Rebecca Bliefnick.Photo:Madeline Paige Photography
Madeline Paige Photography
A formerFamily Feudcontestantwho was convicted in June of murdering his wife was sentenced to three life sentences in prison in an Illinois courtroom on Friday.
“You researched this murder," Judge Robert Adrian said while sentencingTim Bliefnick. “You planned this murder. You practiced this murder. You broke into her house and you shot her … 14 times. … Some of those shots were fired while she was lying on the ground and you did all of that while your children were upstairs at your house, lying snug in their beds.”
Bliefnick, who was wearing orange and white prison scrubs, declined to make a statement after he was handed the sentence in the Adams County Courthouse.
Prior to the sentencing, members of Becky Bliefnick’s family read victim impact statements. “When you murdered Becky you took from your boys the person who loved them the most on earth,” Becky’s mother Bernadette told the court. “Becky’s family, friends coworkers and patients will never again see her smile, hear her laugh, feel her embrace or receive her love. We are left with emptiness that cannot be filled. We are only left with memories. Your soul is black with hate. Your heart has only love for itself. You should never be allowed to be free again.”
Tim Bliefnick.Quincy Police Department
Bliefnick was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and home invasion in the death of Rebecca Bliefnick, who was found dead on Feb. 23, 2023, in the second-floor bathroom of the comfortable Quincy home where she lived with the couple’s three young boys, ages 12, 10 and 6, after Tim filed for divorce in 2021.
The 41-year-old nurse had been shot 14 times at close range.
Bliefnick had told police his estranged wife was the victim of a violent home invasion.
Prosecutors didn’t buy his claims, pointing out during his four-day trial in May, that authorities found damning evidence against him— including internet searches on “how to break into a window with a crowbar” and how to create a homemade gun silencer.
They allegedhe attacked herin a jealous rage after spotting a car belonging to another man parked outside her house on Feb. 14.
Former Family Feud Contestant Tim Bliefnick.
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It belonged to Ted Johnson, Becky’s boyfriend of several months.
Nine days later Tim returned with a gun and “looked in her eyes” before killing her, said Josh Jones, lead trial attorney for the Adam’s County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Rebecca Bliefnick and her family.Love’s Me Photography/Stephanie Haskins
Love’s Me Photography/Stephanie Haskins
‘Family Feud’ Appearance
Bliefnick and some of his family members were contestants on the game showFamily Feudin 2020.
“What’s your biggest mistake you made at your wedding?” host Steve Harvey asked Bliefnick during the show,FOX Newsfirst reported.
“Honey, I love you, but, ‘Said I do,'” Bliefnick replied. “Not my mistake, not my mistake — I love my wife. I’m gonna get in trouble for that, aren’t I?”
Harvey stared deadpan at Bliefnick and the studio audience laughed.
Tim Bliefnick in court.Mike Sorenson/Muddy River News
Mike Sorenson/Muddy River News
According to anonline obituary, Rebecca was nominated for the international Daisy Award that honors exceptional care in 2020. She was also a certified trauma nurse, sexual assault nurse examiner and during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked as a traveling nurse.
She also volunteered for an animal rescue group and dedicated her life to her three boys.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
