Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
its been dubbed the family feud murderer by the tabloids husband and father timothy bliefnick making this now hunting joke during a taping of the game show that aired nationally in 2020.
harvey:what´the biggest mistake you made at your wedding?”
tim:” honey i love you but .said ” i do”
Now bliefnick is behind bars ,convicting for killing his wife becky , thr mother of three . shot up close 14 times in her I’llinois home………
in 2019 , timothy bliefnick and his family were chosen as contestants on the widely watched American TV game show family feud hosted by the renowned comedian steve harvey.
the episod featuring the bliefnick family was recorded that year and subsequently aired on wednesday , january 22, 2020.
THREE YEARS AND TWO MONTHS LATER
in the hidden corneres of our communities, where ordinary lives mask extraordinary struggles countless individuals silently battle the tumultous currents of relationships
stained by anger and histility .behind closed doors,their bravery is tested , their very safety teetering ona fargile precipice.
far too often ,the challenges they face inshielding themselves from partners, who may pose a threat to their well-being remain shrouded and dismissed.
it is in these harrowing circumstances that self-preservation becomes a complex of survival
rebecca bliefnick,who preferred to be be called becky
was born in november 1981 in Quincy, Illinois. she excelled academically at every turn.becky graduated as valedictorian from Quincy norte dam high school .
she furthered her education at Quincy university ,earning a bachelor’s degree in biological science witha minor in chemistry
becky´s professional journey began on pharmaceutical sales at sanfoni aventis ,where she thrived as a top sales performer
however , her true calling led her to pursue nursing.
so she enrolled at the blessing -rieman college of nursing and health sciences and graduated at summa cum laude.
throughout her career, she serves as a dedicated murse in various capacitites, including a travel nurse ,during the challenging times of the COVID pandemic.
beyond her career ,becky selflessy contriguted to her community by volunteering at saint peter´s grade school association. and with an animal rescue group.
she also ha plans to volunteer at Quest stables to assist with therapeutic horse riding services.
while studying at Quincy university,becky crossed paths with timothy bliefnick, a celebrated colleger football player who later aerned a spot in the university’s hall of fame
they soon began a relationship and married in 2009 in fort Wayne , indiana ,before returning to Quincy
settling into a warm and welcomeing home they purchased on kentucky road, the couple .along with their three children
flourished , fostering a tight- knite and joyful bond.timothy thrived as a sales executive at Quincy farm products, and becky found fulillment in her worl at blessing hospital
unfortunetly, however , after ten years of marriage, their once vibrant union was i a state of decline. despite becky’s immense joy in being with her cherised boys ,and posting images of their preciouse family moments online. cracks in their relationship became apparent.
february 2019
by ferbrury 2009 , they decided to separate ,becky stayed in the marital home while tim rented a house on hamsphire street in Quincy, less than a mile away .
they shared custody of their children.
during this earliy period of separation in may 2019 tim and some relatives flew to los angeles to record an episode of family feud. for the bliefnick family, it was an overwhelmingly postivie experience.
Meanwhile ,back in Quincy , tim’s 15 minutes of TV fame , soonfaded , but his marital trooulbles did not . the subsequent years woul be marredby frequent battles over custody , financial obligations and escalating turmoil.
The bliefnicks could not agree on matter ,large or small therefore ,it was not suprising to either party when tim filed for a dissolution of marriage in january 2021
following the legal filing, disputes between the two becames acrimonious that the state was evemtially compelled to step in and appoint a guardian ad litem to protect the welfare of the children.
the appointee ,attorney ,rick zimmerman ,testified later in court about his perception of bliefnick’s relationship at that time.
