July 2009 Escambia County, Florida Leonard “Patrick” Gonzales Jr., age 35, is broke. He’s desperate for cash. So desperate that his mom is paying his bills. Patrick, of course, finds this embarrassing. Against his wife Tabitha’s better judgment, he invested their savings into a Karate School. Savings that the two saved up together working at Long-Wiggins’ antique business. But the Karate business, like 40 percent of businesses in the United States, went belly up. And that little venture has placed Patrick (and by extension Tabitha) in financial jeopardy. Patrick felt like he was letting his family down. Both his wife and his children. But he had an idea. His ticket out of this whole mess was 66-year-old Byrd "Bud" Starling Billings Escambia County, Florida Leonard “Patrick” Gonzales Jr., age 35, is broke. He’s desperate for cash. So desperate that his mom is paying his bills. Patrick, of course, finds this embarrassing. Against his wife Tabitha’s better judgment, he invested their savings into a Karate School. Savings that the two saved up together working at Long-Wiggins’ antique business. But the Karate business, like 40 percent of businesses in the United States, went belly up. And that little venture has placed Patrick (and by extension Tabitha) in financial jeopardy. Patrick felt like he was letting his family down. Both his wife and his children. But he had an idea. His ticket out of this whole mess was 66-year-old Byrd "Bud" Starling Billings Don't forget to give Magic Mind a try: They have a limited offer you can use now, that gets you up to 48% off your first subscription or 20% off one time purchases with code Obscura20 at checkout You can claim it at: Magic Mind | Mental Performance Shot Our Sponsors: * Check out Incogni: incogni.com/obscura * Go to badlandsranch.com/OBSCURA to get up to 50% off your regular-priced dog food order with a 90-day money-back guarantee. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/obscura-a-true-crime-podcast/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy