his son, leonard patrick gonzalez jr., was arrested.r appeared to be the ring leader. and then five more suspects were picked up in quick succession including an air force sergeant and a 16-year-old. all are charged with two open counts of murder. none have yet made a plea. of the group, leonard patrick gonzalez jr. was the best known around town. he ran a self-defense group called "project fight back" and even won a coveted civilian service award. reporter mike rush of wpmi tv. >> he had a criminal record. he had spoken about his criminal record and kind of touted the fact that because head fought that way at one point and turned himself around that he's really the guy to be teaching this sort of thing. >> reporter: but back up a minute. ms. kathryn reported the red van had been hanging around for a week or more, and sure enough, law enforcement officials said the suspects had been getting together and training for the crime for weeks. this surveillance photo shows gonzalez jr. with a child and two other suspects entering a walmart, wh

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

from the beginning investigators have fingered this man as the ring leader, leonard patrick gonzalez,. in the police documents, several co-defendants say he was the sole shooter. in a rambling interview with a sheriff's deputy. he claims he was asked to kill billings but refused. if this is about the killings, i didn't do it. but i may know some people who may have done it. he also said it may be connected to mexican organized crime. >> gonzalez, like bud billings, worked in pensacola's rough and tumble world of used car sales. and he owned the finance company next door. the businesses are now run by his daughter, ashley markham. while the documents do refer to the sometimes shady world of used car sales and low collection, there is nothing in this document to suggestion ben rket had givenen doing something illegal. >> if yoyou could havave answer two onquestis,hree questions to help you ununderstand this case, wh would those queions be? >> jt one question is i think we need to k kw who put them up tohis. bubut, y youou know, so far it self-en guys robbing a house. >> a robbery that l

tice was also a close friend, a father figure, he says himself, to the alleged shooter, leonard patrick gonzalezast tuesday evening cab tice returned to pensacola after a trip to colombia in south america. soon an announcement from sheriff david morgan. >> mr. tice is a person of interest in the billings case. >> reporter: tice is questioned for three hours. but so far, he is only charged with grand theft for allegedly writing $17,000 in bad checks to the billings finance company, whirlco. he's out now on $5,000 bail. >> there is no evidence that links me any way to this murder. if it had been, i would be in jail right now. >> reporter: now, in an exclusive interview with "dateline," cab tice tells his side of the story and defends himself. the name cab tice keeps coming up, you're the guy that's somehow behind all of this. why did they come up with your q no carrierlistort encoder cf10 >> the billings family's attorney says they never heard a word about any irs investigation. she says -- >> tune in to a special "dateline" nbc "no safe place," tonight at 10:00, 9:00 central time right here on nb

. >> reporter: alleged gunman leonard patrick gonzalez jr. now claims byrd billings' business competitors tried to hire him because they wanted billings whacked. but they haven't been charged. and then there's this twist. ms13, a notorious and brutal central american gang may somehow be tied to these murders. or so says gonzalez. when gonzalez mentioned ms13, is he sending people on a wild goose chase or do you believe that somehow this gang was involved in what took place here in these murders? >> we believe that they have an involvement. >> reporter: and that possible ms13 gang dekz may explain why investigators believe there will be yet more arrests in this case. matt? >> all right, kerry, thank you very much. kerry sanders in pensacola for us this morning. once again, here's ann. >> matt, thanks. >>> that's how jenny sanford describes her husband's affair. in her first in-depth interview since it was made public. nbc's norah o'donnell is in washington now with more on this story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. jenny sanford

according to these documents, leonard patrick gonzalez, sr., he is one of the suspects.sations about robbing the billings for a couple of months. he told his wife, i have a job i have to do. byrd billings is molesting these children and he supposedly has been laundering money and there is a bunch of cocaine there too. the sheriff's department has investigated the billings and do not suspect the couple of any wrongdoing. >> authorities are suggesting, correct me if i'm wrong, brooke, that leonard gonzales is believed to have organized the crime and two of the suspects are saying that he is the one who pulled the trigger. what is gonzalez telling investigators? >> it is important to differentiate, this the son. he claims a group of car dealers were unhappy with byrd billings and he also told investigators that a known hispanic gang, ms-13, they were involved with the billings murders. prosecutors believe there were dual motives involved in the killings, robbery and a contracted hit. so far, they have not linked ms-13 to this case. >>> a judge goes on trial for refusing to

from fr an investigation, who interviewed leonard patrick gonzales jr., the alleged mastermind in the home invasion and homicides. the investigators said gonzalez told him, his involveventnt w w anan n nded d to talalk to t th feds a aut this.s. cordrding tohe w wtt kig g e bibiings..deeded t sasa h hee hadhihin u u by whaccokekes becacaf his a grp p cararealersololiciced bubut he reddjoudud llllgs.. e jujuead s setetrialal d defofr tt flororsttorory y gegeral l cocolicacated, i imamayavave e b asasor t t cocoupuple's'sin seserely aececddodoptpt hohe theheirararentsts werer ththr ololderrsterer ashlhl.f >>>> j jeffr k kofit t dedetas.s. >>> lots of developing news. we'll continue to follow it here. >>> what's the latest on bill and claudette? those storms out in the atlantic. "gma" weekend marysol castro is in for sam champion. >> good morning, to you. good morning, everyone. want to show you video from tropical depression claudette. caused a little bit of a headache for some folks. 50-mile-per-hour winds in bay county. four inches of rain on the florida panhandles, even portions of alabama. for today, you are expected to see scattered showers.

from fr an investigation, who interviewed leonard patrick gonzales jr., the alleged mastermind in the home invasion and homicides. the investigators said gonzalez told him, his involvement was very deep. and he needed to talk to the feds about this. according to the written statement, gonzalez denied killing the billings. but said he had within use by car dealers in pensacola to whack cokes because of his record. a group of car dealers solicited him to whack bud billings. but he refused the job. the judge had set a trial date for november. but florida's attorney general says because this case is so complicated, it may have to be delayed. as for the couple's nine severely affected adopted children, they are back in the home where their parents were murdered, now under the care of their older sister, ashley. david? >> jeffrey kofman with the details. >>> lots of developing news. we'll continue to follow it here. >>> what's the latest on bill and claudette? those storms out in the atlantic. "gma" weekend marysol castro is in for sam champion. >> good morning, to you. good morning, everyone. want to show you video from tropical depression claudette