Sword and Scale - Episode 153

Episode Date: December 19, 2019

A neighbor dispute turns deadly after a brain damaged war vet with PTSD finally snaps on Labor Day 2012. Did Billy Woodward plan his military style assault, or did he have no choice but to Stand His Ground?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. Hello and welcome to season 6 and the final episode of 2019, episode 153 of Sword and Scale, a show that reveals that the final episode of 2019. And in case you haven't noticed, there has been a bit of a common theme at the latter part of this season. And that's to stop being dicks to each other. Look, we all have to live here on this planet. And sometimes we get so consumed with how we've been wronged

that we become blind to our own actions and what we do to others. During this holiday season, let's take a minute to reflect on our own actions and see if we can enter the new year as reinvented individuals. Let's leave behind all this horrible fucking toxicity online, and realize that at the core, even if we disagree with each other, we're all just human beings, and we all deserve a little compassion.

Or don't. I don't know, I'm not your dad. But this next story is very much about that sentiment. In the meantime, don't forget to check out our sister shows, Sword and Scale Daily and Sword and Scale Rewind. And if you want more Sword and Scale, check out our premium service called Plus at swordandscale.com slash plus. For instant access to 60 stories, you will not hear on the regular feed. That's it, and now on with the show. Hey, have you ever had a bad neighbor? Like a really bad neighbor?

Maybe they talk too loud, smoke a lot of cigarettes, stay up late at night, hacking and coughing. Or maybe they're the Ecuadorians that moved into the house next door to mine in Miramar and would play reggaeton until two o'clock in the morning on a Tuesday night. Maybe instead they just like to do construction a lot. Add all sorts of unlicensed parts to their home. Screw building codes.

Let's just put up an extra room. The saw and the sander going all night. Or maybe their hoarders with a bunch of old furniture and car parts scattered on the lawn, spilling onto the street. You know it's a classy joint when they have an outdoor TV propped on a bucket next to a lawn chair. Oh and God help you if someone next door is in a band. The worst thing about a bad neighbor is that they're right there all the time, constantly disturbing you in the one place you should be most comfortable, the sanctity of your own home. I mean, what do you do?

Do you try confronting them about issues? I mean, you still got to live there, and then you do? Do you try confronting them about issues? I mean, you still got to live there. And then you're going to have a neighbor that hates you all the time next door, given you a side eye. Or do you passively, aggressively flag them down as they're pulling out of their driveway? Do you call the cops?

I mean, I have many, many, many times. It may be a little uncomfortable when you think about just how little you really know about people living right next door to you. This story takes place in Titusville, Florida, which is just east of Orlando, but it could be really any neighborhood. The incident occurs at an intersection so generic, it's literally on the corner of Smith Drive and Lane Avenue. It's Labor Day, 2012, and on the northeast corner of Smith and Lane, several friends and neighbors have been enjoying an all-day barbecue that stretched long into the night.

Throughout the day, kids have been chasing each other around the lawn, wrestling, and playing tag. Some of the adults are knocking back beers, maybe even smoking a little weed. It's the same type of casual house party you may have probably attended this past Labor Day. Things may have gotten a little rowdy earlier with some fireworks, and some of the teens got amped up when someone lit a palm frond. But for the moment, 17-year-old Justin Peacore is sitting on the tailgate of a truck, talking about fishing with his dad Roger and their next-door neighbor Bruce Blake. We were talking about Marlon Lur, that was like real big, so we were walking back to a place house. So he could show me and my dad the lure, and that's when it all happened.

I was like facing the door, like walking the place house, and my dad was like diagonal of me, and that's when I seen William come up, and I was like, oh, shit. William Woodward is Justin's neighbor on the opposite side of the street. He lives on the northwest corner of Smith and Lane and was most certainly not invited to the Labor Day barbecue. It all happened so quickly. Justin sees William in a flash of military camouflage, charging the yard with a 9mm pistol. Justin's father, Roger Peacore, didn't have time to react as a bullet entered his right cheekbone,

tearing through tendons and jawbone and exiting the temporal region near his left ear. Justin is just feet away as his father drops to the ground. Bruce Blake, the neighbor who just moments ago was about to show off a fishing lore, is taken down by the second shot fired that night as he flees towards his home. Justin watches as Bruce's body crumbles in the car port. Yes. Okay. What happened to that? That's when he went back towards my dad and pushed his head to see if he would move, and if he did not, and that's when he rolled a motor and put the gun to his head and shot him again. The second bullet entering Roger P. Cours' head takes a fatal path, obliterating the

skull, separating the natural structures of the bones as it blasts through his brain, and exits the left temporal lobe. I was like, right over here, and when I see that, I knew at that point it was real, and that's what I do behind Kim's car, this is in the carport. Justin stays there for a moment, hiding behind the car, hoping to not be noticed. Justin is undoubtedly holding his breath as the pair of black shoes, death itself approaches closer. Panic sets in. When he was coming towards the car, that's when I hopped up and I put my hands up and was like, don't shoot me, I didn't do anything. And he walked up to any point and got me still, but I never shot.

Justin's life had been spared, but he will bear witness to more suffering and death on this Labor Day night. As his neighbor William Woodward continues his assault on 1950 Smith Drive, William Woodward, Billy, to most, is a 43-year-old veteran of the Persian Gulf War. He and his wife Barbara have two children, a son and a daughter, and had previously loved living in the whispering oak's neighborhood for 13 years before that August. During that time, Billy and Barbara's daughter had become friends with several of the children who lived across the street on the other side of Lane Avenue at the home of Gary Hembery and his longtime girlfriend, Kim Silzbury.

