tonight on "nightline," executed? shocking new details in the billings murder case files including the claim that organized crime lay behind the house invasion. was this a contract killing? and food for thought. this self-described fat kid grew up to be perhaps the most feared restaurant critic in the world. frank bruni reveals his tortured existence who ate gourmet food for a living. plus it's war. nick watt faces off against the germans in this battle for the sun lounger. it's "a sign of the times". captions paid for by abc, inc.

good evening. i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin tonight in pensacola, florida. the crime committed july 9 was so fast, so coordinated, so shocking in its violence the murder of a couple beloved in their community that it left those who knew bud and melanie billings reeling. there's been one mystifying question -- why? why would anyone want to kill the couple who had taken so many children with disabilities into their home? tonight, some answers begin to emerge, as jeffrey kofman reports. >> maybe it's because the attacks seemed so coordinated. e security video from the evening of july shows masked men. the sheriff called them gin jas in a lightning -- called them ninjas. the lingering question -- was it

really just a robbery? the 766 pages of the documents released this week by the state's attorney's office answers some questions. the details are chilling. the murders, grisly. at the center, bud and melanie billings, the parents of 17 children, nine severely disabled and still living at home. which is what makes the murders so hard .toth e autopsies reveal that bud billings was murdered in a manner fitting of the mob, two shots in the back of the head, two shots in the face and melanie was shot three times in face, twice in the chest. what makes this scene even more disturbing is that the investigative report that involves a report of the two children who witnessed at least some of this. a child with down's syndrome was in the bedroom when it appened.

he said two bad men woke his father and one said, you're going to die. dad kept screaming no way, and the intruder counted to three before he shot both mom and dad and dad grabbed one of the suspects by the back of the neck. he said, mom got shot in her shirt. police descended on the home d so began what may be the biggest murder investigation in pensacola history. it has been dogged by speculation, rumors, innuendo that there must be something more to the case. >> these are the interview rooms right here. >> no one has fuelled the speculation more than the savvy sheriff of the county, david morgan. we spoke with him at length just a week after the murders. >> i think you've used the word in the last week, humdinger is there a humdinger you can't tell us? >> yes. >> so this a robbery, a home invasion, but something much more? >> something much, much more. >> is this a you wouldn't believe what's really gone on

here? >> that's tr. if i had determined to write a book, i'd write about this. >> withs s wordikle iikattht' wonder the rumor mill has been churning furiously. it's certainly not surprising that this has been a huge story at the pensacola news journal. a legal affairs reporter has been immersed in the store for the last six weeks. 700 pages here. does this answer the questions that have been hanging over the billings case? >> i think it brings some clarity to the case but i don't know that it answers the burning question of why this happened. >> because of the extensive surveillance system, the report says there were not only cameras outside the house, but also in each child's bedroom. i took days for investigators to arrest seven suspects. six adults and a minor all facing two counts of first degree murder and one count of home invasion robbery. a stolen safe was recovered with little of value in it as were

several guns. the documents reveal that the intruders overlooked a second safe in the house that contained $164,000 in $1 bills. from the beginning investigators have fingered this man as the ring leader. leonard patrick gonzalez, jr. several co-defendants say he was the sole shooter. in a rambling interview after his arrest, he claimed that several of bud billings' competitors in the used car business wanted him whacked. he claims he was asked to kill billings but refused. this is about the killings i didn't do it. i can prove i didn't do it, but i may have known those who have done it. and it may be connected to mexican organized crime. what did we learn about him in the documents here? >> he is a guy -- you wouldn't believe. the things that he tells people, just -- i mean, it's unbelievable and probably shouldn't be believed. >> gonzalez like bud billings

worked in the rough and tumble world of used car sales. and he owned world coe the finance company next door. the businesses are run by billings daughter, ashley markham. markhais now caring for the nine children. we interviewed her in july and talked about the rumors, hounding her father. there's this idea floating out there that your father had done something to provoke this, that he was the target here. not money or anything els >> i just believe that everybody has enemies. i don't think that anything could provoke this. >> and while the documents do refer to the sometimes shady world of used car sales and lone collection, there smog in these documents that suggest -- there is nothing that suggest that billings had been doing anything illegal. in so many pages there are still so many unanswered questions. if you could have answers to two

questions, three questions, to help you understand this case, what would those questions be? >> just one question and it's i think we need to know who put them up to this. but, you know, so far it's just seven guys. >> a robbery that left two parents dead and nine children orphaned. i'm jeffrey kofman for "nightline" in pensacola. >> and the investigation goes on. our thanks to jeffrey kofman. when we come back, what happens when an overweight little boy becomes a great big restaurant critic? you're about to find out. ♪