On may 7th ,2021,becky sent a revealing message to an associate shedding light on the distressing dynamics within her fading marriage.
the message stated:
” he has screamed in my face, shoved me in fron of the kids, and has thrown objects across the room were the kids and i were standing he punched a hole in the wall if things really don´t go his way, i feel he can be very unstable and unpredictable . and thet thought has gone through my mind on if i may need a restraining order . i’´m definitely changing the locks as soon as i can”
-rebecca bliefnick
Two days later, beckky alluded to a serious concern about tim’s father.according to pulished reports, becky tested a long -time friend ,stating: tim told me if i outled his dad that he would probably have to move then kill himself…. i absolutely think he will try to take the kids sometimes”
– rebecca bliefnick.
the specific details leading to these allegations remain unclear,as certain records related to to the matter were sealed by the judge in a subsequent criminal proceeding.
in a later trial , the attorney ,rick zimmerman,was questioned briefly about the situation.
2021
as tensions between becky and tim continued to rise,becky sent her sister a troubling text on september 4th ,2021 it stated :
” if something ever happens to me, plesase make suret the numer one person of interest is tim because that is who would do something to me ”
-rebecca bliefnick
Becky filed for orders of protection against both tim and his father in 2021. in response, tim served her with a restraining order .
2022
by august 2022, the situation had deteriorated to the point where a court order was necessary to address the exchange of their children. the court mandated that tim and becky stay within three feet of their cars during the exchanges .
2023
On january 5th , 2023, becky enountered a friend while shopping and confided in them about a worrisome statement from tim he said” you’ll be dead before you get any of my money .”
the remarks suggestes that tim resorted to threats and intimidation during the divorce proceedings. feeling the need for increased security
becky requested the return of a 9 mm firearm she had previously purchased but was in tim’s possession.
Tim contacted the Quincy police departement, he asked if they could return a 9 mm handgun to becky on his behalf as he did not want to give it to her personally . police denied the request.
five days after tim’s request to the police, he and becky were separately notified by the family court that their divorce was set for final hearings on march 3rd .
the court date marked an opportunity to settle their legal differences and begin to move forward.
Febraury 23, 2023
After receiving a text message from tim ,becky’s father grew concerned , tim informed that becky, who had recently undergone abdominal surgery ,had mentioned feeling unwell before she supposedly stopped resonding
he wanted to know who would pick up the boys from school.worried,becky’s father decided to check on his daughter .
upon arriving at becky’s residence, he found the front door wide open and becky’s car parked in the garage . as he walked through the house , he eventually reached the bedroom and ,to his horror,discovered becky’s lifeless body on the bathroom floor.
her appearance indicated that rigor mortis had already set in,leaving no doubt about her tragic fate.becky’s father called 911 at around 3:30 pm.
and a patril officer arrived 3 minuter later.upon entering the home, the officer observed signs of forced entry on the bedroom door.
becky’s body was found inside the bathroom with multiple gunshot wounds.
and 6 to 7 shell casings in close proximity.
the officer quickly escalated the matter to the police departement’s criminal investigation division.office began to process the crime scene ,canvass the area ,and seek surveillance footage.
two days later , deputy chief michael tyler was asked by the media about the status of the investigation.
” we have eight detectives and multiple agencies helping us out on this.plus we had a lot of patrol officers working on it.so we hoping that we can develop some leads”
march 1, 2023
On the wednesday morning om march 1st eight days after becky´s death ,tim bliefnick was pulled over by the police two blocks away from his residence.
he was served with search warrants for his house and vehicle.
Tim handed over the keys andwas taken to a family member’s home ,while a team of detectives and officers conducted searches of his rented house and car.
It is worth noting that tim was not arrested during this enounter and police recordes indicate he was cooperative.
