Witness against DPS chief says he was 'scared to death'
By Bill Donovan
Special to the Times
WINDOW ROCK, Dec. 22, 2011
Billison is accused of pulling out his service pistol during a blackjack game at the Window Rock home of retired tribal police officer Patrick Willie, who also said Billison threatened to kill him.
In a new development, Willie also recounted a previous incident in which Billison, a childhood friend, intimidated him with violent behavior.
The gun-wielding charges first became public two weeks ago when Robert Platero, a criminal investigations supervisor in Crownpoint, was put on paid administrative leave purportedly for failure to follow up on that investigation. His leave, which was originally scheduled to last five days, has been extended to early January.
Since then, documents supplied by the president's office indicate that Billison's accuser may have recanted his allegations and instead agreed with another account of the event given by Herb Goodluck, who said nothing happened.
But according to his attorney, David Jordan of Gallup, Willie stated during the past week that the only time he recanted his story was when he was interviewed by the FBI and further that he recanted only "because he was scared."
In a third interview, this one by the Navajo Police's Internal Affairs Office, Willie reiterated his original claim that Billison pulled out his gun and threatened to kill him at the 2009 poker game.
An audio copy of this interview, conducted Dec. 11 by investigator Eric Francisco, is available on the Web (https://public.me.com/djlaw1975). The interview is about 30 minutes long.
In the interview, Willie stressed that it was just a friendly game of blackjack and no money was bet. He was dealing the cards.
Present were Billison, Willie, Goodluck, Griffin Begay, Emerson Dixon and the late Eldon McCabe.
They were drinking Bud Light and when the beer ran out, it was Billison, Willie said, who suggested a quick run to the Sagebrush Inn to pick up more.
When they returned, the group kept playing and drinking and Billison began getting very drunk, Willie said.
Although they weren't playing for money, Billison was losing constantly and finally became so upset that he pulled out his weapon, a 9-mm Glock, and waved it at his host, telling Willie that he "could kill me at any time."
Willie said he grabbed the weapon, pulled the barrel up and discharged the ammo clip, which contained bullets.
Asked by Francisco how he felt as this was going on, Willie said he felt "like I was going to get killed."
The game then quieted down and Willie admitted that he never reported the incident to anyone at the time. "I didn't think it was anything," Willie told the investigator. "I just forgot about it."
He said Billison later came by his house and gave him some beer in exchange for Willie removing some cages from Billison's front yard. He didn't explain what the cages were for and Francisco did not ask for details.
It wasn't until another police investigator, John Yazzie Sr., called Willie several months ago that the matter was brought up again, he said. After that, still another investigator, Robert Platero, called to ask him about the incident.
Since then, Willie said he has felt "unsafe."
Yazzie keeps on calling and pressing him to recant and to sign a statement saying he doesn't plan to pursue the allegations, Willie said.
He told Francisco that he and Billison have been friends since childhood and played on the same baseball team in 1982 or 1983.
He said Billison recently offered to help him find a job. Billison provided a lead on one job, but it paid so little that Willie said he turned it down. After that, he added, people from Internal Affairs started showing up at his house.
"I was pretty intimidated and scared to death," he told Francisco.
Willie also told Francisco the 2009 blackjack game wasn't the first time he felt frightened in the presence of Billison.
There was another instance, in 2007, when Billison was drinking and tried to choke him, Willie stated to the investigator.
"We were wrestling and he sat on me," Willie said. "He wouldn't get up for a while. I almost choked to death."
"I am telling you the truth," Willie states later in the interview. "He is terrible."
Contacted late Wednesday, Billison issued the following statement: "As far as I know, this is the subject of an ongoing investigation. I don't and won't comment about ongoing investigations because it causes unwarranted attention.
"Moreover, unwarranted attention causes unneeded stress for the investigators," he said. "I am simply allowing my fellow law enforcement agents to do their job without hindrance."