justin, in fact I am hoping that we can find some exculpatory evidence. Agree that the different documents are confusing, however, why did LE come down so hard on this kid, considering he had just lost his parents in such a violent fashion? I do however, think that some of what is being written here is biased. IMO

There is no such thing as an unbiased opinion. I started out in this thread thinking Justin was suspicious. The more I started digging into the details, the more I'm starting to see it differently.

The interrogator is one of the investigators Justin helped with the video. He's focusing on how Justin knew things that he (the interrogator) didn't see on the video when he was with Justin. But Justin was helping other investigators with the video equipment. Justin's answers make sense. It is documented by multiple sources that Justin did in fact help other investigators with the video equipment. There is also proof that investigators had multiple undocumented conversations with Justin about much of the information the interrogator is drilling him about.

IMO LE wouldn't be leaning on Justin so hard if Justin hadn't helped with the vidoe equipment. Remember, April is the one who told LE Justin knew how to work the system. LE went to Justin asking for his help.

Early on, I remember a news report stating that the suspects were surprised when they learned the video wasn't turned off. That's why LE thinks there is someone who should have turned off the video. Seems to me that Justin was their first lead since Justin had knowledge of how to work the video.

 

[Miss Muffet]

On my Page 6, line 7 it does not say "last night" it says "that night:

Q: Well, we are talking about that night, I mean, while you were standing out there on the driveway.....Someone called you or you called them?

He does mispeak (that night) and then he triest to correct himself (I mean)....and then he is specific (while you are standing on the driveway).

I believe that the first interview is late on the evening of July 9 and the second is on July 10. Both happen at the police station.

But I agree with you, it is confusing. Note that there is a mistake with the transcription. The numbering of the first interview is screwed up. The first page of the first interview is numbered 1/15 and handcorrected to 1/31. The mistake continues until 14/15 and then suddenly jumps to 15/31. There are so many errors, it is a wonder that this does not effect the prosecution process.

After I posted that last night, I noticed it said 'that night.' I was too tired to repost. Plus, it still represented confusion. I think the swiching of "here/there" and "is/was" causes confusion too. For instance, LE says 'there' when they are at the questioning occurs at the house. (And why don't the transcriptions include information about the location the statement was taken?) The switching of tenses "is/was" add to the confusion. I can only assume that's how people speak in that part of the country, but I expected LE to be more precise.

Good catch about the page numbering. I hadn't noticed that. One day, I'm going to print these documents!

This is the first time I've never read discovery documents. I'm just a debate junkie---that's why I often switch my focus back and forth from center. I'm disappointed that many of the LE reports and statements don't have times. Some transcripts start out with the time, others end with the time, and some have no time at all. I also noticed that many investigators didn't state the time they arrived at the scene in their reports.

Furthermore, it does seem as if there aren't reports from every investigator who went to the scene. There were initially 8 officers who secured the house with more arriving later. On top of that, the crime tech investigators arrived later too. Compared to how many were on the scene, there is only a small representation of reports and few reports document the time of arrival and even less document their conversations with Justin. That bothers me since Justin's explanations involve interactions he had with LE.

 

[mfcmom]

That's exactly why we are debating this. I think the only questions left are why hasn't LE released transcripts of Clear and the Grandparents to clear Justin. Just wondering. They may be out there but I can't find them yet. Thanks for the rowdy debate LOVE it. The more PIO's we can eliminate the easier it will be to find answers.

 

[Miss Muffet]

I think the only questions left are why hasn't LE released transcripts of Clear and the Grandparents to clear Justin. Just wondering. They may be out there but I can't find them yet.

I can't think of a good explanation for their statements not being released. If their statements are part of an ongoing investigation into Justin, then I'd think they would have withheld Justin's statements too. And I can't imagine how the statements of Clear and Grandmother could have been withheld to protect the 'good name.'

I wouldn't necessarily trust Grandmother's word; however, I think the alibi can be easily confirmed by heading to the mall to verify the job applications, etc. Regardless, Clear and Grandmother's statements would be interesting to read.

We know LE questioned Clear because LE mentions wanting to talk to Clear in Justin's transcript. One LE report also states that Clear and Justin were using each other as alibis. LE wouldn't have put that in the report without questining Clear.

