Bannock County jail employee faces charges in Salt Lake

BANNOCK COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) - The Bannock County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Tony Manu released the following statement regarding the status of a jail employee who is facing charges in Salt Lake County.

The Bannock County Sheriff’s Office placed a jail employee on administrative leave after she was charged in connection with a criminal investigation in Salt Lake County, Utah. Marina Billings is a booking deputy in the Bannock County Jail. She has been with the County since July 2014. Billings will remain on administrative leave while the County conducts an internal investigation regarding Bannock County policies. The Bannock County Sheriff’s Office expects the highest professional conduct of its employees both on-and off-duty, which includes conformance to laws.

The Bannock County Sheriff’s Office is cooperating fully with the Utah investigation. Further inquiries about the criminal case involving Billings should be directed to the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office.

Utah investigators are accusing Billings of exploiting and contributing to the death of champion speed skater Boris Leikin.

Leikin died in July from a form of mad cow disease.

Utah police say Leikin and Billings met online and started dating before he died. Billings eventually moved in with him at his Cottonwood Heights home.

Investigators believe Billings and her husband, Robert Billings, were trying to get Leikin to make her a beneficiary in his will, as his health was deteriorating.

Both Marina and Robert are being charged with financial exploitation and aggravated assault. But police are still searching if there is substantial evidence that the couple intentionally made Leikin sick.

Billings has been working for the Bannock County Jail since 2014.