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SALT LAKE CITY — The man accused of killing a West Valley code enforcement officer and burning down his neighbor's house made a brief initial appearance in court Friday.
Kevin Wayne Billings, 64, is charged with aggravated murder and aggravated arson, first-degree felonies; arson, a second-degree felony; desecration of a dead body and five counts of possession of explosive parts, third-degree felonies; and four counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, a class A misdemeanor.
On Aug. 9, Billings, who had previously received notices from West Valley City to clean up his yard, shot and killed Jill Lanette Robinson, 52, shortly after she arrived at Billings's house, 4102 W. Wendy Ave. (2925 South), according to charging documents. Billings had called her the day before to arrange a meeting, allegedly to discuss his violations, the charges state.
Billings then set fire to his neighbor's house, court documents state, allegedly killing six dogs and two cats.
On Friday, Billings was was advised of the charges against him as he made his initial appearance in 3rd District Court via video from the Salt Lake County Jail. Wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit with his hands shackled in front of him, Billings was pushed in a wheelchair to the podium. The imposing 6-foot, 380-pound defendant then stood silently behind his appointed defense attorney, Nick Falcone.
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To know what kind of person Jill Lanette Robinson was, one only has to look at her children.Falcone said his client wanted to enter not guilty pleas to all charges, a standard plea during the early stages of a case but something that is not typically done during an initial appearance. Traditionally, no pleas are entered at a defendant's first hearing.
The brief hearing lasted less than five minutes.
Due to the nature of the charges, a special setting scheduling hearing was set for Sept. 4. Billings is currently being held in jail on no bail.
