Editing Billy Bailey (section)

==Conviction==
At Bailey's trial, his lawyer argued that he had acted under extreme emotional distress and was thus guilty of manslaughter instead of first degree murder. She pointed to Bailey's upbringing, his worsening drinking problems stemmed from recent events involving his family, and the state seeking to sentence him as a habitual offender. Ferman Franklin, an alcoholism counselor whom Bailey had visited on an outpatient basis, testified that Bailey was impulsive and emotionally unstable. Two psychiatrists summoned by the state testified that Bailey was neither psychotic nor mentally ill.<ref name=":0" /> The prosecutor also pointed out that shotgun which Bailey used had only one barrel, meaning he would've had to reload it three times.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1980-02-14 |title=Bailey prosecutor describes '20 minutes of terror' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-news-bailey-prosecutor-descr/45628142/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |work=The Morning News |pages=10}}</ref>

In 1980, Bailey was found guilty of first degree murder. The jury found that his crimes "were outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman", and recommended a death sentence. Bailey was sentenced to death by hanging.<ref name=":0" />