Global Courant 2023-06-01 03:25:27
An Illinois jury has found Timothy Bliefnick guilty of all charges in the murder trial of a former “Family Feud” contestant accused of murdering his estranged wife, a veteran nurse and fixture at her local church, amid a grueling divorce and custody battle.
Bliefnick, who lived about a mile from his wife after they split, was accused of breaking into Rebecca “Becky” Postle Bliefnick’s home through a second-story window and shooting her 14 times.
Prosecutors alleged that he researched ways to commit the crime on Google, rode a bicycle to her home, pried open the window with a crowbar, and shot her dead.
Jury selection at the courthouse in Quincy took place last Monday. The trial lasted just over a week, with a break for Memorial Day, before the arguments concluded on Wednesday.
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Becky Bliefnick pictured with her family on Halloween in 2018. Police said she was found shot to death at her home in Quincy on February 23, 2023. (Becky Bliefnick/Facebook)
According to prosecutors, Postle Bliefnick’s father found her body on February 23.
Police arrested her husband on March 13, almost two weeks after they issued a search warrant at his home.
In court, prosecutors revealed that investigators found dozens of shell casings in the basement that the state police lab found were fired from the same gun as eight found at the crime scene.
Police have not found the murder weapon, but Postle Bliefnick’s gun was missing, and forensic expert Vickie Reels of the Illinois State Police said it was one of several gun models that could match the shell casings recovered.
Tim Bliefnick, left, was a college football star and contestant on the “Family Fued” game show. Now he’s accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife, an award-winning nurse named Becky Bliefnick, right. (Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Becky Bliefnick/Facebook)
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Postle Bliefnick’s sister also testified last week that she received a text that read, “If anything ever happens to me, make sure Tim is the most important person.”
“I put this on paper that I am afraid he will harm me in some way, come after me, or try to do something to me that will take me away from the kids or take the kids away from me” , Postle texted Bliefnick. her sister, Sarah Reilly, according to the latter’s testimony. “He has already lied several times to portray himself as the victim and me as the perpetrator, when it is absolutely the other way around.”
Tim Bliefnick is seen at his home on the day of Rebecca Bliefnick’s funeral on Friday, March 3, 2023 in Quincy, Illinois. Tim Bliefnick’s estranged wife, Rebecca, was found shot dead in February. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
But Bliefnick’s attorney, Casey Schnack, countered that there was not enough evidence to prove that her client had committed the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
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The prosecution’s case is dripping with sympathy and “lacks any hard evidence,” she said during her closing arguments.
Tim Bliefnick speaks with a deputy sheriff as detectives search his home on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Police left without making any arrests, but said the temporarily detained someone while executing a search warrant related to the shooting death of his estranged wife, Becky Blijnick. (MuddyRiverNews.com)
“The state has failed miserably in their quest to find Tim guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” she told jurors, citing a lack of DNA evidence and surveillance video that she said showed only an unidentifiable person in the area .
According to an online obituary, Postle Bliefnick was a fixture in the local community throughout her life.
Global Courant
She graduated as valedictorian from Quincy Notre Dame High School and went on to attend Quincy University.
She began her career in pharmaceuticals, but completed nursing training in time for the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. As a nurse, she received a Daisy Award for her services to patients.
Michael Ruiz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to michael.ruiz@fox.com and on Twitter: @mikerreports
