213. Trolling for Murder: The Killings of Billy and Billie Jean

It is January 31, 2012, and a family member decides to drop by the home of 24-year-old Billie Jean Hayworth and her fiance 35-year-old Bill Payne. The couple, who shared a 6-month-old son, had recently gotten engaged and we were excited for the future. A family member who regularly stopped by to check in on the young family was always greeted by the baby crawling around. This time it was different. After not being invited into the home, she entered through the unlocked door. She was immediately thrown off since there was not the usual hustle and bustle of the morning. Instead, pure silence. The women called out to them but no one responded. As she made his way through the hallway, she looked into the bedroom and saw Bill Payne lifeless on the bed. Then he came upon Billie Jean on the floor, covered in blood, with her still clutching to her baby boy. The baby had her mother’s blood on him but seemed to be unharmed. The woman makes a frantic call to 911 in shock from what she has witnessed and tries to soothe the baby. Police head to the location nervous about what they will discover. This is not the norm in this quiet Tennessee town of Mountain City, population 2415. Agent Scott Lott from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reports to the scene. He determines Bill Payne had a gunshot wound to the face and his throat had been slit. Billie Jean had a gunshot wound to the head as well. The house did not seem to be in disarray indicating this was not a burglary gone wrong. What it did indicate was that someone wanted both of them dead and made sure to make that happen. The murders looked clean, as in a hit.
Join Jen and Cam on this episode of Our True Crime Podcast entitled ‘Trolling for Murder: The Killing of Billy and Billie Jean.’

Listener Discretion courtesy of @octoberpodVHS

Music is courtesy of our executive producer @wetalkofdreams

Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m40-nbJzKLE
https://abcnews.go.com/US/social-media-feud-led-murder-young-tennessee-couple/story?id=34346840
https://lawandcrime.com/crime/matriarch-of-tennessee-family-convicted-of-infamous-facebook-murders-pleads-guilty-after-being-granted-new-trial/
https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/mother-daughter-convicted-in-facebook-murders-case-to-appear-in-court-tuesday/
https://www.timesnews.net/one-of-three-facebook-murder-convictions-overturned-mother-granted-new-trial/article_4aea9524-0618-11ec-a093-8b71991a842d.html
https://www.thetomahawk.com/news/article_495b5c6e-83ce-541f-92b3-26b9a209e73c.html
https://law.justia.com/cases/tennessee/court-of-criminal-appeals/2019/e2015-02261-cca-r3-cd.html
https://lawandcrime.com/crime/matriarch-of-tennessee-family-convicted-of-infamous-facebook-murders-pleads-guilty-after-being-granted-n/ew-trial