As Barbara Woodward tells it, her family's relationship with the neighbors was friendly during that end summer period in 2012. Our children played together a lot and their children, the other families, all of their children, would often come, all of their children would often come to our house to play. There were many times that we fed them or they would sometimes stay at our house overnight. We even bought clothes for them on several occasions. There were times that we paid their rent when they were having a hard time. that we paid their rent when they were having a hard time. Barbara and Billy's daughter, Ava Woodward, found herself at the same bus stop as some of

the kids from the Henry household. There were six children living in the Henry home. Most of them were a Brady bunch, mingling of Gary and Kim's kids. But Roger P. Quar and his boys had recently moved in, and Roger's girlfriend Jessica Noble's was a frequent visitor. A third set of neighbors, Bruce and Carrie Blake, had two daughters of their own, and lived right next door at 1940, Smith Drive. Barbara Woodward recalls the instances of fun sleepovers with the neighbors, but a feeling

of mistrust first began to develop when the Woodward's learned their neighbor Gary smoked pot in front of the kids. They forbid their daughter Ava from going on to his property and into his house, however, she could still play with everyone in the front lawn of their home. Nothing was ever explicitly said about this arrangement, as a way of keeping the peace. But over the course of Ava Woodward's birthday weekend in early August 2012, a simple accusation will turn the one's calm neighborhood into a literal war zone. My daughter was celebrating her 12th birthday, and her birthdays were always a really big deal in our house.

And a work fund of mine had dropped off a gift. They left it on the doorstep. And the next day called me to ask me if we had gotten it okay, and I told her now we had not received the gift. The narrative of porch pirates, people stealing packages conveniently left on your front doorstep, is a story we're all familiar with. We've seen the viral videos, and the recreations used by video camera doorbell companies to sell you their product. And when it happens to the Woodward family, Barbara has a pretty good hunch for who the culprit is. One of the children was frequently stealing things from our property and

others property around the neighborhood. The day before that, I had seen one of well three of the children trying to break in the house across the street. There were many times I had gone to Mr. Henry and asked about packages that had been left on my door where the tracking delivery, tracking, had said it had been delivered at such and such time and it would not be there. And then, of course, they said that they didn't have it and then you would see one of the children with the items.

Barbara tells her husband about her suspicions regarding Hembrie's eight-year-old daughter Destiny. Billy, who served four years in the army, including a tour of duty in Saudi Arabia as part of Field Operation Desert Shield, has pretty strong feelings about thievery. He feels like it would be best if a police officer came with him when he approached his neighbor Gary so that his questions and the exchange could be on record. When an officer arrives they walk across the street and approach Gary as he's working on his girlfriend's car. They ask for eight-year-old destiny hembrie to step outside. And when she sees the police officer, she bursts into tears. It's an awkward moment. Gary gets extremely upset and Billy apologizes, explaining that it wasn't his intention to make Destiny cry. It was just a means to ask for his daughter's gift back. Billy tells the officer that at the very least he made his point known, and as he walks

back across the street to his home, he considers the issue resolved. But shortly after, on the same day, Barbara observes Gary taking photographs of the Woodward home. This is extremely distressing for both Billy and Barbara because of Billy's beloved emotional support chickens. Yeah, you heard me right there. Emotional support chickens. We had chickens as pets

and I was afraid that they would call code enforcement and report the chickens just to be mean. How long did you have to check in? Varts are great pets and my husband always wanted chickens so he bought a few chickens. There were 25 chickens, in fact, which sometimes your emotional needs require 25 chickens. All of them raised in the backyard illegally because livestock is not permitted within the city limits of Titusville, Florida. It's not permitted in my community either, so don't tell anyone about my emotional support ducks.

Anyway. The Woodward's not only shared the eggs with the neighbors, but also held occasional backyard petting zoos for everyone to enjoy. Billy loved animals, and he considered his family's chicken coop, his peace, and serenity. Of course, if you've ever heard a rooster growing in the middle of the night, you'll know that that serenity isn't really shared by every neighbor. After Billy had essentially reported Gary's baby to the police, it was time for Gary to do the same. And at the threat of code enforcement arriving, Billy's

temper gets the better of them. It might have been confronted him about why he was taking pictures of us in our house. Billy says that he came out unarmed, shouting at Gary to come into the street, so Billy could quote, whoop his ass. Gary says for Billy to come onto his property and make those threats, but Billy wants to fight on public property.

Soon the argument circles back to Ava's stolen birthday present and before long other members who live at 1950 and 1940 Smith Drive come outside to back up Gary Hembery. Gary's girlfriend Kim recalls what happened next during the chicken confrontation. A couple threats were made toward Mr. Hembery. Mr. Peechor then said, made a remark about Mr. Hembery having a disability and that he should pick on Mr. Peechor. And I was trying to get both men's attention and get them inside. That wasn't happening. Mr. Woodward was just... They were going back and forth with threats and comments, hurtful things, like children.

While the Woodward's adamantly dispute this detail, Kim and others recall Billy lifting his shirt and showing off a gun. He referred to our children with the N-word, and he also expressed he was going to disembowel our children. Police once again returned to the intersection of Smith and Lane to defuse the situation. Billy's chickens are removed, and along with them any sense of goodwill between neighbors and once friends.

