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WEST VALLEY CITY — Police investigating the shooting death of a West Valley code enforcement officer and a related fire that destroyed a house and killed several pets found eight handguns and rifles in the home of the person charged with committing the crimes.
On Aug. 9, Kevin Wayne Billings shot and killed Jill Lanette Robinson, 52, shortly after she arrived at his house, 4102 W. Wendy Ave. (2925 South), for an appointment that Billings had arranged, according to charging documents. He then is accused of setting fire to his neighbor's house, killing six dogs and two cats.
During an initial search of Billings’ property, investigators found 1,000 yards of detonation cord and more than 400 blasting caps, court records state.
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To know what kind of person Jill Lanette Robinson was, one only has to look at her children. Halie Merrill said her mother gave so much to her four children that it would be impossible for them not to be like her.Two search warrant affidavits unsealed Wednesday in 3rd District Court provide more details about what was found on Billings’ property, as well as more information about his past.
Investigators noted that he was “the president/director of Billings Drilling & Blasting back in 2004, which provides him with access and knowledge to explosive materials,” a warrant states.
Police also reported finding several weapons in and around Billings' property.
Among the items officers seized: a DPMS Panther Arms Rifle LR .308 found under a canopy along with a “plastic bag of rifle cartridges, ammunition"; miscellaneous boxes of ammunition in a cardboard box under a stairway inside the house; a box of Winchester shotgun shells in a lower level hallway; a shotgun “located in dining room/kitchen leaning against wall near glass door"; four rifles in two separate bedrooms, none of which had “markings or serial numbers”; a loaded 45 handgun on a wood pile outside; more ammunition; and a pellet gun, the affidavits state.
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.
His next court appearance was scheduled for Sept. 4.
