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May 10, 2025 12 mins
In this chilling episode, we delve into the dark and disturbing world of Billy Mansfield—a convicted serial killer whose crimes shook Florida and California in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Known for his terrifying double life, Mansfield was the kind of monster who hid in plain sight, all while committing unspeakable acts. As bodies began turning up in shallow graves behind his family home, investigators unraveled a gruesome tale of murder, manipulation, and a family secret too horrifying to imagine. Join us as we explore the evidence, the investigation, and the twisted mind of a killer who thought he'd never be caught.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to Blood stainback Stories. I'm your host, Jason.
Today's case is an American serial killer, child molester, and
sexual offender located in spring Hill, Florida, and that is
William Billy Mansfield Junior. He is responsible for at least

(00:21):
five murders of women and girls between the years of
nineteen seventy five and nineteen eighty. He would bury the
bodies of his victims in the yard of his home
located in spring Hill. At one point he would travel
with his brother to California, where they would rape and
strangle another victim. Billy was born in Michigan in nineteen

(00:44):
fifty six and is the oldest of five children. His
father was a convicted child molester and had served several
sentences in Michigan and Nevada. I guess the appitals the
fall too far from that tree. When he was fourteen,
he would drop out a high schoo He altered his
birth certificates that he could serve in the army, and
he became an alcoholic while he was serving, and not

(01:07):
long after he decided to experiment with various drugs. As
a result of his aedictions, he was sent to the
Veterans Administration Hospital in Tampa, Florida, in nineteen seventy and
nineteen eighty. He did get married in nineteen seventy five
and had two children, but would become divorced in nineteen
seventy nine. According to his ex wife, Billy was a

(01:28):
closeted bisexual. He would often bring men home from gay
bars and have sex with them right in front of her. Heehaw,
sounds like a great Friday night. She described him as easygoing,
but with a violent temper when he was drunk. Well,
that sounds like most rednecks. They probably should make a
country song out of it. On New Year's Eve in
nineteen seventy five, a fifteen year old girl, Eleen Ziegler,

(01:51):
who was on vacation with her mom and stepdad, went
missing from Koa campground near Brooksville. The last time she
would be seen was heading to the campground showers. The
next day, her parents reported her missing. When she did
not return back to the campsite, her parents thought maybe
she had run away, as some teenagers do. At this time.

(02:11):
Search parties were organized and the search for her began.
A few people stated they had seen the girl matching
her description riding a motorbike, and when they asked where
she was going, she stated she was returning to her
home state of Michigan. But there were also reports of
Alien talking to a man in his twenties near the
shower area. They said she later entered his car. The

(02:34):
car was described as being a nineteen sixty six Ford
fare Line with the Florida license plate. In nineteen seventy seven,
Billy would plead guilty to sexual misconduct charges against a
babysitter in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He received six months imprisonment
and thirty six months probation. Shortly after leaving jail, he
assaulted two teenagers in the same city and was sentenced

(02:57):
back to her prison for violating of his parole. Feel
like he deserved more than just violation of parole. Sure,
as part of your parole, yeah, don't touch little girls.
How about you touch little girls again and we charge
you with touching little girls. He shared the cell with
a guy who confided that Billy had murdered an eleven

(03:18):
year old girl, and Billy ran with that information and
testified against the guy in exchange for a shortened sentence,
and was released after only serving one year's time. What
a stellar guy he was. In nineteen eighty, Billy was
forced an eighteen year old girl, Pamela Sheryl, into abandon
drove to a trailer that he rented, where he hit her,
cutting her lip and bruised her neck. Pamela did report

(03:40):
the incident to the police, but unfortunately, when they went
to arrest him, he wasn't there. Five months later, he
was arrested in Santa Cruz. He posted bail and was
set free again. Right in the criminal justice system me
hard at work here. In December of nineteen eighty, passing
motors saw a body and a drainage ditch in Watsonville, California.

(04:02):
The corner ruled that the cause of death was strangulation
and her clothes had been torn apart her blouse and
pants were lowered around her ankles. She would be identified
as twenty year old Ray Sailing, a married mother of
three whose husband had last seen her the previous day.
Four days later, Billy and his brother Gary were arrested
by a ricky police officer in Nevada for questioning of

(04:23):
Rain's murder. The two men lied about their identities and ages.
The officer noted that their physical description master Manfield's brothers,
and they took them into custody. A few days later,
both brothers were arraigned on murder chargers concerning Renee's death.
Of course, they pled not guilty to the murder chargers

(04:44):
and they were ordered to stand for trial for Renee's
murder in February nineteen eighty one. In March of nineteen
eighty one, the Hernando County Sheriff's Department obtained a search
warrant to excavate the Mansfield property in spring Hill. This
was based on information they received about their being body
on the property. They received the information from an informant,

(05:04):
and the authorities searched and dug up the area until
they located a skull and some bones covered by a
blanket and a shallow grave. The bones were sent for
examination and a pathologist to see if it was the Zigglers.
The pathologists concluded that the bones were of a female
age of the under the age of twenty. The authorities
had a search warrant only for Ziggler, but suspected there

(05:27):
could be more bodies, so they continued their excavations. Officers
from Tampa, Florida, and metal detecting experts also aided in
the excavations. The body that was found was tendedly identified
as Zigler based on the characteristics of the skeleton, and
a missing tooth jewelry was also located, but the Ziggler's
parents did not recognize it. There was continuous excavations with

