- 11 hours ago
Murder at the Motel - Season 2 Episode 8 -
Davis Motel
Davis Motel
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FunTranscript
00:00The Utica Police Department arrived to the Davis Motel regarding an unresponsive female.
00:07You find a deceased female naked on a bed under a pile of clothes with a belt wrapped around her
00:11throat. It's a very harrowing situation. Does she come into the bedroom? Yeah. And that's when she
00:18sees you? She didn't even see me. When she came through, that's when I grabbed her. To know like
00:23your mother and your grandmother was murdered by their own belt. It's heartbreaking. Absolutely
00:31heartbreaking. Was it weathered? A little older like? Well, what time? I got done with it. Yeah.
00:40The murder was such a shock to that community that I know of at least one family that that actually
00:46moved as a result of the incident. It really weighs on you to make sure that you try to locate that
00:51suspect as soon as possible. The possession of children's underwear in the vehicle is really,
00:57really concerning. He knows he's a monster. He was just a scary looking individual who just had no
01:08emotion and really could care less of the heinous crimes that he just committed. She's gone and gone
01:14violently and brutally and painfully. The place I hold ill will is for those responsible for not
01:19heeding his warning.
01:34On November 3rd, 2011, police respond to a motel in Utica, New York, after receiving
01:54reports of a deceased female discovered in a room on the premises.
02:03We learned that from one of the caretakers, she noticed some real aberrations, you know,
02:07lights were on that typically weren't on, there were candles burning, there were doors
02:10open, things like that.
02:11And as she's bending down, she puts her hand on the bed and unfortunately at that point
02:15feels a cold leg.
02:16We're arriving on scene.
02:20It was somewhat eerie because you're pulling into a property that's a little bit out of
02:24the way as far as the city goes.
02:27The hotel sits back on some land, so it could be a little bit eerie when you pull up.
02:32This is potentially somebody's mother, somebody's daughter, somebody's aunt, somebody's relative,
02:41friend.
02:43You know that you're walking into that and then you know the recourse that that has
02:47on all those people.
02:51The room was in disarray.
03:00There were lights on.
03:01There were candles still burning.
03:02There were doors open.
03:03There were things thrown everywhere.
03:04Obviously we didn't know, you know, the circumstances of it.
03:06It would appear that a struggle had ensued.
03:08Unfortunately, the victim was naked on a bed under a pile of clothes.
03:14She had a belt wrapped around her neck a couple of times and her hands appeared to be tied
03:17behind her back.
03:18So certainly there appeared to be some sort of robbery and likely a sexual motivation
03:23to be involved in this crime.
03:25The scene itself definitely showed that there was evidence that the victim had fought for
03:30her life.
03:34We were able to identify the victim in this case relatively quickly.
03:37She was confirmed as Linda Turner.
03:45Linda Turner was 68 years old and she owned Davis Motel, but she also lived there.
03:51That was her residence as well.
03:54Linda Turner was a staple in the Utica community.
03:56She ran the Davis Motel flawlessly.
03:58She really had the desire to keep it as a family run place, somewhere that people felt
04:02safe to come, somewhere people felt longing to come to Utica and really enjoy their stay.
04:06And we really appreciated her for that.
04:09The individuals that she had renting those rooms were very peaceful, very respectful.
04:13Everybody we ever spoke to had nothing but the most glowing things to say about her.
04:19This was very big news, especially because she was well known.
04:23So the community was shocked and they were even more shocked in the manner of death, how
04:28she died.
04:29It was very tragic.
04:31It could be your mother.
04:32It could be your loved one.
04:33They're in the safety of their home and a stranger comes in and commits such a horrendous
04:36crime.
04:37It really strikes the court and everyone feels it.
04:39The murder was such a shock to that community in North Utica that I know of at least one
04:45family that actually moved as a result of the incident.
04:49Nobody ever wants to think of anyone dying that way.
04:53It was just brutal.
04:59The hardest day was going to the crime scene.
05:05To this day, I mean, I feel like I've really tried to grieve and process it well.
05:08But seeing her fingernails on the floor from fighting, seeing the dinner that she was trying
05:15to enjoy still sitting on the tray or knocked onto the floor.
05:22It's one thing to grieve the loss of a loved one.
