Jury hears witness testimonies in day two of Bliefnick murder trial
QUINCY, IL (KHQA) — The courtroom was filled Tuesday morning for witness testimonies in the Timothy Bliefnick murder trial.
This was the first time for people to hear from friends and neighbors, but also the first time to hear the experience of the family.
"Before I got out of the car, I looked at the front of the house and I noticed that the front door was open," said Rebecca's father William Postle. "Becky always kept that closed, so it kind of set off an alarm to me."
The day Rebecca Bliefnick was murdered in her home in the 2500 block of Kentucky Road, something was off.
After being notified that many hadn't heard from Rebecca, her father William Postle took matters into his own hands.
But was not prepared for the tragedy he would find.
"I went to the bedroom to see if she was laying down," Postle said. "I didn't see anything the bedroom, went into the attached bathroom and that's when I found her body laying on the floor."
That is when the Quincy Police Department was called.
Over dispatch, Quincy police officer Matt Hermsmeier says he received a dispatch call to assist the ambulance with a death investigation.
On the dispatch system, Hermsmeier recalls seeing it was labeled as a possible suicide.
However, after finding Rebecca's deceased body with multiple gunshot wounds, suicide was ruled out and that is when he called for backup.
"What did you do or what was your involvement in the investigation after you found Becky?" asked Defemse Attorney Casey Schnack.
"I contacted Sgt. Elbus by phone and asked him to notify our investigations unit and to send additional officers to search the house so no one else was in there," said Hermsmeier.
Rebecca's sister Sarah Reilly was in Florida with her family when she heard the devastating news of her sister.
Reilly became emotional as she re-lived the moment.
"When I called, my mom picked up right away and all she said was, 'Becky's dead. Becky's dead and we don't know anything, but Becky's dead."
Testimonies will resume at 9:00 a.m. at the Adams County Courthouse.
We will be there every second to bring you the latest.
