An Illinois judge sentenced a former “Family Feud” contestant, who joked on the show he regretted marrying his wife, to life without parole last week in a murder a prosecutor called the most “pre-meditated crime I’ve ever seen.”
Timothy Bliefnick, 39, was convicted in June of killing 41-year-old Rebecca Bliefnick, his estranged wife, in February, as CrimeOnline reported. Rebecca Bliefnick, mom of three, was found dead, shot 14 times, in her home. A family member found the body when she failed to pick up her children from school. The couple, going through a divorce, lived about a mile apart.
“I’ve never seen a crime that was as planned as this one was,” Adams County State’s Attorney Josh Jones told WGEM.
“I don’t know when it started [the plan to murder Rebecca Bliefnick],” Jones said. “This wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
Prosecutors presented evidence at trial that Bliefnick had bought a bicycle in October that he used to travel back and forth to his estranged wife’s home multiple times, ending his journeys on February 23, when he broke into her home, chased her down a hallway, kicked in the bathroom door, and shot her. The bicycle was found abandoned nearby.
Prosecutors showed the jury text messages between family members prior to the murder that indicated Rebecca was nervous about her husband.
“If something ever happens to me, make sure the number one person of interest is Tim,” Rebecca said in a 2021 text sent to her sister.
“I am putting this in writing that I’m fearful he will somehow harm me, come after me, or will try to [do] something to me that takes me away from the kids or the kids away from me. He already has lied multiple times to paint himself as a victim and me as the perpetrator when it is absolutely the other way around.”
Bliefnick appeared as a contestant on “Family Feud” in 2020 and joked about marriage regrets when asked about the biggest mistake during his wedding.
Host Steve Harvey: “What’s your biggest mistake you made at your wedding?”
Bliefnick: “Said I do… Not my mistake, not my mistake − I love my wife. I’m gonna get in trouble for that, aren’t I?”
Bliefnick was convicted on two counts of first degree murder and one count of home invasion.
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[Featured image: Rebecca Bliefnick/Facebook and Tim Bliefnick/Inside Edition screenshot]
