Just to check, I again looked at the departing flights from Biloxi (Gulfport) to Dallas on Mondays:
6:00am to 6:30am: there is only one non-stop and it is at 6am - all others have one stop in ATL or IAH. Seems unlikely he could arrange to be on a flight by even 6:30am considering he would have just learned of his wife's murder after 5:00am. He would have to make the reservation, pack, check out of the hotel, arrange transportation to the airport and get there in time to go through check-in and TSA even if there were seats available and all while reeling from the news of his wife's murder. He simply could not have made one of these early flights. Give him a break - he is only human.
10:20am and 10:47am, arriving in Dallas at 2:54pm and 7:33pm. He was home by 3pm. Even if he managed to get on the 10:20am flight he would still spend a couple of hours getting out of the airport, renting a car (?),driving home from Dallas and would still arrive home later than he actually did.
12:06pm - arrives in Dallas at 5:02pm.
12:49pm - arrives in Dallas at 2:40pm - See above.
The next flights all arrive in Dallas after 3:00pm at which time he was already home by driving instead of flying.
1:04pm: 3 flights arriving in Dallas at 5:45pm; 5:47pm; and 7:02pm.
5:22pm: 2 flights that arrive in Dallas at 8:56pm and 10:36pm.
5:45pm - 3 flights arriving in Dallas at 10:13pm; 10:39pm and 11:41pm.
7:18pm - arrives at 9:08pm.
Sure, he could have made a reservation to fly out of New Orleans, packed, checked out of the hotel, rented a car ( 1 to 1.5 hours?) and driven 1 1/2 hours to the NOLA airport to catch a direct flight to Dallas but he would have to check in about 2 hours before his flight and still have the time consuming airport and transportation issues in Dallas. It would be 3.5 hours or so before he arrived into NOLA airport - if he was very lucky, he would have to return the car to the rental agency (not at the airport) shuttle to the airport, wait 2 hours in the airport after check in (as is suggested to get through the NOLA check ins/TSA etc.), a 1 hour flight and then another 2 hours to get out of the airport with baggage, rent a car and get home. This is IF flights are not delayed and there is no traffic anywhere.
We need to remember that while the actual flight time is short, the getting to and away from the airports takes hours and hours.
I think BB made the best choice to get home the quickest and easiest way - he and his friend rented a car and drove. By looking at the flights available without a rental and drive to NOLA, he got home sooner than any flight could deliver him. Add NOLA and nothing changes except more time coordination and more stress.