PICAYUNE — The district attorney who prosecuted the James E. Billiot murder case in 1982, Albert Necaise, who now practices law in Gulfport, said that placing Billiot in the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield will “place a hardship on the metal institution required to house him.”
“I don’t think they have the manpower or the security people there to watch a man who has killed three people with a sledgehammer. The murders were truly horrible, unbelievably brutal.”
As it now stands, it appears that under a federal judge’s order, the convicted murderer will have to be either transferred to the hospital or freed on Jan. 3, 2010.
Necaise served 18 years in the district attorney’s office, 12 as district attorney. He was the DA when the Billiot murder case was tried in Gulfport and he prosecuted the case.
The murder happened in the northwest corner of Hancock County, one of three counties his district covered. The other two were Stone and Harrison.
The case was tried in Gulfport after a judge granted a change of venue from Bay St. Louis to Gulfport because of pretrial publicity.
“When we prosecuted him I thought he was sane. Of course, the courts then held that he was sane,” said Necaise. “He had to be declared mentally competent to stand trial.”
Necaise served as DA from 1972 to 1984. The Billiot trial took place in December 1982. It lasted almost five days.
Billiot, now 48, was accused of murdering his stepfather, Wallace Croll, 53, his mother Audrey Croll, 47, and his half-sister Cheryl Ann Croll, 14, on Thanksgiving Day of 1981 in the Leetown Community about six miles east of Picayune just across the Pearl River-Hancock County line.
Authorities said Billiot bludgeoned the three family members to death. He was charged with all three murders but was tried for the murder of Wallace Croll, whom he also robbed, making it a capital offense and allowing for the application of the death penalty.
After the 1982 trial, at which a bevy of psychiatrists testified that he knew what he was doing when he murdered his family, Billiot was sentenced to death. However, ever since then he has sat on death row at Parchman, lapsing in and out of delusions and awaiting appeals by attorneys who have been fighting his case for 27 years.
In the latest twist, U.S. District Judge Tom Lee on Nov. 3 told state authorities to transfer Billiot to the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield for treatment or release him. Lee suspended Billiot’s death sentence and gave state officials 60 days to transfer him or release him.
However, State Attorney General Jim Hood said Whitfield does not have the facilities or security to house a death row inmate indefinitely and asked that Lee amend his order to release Billiot.
In addition, MSH director James G. Chastain told The Associated Press that the facility does not have “sufficient security capacity to safely confine a death row inmate.”
One of Billiot’s attorneys, John Henegan, said that the attorney general’s assessment is wrong and there is no reason why MSH could not handle Billiot and treat him. That 60-day period appears to end on Jan. 3, 2010.
Local News
Billiot prosecutor says Billiot would be ‘hardship’ for Whitfield
- Local News
-
-
PAINTING HYDRANTS
Firefighters with Picayune Fire Department conduct regular maintenance on the city’s many fire hydrants, such as giving them a fresh coat of paint.
-
Two charged with making meth around kids
Two parents were arrested for allegedly making and possessing methamphetamine, while their children were in the home.
-
Unemployment rate down slightly
Pearl River County’s unemployment rate dropped slightly between March and April of this year.
-
PMHS GRADUATION
Picayune Memorial High School held its graduation ceremony Thursday night where the school’s valedictorian Jared Christopher Bates, left, and salutatorian Bryce Austin Warden gave their speeches.
-
POPLARVILLE GRADUATION
Poplarville High School held its graduation ceremony Thursday night where the school’s valedictorian Rebecca Starke, left, and salutatorian Meagan Whitworth gave their speeches to the graduating class, parents and friends.
-
Local man paralyzed by juvenile shooting
Medical personnel were teaching a local man how to swallow again on Saturday after his spinal cord was severed by a .22 caliber bullet, fired by one of three juveniles, on Thursday.
-
Potential bridge replacement fund shortage draws discussion
Despite a lengthy agenda for Pearl River County supervisors Wednesday the board handled many of the items with a straight up and down 5-0 vote.
-
Glade Woods dies
Funeral services for Earl Glade Woods , 75 of Picayune, are Monday at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Picayune. Woods passed away on Friday.
-
MHP on patrol for holiday
Even though there has been a remarkable reduction in the number of fatalities in Mississippi over the past seven years, last year’s Memorial Day Weekend was particularly deadly.
-
POLICE MEMORIAL
City employees were out at the Picayune Police Department memorial Thursday morning doing some upgrades to it.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Angry Birds Spreading Their Wings
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Pope's Butler Vows to Help Vatican Investigation
Mother of Allegedly Abused Girl Denies Claims
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
