He was a 68-year-old entrepreneur who dabbled in used cars, boats and the adult industry before finally hitting it big. She was a 43-year-old country music lover who fed the homeless and was devoted to her MySpace page.
Together, they adopted 13 children with autism, Down Syndrome and other developmental disabilities and lived in a sprawling home west of Pensacola. And together they were slain there in a well-choreographed invasion captured on surveillance video.
A fuller profile of Byrd and Melanie Billings began to emerge Friday as hundreds of friends and family attended their funeral and recalled them as loving and tireless advocates for disabled children, and for their own four kids.
But ...