Billi Jo Smallwood

Case information

Billi Jo Smallwood was sentenced to 25 years in prison on December 12, 2012, after a federal case involving a fire at Fort Campbell that caused the deaths of two of her minor children.

Background

Billi Jo Smallwood was married to Army Spc. Wayne Smallwood, and the family lived at Fort Campbell while he was stationed there. Their toddler daughter, Nevaeh, was not injured in the fire.

Prosecutors characterized the relationship between Billi Jo Smallwood and Wayne Smallwood as “rocky” and presented evidence that she was “concerned with his abuse of alcohol and drugs.” During the period leading up to the fire, Wayne Smallwood had also been released from a county jail on a domestic abuse complaint made by his wife before a bail hearing in 2008.

The offence

Billi Jo Smallwood was convicted by a federal jury in Paducah of maliciously setting fire to a two-story housing unit at Fort Campbell in 2007 while her children slept inside.

The federal jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on a single count of malicious damage and destruction by fire to property owned by the United States, resulting in the deaths of two minor children. The guilty verdict followed a September 22, 2010 superseding indictment that charged Smallwood with maliciously setting the March 29, 2007, fire that caused the deaths of her two minor children.

The fire on the Army post straddling the Kentucky–Tennessee border caused the deaths of:

• 9-year-old Sam Fagan
• 2-year-old Rebekah Smallwood

Assistant U.S. Attorney James R. Lesousky Jr. described Smallwood’s actions as “premeditated and devious” and stated:

“She turned her back on those children, and when she did so, she lost two of them,”

Investigation

Evidence presented at trial included physical and documentary evidence that Smallwood purchased a gasoline container approximately 12 hours before the fire was set. Remnants of the container were found by investigators in the first-floor dining area (described as the first floor dining area / first-floor dining room) of the two-story apartment, where gasoline had been poured and ignited.

Investigators testified that the doors in the home had been locked from the inside and smoke detectors had been removed. Investigators also testified that burns on Smallwood’s legs and forearms were not consistent with her account of when she claimed to first see the flames.

Smallwood’s statements to investigators were challenged by a fire expert at trial, who testified that burns to Smallwood’s legs and forearms were not consistent with her account. The expert also testified that Smallwood’s statements that she saw “blue flames” rapidly moving across the room established that she was in the room when the fire was ignited, because “the blue flames are visible only when fire started with gasoline is first set.”

Prosecutors presented evidence that Smallwood fabricated a claim that she received a threatening phone call meant for her husband on the eve of the fire in order to divert attention away from herself. Phone records and trial testimony established that there was was no record of an incoming call as Smallwood had claimed.

At the sentencing phase, Assistant U.S. Attorney James R. Lesousky said:

“The telephone call never happened,”
“It was part of her cover up.”

Matthew Cummings, a special agent with U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division, testified during Smallwood’s detention hearing. Cummings testified that Smallwood told him the family had just returned from a trip to Georgia when the fire was set, and they had just $17. Cummings also testified that Smallwood was “aggravated” that her husband had gone out earlier in the evening to a VFW club bar.

Arrest and pre-trial proceedings

Billi Jo Smallwood was arrested Nov. 18 in Gainesville, where her husband lived, and was taken to Kentucky on Tuesday for federal custody. She was being held in federal custody.

At a bond hearing described in November 2008, U.S. Magistrate Susan Cole denied bond mostly because Smallwood was a flight risk. The indictment against her was released Tuesday and she appeared in court in northeastern Georgia, where she had family, and would likely be transferred to Kentucky next week for a Dec. 10 arraignment.

During the pre-trial period:

• On November 22, 2008, a federal prosecutor said Smallwood “botched” an attempt to collect on Wayne Smallwood’s $400,000 insurance policy because Wayne survived and her two children died.
• On December 26, 2008, Smallwood pleaded not guilty to a federal charge of attempting to destroy a residential facility for members of the U.S. Army that caused the death of two minors. The judge’s order showed she pleaded not guilty to the charge.

A judge’s order listed that Smallwood, age 35 at the time, also pleaded not guilty to the federal charge.

U.S. Magistrate Judge W. David King appointed a federal public defender for Smallwood. Smallwood listed no income since being charged and listed $1,270 in monthly expenses on a financial affidavit, noting she had no job. In her financial affidavit, she wrote:

“I no longer have a house or food expenses due to my situation,”
“These would be my normal expenses. I am no longer employed.”

Trial

The federal jury in Paducah returned a unanimous verdict of guilty after deliberating for two hours. The trial followed a nine-day trial, after which the jury found Smallwood guilty of maliciously setting fire to a residence on the grounds of the Fort Campbell Army post, causing the deaths of her two minor children, nine-year old Sam Fagan and two-year old Rebekah Smallwood.

David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, stated:

“The facts of this case are tragic and heartbreaking. The evidence presented by the United States at trial conclusively established that Billi Jo Smallwood deliberately set fire to her residence while her children slept inside. Today’s unanimous jury verdict holds Smallwood accountable for her actions.”

The United States presented evidence that Smallwood intentionally set fire to her home after substantial planning, knowing that setting the fire created a grave risk of death to a person, and that it was in reckless disregard for human life. The evidence presented that the victims died as a direct result of her acts.

According to the defense theory discussed around the proceedings, the fire was lit by an intruder or even by Wayne Smallwood himself. During a bail hearing referenced in 2008, Wayne Smallwood told the judge:

“My name is Wayne Smallwood and I am here to support my wife.”

In connection with prosecutor theories about Smallwood setting the fire to kill her husband, Wayne Smallwood’s defense included statements that prosecutors characterized as absurd. In this context, he was described as calling the theories “absurd” and describing Smallwood as:

“the most caring person I know.”

At sentencing-related proceedings, family, friends and even jail guards portrayed Smallwood as caring, selfless and deeply religious during nearly an hour of testimonials in support of Smallwood, who wept during many of the presentations.

A sergeant at the Marion County Detention Center, Brenda Napper, said she believes Smallwood’s claim of innocence. Napper said:

“it's the first time she's ever felt an inmate was innocent.”

Mitchell Embry, a volunteer chaplain who got to know Smallwood during her incarceration, called her:

“the most faithful, deep-thinking, spiritual person I've been around.”

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