The other neighbors got involved pretty quickly. Okay. And what was the nature of their involvement? It started out as just yelling at us from across the street. Yelling insults and driving up and down the street, honking the horns, making as much noise as they possibly could. Escalated into yelling at us every time we walked outside

when you tried to walk the dog into yelling at us every time we walked outside. When you tried to walk the dog, when you're taking your child to the bus stop, it just never stopped. It was constant. Who was doing this? Oh, I observed every person of both of those households participating in this even the children. Over the next week, the Woodwards continued to be harassed by the families living at

1950 and 1940 Smith Drive, made up of Gary Hembery, Roger Peacore, Bruce Blake, their girlfriends, wives, and children. Back at 1960 Smith Drive, the Woodward's understandably feel isolated and outnumbered. The Woodward children are also beginning to shut down in the wake of constant bullying from the neighborhood kids. Their young minds are unable to fully grasp why the adults are yelling at each other all of the time. Barbara calls a particularly emotional incident from about a week earlier on August 11th, 2012. She would have them, she would tell them to harass my daughter until she could not function

anymore. May stand like a silly question, but how did that make you feel? Oh, maybe he'll terrible. She said that she would frame my daughter of the ass. And she... She said that she would have all the neighbors participate. And that she would burn out my clothes. You know what? I can still hear their voices screaming at me in the street.

And he said, yeah, that's what we're gonna do. She said she wouldn't pay people if she had to. I really can't say through my daughter alone. Billy's father, William Woodward III, was an ally to his son, and frequently witnessed the verbal harassment coming from across the street. It'd been a long time since I'd heard any kind of thing like that before. I didn't know some of these words that I was hearing and I hadn't been familiar with them for years. If they were just very violent,

talking about all kinds of different weapons and stuff and what was unusual because I had really never witnessed this type of activity or group mentality of this nature at anybody in my law enforcement days. And I was using that as a standard. And I just, I had not seen that kind of a failure before. Okay, I was amazed. At the suggestion of Sergeant Thomas House of the Titusville Police Department,

Billy's parents purchased a security system for the Woodward House. Billy's dad, William Woodward III, explains. So we went down and purchased a security camera. It had night vision, the daytime vision. It also had audio. It could record audio up to a certain number of feet away. We installed it under the eve on the north-east corner of the house. And then there were a certain number of degrees that the camera would seek on the from that line over to the right side. And we installed it so that it was covering his right yard. The security camera footage originally intended to capture the threats and harassment from

their neighbors would ultimately capture the atrocities that unfolded less than a month later on Labor Day 2012. On that night, in the moments before 17-year-old Justin Peacore witnessed his father's execution, he and his dad were leaning up against a truck bed, talking with neighbor Bruce Blake, who was present at every confrontation up until that point. Bruce and his wife, Carrie Blake, had moved on to Smith Drive in April of that year, although Billy had actually met Bruce through a mutual friend years earlier. his wife Carrie Blake had moved on to Smith Drive in April of that year, although Billy had actually met Bruce through a mutual friend years earlier.

When Bruce and his wife moved in down the street, Billy described Bruce as being an absolute joy to be around, and considered him to be a friend. In fact, Bruce returned home one day, and Billy came up to him saying he had paid for his water bill, unprovoked. But his tensions began to rise later, that August. It seemed Bruce derived a certain level of pleasure from taunting the neighbor. It suggested that Bruce's wife, Carrie Blake, was heard saying she and her husband go home, drink, and fuck with the neighbors as a form of entertainment.

But Carrie says that Billy harassed them just as much. Bruce Blake had his own colorful way of expressing his disdain towards his neighbor to house his over. Here's a sample read by an attorney in court. Fucking Billy fucking queer fucking sat fucking sad fucking fucking queer Throughout that evening security footage captures Bruce saying quote We get him the snap we got his ass and quote Bruce has also heard laughing as teenagers at the Labor Day party

Decide the moon the Woodward's camera Bruce shouts out quote it's a new movie, four cheeks to the wind." And quote, Bruce has also, at some point, shown off his white knuckles from past fights, and drunkenly taunts Billy to fight him in the street to the death to resolve their ongoing issues like men. Bruce has no idea how seriously Billy has taken these threats until Billy bursts onto their property and fires first at Roger P. Cor. Why I remember is I was staying there front of the truck and in our one shot he noticed that he was stuck in a third and a fourth and that's when I started

feeling and then I think I was shot to three more times and I started going down. Bruce has been shot 11 times during the incident and as he crawls for his life, dragging a trail of his own blood onto his carport, he watches in horror as Billy turns his attention towards neighbor Gary Hembery. There's another sneak peak into this nightmare, just four days before the Labor Day holiday weekend. By the middle of August, the woodward and Embry households have both filed legal injunctions against each other. And on Wednesday, August 29, 2012, all parties attend a hearing to ask for orders of protection

against the other party. The judge denies both sides and tells them to all go home and play nice. Billy's wife Barbara and Gary's girlfriend Kim both describe what happens next. Just outside the courtroom doors. Well, immediately after the hearing, when we tried to leave, all of those people were standing in the hallway, preventing us from leaving.

We actually had to get a deputy from the court to go into the hallway and ask them to leave so that we could leave. We were afraid to walk past them. We waited just a moment for them to go outside, get in their cars, type of thing. They didn't do that. They, some of them left and Mr.

Henry and his girlfriend stayed behind until we got outside. I'm met with Gary and we walked together out the front door. My car was parked right in front of the driver's side door for Mr. Hembery, and I was lighting a cigarette. Mr. Hembery was parked right across the street, leaning against his car, and just, he was just seemed so proud of himself. He made a comment to my husband. I looked up when Mr. Henry opened up the driver's side door and through the window, I saw Mr. Woodward coming out of the courthouse.

The same way we did. I alerted Gary. I said Gary, turn around. He is right behind you and he pointed at myself and Gary and said, are you prepared to die? My husband went across the street, a bunch. He then walked very, he was very quick across the street and he assaulted Gary.

