Inmate Charged With Trying To Hire Hit Man To Kill Victim, Family

LAND O' LAKES, FL -- Pasco County Sheriff's detectives have arrested an inmate awaiting trial at the Land O' Lakes Detention Center for reportedly trying to hire a hit man to kill his victim and her family.

Billy Warren Pierce Jr., 44, of Hudson is in jail on charges of sexual battery/rape of a juvenile younger than 9 years old. According to detention staff, he reportedly offered to pay a fellow inmate $9,000 to kill his young victim, her parents, her sister and her uncle.

Detention staff confiscated a contract for the hit that was signed by Pierce. It details what family members Pierce wanted him to murder and the amount he would pay for the hits.

"The crimes against children are, in my opinion, the worst of the worst. When you hire somebody to kill said children because you committed an offense against them, I don't think, personally, there's anything worse than that," said Major Crimes Detective James Hicks.

The inmate reported Pierce's attempt to hire him to detention staff on Aug. 22. It took until Friday, Aug. 31 for sheriff's detectives to confirm the solicitation of a hit man and charge Pierce with the aid of a recorded conversation between Pierce and the inmate in which Pierce outlined the hit.

According to sheriff's reports, Pierce was a friend of the victim's father and described to the inmate how he could enter the house through a door the family normally didn't lock. He suggested that the inmate kill the family by breaking a gas line in the back of the house and diverting it into the house through a window.

Pierce initially denied the charge and then asked how he could be charged with the crime, saying, "But I haven't paid him any money yet."

Image via Pasco County

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