LEESBURG — Looking down the muzzle of a pistol held by a stranger in your own home changes the day’s priorities. It certainly did for Bob and Frances Belote on Friday, July 10. Both in their 80s, they had just finished lunch when a gruff voice startled them. “Give me your money,” it said. They remember thinking, “This is it! We’re going to die.”
But their faith calmed them and Frances even witnessed to their captor during a long ordeal during which the Belotes were held hostage in their own home.
The would-be robber, identified by police as William Spencer, 49, of Baltimore, who had just been released in May from a 16-year prison sentence, had already failed in his attempt to rob a jewelry store in downtown Leesburg and was being sought by police. After fleeing the jewelry store, in another Leesburg home invasion, he had tied up a couple and their 2-year-old child and stolen their Jeep Cherokee which he later abandoned.
Entering through an open garage and an unlocked door, he crouched in the Belote’s den as he held a gun on the couple. They gave him what he demanded, all the money they had between them — $50. “He was pretty disappointed,” Frances laughs. “He had gotten a lot more from the other house.”
Bob and Frances Belote discuss how they sensed God’s presence during their trying ordeal. (Photo by Jim White)
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Spencer then cut the telephone cord and with it bound Bob’s hands behind him. Leaving him on the floor, he took Frances to each window to close the blinds. After then tying Frances’ hands, he forced the couple into a windowless bathroom where he shut them in. But as the door closed, Frances locked the robber out.
Not being able to believe what was happening at first, it took the couple some minutes to gather their thoughts. Bob could hear the man move from room to room looking for valuables. Frances managed to free her hands and then remembered the cell phone she had placed in her pocket that morning. As she spoke with the 911 operator, Spencer heard her side of the conversation and became furious. Finding the door locked, he broke it down.
“At that point, we thought we were going to be shot,” Frances remembers. Instead, Spencer lamented that her call meant he couldn’t leave. Apparently, Spencer had planned to steal what he could and take the couple’s car as he had previously.
The gunman moved to the door leading from the den to the garage and discovered the police had already arrived. He shot a bullet through the wall into the garage ending the Belote’s speculation that perhaps the gun was not real and beginning a 10-hour standoff with authorities.
While the SWAT team assembled and reporters and cameramen gathered outside the Belote’s house, their twin sons, Larry and Keith, both Leesburg physicians, arrived. They were not allowed to cross police lines and stood by helplessly with their families. Joining them was Alan Stanford, pastor of Leesburg Community Church (formerly Leesburg Baptist), where the Belotes have been members for more than 50 years. Friends gathered at the church to watch and pray as news of their ordeal circulated through the close-knit community.
Inside, Spencer was becoming agitated as he considered his options. At one point, he began to rummage though dresser drawers and Frances’ jewelry. She approached the man asking to see what he held in his hand. He held out his hand revealing her engagement ring, her wedding ring and a black onyx ring Bob had given her on their 50th anniversary.
“No,” she said. “You can’t have those. Those rings are sacred to me.” Bob remembers thinking to himself “What are you doing, Frances, telling a man with a gun he can’t have them!” Undaunted, Frances explained why each ring was precious to her. “Now, put them back,” she ordered. Obediently, Spencer did so. “It was like his mother had scolded him,” Bob remembers.
By this time, the police had established contact first through Frances’ cell phone, and then through a phone they supplied. This phone included a microphone and a camera which allowed police to monitor what was happening inside the house.
“He aggravated me to death,” reflects Frances on those hours they spent as hostages, “because a cigarette has never been smoked in our house and he smoked constantly. He even put one out on the bathroom floor. I told him, ‘If you’ll be patient, I’ll get you a saucer to put out your cigarettes since we don’t even own an ashtray.’”
As time passed, Spencer began to look through the pantry for something to eat. Frances asked if he was hungry and offered to fix him something. He settled for Captain Crunch cereal which Frances provided along with a pitcher of iced tea. Outside, the police reported to the family, “She’s feeding him.” They were not surprised.
As he ate, Frances sat in front of him and asked about his family and told him about hers — especially their great-grandson, Johnathan. “Right now he’s worried about his great-grandparents,” she offered.
As they became more familiar, she asked, “Do you know Jesus?” He paused reflectively, “A long time ago. But, I’ve messed up big-time and he’s not there anymore,” he said, referring to his life.
“That’s where you are wrong,” Frances countered. “He didn’t leave you. But you left him, and you have to repent and ask his forgiveness to reconnect with him.” Bob recalls that he just sat there with his head down. Frances placed her hand on his shoulder and prayed for him. The selection from their devotional guide, Daily Bread, that day said, “They witness best who witness with their lives.”
At the nine-hour point in the standoff, Spencer announced that one of them could leave and Bob told Frances to go. Noting his wrists bleeding from where he had been tied, she said, “ I’m not leaving without you!” Her husband became emphatic, “Frances, go!” Reluctantly, she left him behind, and her jubilant family received her outside. “It was the only time in her life she listened to me,” laughs Bob.
For the next hour, Bob and his assailant talked. At one point Spencer removed a large roll of bills from his pocket and expressed regret that he had damaged their home and had caused them such pain. He peeled off $140 which he gave to Bob. Shocked, and not knowing what else to do, Bob took it. Later he gave it to the police.
“How do you think I can get out of here?” the robber asked him. Answering honestly, Bob said, “I don’t think you can. They have the place surrounded.”
Shortly before Spencer surrendered to police, Bob patted the man’s shoulder and said, “You know, you’re really in a mess.” “I know,” the thief replied.
Soon afterward, Bob walked him to the door as Spencer surrendered to police. Looking at the man who had caused such chaos in their lives, Bob said, “Take care of yourself.”
Many people would be bitter about the ordeal they were put through. But the Belotes see things differently. “I kind of feel sorry for him to tell the truth,” said Bob. “I think he’s wasting his life in crime.” On the police report under “occupation” Spencer listed “Robber.”
“I saw some goodness in him if he can get his life turned around. Maybe we can see him in heaven,” mused Frances. She continued, “We both agree that this was not about us. I told the [Washington Post] that they would miss the point unless they told about God’s part in this.”
Frances reflects, “Without God’s presence, we never could have been so calm.” Bob agreed but amplified, “I think we were pretty calm considering we had a man sitting here with a pistol in his hand.” Continuing the line of thought Stanford injected, “The police were amazed. They came back to interview them to see what they might learn about future hostage negotiations.”
“I think the way we treated him had a lot to do with how he treated us,” offered Bob. “We treated him like a guest if you want to know the truth!”
Reflecting on how this ordeal changed them, Frances said she learned again how precious are the Scripture verses they learned through the years. These verses sustained them in those hours — especially the brief admonition “Fear not.”
And prayer. Bob suspects that he did more praying that afternoon and evening than in the entire previous month!
And family. “We were a strong family unit anyway, but if anything we are stronger than before. We sense a need to spend more time together,” Frances pondered.
Asked if they wanted to say anything to Virginia Baptists through the Religious Herald, Bob said “Don’t make people think we’re saints. We’re just ordinary Christian people.”
Ordinary? While most would be asking “Why us?” the Belotes are saying, to quote Frances, “Out of all the houses he could have picked, God had a hand in his coming to us.” They are happy that Frances shared the gospel with their “guest” and are praying that he will surrender this time to the Lord. After all, Jesus has him surrounded.
Because their story has been carried by major newspapers and was broadcast on Fox News, they wonder whether their story may offer a word of hope to others across the country. They believe it will.