Rather than saying assaulted, what did you see him do? Mr. Woodward had his funds in Mr. Hembrie's eyes and his fingers were behind his ears. I had a cigarette in my hand and I remember jumping on him. Mr. Woodward's mother or wife, I don't know which one wound up in the parking lot yelling about and grabbing their chest. And Mr. Woodward's father moved me onto the ground in the parking lot. Someone who was standing outside the courthouse came over and pepper sprayed all of us. It's not something I recommend. Part of the incident was captured on Gary's cell phone.

According to the police report, as things calm down, Billy says, quote, arrest me. I just hit him. The cops charge him with battery and then release him. Back at Smith & Lane that same evening of the injunction hearing on August 29th, Barbara Woodward recalls the hopelessness of it all. They were already out in the yard waiting for us to come home. The court system was not willing to help them with their neighbors harassing them daily, and the very same neighbors seemed delighted by that.

It appeared as though they were amused. They were laughing. They weren't acting like they had just been in the courtroom. Billy Woodward arriving later with his mother and father is greeted to a gathering of neighbors who taught him from across the street. They immediately started yelling at him, laughing and yelling. We can do anything to you now. I felt like it would not stop. I felt like we had to get away from it completely. I felt like it would not stop. I felt like we had to get away from it completely.

Up until then, I thought that we would live in that house forever. I thought that was Zora house forever. And I realized that that was gonna happen. We were never gonna be safe there. Later that night, on August 29th, a police officer arrives to the Woodward home to supervise an exchange

that unbeknownst to all parties would lead to a double homicide and an attempted triple murder just four days later. Earlier in August, when the Woodward and Henry households first attempted to file restraining orders against each other, there was a temporary injunction which required parties to turn over any weapons they may possess to law enforcement. William Woodward III, who was Billy Woodward's dad and a retired Titusville Florida police officer, was given custody of Billy's guns during this time. But on the evening of August 29th, with the Woodward's injunction officially denied, Billy's weapons could be his weapons back.

And he also said, certainly you need to be able to protect yourself. And I went out and got his weapons and gave him back to him. Both during and after the injunctions, Billy was aware that his neighbor had access to firearms. Recently, Roger Peacore, a resident of Gary Hembre's house, posted a Facebook picture of himself holding an AR-15 right at the camera lens.

But just after midnight, on the Monday of Labor Day weekend, 2012, Roger becomes the first person fired upon by Billy Woodward. We've heard from Roger's teenage son Justin who watched in horror as his father was shot in the face. We've also heard from Bruce Blake, who was gunned down by Billy just seconds later, but somehow miraculously survived. When we last left the massacre unfolding at 1950 Smith Drive, Bruce was crawling towards his carport as Billy turns his attention towards the front door of Gary Hembre's house. Kim Sillsbury, Gary's girlfriend who was part of the group that was pepper sprayed

in the courthouse parking lot earlier that week, explains that she and Gary were inside the home when she hears a loud banging. Knowing that two of their kids are outside, Kim heads towards the front door with Gary behind her. There's a feeling of absolute chaos in this moment. Kim looking for her kids, instead finding teenager Justin Peacore running for safety after witnessing his father's murder and the shooting of Bruce Blake. I thought that Gary was right behind me, but he wasn't.

He was still inside the house in the doorway. So he had his arm up and he was very tall. And I looked under his arm, yelled for the boys again inside the house. Nobody answered. I turned around to go back outside and that was when Gary actually came out of the house behind me.

In one terrible moment, Gary lifts his arm up and Billy immediately neutralizes the threat with a shot, then another, then another. I remember hearing more gunshots, and Gary, I don't know whether he fell on me. His body weight was on me. Kim is knocked to the ground and finds herself crawling under her car for protection. I remember my knee is buckled.

I was underneath the car behind Mr. Embry's head. My ears were ringing and I still hadn't seen any of the boy's feet from where I was so I was trying to get out the other side of the car. But climbing out from under the car would mean certain death. I saw Mr. Woodward's feet come around the back tire of my car. He was shooting. Kim watches trapped, as Gary's body convulses with every bullet that tears through his body. From underneath the car, I can see Mr. Woodward's face. He was standing over Gary. 17 shots are fired at Gary Hembre. Bullets penetrate his body from his thighs to his head and do irreversible damage to his brain, spinal cord, heart, lungs, and small intestines. All told, Billy Woodward's

assault on 1950 Smith Drive lasts less than one minute from the first shot to the last, and all of it is captured on the security camera installed on Billy Woodward's own property. It's a static night vision shot, mostly whites and grays, with a couple of bursts of yellow light reflecting from the street lamp across the way. In the center of the frame, is Billy's white pickup truck, and just beyond it, a slight raise and elevation as a grassy hill leads up to Gary Hembrie's house across Lane Avenue. At 1213 AM, Billy Woodward is seen creeping into the lower left-hand corner of the frame and a long sleeve camouflage jacket with a 9mm pistol clipped to his right side.

He brings his body low to the ground, crawling on his hands and knees, approaching his white truck in the center of the image, and eventually going beyond it and out of frame. At 1237 AM, far in the background of the shot, a flash of Billy running from the left side to the right, and then... none. I'm going to do it. As Billy walks back across the street to his home, a neighbor calls out to make sure everything is all right. Billy's chilling response echoes through the night. Billy returns home and calmly removes his

camouflage jacket as he hears sirens approaching. He then goes back outside and walks to the center of the street where he sets down his weapon, empty clips, and jacket. He turns 180 degrees, gets on his knees, and locks his hands behind his head, waiting for police to take him into custody. Several hours later, Billy stands in the corner of a formal interview room the size of an office supply closet. He asks if he can speak to his parents and police detective Sarah Max Cassie tells him that when they're done with candid about why he's there. They just made a life of living now and my wife. We can't go anywhere without a escort. We can't even let our kids outside.

