ESCAMBIA COUNTY - It's been 4 months since a group of men, dressed as ninjas, burst into the home of Byrd and Melanie Billings and shot them to death.

In that time there have been 8 arrests and while those cases are moving through the court system, questions remain.

Channel Three's Dan Thomas joins us now with this special report.

As you sort through the thousands of pages of witness statements and hours of recorded interviews it becomes apparent that many people who knew the Billings would be robbed and killed also believed the Mexican Mafia was behind it.

Is that true? Or was it just a scare tactic used to intimidate witnesses and throw off investigators.

Whatever you've heard about the Billings, one fact is clear Bud and Melanie made tremendous sacrifices to provide for their children 17 in all: 13 of whom were adopted most with special needs.

Who would gun them down in their own home, in front of one of their children?

8 people have been arrested. Some of them told investigators they expected a big payday.

But this is what person of interest Hugh Wiggins says the accused triggerman -- Patrick Gonzalez Junior -- told him about why it happened.

Hugh Wiggins/Person of Interest: "He said that some one had offered him that he had been offered a contract." Tyree/Investigator: "What kind of contract?" Hugh

Wiggins/Person of Interest: "To eliminate some one."

Wiggins went on to say something else was involved.

Hugh Wiggins/Person of Interest: "The people that are involved in this are not nice people by any stretch of the imagination. If what I think is true, then these people are very very bad people."

"Mexican Mafia. And I'm not much for getting chopped up with a machete or watching kids in the house get chopped up with a machete."

And he's not the only one claiming an organized crime connection.

Leonard Gonzalez Sr./Billings Murder Suspect: "This Christian fellow that adopted all the children had been washing money for the Mexican Mafia for years."

Investigator: "Who?" Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr./Suspected Triggerman: "La Eme?" Investigator: "What is that?" Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr./Suspected Triggerman: "Mexican Mafia."

It's an aspect to the case the sheriff's office continues to explore.

Sheriff David Morgan/Escambia County: "I'm of the opinion that Bud Billings was doing business and woke up one day and basically discovered he was doing business with some very bad people."

Dan Thomas/Reporter: "To a viewer watching this, they've got to be asking themselves the question at this point, 'Why in the world would the Mexican Mafia want Bud and Melanie Billings dead?' " Sheriff David Morgan/Escambia County: "Well, again I think it will have to do with the level of tie that you have here."

Morgan says that tie will become more clear to the public as more evidence is released.

Sheriff David Morgan/Escambia County: "Again as I stated throughout the case Dan, I think there are multiple motives for this case. I don't think it is as simplistic as some would like to believe because I would like to think it was just a robbery gone bad. okay? But the elements of this lead me to believe otherwise."

But Morgan admits it's possible that connections to organized crime may never be proven in court.

Sheriff David Morgan/Escambia County: "We have to be evidence driven. I can believe in my heart that something is so. If I can't provide sufficient evidence for Mr. Bill Eddins and his office to prosecute, then it really doesn't matter."

I asked the sheriff much more about the possible connection to the Mexican Mafia including a Mexican citizen living here who some say is part of the Mexican Mafia.

To see the entire interview you can go to our website at weartv.comBillings' Murder: An Indepth Look