Live Blog from the anchor desk 7/15/09
Tonight we’re following the latest in the double-murder of Melanie and Byrd Billings, a Florida couple known in their community for adopting special-needs children. The Billings were shot to death in their nine-bedroom home last week. The investigation has been heating up.
Want to know what else we're covering tonight? Read EVENING BUZZ
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You get me with that shark finning every time. Yuck! that is inhumane to the max!
please protect the sharks??? They're so incredible and so misunderstood.
That's the reality of war when churches get bombed. I can only hope the Iraqi's are able to protect their people as we move forward.
Michael Ware kind of lives on the edge, doesn't he? Such dedication and passion.
I don't know about Texas, but our municipality *requires* an annual audit. It's not a witch hunt, just a normal course of business. I actually wouldn't have accepted my position if there wasn't an annual audit. It's to protect everyone involved – the citizens, the employees and officials.
Six 's the charm!
Could somebody tell me how the Billings were wealty? Where they got their wealth from.
Anderson,
As a registered Nurse, I believe there is no reason to use Diprivan unless in a monitored situation in the hospital. Usually people are being artificially ventilated on this drug because of the respiratory depression it causes. On some occasions it is used to sedate a person for a very brief period of time during a procedure and again it is very closely monitored and resuscitation equipment is at hand. There are other alternatives that are safer. If a physician injected this drug, i do not believe this is within protocol. It is a crime and any health care professional who administers this drug in a nonmonitored situation is a criminal.
Why the churches just why.
As I was watching the car bombings, I got to wonderin about somepin.... are cars that cheap in Iran that they are so disposable?
I think the bombing of churches is a message from terrorists to tell the good folks: your God cant save you... bend to our will.
Glad to see Michael Ware again! I hope he's not in harm's way!
I hope that the Iraqis can handle the pressure....really scary situation if something terribly goes wrong.
Have there been any updates on the tanker explosion/ overpass collapse? I'm not too far from there, and can't find any updates!
Those secretaries, you have to ask yourself, if it were your boss handing you a check, would you ask about the complete legality of it? He says it's legal, you see extra food and clothes for your family, enough information for me to head to the bank.
Just curious .... were Christians targeted before the war started or is this something new?
OK – this story in Texas just blows my mind!
The reason he paid these three women was for their dedication and loyalty to their jobs – OMG!!!!
Unbelievable what can happen in a small town for so long.....
It will be a happy day when we can love other human beings who differ from ourselves. We are all God's children.
What is life coming to?
Are these attacks the result of American Forces pulling out. No one really talks about Iraq except for Michael Ware.
What was Former D.A. Garza "really getting" in exchange for these additional cheques paid out to his secretaries? And if his secretaries alone were getting extra pay, then I can just assume how much public money was going into Garza's own pocket.
Noooooo!!!!!! Church bombings in Iraq??? I hate it!!!!!! 😦
My heart goes out to the Billings family for the tragic loss of their parents. I commend Melanie's daughter for keeping the family (children) together and committing herself to taking care of them.
My heart also goes out to Michael Jackson and his family.
Anna, Toronto, ON
Gary is the best! These people don't realize that he will investigate this case until he gets to the bottom, no matter how long it takes.
I never miss Gary's reports!
Yeah, Michael Ware!!
re: the check writing DA in Texas - where were the auditors in all this? If it's public money, there had to be an audit......
Thanks for your response Angela
@Lori, some people are probably more prone to addiction than others, but MJ had the resources for the best medical care possible, and could have entered rehab at any time. He choose not to.
Great interview Gary Tuchman!!
I'm excited to see the report on Iraq. It's rare to hear reports about minority religions in the country.
What exactly did these secretaries do to get these checks? I know secretarial work only goes so far....
"Seized cash for Secretaries", wow I think he must really like his staff alot!
Wow! DA giving huge bonuses to their secretaries...now imagine that happening here in Chicago... it wont be THAT shocking.
I am an auditor as well as bookkeeper so this raised red flags for me.
More is coming on this one, I feel that.
If they don't feel they are in the wrong, then they should just talk to you guys.
@JoAnn...isn't it true that if one has an addiction (any addiction) they have an addictive personality? So, if it wasn't pain killers it would have been something else (like maybe "plastic" surgery?). Just a thought.
Something is missing in this plot, Sarrah brought a point I had given a thought to as a "practice" murder for something bigger. Unfortunately it has now become a puzzle we all feel the emotional need to solve! Clearly you cant have a concious! But what creeps me out is these men were husbands and fathers themselves! my jaw is just on the floor!!!!!
and this DA that gave all this money away- wow I should have gave up pediatric nursing and moved there and worked for him!!LOL
@ Joe from Oshawa, Ont., Canada
I believe it was in 1984
How much of that money did the secretaries pay back to this thief?
Joe Johns report on the First Lady's family bears out, or is an example of the President's point in your intvw w/ him Anderson, that the African American experience is "deeply "rooted in the American experience."
I wish the MJ video was shown while MJ was alive. Perhaps more people would have understood his physical pain and had a bit more compassion for him. I am now understanding why he was so addicted to his drugs. No thanks to the docs that helped supply him. Out of all the docs he had I don't see any heroes, doing the right thing! What a shame
Secretaries were "eyes and ears" in the community? what was it ? A virtual community? Good Ol' Texas Laws...................I reckon they're just a tad strange Hombre.
These reports about criminal law enforcement in Texas is embarrassing. but, it is true more than you know!
If the Texas DA payed his secretaries 6-figure bonuses, how much was he hauling in?
I know everything is big in Texas but THAT is ridiculous!
"loyal and exceptional workers" my foot! please! this is sickening...
I wish I was one of his secretaries. Then again, I don't know what they had to do to get it? How above and beyond did they go in their duties? 🙂
Watching the webcam ... Anderson, don't they know you are taping a live show? No time for pictures! You are too nice. 😉
It sounds alarming that Jackson family may not be doing great financially but could explain why the fueneral was paid for by the state and why members are cashing in...
I think pain medication can be very addictive for some people and for them extremely hard to stop taking.
If these guys went there to steal, how come nothing was stolen. why kill the parents.
Intriquing piece on Michelle Obama. Most of us will never be able to trace our African roots. Everything was done to break the slave from any tie to family, to a homeland, to his culture. There will always being a feeling of something missing.
I disagree with Jeff. Of course we are all just speculating at this point, but IF he was given Diprivan IV drip at home along with other powerful meds, I believe the physician administering it will be prosecuted and should be.
I am skeptical about Jackson becoming an addict because of the prescription pain killers he took. I know a lot of people who have taken very strong pain killers for an extended amount of time because of injuries and not a single one of them became an addict.
Jackson obviously had mental problems and an addictive personality, but a lot of it was his own choice.