Yeah, I just, I'm a combat veteran, a thing to have as I just laughed. That's just I couldn't think anymore. They declared war on me. And I'm a soldier, and soldier spied to win. So I fought the war and I ended it to life." Billy apologizes to the detective and explains that he might ramble as he suffers from combat stress and is heavily medicated.

He then begins his account of the events leading up to that terrible night, starting with his daughters stolen birthday present and the matter. It's not. What happened tonight specifically? I just want to talk to you. No, let me ask you this. I bought a war. Then I won't. Do you remember everything clearly? No.

What is the first thing you remember about tonight? I don't remember. remember, no doubt person. Okay. Question from Father. He fell asleep and then when I got up, no life in my daughter, or when I get ready for bed, my brain was just racing. Racing, racing, racing, racing.

Sitting here in the interrogation room, thinking about how peaceful his son looked while sleeping, he worries about what his kids are going to think of him now. He goes on to recall the constant stress the neighbors put his family through, and his frustrations with the police who never put the matter to rest. But God damn, he just really loved those chickens. things had quickly escalated from a personal matter between him and Gary to the whole Who lives next door? It's just a lot of not-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and-and I've made a bad situation worse. Okay. For how's the business work amended? I intentionally shot tonight because he's the enemy.

Okay. He is one of the enemies I quit off the battlefield. As Billy tells his story to detective Maskassi, he rests his elbows on the table and holds his handcuffed hands to his forehead, concentrating, continuing. and they're harassing us day in and day in and night. I'm sorry. And they were targeting me specifically because they knew I was just so better

and they knew that if I blow, they'll go over the deep end and do something to go to jail for President Devin's all benefits and all of everything that I worked hard and earned. And then I guess in the eye, I kept going. And I succeeded in doing that. To elaborate on Billy's status as a disabled veteran, Billy served four years in the army from 1987 to 1991.

In July of 1988, Billy fell through a rotten piece of two-by-eight on top of a veranda that had vines going through it. He fell headfirst onto concrete fracturing his skull, severing a nerve near his inner ear, and killing all hearing and equilibrium in his right ear. While serving his tour of duty in Saudi Arabia, his original assessment was personnel clerk, but he was quickly moved to another platoon where his duties were maintenance, vehicle operations, and construction. During this time, at his station due west of the Persian Gulf, he had regular exposure to scud missile attacks. Billy was honorably discharged in 1991,

and he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and PTSD in addition to his recent brain damage. Adjusting back to civilian life had always been a struggle, but with the help of his family, a VA doctor, and regulated medication, he was able to maintain an even keel. That is, unless he's being pushed or harassed, like when neighbor Kerry Blake threatened

to have his daughter sotomized on August 11th, 2012. I think you have no idea what that does to a man's heart. That's correct. I can imagine. I can't even tell you the day she made her spread so soul-wraged, if I could have got my hands on her house. Can it just remember her and miss him about her? I even told her I'm going to disembowel and meet your guts.

But back to the early morning hours of Monday, September 3rd. Detective Max Cassie plans to read all of the reports from the neighbor's month-long dispute. But her questions now are focused on what Billy remembers from just a few hours earlier. What follows is an abridged version of Billy's moment by moment account of what he refers to as the War Zone. Crouching stance. And I used my truck. For cover. Three things in my movement. I crossed my rock. But I crossed my sidewalk on my his and his.

As soon as I got through the grass, I instantly got as low as the snake. And I remember crawling in, just at the time, I was listening to him, talking in the yellow cross street. And mom's a fucking bitch. You get in, we're going to fuck you up. We're going to you up. It's all on surveillance. You can actually, you can actually hear and see for yourself what they did tonight. So did they see you coming across the road?

Over there just yelling to yell. Well, outside, didn't know what I was doing. I was wearing the camera flash jacket and I have a camera flash pants on. Like I said, I'm sorry, you're out of you remember him, the chain of events that you remember. We kept low-crown, but in a one-point they turned on the surveillance lights, where the screen lights on the house. And they were at the street corner yelling and screaming obscenities at our house. And this is all recorded on my surveillance down.

And it just drove me into a rage. I was already over the edge, and I just didn't control myself. So what did you do next? I kept on crawling. Not one of the military missions. I was in the end of the storm. When you heard that, me patients is a virtue. If you had no patients, you're not going to make this order.

So, I went to the last thing to go out and eventually I got bored and then went back to a garage. So, I had to give my local around the primitive fence until I made it to my neighbors' fence. My backyard denglishlands. Okay. At which point, I got up on my hands and knees, and I crouched to the light pole in the juniper tree

that stood out popularly. I crouched to the light pole in the Jupiter tree instead of a population line. Then from there, I stood in the shadow on my battery traffic and saw it know where the air in it was calm. So I bolted across, waiting to get into the population. I was critical, not critical, but crouched. I walked to a long distance. When I got to a quarter of his base, I jetted into his property. I knew, or I knew as a soldier. Then he gave you and me that you had no respect.

You have to have... ...prosity and speed and accuracy when you rush in. You want to rush down. What I just said was on top of him. They were wrestling. Roger Sun just off his back when he saw me. And I shot Roger in the torso. I know.

