his name was billy earl jonsz. johnson. texas, an area about 90 miles from carrollton, home to those piney woods. billy was the ring leader of a colorful crew, many of them petty criminals related to billy by blood or marriage. >> certainly a strange cast of characters, but they're east texas folks. some people might depict them as the heehaw gang. >> a gang getting by in a region struggling to make it. >> there's a lot of drugs, a lot of meth amphetamine out there. somebody has extra money, they hand it out to each other. >> at his meeting with investigators, billy earl was a man on a mission. he wanted to cut a deal and fast. >> i'm 49 years old. i don't get out until 15 years. i have grand kids and i want to spend the rest of my life with them. i want to be free and i want out this weekend. >> billy told the cops he knew things about the shooting that they did not, including the identity of the hit team. he played hardball even as he mixed his metaphors. >> i got the big ace in the hole and i got the ball in my court on