James Billiot was sentenced to death by the State of Mississippi for a triple murder. According to court documents James Billiot would murder his mother, stepfather and stepsister by striking them repeatedly with an eight pound sledge hammer. James Billiot would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.
Mississippi Death Row Inmate List
James Billiot 2021 Information
| Race: WHITE | Sex: MALE | Date of Birth: 06/10/1961 |
| Height: 5′ 8” | Weight: 154 | Complexion: MEDIUM |
| Build: MEDIUM | Eye Color: BROWN | Hair Color: BROWN |
| Entry Date: 12/13/1982 | Location: MSP | UNIT: UNIT 29 |
| Location Change Date: 05/05/2020 | Number of Sentences: 1 | Total Length: DEATH |
James Billiot More News
On Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1981, Wallace Croll, Jr., Billiot’s stepfather, was found bludgeoned to death in his home. Billiot’s mother and Billiot’s 14-year-old stepsister were also found in the home, killed in the same manner. The bodies were found by 12-year-old Stephen Croll, Chris Lee, and George Hebbler. Young Croll, Lee and Hebbler were returning from Picayune, Mississippi, on the morning of November 26, 1981, when they saw James Billiot driving Wallace Croll’s car. They became suspicious and immediately went to Croll’s Leetown community home. There they found the bodies, as well as an 8-pound sledge hammer lying near the deceased. On the floor, they also found Wallace Croll’s wallet and several papers scattered about.
Bryan Strickland, a Leetown resident and acquaintance of Billiot’s, testified that on November 7, 1981, while at the Living Waters Church of God in Picayune, Mississippi, James Billiot told Strickland that he was going to kill his mother and his stepfather. Leo Jones testified that on the morning of November 26, 1981, he saw Billiot hitchhiking and gave him a ride from Picayune to the Leetown community. James Billiot did not want to be let out in front of the Croll house in Leetown but insisted on being let out by a field near the house.
When the bodies were found, an all-points bulletin was issued in Mississippi and Louisiana and two days later Billiot was arrested by the New Orleans police department. After a hearing he was extradited to Mississippi. On April 27, 1982, appellant filed the following motions: Motion to suppress evidence; motion to change venue; motion to conduct mental examination of defendant, and motion to conduct separate hearing on robbery charges.
During the July, 1982, term of the court a hearing was had on the motion for change of venue and the motion for psychiatric examination. The motion to change venue was denied and the motion for psychiatric examination was sustained.
In September, 1982, appellant filed several more motions including a motion to prohibit jury dispersal, motion to request special venire, notice of insanity defense, motion for omnibus hearing and motion to suppress evidence. In October, 1982, the *452 motion to suppress was overruled, after a full hearing. The motion for change of venue was sustained from Hancock County to adjacent Harrison County. Appellant objected to Harrison County as the site of the new venue but this objection was overruled. On November 15, 1982, appellant filed a motion for continuance. This motion was overruled and on November 29 and 30, 1982, the trial court overruled the motion for individual voir dire of the jury and a renewal motion for change of venue. After Billiot had undergone mental examination at the State Hospital at Whitfield, Mississippi, and had been determined competent to stand trial, the trial was conducted from November 29 December 2, 1982. The sole defense was insanity.
https://law.justia.com/cases/mississippi/supreme-court/1984/54960-0-0.html