{"id":139,"date":"2026-04-29T13:00:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T13:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/pensioner-87-found-dead-in-home-pictured-as-husband-92-faces-murder-trial\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T13:00:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T13:00:57","slug":"pensioner-87-found-dead-in-home-pictured-as-husband-92-faces-murder-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/pensioner-87-found-dead-in-home-pictured-as-husband-92-faces-murder-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Pensioner, 87, found dead in home pictured as husband, 92, faces &#8216;murder&#8217; trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_4f8be1\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Laurence Billam, of Exeter, is charged with killing his elderly wife, 87-year-old Shirley Billam at an address in Exeter<\/h2>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"Byline_byline-container__K_Owl\" data-testid=\"byline\"><span class=\"Byline_byline-content-wrapper__Imque\" data-testid=\"byline-content\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"Byline_author-badge-date-wrapper__Q7jj1\">\n<p><span class=\"\" data-testid=\"byline-publishedDate\"><\/span><span class=\"ArticleTimestamp_updated-date__7qD4Q ArticleTimestamp_updated-date-with-published__iFKpF\" data-testid=\"byline-updatedDate\">Updated <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><button xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37087115\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_DEV_Shirley-Billam.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\"><cite aria-label=\"Image: Devon Live\/BPM MEDIA\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Devon Live\/BPM MEDIA)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A trial date has been set for a 92-year-old man accused of murdering his elderly wife in Devon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Laurence Billam, of Exeter, is charged with killing 87-year-old Shirley Billam. His case was heard before Judge Robert Linford at Exeter Crown Court this morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Devon and Cornwall Police previously confirmed that emergency services were called to an address on Millbrook Lane at about 12.40pm on April 19.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The body of Mrs Billam was discovered at the scene. A force spokesman confirmed Mrs Billam\u2019s family are being supported by specialist officers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Judge Linford, appearing by video link from Plymouth Crown Court, set a trial date for October 12. The judge said: \u201cThe court\u2019s condolences go out to the family and friends, and all of those who are affected by this tragedy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cI will identify a plea and trial preparation hearing on May 28 and a provisional trial date on October 12.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">No application for bail was made during the short hearing, which Billam did not attend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He appeared by video link during a hearing at Exeter Magistrates\u2019 Court on Tuesday, when he spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/uk-news\/exeter-murder-trial-shirley-billam-37087128\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Laurence Billam, of Exeter, is charged with killing his elderly wife, 87-year-old Shirley Billam at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777467657_0_DEV_Shirley-Billam.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}