Suspect in 3 slayings dead after Georgia motel standoff

Associated Press

A man suspected in the killings of three women is dead after a standoff today with police at a Georgia motel, and a female suspect has been arrested, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesman said.

William "Billy" Boyette, 44, was dead after the standoff in West Point, Ga., and authorities had taken Mary Rice, 37, into custody, U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Jim Joyner said in an email. The pair had holed up inside a room at the motel.

Dominic Guadagnoli of the U.S. Marshals Service earlier told the Pensacola News Journal that federal, state and local law enforcement officials were at the West Point motel. The stolen car the pair had been seen driving was spotted there, and Rice checked into the motel using her real name, Guadagnoli said.

Authorities in Alabama issued capital murder warrants in the case earlier today as the search for the pair entered its second week.

Boyette and Rice are suspected in the deaths of Alicia Greer, 30, and Jacqueline Jeanette Moore, 39, whose bodies were found at the Emerald Sands Inn in nearby Milton on Jan. 31. Investigators say the two drove across the state line and fatally shot Peggy Broz, 52, in Lillian, Ala., on Friday, also taking Broz' car.

The two also are accused of shooting and critically wounding Kayla Crocker, 28, on Monday, said Escambia County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Chip Simmons.