Authorities believe 3 killings linked

BILLINGS – A body found near here was that of a 43-year-old man who worked odd jobs and lived in the same Billings building as two people who were bound and beaten fatally in their apartment last month, authorities said.

Yellowstone County Sheriff Chuck Maxwell identified the man as Gerald Morris. A state highway worker found the body Wednesday off a road outside of Billings.

Authorities are conducting a triple-homicide investigation and are trying to determine how the deaths are linked.

“It would be foolish to think they weren’t related in some manner,” said Yellowstone County sheriff’s Lt. Ron Wilson, whose detectives are working with the Billings Police Department. “When we solve it (the Morris case), we’ll solve all three of them.”

There have been no arrests.

Family members reported Morris missing Sept. 23, the day after neighbors Norman Leighton, 69, and Patti Hubbert, 54, were found fatally beaten in an adjoining apartment. Fire crews found the bodies of Leighton and Hubbert, boyfriend and girlfriend, while responding to a blaze that officials say was set to conceal crime.

Morris’ remains were decomposed when the highway worker found them. Dental records were used to establish identification.

Morris died of multiple gunshot wounds in the torso and had been dead for about two weeks, an autopsy found. That places his slaying at about the same time as those of his neighbors.

Police in Billings had been seeking Morris for questioning about the deaths. He served time in prison after being convicted of felony forgery in 1998.

Billings police Detective Sgt. Jay Berry said he would not discuss his investigators’ theories nor evidence gathered.

Morris worked a series of odd jobs that included helping at the plumbing business operated by his stepfather. Morris also repaired bicycles, mowed laws and cleaned apartments for his landlord, said his mother, Roxie Blinco.