05:26And it's never easy, even when unexpected.
05:30When it is something so violent and so brutal and out of nowhere, it is a different level
05:41of processing grief.
05:43Sensing the terror that she went through the last few minutes of her life was sheer terror,
05:50you know?
05:51And fighting for her life and the struggle and the, you know, there's no goodbyes.
05:57There's, there's no, you know, prayers.
06:00There's no blessings.
06:01There's no priests.
06:02There's no, you know, last hug, last kiss.
06:04It's just, she's gone and gone violently and brutally and painfully.
06:19Utica police launch a full-scale murder investigation into the death of Linda Turner.
06:26For us, it's important that our crime scene unit, outside of the responding officers,
06:31are the first people to kind of enter the crime scene, secure the crime scene, kind of
06:35observe the crime scene, and then be able to escort the investigators into the crime scene
06:41so that we don't disturb any type of evidence for our evidence technicians to be able to collect
06:48the evidence needed, especially when you're talking about DNA and physical evidence of that
06:54nature.
06:56We don't know what happened.
06:58You find a unfortunately deceased Linda Turner naked on a bed under a pile of clothes with
07:03a belt wrapped around her throat.
07:04It's a very harrowing situation.
07:06And at that time, we have no idea who the suspect is.
07:09So at the time, 2011, the Davis Mortel had no surveillance, unfortunately.
07:13It's a very small place.
07:15You kind of know everybody or you have a really good familiarity of the people that stay there.
07:19A lot of the people are repeat tenants.
07:20So there really probably wasn't felt that surveillance video was needed at that location.
07:26There was some guests that were at the hotel.
07:29It's important, maybe not necessarily to call everybody a suspect, but everybody needs to
07:33be spoken with.
07:34Everyone needs to be vetted and everyone needs to be cleared.
07:36There were three consecutive rooms that were being rented, number 10, number 11, number
07:4212.
07:43These individuals were from out of town, they were doing some work in the city, but they
07:45were not home at the time of the location of the body.
07:48The registered guests that we encountered were all spoken to, were all vetted, and were
07:52all ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing or being involved in this case by anything.
07:58There wasn't a whole lot of information to really kind of build upon at that time.
08:03There were no witnesses that ever came forward to say that they had heard any screaming,
08:06anything amiss.
08:07We really didn't know what had transpired up until that point.
08:11Ultimately, what really led to the break in this case was that her car was taken.
08:18Really early on in the investigation, we realized that the car was missing from the location,
08:23you know, and that's obviously from talking to people.
08:26It was obvious that the most probable reason was that the vehicle was stolen.
08:32With the motel not having surveillance on the property kind of put us behind the eight
08:36ball a little bit.
08:37But we did have a witness saying that they saw the vehicle leaving the property.
08:42Individuals who often waved to Linda and beeped at her noticed the car pulling out in
08:45a very strange fashion.
08:46It was slow.
08:47It was meandering.
08:48The individual never acknowledged their presence.
08:50So that kind of felt odd to them when we spoke to them later.
08:53So we put a file one in the New York state criminal justice system.
08:56File one is a stolen vehicle report.
08:58So we put as much information as possible about that vehicle into it.
09:02So anybody that flags that car, runs that plate, pulls it over, will automatically know
09:08that that car was stolen and it's wanted in reference to a homicide investigation.
09:13What we did also is do safety checks of all the rooms on the property to see if there was
09:22any evidence in any of those rooms.
09:25While doing those checks, we did come across a room that had a key broken off into the door
09:29lock.
09:31When we went into the location, we found that some strange things like the TV was on without
09:35volume.
09:37It appears that somebody's been living in one of these rooms and it doesn't appear that
09:42that person is a registered guest.
09:47We did locate a wallet, an ID in it, underneath the bed.
09:53Once we looked at the ID, a lot of red flags started to show.
09:59We had a pretty good indication that he would be our primary suspect in this case.
10:12Unica is a town of about 70,000 people.
10:20It's very diverse.
10:21We average between six and ten homicides in a variety capacity, usually kind of street
10:26level shooting related homicides, but some stabbings, things like that, some domestics.
10:30A homicide of this nature is certainly an aberration.
10:32We don't often get stranger on stranger homicides in a situation where we locate the body later
10:37and the suspect is not on scene.
