FreeBillyMuller

I’m in a maximum-security prison, in a way, because I grew up believing that people lived by their word, and always did the right thing. My father-in-law, Dennis, told me many times; “you were born at the wrong time, Billy. People don’t think like you anymore. You belong in the time of castles and knights.”

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Maybe that is why I lost my mind in April 2006 when I discovered that his daughter, my wife Christie, was possibly having an affair. The pain was unbearable and I held a gun to my head and wanted to kill myself. I was taken to a mental hospital by the State Police, where I stayed for 5 days. I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and Suicidality.

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Christie denied the affair, and over the next few months kept telling me she was sorry and wanted to fix everything; then she would be caught cheating again - which she continually denied to me and her parents. This caused me to threaten/attempt suicide several more times over the next few months. Dennis and Carolyn, my father- and mother-in-law, were the ones who were there every single time to stop me from killing myself. Christie continued to be dishonest with me and them about her affair and intentions concerning our marriage.

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On that fateful day in June, she went to our house and took all of her and my 2-year-old son’s belongings. When I got home from work that evening, I completely lost my mind and became suicidal. I called Christie at Dennis and Carolyn’s house to ask why she was doing this to me. She told me to “Go ahead and kill yourself. We’re still married so I will get everything, and me and <our son> will get Social Security.”

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I went there with a gun determined to kill myself like Christie told me to do. Upon entering the house Dennis grabbed the gun to stop me from killing myself. We struggled over the gun and in less than 5 seconds, 3 shots went off and both Dennis and Carolyn were shot, and subsequently died. I was charged with first degree murder, convicted, and sentenced to life without parole based on a physically impossible version of events told by Christie; who did not see anything.

I am creating this website to get the truth told, not only about what happened that night, but about depression, suicide and suicidal ideations. I am hoping that it will get people to understand that suicidal threats and talk of suicide should be taken seriously. The truth needs to be told because Dennis and Carolyn deserve to have the truth told. They were two of the greatest people I've ever known. Dennis spent every day for ten months helping me build our new log home, and Carolyn would be there staining logs or sweeping the floor while Christie was at "work." They cried as much as I did when we suspected Christie was having an affair, and the night this happened, Christie told the police that she felt her parents loved me more. I was never their son-in-law, I was their son. That's just how they were. They died saving me. I did not murder them.

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The truth will be shown through documents; there will be nothing alleged here without documented proof. None of my suicidal threats/attempts/hospitalizations were allowed in my trial because New York Courts find that suicide is “irrelevant.” Although there are about 45,000 suicides a year on average in the United States, versus about 15,000 homicides, you will be astonished to see that suicidal thoughts and actions are irrelevant in New York State. New York does not even follow its own laws.

For example, during trial, the court did not allow me to testify in my own defense concerning my previous suicidal attempts, threats or hospitalizations because my lawyer did not file notice and refused to have me take a mental examination. This directly violates established New York laws, and the New York State Court of Appeals has specifically addressed this in People v. Diaz, 15 N.Y. 40 (2010), stating "Of course a defendant can chose to testify in his own defense to explain his actions without triggering the notice requirement of CPL § 250.10(2).

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I also intend to prove – beyond a shadow of a doubt – that evidence was tampered with at the scene, lied about, and other evidence fabricated in its place. You will see how the District Attorney and investigators from the Sheriff’s Department threatened Christie on numerous occasions coercing her to alter her testimony so they could win their case. You will hear the words from Christie herself.

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Incredibly, no notes were taken at all during any of the numerous interviews with Christie; not one note in a case of first-degree murder. There was no investigation or crime scene reconstruction done to show what really happened; not by the Sheriff’s Department, the State Police, the District Attorney’s Office, or even ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), who inexplicably got involved in this case. The District Attorney had statements from several witnesses that this was an “accident”, but not one of these statements has been turned over to date. Knowing that, they still chose not to investigate. During trial, the District Attorney explained to the Judge that if my version of events were true, I could not stop the events once Dennis grabbed the gun, and that I would be innocent. Maybe that is why there was no investigation; why would they want me to be innocent, let alone find the truth?

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I intend to prove here that my version of events is true; that the People’s case is impossible and illogical, as well as inconsistent with all of the physical evidence. The physical evidence cannot be changed; it does not lie. I never denied responsibility for what happened to Dennis and Carolyn, but I am wrongfully convicted and innocent of murder.

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My goal is to get an honest investigation done on my case, hopefully by someone who will really investigate to show the truth. I also hope for a reinvestigation by the present District Attorney in Columbia County, New York, who has the authority to do so. Due to the nature of the misconduct involved here, the District Attorney can refer this case to the Attorney General of the State of New York. The District Attorney should be the first person to want the truth told and justice to be done; it is their duty to the People of New York State. It is time for the truth to be told.