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erday ♪ today was a big day in the world of food. frank bruni, the powerful restaurant critic for "the new york times" put down his knife, his fork and his pen. after five years on the job, he wrote his final review today, and turned his critical eye at

himself. with a revealing new book that describes a most unexpected irony. the ultimate foodie has battled his own food demons since he was a child. tonight in a "nightline" exclusive, the undercover critic goes on the record with john berman >> once a fat kid, always a fat kid. those words from frank bruni. the self-professed fat kid who turned into perhaps the country's most respected and feared restaurant critic. >> frank bruni walking into your restaurant it's a rush of adrenaline. it is. this is a user friendly -- >> yes, when bruni walks into your restaurant -- >> the first thing in your mind is like, holy [ bleep ] it's on. >> he has a horrible time and doesn't like the food and you screw up, you're dead in the water. >> he inspires fear. >> i think frank bruni is the smartest, hand somest, most wonderful human being in the world. i have to say that. i'm still afraid he's going to come get me.

>> but what does frank bruni fear? you might be shocked to hear for much of his life, it was food. >> during my freshman year of college, i threw up a lot of my meals. whenever i would eat a meal that would get out of hand i would throw it up. i took laxatives. later on, in college, and later on out of college i took methamphetamines. >> when did it all start? >> you know, my mother used to always talk about a time when i was 18 mowasld and i was sitting in the high chair and she fed me two good sized burgers and i threw a tantrum because she wouldn't feed me a third one. that was the defining narrative of my childhood. >> it's the essence of his revealing new book "born round, the secret history of a full-time eater". >> i went through some extreme behaviors. some of my binges were epic and

beyond what people can imagine. beyond that, is an extreme version of people's love/hate embrace/avoid relationship with food. >> he was trying something, anything, to lose weight. as an adolescent, it was atkins. seriously. >> i remember mom bought it in hard cover, because this was serious stuff. i remember reading about ketones and ketosis. i thought, oh, that's profound stuff. if i can get into this ketosis thing, i'll home free, you know? >> he wasn't home free. not for years. giant weight swings followed him through high school, college and as a big-time political reporter for "the new york times." at different points, he tried fasting. he suffered from sleep eating. he toyed with every diet under the sun. i first met frank and we became good friends in 1999, covering george w. bush's presidential campaign. i met you in 1999 at the beginning of the bushcampaign, and you were big.

over the next 20 months you proceeded to get huge. >> okay. >> you went from big to way bigger. >> i mean, i knew i was big. i was marching to gap store to trade in my size 40 chinos for size 42. you're thinking, maybe it doesn't show on me the way that the size 42 pants suggest it does. you tell yourself interesting lies to get through the day. >> he talks about the stresses of the trail. >> this is the cell phone which has not stopped ringing since this morning. i have taken a hundred calls today. but this is the -- this wasn't big enough because i could barely stay awake after 14 straight of these at work. if i had a picture of my heart it would be a shrivelled little thing. >> it was the low point in the love-hate battle with food. he guesses he topped 275 pounds. >> i didn't date for probably five years. i mean, that was definitely the

low period. i felt very sad. i felt like i lost a lot of time. >> food owes you. >> food is now paying me back. >> i would like mustard and do you have any sauerkraut? >> yes, i do. >> you have a refined palate. >> oh, to layer -- the nuance is extraordinary. >> now frank is finishing a stint as one of the most revered and feared restaurant critics in america. a guy who struggled with food for years. a little weird, right? you were a short time bulimia, laxative taking, amphetamine using -- going on there.ot of hyphens >> and then "the new york times" asks you to be the food critic, and you said yes. what were you thinking? >> i knew i was in a better place. i also know that the enforced rhythmic eating of having to go out every night would take away from me the ability to say myself i'm going to pig out tonight because i'll diet for

