Mary Rice mugshot.
The attorney representing 37-year-old Mary Rice, the alleged accomplice of accused killer William "Billy" Boyette, said that Rice was beaten and threatened over the course of seven days while on the run with Boyette.
Defense Attorney Spencer Davis, based in the Summerdale area of Baldwin County, said Rice has told him she was not a willing participant in the spree of murders and armed robberies in Florida and Alabama.
"She was beaten, abused, threatened," said Davis.
Rice appeared in court in Santa Rosa County on Tuesday (Feb. 9) where she received a $750,000 bond for being an accessory to first-degree murder for the double homicide of two women in Milton, Florida on Jan. 31.
Davis said from the beginning of the crime spree Rice was being held captive.
"Those threats included both harm to her and if she got away from him harm to her family," said Davis.
On Feb. 3, Boyette and Rice are accused of killing and robbing 52-year-old Peggy Broz for her vehicle in Lillian, Alabama.
A few days later on Feb. 6, the pair were accused of a shooting during a home invasion that claimed the life Kayla Crocker in Escambia County.
During a press conference a day before the pair was spotted in West Point, Georgia, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said his department had photographic evidence that Rice had chances to escape.
"There was sufficient time if you will for her to make an escape," said Morgan "to walk away, seek refuge if you will for safety, but she returned continually to him."
When asked if Rice ever considered seeking refuge at the Shell gas station in Beluah, Florida after the home invasion, or at the Hardee's Restaurant where the ECSO claimed the pair purchased breakfast, Davis said it's too early to speculate.
"I'm not going to get into all the different details and parts of it because my investigation of it is still in the very early stages," said Davis.
Rice currently remains in jail in Santa Rosa County at this time. If Rice meets the $750,000 bond she will be immediately arrested and detained in Escambia County to face charges there.
After court proceedings in Escambia County she can be transferred to Baldwin County.
The Baldwin County Major Crimes Unit signed a warrant for the arrest of Rice on Feb. 7, charging her with first-degree capital murder and first-degree robbery in the death Broz.
Davis said the case in Baldwin County has been instituted and he is moving forward.
"Her 6th amendment right to council has been triggered," said Davis "regardless of whether she is here or not she has right to be preparing her defense."
Davis said he has not asked Rice about Boyette taking his own life during the stand off with the Troup County Sheriff's Office at the West Point Motel in Georgia.
He asserted that regardless of how the manhunt ended, Rice was held against her will and fought to stay alive.
"The truth of what happened is without the threats, the abuse, the beatings she would not have been with him," said Davis "she was scared to death and did what she could to stay alive."