Fla. Murder Suspect's Criminal Past

Documents Obtained By CBS News Shed Light On Lead Suspect's Rap Sheet

(CBS)  Documents obtained exclusively by CBS News shed light on the mindset and criminal past of the lead suspect in the grisly murder of a Florida couple who provided a home to 17 children.

Leonard Patrick Gonzalez, Jr. , 35, has been accused of being the "organizer" in the murders of Byrd and Melanie Billings in Beulah, Florida on July 9. So far, eight persons have been arrested in those murders, including Gonzalez, who is being held without bond.

Pamela Long Wiggins, the only woman charged in the case, was arrested earlier this week in Alabama. Wiggins may have personal ties to Gonzalez, the alleged mastermind of the robbery-murder attack.

CBS News has exclusively obtained the confidential deposition of Gonzalez Jr. in an unrelated case in Pensacola, Florida.

Gonzalez Jr. was subpoenaed by the State Attorney’s office and granted blanket immunity for his involvement in that case.

During the October 30, 2008 deposition, Gonzalez, Jr. describes how his criminal past started when he was only 17 years old and violated his probation. He credits his criminal history for preparing him for the job he held at the time, which he described as "criminal counter-measures."

"Had I not committed those crimes and suffered and paid the consequences, I wouldn’t be able to do the job that I do now," Gonzalez, Jr. told James Jenkins, the criminal defense attorney who was taking his deposition.

Gonzalez, Jr. received $150,000 for providing "intelligence" services from January through April of 2008, according to Jenkins.

During the deposition Gonzalez characterized himself this way:

-- I had a colorful background and if you want to call it a misspent youth. I worked as a body guard for several people in the area and I did do some criminal countermeasures work.

-- I understand the criminal thought processes. I can help people to decide what’s the best measure they should take to protect themselves and their families and businesses.

-- I was interested in starting a company, UDT Institute. It stands for Ultimate Defensive Tactics Institute, which would provide criminal countermeasures training to wealthy individuals.

In the deposition, he also described himself as an advocate for victimized children. And interestingly said at one point, "I couldn’t commit a crime."

Gonzalez and six of the alleged accomplices are charged with murder and scheduled for a grand jury hearing where the case will be presented by Florida state Attorney Bill Eddins.

[BuffetLand]

I too knew Patrick when he was around 15 or so and saw him many years later at the mall....My daughter was with me and Patrick was there playing the part of a French man catering to the ladies and buying the ladies in Victories Secret all sort's of things from another store...My daughter caught his eye (she had seen him before but he didn't remember us) He came to us speaking a so called French accent lol asking why the mall did not have "Valet" parking lol...He told the clerk he wanted to buy my daughter something so she picked out the most expensive perfume Victoria's Secret had lol...I asked Patrick if his mother was such and such and he hesitated and said "yes"...I said Patrick...don't you remember me?? His jaw dropped...He dug through his wallet and quickly left the world of make believe...He played the part of a gigolo that day and moved on, perhaps, to playing the part of a murderer...Patrick was raised by a kind loving family....I knew his Mother well...One never knows...

[bill7700]

What kind of intelligence did Gonzalez provide? Who or what organization did he perform this intelligence for? From everything I've read and learned, there appears to be a severe lack of intelligence surrounding this entire operation. Outwardly, it would appear that Gonzalez jr and his accomplices are nothing more than uneducated thugs. It would be EXTREMELY INTERESTING to know what kind of "so called" intelligence he provided, and for whom did he provide it for.

[tampa85]

Typical Flori-Duh resident

Armed and odd. We should sell that sh^ hole back to Spain

[sean7phil]

The guy is a narcissist. Narcissists are usually expert at controlling groups of people and using such groups to do their evil for them. He'll do it in prison too.

You have to send him to a Supermax Prison, solitary confinement will be the only way to control him (Other than capital punishment which would be cheaper).

[mswolfestock]

I love the SuperMax idea. He'd make a great roommate for the Una Bomber.

[johninpennsyl]

What organization paid him $150,000 for providing information?
Is that an unknown or you just don't want to tell us?

[LinuxRules]

Everyone of these persons of involvement needs to be hung by the neck until death in the center of town. Or fried by electric would be just fine. I hope Florida still has executions, pro-lifers be-damned.

[omnibus66]

Pro-lifers only care about you while you are in the womb. Once you are born, they cease to care. They care little if you live in poverty, have something to eat, or get a decent education. An overwhelming majority of right-to-lifers strongly support the death penalty. Can you say "hypocrite"?

[edgy44]

So much for confidential depositions in Florida. Everything is for sale to the highest bidder.

[owlafaye]

Gonzalez appears to be the typical smug loser. He thinks he is wonderful and will certainly never change. Death would suit his type best. Life in prison would be something he would enjoy and unfortunately we would hear of and from him often.

[docpeter1953]

Almost too bad he didn't do this in Texas.

We have a "Fast check out" lane, very little waiting time, here for capital crimes

[legacyabq]

This Gonzalez character, this freaking sociopathic scum, was obviously a thug-for-hire.

He thinks life is one of those jerky, fast British crime movies where all the criminals are just oh-so-cool.

What a little scumbag.

Question is:

Who hired him? I think some money-laundering was going on..

WHY IS THE DEA INVOLVED?!?

This is Florida after all..

Somebody made the wrong choice, even if it WAS for the right reasons..

Sad..

[legacyabq]

Oh, and a person is held without "bail". A bond is something you pay a bail with, its a financial instrument.

And whats a "murder robbery-attack" exactly?

Geez you guys have terrible editing skills.

Seriously,email me, I work cheap!

LOL

[legacyabq]

Also, please hire an edito.
..And tell Yvonne to lookup grisly. Yeah, OK, any murder is grisly, but that adjective is usually reserved for things like beheadings.

[legacyabq]

Hey CBS,when I clicked the tag to read this article, it told me I needed to install a IE language pack for Korean?!?!?

What in the heck??

The website is full of bugs, and not just in the comments section..

I'm available if you want to hire me, and fire the overpaid consultant who obviously bilked you!

[vielmann]

Well said. I have e-mailed CBS complaining about how bad their system has become. Not a word in response. I'm glad I'm not the only one complaining about their system being a big mess.

[mswolfestock]

Yeah, really. My computer is plenty fast, it loads other websites in an instant. But navigating throughout the CBS website is like waiting for a glacier to melt (global warming notwithstanding, ahem!). If you could see me now, I'm the one with the spiderwebs forming around me from waiting an eternity.