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Former 'Family Feud' contestant found guilty in wife's slaying

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

QUINCY, Ill. (AP) — A jury Wednesday convicted a former contestant on the television game show “Family Feud” of first-degree murder and home invasion in the slaying of his estranged wife in western Illinois.Timothy Bliefnick, 40, was found guilty in the Feb. 23 shooting death of Rebecca Bliefnick.The Adams County Circuit Court jury in Quincy deliberated about four hours after Timothy Bliefnick did not testify and the defense did not call any evidence. Adams County sheriff's deputies took Bliefnick into custody immediately after the verdict was read.Bliefnick is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 11The body of Rebecca Bliefnick, 41, was found by a family member inside her Quincy home after she failed to pick up her children from school. She had been shot multiple times. Video: Car launches over tow truck in Georgia Timothy Bliefnick was arrested on March 13, 12 days after his Quincy home was searched.The couple was separated and going through a divorce.In 2020, Timothy Bliefn...

Sox catcher, CPD Memorial Foundation team-up for bulletproof vest fundraiser

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

CHICAGO - White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal has been an All-Star behind the plate, but he is also rising above off the field. Grandal is teaming up with the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation to provide the men and women on the job with life-saving vests. "Listening to a lot of their stories, not too many of them have ended up badly, so thank God for that," Grandal said. CPD Memorial Foundation gifts police 500 new bulletproof vests The 34-year-old native of Cuba is behind the 2023 Yasmani Grandal Experience Raffle with a chance to win one of three things: an autographed baseball, a signed jersey, or a batting practice experience with No. 24 himself. "It was mind-blowing to me that they had such a foundation that took such care of our police department," Grandal said. Chicago officers receive a vest once they graduate from the police academy. Still, Phil Cline, the executive director of the CPD Memorial Foundation, reminds locals that manufacturers recommend bulletproof vests be ...

DNA evidence linked Raul Meza to 2019 death, court records say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- DNA evidence from several years ago had already linked Raul Meza Jr., 62, to the 2019 death of Gloria Lofton, 66. Now, he's charged with her murder. According to the Austin Police Department, they are investigating Meza in connection to several cold cases in the area, after arresting him earlier this week for Lofton's death and the recent death of an 80-year-old Pflugerville man, Jesse Fraga.An affidavit obtained by KXAN details what led to these charges. IN-DEPTH: Court documents detail what led to 80 year old’s death, ‘serial killer’ arrest Last week, Meza called 311 and told the responding officer he knew police were looking for him. On the call, he confessed to murdering a woman "on Sara Drive." Following the call, police looked into deaths of women on Sara Drive in Austin from 2013 to 2021. Gloria Lofton’s reported death on May 9, 2019, was the only incident that fit the description, according to the affidavit. According to the final medical examiner rep...

Matt Wallner, Jose Miranda lead Saints past Bisons 6-2

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

BUFFALO. N.Y. — Matt Wallner and Jose Miranda both went 3-for-5 with a home run to lead the St. Paul Saints to their fourth consecutive victory, 6-2 over the host Buffalo Bisons in a Class AAA baseball game on Wednesday afternoon at Sahlen Field.Wallner hit his solo home run in the seventh inning to put the Saints up 4-1. Miranda hit his home run, a two-run shot, in the ninth to make it 6-2.Starting pitcher Aaron Sanchez got the win for St. Paul, giving up just one unearned run in five innings. He allowed four hits, while striking one one and walking one.The Saints improved to 29-22, a season-high seven games over .500.Game 3 of the six-game series is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Thursday.Related ArticlesMinnesota Twins | Kenta Maeda, Matt Wallner ignite Saints in 9-1 rout of Bisons Minnesota Twins | Jair Camargo’s grand slam spurs Saints to 10-6 win over Storm Chasers Minnesota Twins | Saints’ Austin Schulfer inching his way c...

Montgomery County updates police dispatch center

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

FULTONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -Prepared Live 911 is a computer system that helps connect a caller to dispatchers. What makes the difference for call centers is the opportunity to have a live video feed sent from a user’s phone directly to the call center.Montgomery County’s Technical Communications Coordinator, Brittney Dobbs, says a dispatcher can send a link to a caller’s phone that gives them a choice to share their camera. Free of charge, Dobbs says this technology allows everyone involved to react more quickly. EMS Recognition Week at Bennington Rescue “Prior to, we never had any kind of visualization of what the caller was actually seeing to help better prepare our first responders. Now we have the ability of within not even a minute, we can get a live view of what’s going on and help better prepare everybody who is responding. So we have the right resources and we’re able to direct them to the correct location," explained Dobbs. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and comm...

