A weeklong hunt for a couple suspected of shooting three women to death and critically wounding a fourth ended Tuesday with a suspect killing himself during a standoff at a Georgia motel.
William “Billy” Boyette, Jr., 44, was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound as authorities closed in. His alleged accomplice, 37-year-old Mary Craig Rice, was taken into custody, the Troup County Sheriff’s Office said. She was charged with capital murder.
The violent ending at a West Point motel capped a multi-state crime spree that began with the discovery of two women’s bodies in a Milton, Florida, motel room on Jan. 31. Alicia Greer, 30, and Jacqueline Moore, 39, both were fatally shot, authorities said. Greer’s parents told WALA she had dated Boyette for several months before she was killed.
Three days later, 52-year-old Peggy Broz was found fatally shot in her Lillian, Alabama, home. Authorities say they believe Boyette and Rice targeted Broz at random and took off in her stolen car.
On Monday, a 28-year-old woman identified by her mother as Kayla Crocker was shot and wounded in her Pensacola, Florida, home, WEAR-TV reported.
Crocker’s 2-year-old son was home with her at the time, but was unharmed. He’s not believed to have witnessed the shooting, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said at a press conference.
From there, the couple drove to a nearby gas station, then to a Hardee’s for breakfast, in Crocker’s white 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt, the sheriff said.
That vehicle was reportedly spotted outside the West Point motel on Tuesday, leading authorities to the couple.
Morgan said it wasn’t surprising that Boyette killed himself.
“He has made this statement to many, many people that he will not be taken alive,” the sheriff said.