next week. i could never diet for the next week so i could never tell myself the lie it was okay to pig out today. >> so the restaurant critic job, i think people are fascinated by what that means. what do you have to do as part of your job? >> eat. i'm in restaurants pretty much every night of the week. sometimes six out of seven nights, but almost always that much. >> like an alcoholic working in a liquor store. >> i mean, i was always looking for a magic blet. i wanted a short cut, i wanted a cheat. one of the things i learned over times and one of the reasons i'm able to sit with you now, not as a big fat person, is because i stopped looking for short cuts, magic bullets. you can only keep control of your portions, watch what you eat and exercise a lot. >> it's the stuff of new york legend. one part journalist, one part cia operative as he puts it and

he tries to remain anonymous to avoid special treatment. >> i would use names that came from the spines of reference books within reach as i made my reservations. i would be mr. webster, mr. white. >> he would wear disguises. >> i was wearing a enormous puffy wig. i had a stnge light-brown wig and i looked like farrah fawcett and andy warhol's love child. >> with the release of his new book, rewraps up his career as a food critic as a thin man. >> i don't know that i would give a name to my affliction. i am after five years as a restaurant critic as healthy as i was at the beginning. no heavier than i was at the beginning. and that suggests to me that i've worked something out of my head and i hope it lasts. >> yet somewhere inside, are you still a fat kid? >> somewhere insidide i'm still

wondering liken thfrframe righnow,w, do i look heaeavy? >> you're eatiting.. >> do th fro time time. >> i'm john berman for "nightlinene" in n york. >> frank bruni reportg wiwill onon be seen in hehe new yorkk times" magazine where he will ite about matters her than food.our thanks to jo berman. > when we e comeme back,k, the by the pool. it's's "a sign of the mes". (woman) i'm taking an antidepressant,

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in these long, steamy dog days of august, many will turn tohe hotel swimming pool for a moment of relief. but in europe, world -- word that there is a war going on poolside and nick watt claims it's "a sign of the times". >> the british and the germans are still at war. summer. the skirmishes? over lounge chairs on the beaches and poolsides of southern europe. ♪

♪ >> i have seen this war -- i mean, we can call it a war, at close quarters. i is really ridiculous. >> it's early morning. the doors to the pool are unlocked. this amateur video was shot from a hotel balcony last summer. yes, you really are watching vacationers racing to reserve lounge chairs for a day of panic. guys, just relax. this is a war with roots that can be traced back to may 8, 1845, and britain the victor was exhausted by war. west germany, the vanquished, rose again, phoenix like, terminator like. in the 1960's with the advent of cheap vacation packages to sunny

spain, the two sides met again. they met poolside, battle recommenced over the seemingly inon yous you -- inon you louse lounge chair. >> they were reserving territories in the lounge chairs. >> and now look closely. they aren't all germans claiming territory. trust me, there are brits there too. the brits are fighting back. inspired by decades of germans bashing movies like "where eagles dare", egged on by the comedians taking jibes at the humorless germans. >> have you noticed it has

pictures on it? >> the brits are on the lounge chair counter offensive. >> this is an anthropological development. what happened is that we have learnt from the germans. >> these days, brits will reserve their morning lounge chairs before they stumble into bed. there's talk of brits smearing an tgeels with honey to attract insects. last summer a brit sued his travel agent because his hotel was full of germans. he won $1,000 compensation. >> we have become more german than the germans. >> but now thomas cook, a travel agent has issued this to every lounge chair lover. three bookable lounge chairs are being offered.

prebookable, only available to the germans. thomas cook refused to give me an interview or an explanation. can they tell i'm british? can they tell i love a lounge chair? can they tell i'm angry? i'm nick watt for "nightline" in london. >> oh, send your comments directly to nick watt. our thanks to nick.