Subsequently, the collected evidence from tim’s residence ,vehicle, and the crime scene was forward to the Illinois state police crime lab in springfield for analysis.
the funeral for becky bliefnick was held on friday,march 3rd ,2023
at 10 . am. at saint peter church.
police arrested tim without incident and he faced initial charges that included two counts of first degree murder and once count of home invasion. both murder counts are class M felonies under Illinois law and carry a sentencing ranged from 45 to 85 years.
regarding gunshot residue testing ,no information was made public suggesting the presence of gunshot residue on any individual.
it has been aleged that tim conducted an internet seacrh on ” can you just wash off gunshot residue?”
if this allegation holds true, it suggests that he may have had knowledge and awareness of how to clean his hands to avoid detection.
during a search of tim’s home,detectives did discover disposable gloves in a trash can. however , these findings occurred too late to obtain reliable gunshot esidue results.
it’s worth nothing that the murder weapon has not been recovered
prosecutor josh jones explained the multiple counts of murder
“there often will be three counts f first -degree murder,or four counts of first- degree murder and we charge it that way because of how the murder statutet is written.
you can comit murder if your mental state was that you intended to kill, so we would charge it that way . you can charge first -degree murder wiuth intent to cause great bodily harm .
even if you didn’t intend to kill the, you intended to harm this person,and your acts resulted in death.
two counts of murder doesn’t mean there’s more than one victim.it just means that we have alternative ways of charging him .”
– josh jones ,prosecutor
additionally ,because a handgun was used during the home invasion,the sentencing range on that charge increases from a maximum of 30 years to a max of life imprisonment.
Tim’s attorney casey schnack told people magazine
” the state’s attorney’s office appears to be coming out with a narrative that this was an act of domestic violence. and the fact of the matter is there was no domestic violence that we were aware of. tim does not have a criminal history .he’s never been arrested for battery, domestic battery, anything violen ,anything ever.
there was tremendous presure from the community for an arrest to be made and naturally the estranged spouse is going to be the number one suspect, regardless of the other circumstances.”
– casey schnack ,tim’s attorny.
schnack added , “he was active in the community. he was a youth football coach. he was aactively involved in his church here.a lot of people kew him, it’s very surprising that this is where the family is at right now.he’s your standard all- american ,midwestern dad.
tim was promptly transported to the adams county jaill,where he was held without bond. at a hearing the next day,bond was formally denied.
the three bliefnick children were in the custody of the departement of children and family services.
ultimately, the children were placed with rebecca’s family members.
An Adams County jury convicted Timothy Bliefnick on all counts, including first-degree murder and home invasion in the death of his estranged wife Becky Bliefnick.
Bliefnick was ordered held without bond until sentencing on Aug. 11 at 1:30 p.m.
Bliefnick faces life in prison.
Timeline
becky was shot 14 times and left for dead.
Court records show that at the time of his estranged wife’s death, the couple was in the process of divorce. The victim, a nurse and mother of three, also filed for an order of protection from her husband in 2021, according to additional court papers filed in Adams County.A hearing in the divorce had been set a week before prosecutors said she was found shot 14 times.
“If something ever happens to me, make sure the number one person of interest is Tim,” the victim texted her sister in 2021.
Bliefnick pleaded not guilty to his charges, and his trial is stated for May 22, 2023.
back in october 2022 a man selling a blue schinn mounaine bike on facebook,sold it to to a man with a facebook account of john smith .but police found that account had been made on tim’s phone on
february 23rd at 12 28 am , tim locked his hone and and discontected his whoop armband a few minutes later .
at 12 55 , am .surveillancevideo showed a man going south past the busbarn on a bike and then turned east on prairie.
at 1:11 am. becky tried to call 911.
at 1;12 am ADT security received an alert saying the front door was open.
at 1:16 surveillance shows that bike rider going north past the bus barn back where they had come from.
at 1:27 am ADT received another alert that the front door was open .
around 2: am. tim unlocked his phone andhis armband recconected.
at 6 :45 am ,becky’s neighbor left for work an noticed becky’s front door
if ADT was getting alert that the front door was open, why did nobody come to the house at that point? i’m not sure how they work but doesn’t make sense.
it just makes you wonder if maybe becky could have been found a little bit sooner then she was and also prevent her father from having discover her body .
on february 27th a blue bike was found near the bus barn.
tim had made some alarming google searches on his phone, there weren’t apble t o determine exactly when tim made those searches but he searched fot things like
“how do i open my door with acrowbar.,how to make a homemade pistol silencer”average Quincy I’llinois police departement response” does my whopper record the exact times i wear it ” how to clean gunpowder off your hands.”