10:41It's kind of the difficult part of the Davis Motel is that it's on Herkimer Road.
10:45Herkimer Road is a two-lane thoroughfare that's primarily commercial traffic traversing from
10:50one side of the city to Herkimer County.
10:52And it's often very backed up with traffic.
10:54So in an emergency response, it takes quite a bit of time just due to the nature of the
10:58traffic and the fact that we can't really get around too easily.
11:03Every murder is horrendous in its own nature, right?
11:05But a lot of the murders we see are kind of street level killings over various disputes
11:09and things of that nature.
11:10When you have a case such as this, it really resonates.
11:13It resonates with the investigators.
11:15It resonates with the forensic individuals who spend a lot of time at the crime scene.
11:18And most importantly, it certainly resonates with the family.
11:30We had a very close relationship.
11:32She was always willing to have me with her no matter what we were doing.
11:36She was great about teaching me responsibility and letting me run her cash drawer and check
11:42people in at the motel.
11:43To this day, I can't make a bed without sharp corners and, you know, fold my laundry to
11:48a tee.
11:49But she also was the first one to, you know, teach me how to hustle a game of pool and throw
11:53darts.
11:54So, yes, she was my grandmother, but she was my friend.
12:03Her nickname was Hats.
12:04She had a variety of hats and she wore them all the time, from what we understand, from ball
12:07caps to fedoras to cowboy hats.
12:09It was really kind of her thing to wear a hat wherever she went.
12:14She loved adventuring the outdoors.
12:16She loved gardening and planting her flowers.
12:19She loved her motel.
12:20I mean, it was a one-woman show.
12:23She cleaned the rooms by hand, made all the beds.
12:26She did all the laundry by hand.
12:27It was all wine dried.
12:28She took very great pride in how she ran the place, the cleanliness, the decorations, down
12:34to every lamp and painting in the place was her.
12:41She had the motel before I was born.
12:43It was part of the family and my dad had spent time down there.
12:46She had help from her sister, Barbara, and her mother would come down and she was there
12:50for about 30, almost 35 years.
12:55The whole property, it was a beautiful wooded, I mean, something you would imagine that in
13:00the 50s, you'd see people out lounging and under the pine trees and there's, you know,
13:04swing sets for the kids and little barbecue areas.
13:08It was a place where, you know, it was our family's place.
13:11It wasn't just the motel, you know, the dogs, the family, the cemetery for the dogs in the
13:15back.
13:16And it's a place that I loved enough.
13:18I mean, I have the, the, the, the motel sign tattooed on my arm because it's such a big
13:22part of my life.
13:32We spoke to numerous people that either stayed at the hotel or are currently staying at the
13:35hotel at the time.
13:36And at no point did Linda really ever have any concerns for her safety.
13:39She kind of just ran the place on her own, took care of everything on her own and really
13:43felt at home there.
13:44So it's really tragic that this happened to her in the place that she felt most safe.
13:47The name on the ID found in room 17 at Linda's motel is Robert Blaney, a dangerous individual
13:57with a violent past.
14:00He was a registered sex offender.
14:04He was on New York state parole for crimes that he had previously committed.
14:07Uh, and it was also actively wanted, um, with a parole warrant, uh, for violating the
14:12parole or his conditions that he was on release for.
14:17Robert Blaney had actually only been out of prison for two years after serving 20 years
14:24for two accounts of rape on some older women and also attempted rape on an eight-year-old
14:30girl.
14:31Certainly in a parole status, you have regular check-ins with your parole officer.
14:36However, when you are on a sex offender status, we also internally at the Utica Police Department
14:40have a sex offender unit, especially what level you are.
14:43You have to make regular check-ins with respect to your location, your new address, any updated
14:47photos, anything of that nature that really we do in an effort to keep the community safe.
14:52But Blaney was having difficulty reintegrating into society.
14:56So we know that he was a caretaker at a local cemetery called St. Joseph's Cemetery.
15:01He wasn't really doing a great job there.
15:03We know he had some problems with his bosses and certainly as a result was having some problems
15:07in the community and thus went on an absconding role on parole.
15:13With the locating of the ID of Mr. Blaney, with his history, with his active warrant, gave
15:21us a solid prime suspect in this case.
