A Man Named "Hillbilly"

Ireland Boyd, known to everyone as Hillbilly, was thirty-three years old in 1986. He was born and raised in Kentucky and had lived in Indiana, Ohio and Texas before ending up in Florida. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it The family lived in a trailer in a low income trailer park in Fruitville, a rural community in Sarasota County on the central west coast of Florida, which in the mid 1980s had about three thousand residents.

Boyd was a violent alcoholic. this part of the story is covered for now When money ran out between her pay cheques he would do a day or two of labour, as she put it, so he could get himself a bottle. Neighbours avoided him; friends and neighbours said they agreed with whatever he said just to keep him quiet. details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it She said she did not have that kind of money, and he told her she would not need money, because there were other ways to pay.

On April 26th, 1986, Boyd came home at about half past seven or eight in the evening, blind drunk, having been drinking with a neighbour, Frank Horn, since noon. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed The two couples sat talking and watching a Kirk Douglas film on television. Boyd began saying that Kirk Douglas was a real man and that men today were not, and then announced that he would prove it by having sex with his wife in front of his guests. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

At about ten o'clock Boyd decided he wanted to go to the Water Hole, a bar in Oneco about twenty minutes away. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He told her she had five minutes to get dressed and put the children in the car, or he would take them himself. She believed he was too drunk to drive, and she was afraid he would crash and kill them, so she agreed. They drove to the bar, where he was told children were not allowed in after eight o'clock. They went on to an ABC liquor store, where he bought a bottle of liquor and a bottle of 7-Up, and then to a McDonald's drive-through, where he shouted at the woman serving them and they left without food. They got home at about half past eleven.

this part of the story is covered for now She came back with the cigarettes and eighteen dollars change. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

The two men went first to a neighbourhood poker game at BJ's, then came back. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed She heard a car door shut but did not hear the car start.

At about midnight on April 26th, two men, Jeffrey Walters and James Norman, were at the Quick Stop petrol station, having gone out to collect a television set. Norman had drunk several six packs. They saw Boyd in the passenger seat of an old gold Cadillac, and a heavy set black man with a round face and short dark hair in the driver's seat. Norman leaned on the car and spoke to Boyd and paid little attention to the driver. Walters, coming out of the shop, glanced at the car for three or four seconds.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He threw up his hands and walked back towards his trailer. this part of the story is covered for now At about two o'clock her son, Glenn, lying in bed with the window open, saw a truck pull up and heard somebody say 'come on, Hillbilly'. Boyd got into the back of the truck, which had a roll bar, and it drove away.

On the morning of April 27th two fishermen looking for a place to fish found a body in a drainage ditch in Sarasota and pulled it out. It was Boyd. The autopsy found that he had died from brain injury caused by a fractured skull, from blunt force trauma; the medical examiner said it would have taken at least five blows with a heavy object. His blood alcohol level was 0.207.

details of the account remain covered until revealed She said it was not unusual for him to stay out all night drinking or to leave with people she did not know. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Before she left, a detective named Skeins pressed her so hard that she briefly wondered whether she had killed her husband and blocked it out; when she got home she looked under the sofa for a bloody lug wrench to reassure herself.

Walters and Norman were interviewed on April 29th. Walters described the driver as a black man with a large round face, short dark hair and dark eyes, possibly with sideburns; Norman called him a fat slob. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Walters said he had held back at first because he was on probation in New York and was not supposed to be in Florida.

this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Walters conceded under cross examination that he had only glanced at the car, had not been paying attention, and had seen nothing but the outline of the man's face. this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now