The data also showed tim might have been stalking becky prior to her murder .
on the night of february 13 ,2023,about 10 days before she was murdered her boyfriend
ted spent the night at her house.
at midnight tim’ s whoop are eing disconnected and he locked his phone.
a surveillance camera cpatured a biker going past the bus barn around this time
not long after this, becky’s neighbor received an alert om his surveillance camera that picked up a person walking up and down the driveway .
around 1 am video surveillance showed the biker going past the bus barn and in the direction they had come.
between 1:10 am and 1.:30 am tim’s laptop was used to do a license plate and title and registration look up .
tim must have seen ted’s vehicle parked in becky’s driveway,because it was ted’s license plate that tim searched for to see who the vehicle belonged to.
tim’s whoop armband recoonected after this.
another ttrip seemed to occure in the early morning hours of february 21 st ,when tim’s armband was disconnected his phone again locked and a biler was picked up on surveillance going that same route.
not only was the technological evidence strong against him so was the physical evidence.
The prosecution also presented these spent shell casings which were found in Tim Bliefnick’s home. An expert testified that she compared them to the shell casings found at the crime scene and determined that 27 of them had been fired from the exact same gun used in the murder.
ADAMS COUNTY STATE’S ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
bullets removed from becky’s body, bullets found at the crime scene and shell casings found arounds becky’s body were all from the same gun. those matched 27 shell casings that were found in tim’s home.
These small shreds of plastic were found around Becky Bliefnick’s body. “We thought it was unusual when we saw that,” Adams County State’s Attorney Josh Jones told “48 Hours.” When the pieces were examined further, investigators determined that they were remnants of an ALDI grocery store bag.
ADAMS COUNTY STATE’S ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
they also found a bunch of aldi bags in tim’s that were similar to the aldi bags found at the crime scene.that they believe weres used s a gun silencer.
there were a shoe print found near a window that they belived tim crawled through to enter the home .
but none of tim’s shoes matched that shoe print but the prosecutor thinks tim got rid of those choes.
on the morning of the march 13m 2023 tim was arrested and charged two counts first degree murder and one count home invasion tim plead not guilty
they think tim biked to becky’s house ,climbed onto the roof using a padio chair,because they found one of the patio chairs against the wall and not near the table and other patio chairs, he then used a crowbar to break into one of the bedroom’s
then walked over to the master bedroom,becky woke up she tried to call 911,she tried to run into the bathroom to protect herself, but tim ended up shooting her.
he then left through the front door ,biked most of the way home but then discarded the bike and walked the rest of the way home.
Timothy(Tim) his trial started on may 23 2023
Tim’s defense tried to claim it was a random home invasion . neighbors did complain about being suspicious of a prowler roaming around in the weeks leading up to becky’s murder .
but that was probalby all those times that tim had snuck over to becky’s house to spy on her
the defense also tried to claim tim made those internet searches after becky was murdered.
the prosecution pointed out that itwas not revealed to the public that a crowbar was used to beak into becky’s home . so why would tim making searches about a crowbar.
the medical examiner testified that becky did not immediately die from the gunshot wounds because non were to her head or heart.
0ne bullet wnet through becky´s lung which made it difficult for her to breath.
one bullet went through her spine and paralyzed her .
she also had defensive gunshot wounds through her left hand when she tried to shield hereself from the bullets .
so becky laid there on her bathroom floor ,struggling to breath unable to move and bled to death for several minutes before she succumbed to the injuries.
speaking of the medicall evidence.becky hadabdominal surgery onfebruary 20th not even a full three days before she was murdered . so the night she was murdered she was at home recovering and in a weakened state due to this.
on may 23 ,2023 st tim was found guilty of all counts.
his sentencing is scheduled for august 11 , and prosecutors are seeking life without parole.
beckys boys are being raised by her parents.