Now you have to listen to the video. Count the amount of time. Right now I can tell you. It's okay. Now you have to listen to the video, count the amount of time. Right now I can tell you. Okay. He's still sitting around. I heard Bruce Blake's day something. I followed him to his garage, he tried to go inside the door.

I put him around in his torso until he slumped the ground. Okay. I turned back and found Roger arriving in pain. I point blanked with two rounds in his head. I believe two rounds, eight one. I don't remember. Okay. And at that, learn it all.

Learn it back up after shooting, there was a plate. Gary came out. Gary Henry. Come out of his garage, and so it tells him going on out here. And at a clean shot, he's just enough at one of those centers. Just, he slumped the ground. I walked past Roger who was riding a plane. And I shot Gary Henry twice in the head.

If I remember correctly, you have to get a little over and you guys do do the autopsy. Pretty sure that's correct. And then I walked back over to Saul Roger, and in order to make sure there's survivors on a battlefield by four-point and the head 1 to 2. And I did not go back and finish the job for the first flight because of that once. Okay, see you right now. I used 31 rounds. Okay.

215 rounds for someone in jail. Oh, wait. That's a very long time. A long time. All right, and you ran back? We ran back. Okay. Okay, people.

Okay. Billy explains that as he walked back across the street, he did not engage with any women or children, because you do not engage with women or children on the street. He did not engage with any women or children because you do not engage with women or children on the battlefield. I can't, nor was I finished. I can still be still." Over the course of the hour-long questioning, Billy experiences moments of rage, recalling everything that led up to his assassination mission, but he manages to control his temper. Largely due to the fact that Detective Max Cassie is calm and kind.

Roughly 30 minutes into the interview, Max Cassie asks Billy an especially important question. Because I have freedom, I have pain, and I have asked for help. And I even went to the whole judge, Mark Lee, who's practically just scared in my fun face, who we listened to in a shred of evidence, who allowed me toed of Southern court, who lied like a pack of fucking wolves, who said I had a weapon on me, a gun. Listen to our voice, Dave Brown. Thank you, Brown. All right, you're going to close the gates, okay?

Do you want to sleep? No, don't leave me in the ass. Tom House. A, and the Ass. Tom House, Allow the Sergeant Fox to press charges against me for possessing a firearm in which I did not have any did so because my brothers of fire chief and you didn't want to show further to them. So fucking Sergeant House, kind of fucking balls off and Judge Markley had to learn to say listen to each and every one of their fucking lies and say yes I believe you had a gun Mr. Woodward.

You know I try to say Kairi, when they're Kairi themselves he says Mr. Woodward if you have shut your mouth I will make these stupidest, injunction stay. No I don't I'm not a part of it. I'm not a part of it. I'm not a part of it. I'm not a part of it. I'm not a part of it. I'm not a part of it. I'm not a part of it. I'm not a part of it. I'm not a part of it.

I'm not a part of it. I'm not a part of it. I'm not a part of it. I'm not a part of it. I'm not a part of it. By now, Billy has lowered his hands from his face and explains with a heavy heart how ungrateful most Americans are for the sacrifices made by our soldiers overseas. He's getting angry again, circling back to confrontations over the past month, replaying the scenes in his mind on a loop. Billy slams his head hard against the nearby wall, his military toughness overwhelmed and

consumed with emotions. Look at me, but I'm sorry. I need you to focus on me right now. Okay, I'm listening. I can't have you hurt yourself. Okay. Who? Hello. Look at me. Look at me. You're too much.

I'm sad. Look at me. Look at me now. Okay, that's why I got the hands of Sonny still, okay? But I need you to take a deep breath. Sorry. But number thing you have, okay? We don't make a bad situation worse.

No. I got nothing to have done already. Three years later, it's 2015 and the Labor Day shooting from three years prior has once again made headlines as a special session convenes in Titusville, Florida. Neighbors are coming to the defense of a Titusville man charged with murder. They say the three-man Billy Woodward is accused of shooting threatened Woodward's life and Florida standard ground law gave him the right to shoot. West Tuesday and Bill O'Hill is live at the Brevard County Courthouse in Dan. How are the neighbors helping Woodward's case?

Jim, these friends of Billy Woodward are trying to show a judge that Woodward had a real fear that his life was in danger, but their testimony could backfire. These people say that Woodward's neighborhood enemies made life unbearable. You believe what Mr. Woodward did was okay, correct? Yes, I would have done the same thing. One after another, Billy Woodward's defenders painted a graphic picture of the threats and abuse in their Titusville neighborhood. With Woodward looking on at security video shown by his lawyers, residents told, now Woodward's

adversaries made gun gestures and shouted threats. The state's stand-your-ground law says for someone to legally shoot someone else, they must have a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm. Not only was Woodward afraid, his neighbors say they also were afraid to come out of their own houses. But stand your ground also requires the shooter to believe an unlawful and forcible act was occurring at the time of the shooting. So, what words lawyers are going to be looking for a very broad interpretation of the stand-your-ground law from the judge in which the judge would have to rule that all of those threats constituted a forcible act that was occurring at the time of the shooting. The judge could make this ruling later this week.

