QUINCY (WGEM) - An Adams County jury returned the verdict of guilty on all counts in the Timothy Bliefnick trial Wednesday after over four hours of deliberations.
Bliefnick was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion.
Bliefnick will be sentenced on Aug. 11
Bliefnick won’t testify
15 minutes before the jury enters the courtroom, Timothy Bliefnick’s attorney Casey Schnack said her client is choosing not to testify. Judge Robert Adrian confirmed with Bliefnick, and Bliefnick replied in the affirmative.
Adrian said counsel will make their closing arguments today and the case should be in the hands of the jury around noon today. Schnack said she is not presenting any evidence today, either.
Closing arguments followed.
“Is it raining”
The prosecutor’s closing argument lasted more than an hour. “Is it raining,” Adams County Assistant State’s Attorney Josh Jones said to the jury. Jones said if you see someone walking inside with a coat and umbrella, you don’t need to look outside to know it’s raining.
Jones referenced this multiple times as he outlined an exact timeline of the days and even years leading up to Rebecca Bliefnick’s death. As testified yesterday, Jones once again showed video surveillance of a person riding a bike in the direction of Rebecca’s house on Feb. 14, Feb. 21 and Feb. 22. In a text in May, 2021, Rebecca said she “feared for her life.”
Jones also alluded to the WHOOP Fitness band data, phone lock history, search history, matching shell casings and more.
“Is it raining,” Jones said again. He claims you don’t need to continuously look over the video and other evidence to know it’s Timothy Bliefnick who killed Rebecca.
“Find him guilty,” Jones said in his final remarks to the jury.
DEFENSE'S CLOSING ARGUMENTS:
“Beyond a reasonable doubt is a high burden, it is a monumental burden”
Timothy Bliefnick’s attorney Casey Schnack’s closing argument took around 30 minutes. “Those searches indicate nothing more than someone on the internet,” she said to the jury about Bliefnick’s phone searches.
Schnack called the testimony given by Rebecca’s friends as requests for sympathy, saying that divorce talk as a whole is a request for sympathy. Schnack said the state has not done its job in proving Bliefnick is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Beyond a reasonable doubt is a high burden, it is a monumental burden,” Schnack said.
PROSECUTION'S CLOSING ARGUMENTS:
“She’s calling out for justice”
Adams County Assistant State’s Attorney John Jones immediately gave a rebuttal to Schnack’s closing argument. “It wasn’t a random prowler, it was the defendant,” Jones said.
Jones reiterated that the jury must look at the evidence as a whole rather than single pieces of evidence. He first mentioned this at the end of Tuesday’s proceedings when Schnack made a motion for a directed verdict.
Schnack said the final messages between Timothy and Rebecca were not alarming. Evidence shows the messages involve the exchange of their three children the day before she was found dead.
Jones claims Timothy used that to his advantage, to make sure the children were in his possession and not hers at the time she was killed. “He knew he had an opportunity,” Jones said to the jury. “She’s calling out for justice, she’s begging you to find the defendant guilty.”
Following the state’s rebuttal, Judge Robert Adrian presented jury instructions.
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