Guilty plea in post office murder

Banner-News/Jamie Davis\r\nIN COURT: Columbia County Prosecuting Attorney David Butler, left, addresses the media Thursday at the county detention facility after the announcement that William "Bill" Blackmon, 31, of Waldo, had entered a guilty plea in the July 2011 slaying of Betty Cooper, of Waldo, at the Waldo Post office. With Butler are, left to right, Columbia County Sheriff Mike Loe and United States Postal Service Investigators Daniel Medrano and David Garrett. Blackmon, pictured at right at his first appearance proceedings, received two consecutive life sentences, plus 40 years for robbery and arson. He was initially charged with capital murder, which carries the death penalty, but pleaded guilty to an amended charge of first degree murder.