New St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore: ‘Failure is not an option’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

ST. LOUIS – During his first full-day in office as the city's top prosecutor, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore explained why he wanted to take the job and his priorities moving forward.Gore said during his interview with Governor Mike Parson, the governor didn't ask about politics, instead he wanted to know how he was going to get the circuit attorney's office back on track."I will say that we have our work cut out for us," Gore said. "It's going to be a challenge. Failure is not an option."With a backlog of thousands of cases, many of which are violent, the newly-appointed circuit attorney has his hands full."Within an hour of being sworn in, I assigned someone to specifically conduct a detailed assessment of where the warrant office is and provide me a report of that," Gore said. "We're in the process of doing that right now, so I can't speak to it." Victim in fatal St. Louis Kitchen shooting identified Last week, in an exclusive interview, Parson said his legal counsel, Eva...

Federal judge halts Missouri execution of man convicted in jailbreak killings

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday halted next week's scheduled execution of a man convicted of killing two Missouri jailers amid questions about the literacy of a juror in the case.U.S. District Judge Stephen Bough ruled that Michael Andrew Tisius' execution at the state prison in Bonne Terre should be delayed to give the court time for a hearing on the juror.The delay comes after Tisius' lawyers earlier this month claimed a juror in his 2010 resentencing could not read or write.Missouri law requires jurors to be able to read and speak English. Victim in fatal St. Louis Kitchen shooting identified In an affidavit signed by the juror May 3, the juror stated “someone at the courthouse” helped him fill out his juror questionnaire.“I told the Courthouse employee that I could not read," according to an excerpt from the affidavit included in Bough’s ruling. "The Courthouse employee took me into a private room. The Courthouse employee read word for word the ques...

Former 'Family Feud' contestant Timothy Bliefnick guilty in wife's slaying

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

QUINCY, Ill. (AP) — A jury Wednesday convicted a former contestant on the television game show “Family Feud” of first-degree murder and home invasion in the slaying of his estranged wife in western Illinois.Timothy Bliefnick, 40, was found guilty in the Feb. 23 shooting death of Rebecca Bliefnick.The Adams County Circuit Court jury in Quincy deliberated about four hours after Timothy Bliefnick did not testify and the defense did not call any evidence. Adams County sheriff's deputies took Bliefnick into custody immediately after the verdict was read.Bliefnick is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 11The body of Rebecca Bliefnick, 41, was found by a family member inside her Quincy home after she failed to pick up her children from school. She had been shot multiple times. Timothy Bliefnick was arrested March 13, 12 days after his Quincy home was searched.The couple was separated and going through a divorce.In 2020, Timothy Bliefnick and some of his family members appeared on ABC's “Family ...

Kiszla: Nuggets’ unstoppable run to NBA Finals pushed by the Joker, a soothsayer in wheelchair and 87-year-old fan dancing as fast as she can

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

Although Nicholas Owens cannot walk, he has been there every step of the way with the Nuggets during their run to the first NBA Finals in team history.When Owens rolls his wheelchair into the Denver locker room before every home game to study video of Kevin Durant, LeBron James or the next superstar standing in the way of a championship 56 long basketball seasons in the making, center Nikola Jokic greets Nicholas with these words: “Good to see you, my brother.”If you did not grow up with this franchise, forced to fight for every smidgeon of respect since the Denver Rockets fired their first jump shot as an outlaw in the renegade ABA back in 1967, maybe it’s impossible to fully understand the hullabaloo shaking down thunder in the Rocky Mountains.What we’re witnessing is more than a quest for a championship by a team born during the 1960s, back when Hampden Avenue marked the end of local civilization rather than the beginning of endless suburban sprawl.With only Miami left to conquer...

12 moments that defined the Nuggets’ magical run to NBA Finals

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:52 GMT

Denver’s historic run has been months in the making. Here are 12 of the team’s defining moments:All smilesDate: Oct. 19Score: Jazz 123, Nuggets 102Jamal Murray scored just 12 points in a season-opening loss to Utah, yet after the game, you couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. For the first time since tearing his ACL in April of 2021, Murray was back on the court for a regular-season game. “I’ve never smiled in a loss before,” he said after the game. Murray considered returning late in the regular season during the prior year but knew he needed to allow his left knee to recover longer. His return served as a landmark moment for him and one that had been 18 months in the making.Jamal Murray (27) of the Denver Nuggets is introduced before the first quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)MPJ buying inDate: Oct. 22Score: Nuggets 122, Thunder 117Michael Porter Jr., back after missing most of last season ...