(05:50):
varying success over the Over the next few weeks, bones
of chickens and cows were found until March twenty fourth,
when a small sack of human bones was found underneath
the fireplace. Investigators continued digging and plowing water pipes and
electrical wiring that had been installed. Eventually, they did find
three more skeletons. All three of them would belong to

(06:10):
young women and they would be determined to be the
following people. The first is a Jane Doe and it
was initially thought that she was thirteen years old. Teresa
Fillingham was described as a white film between the ages
of twenty and thirty, and she would be identified in
July of twenty twenty two with generic genealogy. She was
identified as a sixteen year old girl that was reported

(06:32):
missing on May of nineteen eighty. Santa Drene Graham was
twenty one and last seen on April twenty seven, nineteen eight,
in the parking lot of a liquor lounge, accompanied by
a man who was described as a biker. She left
her cigarettes, car keys, and eyeglasses at the bar. Her body,
although it was decomposed, was identified through forensic dentistry. The

(06:53):
skull of two Dane does were set for reconstruction, but
no positive matches were found. The skull was finally identified
in twenty twenty two as Teresa fing and Brim, but
the others had not been identified. Billy admitted to killing
Carol Anne Barrett, who was eighteen year old. Being He
is serving a life sentence in California and followed by

(07:15):
four life sentences in Florida. The state declined to pursue
any additional charges as there's only so many times a
person can serve a life sentence. I suppose that makes sense. However,
that doesn't truly give closure to those families knowing that
their person has been captured and appropriately charged in the

(07:36):
criminal justice system. When Billy would go to trial, it
was moved because they discovery of the bodies and they
wanted to avoid publicity biased against him. His previous encounters
with the law and the alledge sightings of the night
in the Sailings death were recalled. Even with all this information,
the jury was deadlock and a new trial was granted
after six months. I can't imagine being the jury with

(07:58):
this kind of evidence. Bodies found on the property that
you lived in, How can you be undecided? Characteristics that
matched the people who are missing, dentistry that positively identified
some of the people on your property. I don't know
about you, but I don't have dead bodies in my backyard,

(08:21):
especially when you're already have a violent criminal pass. Maybe
you buy a house from somebody who previously had bodies. Sure,
but this guy didn't do that. This jury was ridiculous.
On October twenty seven, nineteen eighty one, Billy, aided by

(08:42):
a twenty two year old inmate, unchanged himself while at
the recreation yard and climbed up a roof. They jumped
down together on the ground and fled. They responded by
a woman who first ignored them, thinking they were wearing
orange tracksuits and out jogging, and then she notified the police. Now, sure,
at this time in the eighties, neon colors were very,

(09:04):
very popular. This was the time that we were all
seeing neon yellows and greens and oranges. So you got
to remember that that today, if we were to see
some random person wearing a bright orange jumpsuit, it would
stand out as hey, m pull is it prison jumpsuit?
But back then maybe not. Sniffer dogs were also used
and dispatched to the surrounding areas were searched, and an

(09:26):
approximately eleven forty five pm, a man reported seeing two
suspicious men running by his house. The police investigated the
area and found two sets of footprints leading to the river.
After eleven hours of searching, the a disseveral disheveled and
tired Billy was arrested without any incident. He was found
hiding in some bushes and still wearing his prison clothes.

(09:46):
About an hour and a half later, the other prisoner
was found and they were both returned to jail. Since
the first trial ended in a dreadlock, we move on
to our second trial, and while Billy was in Santa
Cruz jail, a floor a hern A County judge indicted
Billy for the murder of one of the four victims
found underneath his property, and he was also charged with

(10:07):
attempted sexual battery. In Cherrell's case. The new trial was
scheduled for February eighth, nineteen eighty two. Billy's brother, Gary
and a woman known as Cindy agreed to testify against him.
The trial would last for two weeks, and Billy was
convicted of Rene Sailings murder and sent back to prison
to await his sentence. He was handed a twenty five

(10:29):
year to life sentence concerning all of the homicides that
he committed in Florida, Florida. After initially claiming his innocence,
Billy pleaded guilty to all four and was given life
terms as part of his plea bargain. Billy made a
statement saying, I am pleading guilty because I am guilty
of the charges and I have no other reason. Well,

(10:50):
it's a Valentine ye man out fucker. Shortly after his sentencing,
several inmates at the Hernanda County Prison attempted to break out,
and they were stopped by the authorities. During this escape,
Billy was attempted freedom, and he declined what a good guy.
Good guy, just decline in the freedom. But he also
learned from the first time that you're not going to
get away forever. Dipshit, so that's probably a good thing. Well.

(11:14):
The case of Billy Mansfield is a tragic one that
involves several women across several states. Ultimately, he was apprehended, convicted,
and sentenced to life, which is great. We needed someone
like that off the streets and I am glad that
that took place. Let us know what you think about
this case, as well as the victims that were involved
in the case in the comments below. Thanks for tuning

(11:37):
into Blood Stain backstories, and don't forget to follow us
on social media and stay updated, share your thoughts and
connect with your fellow true crime enthusiasts. You can listen
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sure to hit that subscriber follow button so you never
miss an episode, and join us next week as we

(11:57):
uncover another chilling case. Until then, stay safe and stay curious.
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