To put it another way, if the judge rules in favor of Billy's Stanger Ground Defense, then the state cannot pursue their murder and attempted murder charges. Billy would be a free man. The stakes couldn't be higher, and as Billy takes the stand, he's once again questioned about the events of that Labor Day Sunday and early Monday morning. This time, he has the added advantage of his security camera footage at his disposal. The defense plays excerpt after excerpt of threats and harassment captured on tape. threats and harassment captured on tape. Attention, Vali's back and forth between Billy and security camera video of the same unforgiving

angle of Billy's white pickup truck, and the hill leading up to Gary Hembre's place. That is a 22 automatic. I know because I own one. My dad owns one. He owns two. A pistol on a rifle. So that's one to time. Let's go into your bed. Jeff from me and my family, they're not as serious. They just talked about with me hearing that they want to draw me out to the road for a fight and give me to go to jail. They just made an incursion to my property to make some horrible references about raping my wife. Now they just walked up into the yard and test fire to weapon. Why didn't you call my number one? They don't come. The last time I called the cops took them 10 minutes to get there, left me hanging down the road with my dog. Out and exposed. Was nothing to protect me." There's another moment captured on the camera that's important to Billy. A spark of fire and

flame on the right hand side of the image, far in the background. That in reality is a lit palm fraud. From your vantage point watching it through the window, can you actually identify who it is that's holding up a little bit of burning? No sir, because at that point, at that point right there, when I see the fire lit, whatever time that is, I'm not even paying attention to time in my house. When I see the fire lit, is when I go and grab my fire from my storage place.

Now what about that costume to honor yourself? Because I didn't know if that was a Molotov cocktail fiction to come through and into my house. So, for what period of time after the fire do you continue to watch in your home? How long do you stay in your house? I don't know the exact time, but I know there's a period of time after the fire that I'll leave my house. Okay. Well, I'm going to talk about that and then, but, okay.

What I'm trying to get is, if you recall, you know, it's called that spot. And that's how long did you stay in your house watching before you decided that you needed to go outside of you? I don't believe it was very long. Okay. Maybe a matter of a couple minutes, three minutes, four minutes. Why did you decide to leave your house? Well, at that point, it convinced me that I needed to be outside my house to be a buffer.

When you buy a buffer, and to surveil them even more closely. When you buy a buffer, I don't understand a buffer. I can't protect my family inside a house for fire. If they make it encouraging upon my property with weapons and fire and manpower, so do you want to put yourself in between your family and the day?

I have to, sir. If I'm inside my house, I'm trapped like a rat in a cage. I only made the decision to leave my house to surveil them. So where do you take out your surveillance? Am I still there to corner the screen. I could move it further a little bit. You are, but it's blurry. Okay, anyway, from right there, a car swoops beside, duck back in and go back to the front of my truck. And then I'll make it from the front of my truck. And then I'll make it from the front of my truck.

I'll just view the camera between my trailer and my house where I've got a perfect line of sight and line of hearing, directly to the front yard. We're all the action. I can hear them and I can see them perfectly. There's not a single branch moving on my tree. There's no wind. There's nothing to interfere with my hearing or my vision. So I've got a perfect surveillance of everything they're doing. That's all I'm there for. It's a buffer. To see them coming before they can see me.

That's all. Billy goes on to describe overhearing what he refers to as a conspiracy to kill him, coming from the neighbors, who want to lure him out to the street and shoot him with the gun he swears he heard them test firing earlier, though the bangs may very well have been fireworks. There's another moment captured by the security footage that's critical to Billy's defense. Remember, peril and death have to be imminent at the time Billy fires to legally stand his ground. You may recall Billy said during his police interview that when he first came upon Roger

P. Corp, he was wrestling with his teenage son. Now in court, he says Roger was holding a baseball bat, one he had threatened his father with at another point in time, and that you can hear the bat hit the ground during the shooting. We'll replay that part for you. While it's hard to deny that some sort of metallic sound does occur. No bats were recovered from the house at the intersection of Smith and Lane. In fact, Billy spends eight painful quiet minutes on the stand, flipping through crime-scene photos, and unable to point to a single object to support his story of imminent danger. There are other awkward confessions in court. Like when Billy admits, by the time he's armed himself and crossed the street, he already

understood it could not have been a Molotov cocktail, as a lit bomb would have already exploded. Or when Billy concedes, he only understood after the fact that Gary Henry was not holding a 22 caliber automatic when Billy shot him multiple times, but a coffee mug instead. The cross-examination begins with a simple question that completely derails the notion that Billy fired in self-defense. This was a military operation as far as you were concerned, correct?

Mr. Woodward? Mr. Woodward? Mr. Woodward? One moment, please. Here we go. This was not a military operation. This was me observing, I'm placing myself between them and my family with military training back here. This was not a full scale movie operation, you see it sir. Well you told the officer that you were back on the battlefield. Yes.

Okay. I was training. Training. Okay. Well let's get to how much time do you spend on a battlefield? Actually on the battlefield. Yes sir. If you recall and I'm sure you're memory very clear. I heard you know for war last time from February to 16 to February. Maybe mid-February like like February. So, I believe it was referred to as the

100-hour war, or another round of wars in the 100 hours. So, it wasn't very long. No, I'm asking you personally, sir, how much time did you personally spend in infantry combat on the battlefield? If the T-Combat? Yes, sir. Zero. Zero? A little guarded, sir. Oh, OK. So you never actually engaged in actual battlefield combat

yourself. I never test out that it did, sir. Now, you testified that you had advanced infantry training. That's correct, sir. But you never actually engaged any any infantry combat to do. That's it. Okay. I was training for it but I praised God that I never had to engage in kill anybody. Okay, let's talk about your training. During your infantry training, were you taught that it's common practice and acceptable to execute helpless wounded enemy lying on the ground?

Did teach you that in your training? Yes, sir. Are you aware sir that that's a war crime? So it's your testimony that you were trained during your formal Army military training to execute the wounded enemy lane, helpless on the ground. The United States Army trained you and taught you to do that. No, sir, they... And yes, you are correct, that is a war. I don't need the commission. After a week's worth of testimony, Judge James Erp determines that during the incident, Billy acted with a quote, unreasonable and unnecessary use of deadly force."

