Mylee Billingham: Father to take secret over daughter's murder to the cells
William Billingham was today sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his eight-year-old daughter.
It’s a harrowing secret that evil child killer William Billingham has taken to the cells as he faces life behind bars.
He has never told anybody why he brutally plunged a 20cm blade through the chest of his helpless ‘fun-loving’ daughter in his Brownhills home.
Detectives believe it was an overwhelming jealousy for his ex-partner’s new lesbian relationship and a fear of seeing less of his children which pushed him to murder eight-year-old Mylee Billingham.
But the ‘doting’ father-of-six shunned these claims and denied he plotted a revenge attack against Mylee’s mother Tracey Taundry.
Instead, he insisted he had no memory of the day – despite never having memory problems and clearly recalling events leading up to the killing.
When quizzed by police, the 55-year-old appeared to be ‘at a loss’ to explain his murderous streak but admitted: ‘I know it was me’.
Billingham was found guilty yesterday for murdering Mylee and a separate charge of making a threat to kill 34-year-old Ms Taundry.
He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 27 years this morning.
Detective Inspector Jim Colclough, who led the investigation, said: “He came across in interview, ultimately, as someone who was at loss as to why this would have happened.
“He was quite open and quite willing to talk about all events but then there was just a blank when it came to the crux of why we really wanted to speak to him.
“I’m not a medical professional, the cynic in me would say, at the very least, he was choosing not to recall those events because they were so traumatic.”
WATCH: Detective recalls harrowing case
Billingham told a forensic physician he never suffered mental health problems but had been having a ‘bad time’ since Christmas.
He said he had been signed off work for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after a work accident, as well as depression, but no medication was needed and there was no further referral.
It meant he was eligible to move into a bungalow, living on his own – the Valley View property which would become the scene of the horrific murder just weeks later.
But Billingham, who worked as an injection moulder, never caused any concern for the authorities or ex-partner Ms Taundry, who dubbed the pair ‘friends with benefits’ following the break-down of their relationship.
Det Insp Colclough, who has been with West Midlands Police for the past 20 years, said: “We’re not talking about a violent offender who was on a lot of people’s radar and was mismanaged.
“If I looked, before this incident, at that individual on paper, I would have no real concerns.
“Looking at he circumstances of this case, there is nothing that points towards the fact that any lessons could be learnt from it. It is just absolutely tragic, it shouldn’t have happened.
“I’m absolutely certain that had Tracey had any concerns, she wouldn’t have let Mylee out of her sight for one night, never mind two.”
After stabbing his daughter ‘right through’ her chest and leaving her lifeless on the kitchen floor, ‘normal dad’ Billingham’s only concern was for himself.
Unsuspecting officers stumbling into the horror scene, found Billingham face down on top of Mylee and then dragged him away from her blood-stained body.
But Billingham said nothing but ‘COPD’, which prosecutors alleged showed a ‘total disregard’ for his daughter’s wellbeing.
Det Insp Colclough added: “It was difficult, not least because of the real sense of betrayal. Family members have been in a complete sense of disbelief.
“There is absolutely no excuse for what’s happened but there’s been no sense of remorse or explanation as to why event unfolded as they did.
“It’s been upsetting. We’ve needed to review body cam footage that officers were wearing when they attended the scene. That was extremely disturbing for the officers. It has been a harrowing experience, to say the least.
“People will never be able to live their life as they used to. There will always be a huge gap that Mylee has left.”
Billingham, who lost both his parents within a month of each other and was made redundant, told officers he ‘never wanted to lose’ Mylee.
He explained he had lost her two older siblings to the internet, explaining they were always in their rooms online and only came downstairs to fetch food.
Mylee was an exception and preferred to play games like word search with him, Billingham told police.
Billingham denied making a threat to kill Ms Taundry and murdering Mylee on January 20 but jurors unanimously convicted him of both counts yesterday.