 

[daisy7]

In the Caylee case, some transcripts weren't released until MANY months after the interview took place. There was one pivotal person in the case that wasn't released until this past March, IIRC, and her interview took place last July.

There was tons of speculation about why it hadn't been released, and then it just was released. I don't think there's any rhyme nor reason about how the docs. are released (or none I could find).

 

[Gene]

Just noticed something interesting. Justin calls himself a car freak. Makes a big point out of the fact that he has been around cars all of his life and can easily tell one car from the next. He and the investigator spend about two pages on the subject of the van he saw in the video.

Justin tells police (Page 330 /729) that he believes that the van is an '04 Dodge 3500 van. He confirms it is a "newer model".

Justin was off by only 22 years. Hartsfield tells us that the van is a 1982 Dodge.

Is this significant or just an honest mistake?

 

[redfish]

Just noticed something interesting. Justin calls himself a car freak. Makes a big point out of the fact that he has been around cars all of his life and can easily tell one car from the next. He and the investigator spend about two pages on the subject of the van he saw in the video.

Justin tells police (Page 330 /729) that he believes that the van is an '04 Dodge 3500 van. He confirms it is a "newer model".

Justin was off by only 22 years. Hartsfield tells us that the van is a 1982 Dodge.

Is this significant or just an honest mistake?

IMO its not really significant because the previous owner of the van made significant changes to the van.... it is an "original"! some windows different and the grill has been changed. I am not sure if there were anymore changes but there is not another one like it anywhere. (Boy I sure did overuse the word significant!!)

 

[NSC]

Just noticed something interesting. Justin calls himself a car freak. Makes a big point out of the fact that he has been around cars all of his life and can easily tell one car from the next. He and the investigator spend about two pages on the subject of the van he saw in the video.

Justin tells police (Page 330 /729) that he believes that the van is an '04 Dodge 3500 van. He confirms it is a "newer model".

Justin was off by only 22 years. Hartsfield tells us that the van is a 1982 Dodge.

Is this significant or just an honest mistake?

As a child I was always so proud of the fact that I was able to reconize cars so easily - However, I don't think I ever would have made a 22 year difference of a mistake on a van. I think you make a valid point.

 

[megamami]

IMO its not really significant because the previous owner of the van made significant changes to the van.... it is an "original"! some windows different and the grill has been changed. I am not sure if there were anymore changes but there is not another one like it anywhere. (Boy I sure did overuse the word significant!!)

But that van didn't look anything like a 2004 anything! Not even a grill is going to make that much difference. The body is unmistakeably old. Every other car person said it looked like junk. I have driven vans for years but I am not too interested in car makes and models. But even *I* knew that was an older Dodge van.

 

[Kimmer]

Here are my thought on JB....As far as I can tell from reading all of the discovery that has been released the only 2 people who knew the layout of that house are JB and Cab Tice....It has been reported by LE that they beleive the intruders were not only aware of the layout of the house but also aware that the only room that did not have cameras was the master bedroom and that was the reason they were dragged into that room to be executed....

The camera room was upstairs which is wear JB would have went with LE to show them how the camera's worked therefore he would not have been in the room his parents were laying in deceased...And since there is no actual footage of the execution how could JB had know how many times his father had been shot...

JB claims that he is still scared and fearful that someone will come after him, could this be because he was suppose to disable the camera and since he did not do so, and since LE basically has the van and how many intruders came in and what they took out and how long it took, it seems to me that there would be alot of really pissed off people that those cameras were not disabled and therefore making JB feel as though he may be in danger...

I still cannot shake the feeling that this case is not just a simple robbery but that there will be drugs, gun running, money laundering and possible alot more come out within this case...I am in no way saying that the victims were doing this but I certainly think that some of the suspects were...My guess is that by the time this is over there will be more people arrested......And when it comes to JB my hinky meter is at full tilt......

Kimmer

 

[Solomisskitty]

Regarding anyone knowing the layout of the house, wouldn't any caretakers, babysitters, people living on the property, visitors, friends, and any of the family qualify as well?

And let's not forget about whoever installed/serviced the surveillance system.....