He goes on to say that the entire incident could have been avoided if Billy had only stayed inside of his home. excerpts from his ruling read, quote, he said he was tired of the taunting and he snapped. He never stated that he felt anyone was coming to do him harm. He never stated that he was under any sort of attack when he shot his victims. The evidence supports the conclusion that the defendant was the aggressor and that he intentionally went onto the victim's property in a concealed manner in order to carry out his military style attack. The defendant did not exercise self-defense. This defendant did not stand his ground." Three more years pass. It's January 2018 now, and the state of Florida versus William

Theodore Woodward has at long last come to trial. Billy's defense strategy is the same as it was in 2015. Play excerpts from the security footage and emphasize just how real and imminent the threats were coming from across the street and that he had no choice but to kill in self-defense. But the prosecution also uses the security footage to their advantage. They point out that while Billy was watching the palm-fron fire that he thought was a Molotov

cocktail, two different cop cars drive by on surveillance. They've been on routine checks of the neighborhood because of complaints coming out of the area for the past month. And every time Billy has called police in the past, they've shown up, even if it's not as promptly as Billy would have liked. Billy does not take this stand in 2018. However, his police interview and his stand-your-ground testimony are heard and seen by jurors. After three weeks of emotional testimonies, the prosecuting attorneys sum up the state's position nicely. The danger was not imminent. The danger could have been avoided another way.

There was another way. He just didn't like it. It didn't include retribution or vengeance. The defendant was the aggressor when he left his house at a time that there was no threats being presented to him. No one was at or near his property. They were on their own property. Enjoying the tail end of whatever party they had. Did they have fun at the expense of the defendant? Yes, they did, but it wasn't criminal. It certainly wasn't

to the level of an imminent threat to him, his wife, his daughter, his parents who weren't there, or anyone else. There were no attempts to have his daughter sotomized on the second or the third. There were no attempts to have his daughter sotomized on the second or the third. There were no attempts to have his house burned down, or to murder him with a weapon, or a bat, or anything else. The defendant doesn't get to kill his neighbors when he wants, because at some remote time, a threat was made by someone else. On January 31, 2018, after a 12-person jury spends about 8 hours deliberating, Billy Woodward is convicted on two counts of second-degree murder for the slangs of Gary Hembre and Roger

Peacore. He's also found guilty of a third count of attempted murder for the shooting of his neighbor and once-friend Bruce Blake. He's also found guilty of a third count of attempted murder for the shooting of his neighbor and once friend Bruce Blake. Three months later, at the set and sing hearing on April 11, 2018, Bruce is one of the many who provide the judge with a victim-impact statement. After Labor Day 2012, Bruce was hospitalized for eight days and underwent nine surgeries, including a medically-induced coma.

Two of the 11 bullets that were fired at him are still lodged in his body, one near his spine and one in his left calf. Billy stares straight ahead. Bruce tells him, quote, I've handled what happened to me now. Now you have to handle what happens to you." But as with all violent crimes, there are more than just the obvious victims. Other lives have been destroyed by these events, and told through emotional statements from three different mothers, all of whom lost their son in one way or another on that Labor Day

night. There is the mother of victim Gary Hembrey. I have never seen anybody worse from the most hurt person responsible for taking girls of my son's life. He has never sent any accountability for his actions, for the pain, the heartache, and the destruction he has done to my family. I hope he never sees freedom again,

to never do this to another family. And I believe with all my heart that he would, I ask for the maximum service allowed to give justice for this victory pride. And then there is the mother of perpetrator, Billy Woodward. Your honor, our son is very loving and caring man. He's been brought up in the Christian hall. He's loved for Christ, his own wayvering. He has always been surrounded by

loving relatives and family his entire life. The love he has for his family runs deep. One of his greatest loves is his wife. Barbara understood his two children, Aba, and It's far more than a stoo-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t It seems fitting we close it with a statement from his mother. She not only mourns the death of Roger Peacore, the father of her son, but also her son Justin himself, who has been forever changed by that night. I can tell you as his mom that everything has changed in every possible way. Justin has been diagnosed with her stromatocostisor. Justin's behavior is full of anxiety. He gives anyone wearing camouflage a second look. We'll appear because of one he experienced at Labor Day night. He has difficulty concentrating causing him to quit school. He's become withdrawn

from his friends and family hobbies and anything he's to enjoy. The only thing he hangs on to is fishing the sport that he and Roger enjoy together. He now experiences nightmares reliving that night, the sounds, the gunshots and the screams. He is depressed and so full of anxiety, he will not go anywhere alone. If he ate to 23, he still is at home, unable to move on, always in fear for his own life. Billy Woodward is sentenced to two life terms, both to be served concurrently. He's also sentenced to 25 years for the attempted murder of Bruce Blake. Remember, next time you're awoken by the sound of Ecuadorian reggaeton or a circular saw or the crowing of a chicken. Every one of your neighbors has a story of their own.

Even if they drive you crazy, show a little compassion, maybe bring them a fruitcake or something every once in a while. We may think the worst of our neighbors in the grainess of not understanding them, not getting to know them as human beings. But you never know what they may think of you. It could be even worse. The safest bet is to be the better person, be the better neighbor, and in doing so, staying safe in your own home. That does it for episode 153 and season 6 of Sword and Scale. We wish you and your family the very best of the holidays. And we'll be back after the holiday break and announce the

debut episode of season 7 on our social media. So join us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for details on that. And until next year, happy holidays and stay safe. Thank you. you