15:26The victim's vehicle is gone and he's gone.
15:28So we had to rely on police officers and community members to help us locate the vehicle and hopefully
15:34locate the vehicle with the suspect with it.
15:39So we put up what's called a BOLO, a be on the lookout for Robert Blaney.
15:42So initially a photograph was circulated with respect to his wanted status for being a parole
15:46up scotter.
15:47This photograph showed him to be a relatively clean cut individual.
15:50Obviously that was put out nationwide as we did not know where he could be.
15:53He was in a vehicle that was not his.
15:55We knew he was trying to flee.
15:56So as far of a net as we could cast, we tried to locate him.
16:00It really weighs on you to make sure that you try to locate that suspect as soon as possible,
16:05particularly in this case where the horrific nature of the crimes that were committed was
16:08definitely somebody that could re-offend really quickly to satisfy an urge.
16:13He was a very dangerous individual, an individual that at no point do we want running the streets,
16:19especially on absconding on a parole status.
16:23As far as movements for Mr. Blaney, we really didn't have anything solid to go on.
16:26There was not an easy pass for the vehicle.
16:30We did not have any plate reader hits or anything to kind of help us kind of track where this
16:34vehicle may have gone, believing that Mr. Blaney was driving him.
16:37I think it's probably fair to say that you had a nationwide manhunt happening because we didn't know where he was and ultimately was located outside the state.
16:45In the neighboring state of Pennsylvania, a state trooper is preparing to conduct a traffic stop.
16:52I was a patrol trooper assigned in Lycoming County that night and I was just running routine patrol, saw a vehicle in front of me and did not use his turn signal.
17:04So I started following him, the vehicle started crossing over the fog line, the center median line, and I ran the tag, presumably thinking it potentially could have been a DUI driving under the influence arrest.
17:18So when the tag came back, it came back and it said that the vehicle had been stolen.
17:25And in the notes of that hit that came back from New York State, it said that the vehicle was wanted in conjunction with a possible homicide.
17:33So at that point, I got on the radio and ascertained where the next available or nearest unit to me would be so we could conduct a felony stop on the vehicle.
17:43The search wouldn't just reveal more incriminating evidence, it would expose a dangerous predator.
17:58The Pennsylvania State Police called and said, hey, we have this vehicle, we have eyes on it, there's an individual in it, would you like him?
18:05At that point, obviously we gave an affirmative that we would like to talk to him.
18:08They approached the vehicle and located Mr. Blaney occupying the vehicle of Linda Turner.
18:14Trooper Matt McDermott and myself went up to the driver's side of the vehicle and then Trooper Paul McGee went up to the passenger side of the vehicle and ordered Mr. Blaney out of the vehicle, making sure that we could see his hands the entire time we were doing the stop.
18:28We ended up taking him back to the back of the vehicle, we did a pat down search on him, when doing a search he had women's underwear in his sweatpants pant leg.
18:40So we collected those and then ultimately put him into handcuffs, then he was placed in the back of my car to be transported back to the PSP Montoursville barracks.
18:49From where the traffic stop occurred to the barracks was only a five minute drive, so we had a very short conversation in the back of my patrol car.
19:02Which at that point he said, you know, my time's up, Utica's gonna be looking for me.
19:07I committed a rape, he said about a week ago up in New York State.
19:12That was his attitude from the get go. I think he realized that he had reached the pinnacle of horrible behavior and knew that his life, his free life was no longer going to be his.
19:28I mean, he wasn't hostile, aggressive or anything like that. I'd say if anything, he was just sort of emotionless, I guess he really didn't have any emotions.
19:37He wasn't, you know, worked out that he was being arrested or angry. He wasn't trying to fight or anything of that nature.
19:45Once the suspect was located and we were able to obtain a photograph of him, it was obvious that his appearance had changed from what we were looking at as a parole photo to where his hair was grown out.
20:01He had facial hair, a little bit more disheveled. The pictures were very off of his appearance and could be deceiving as far as an attempting to locate him.
20:11We'd actually sent tattoo photos to his parole agent and they positively identified him through a tattoo as well.
20:18So it posed a little bit of a challenge, but we were able to make a positive, confirm that this was Robert Blaney.
20:26He was arrested here for arrest prior to requisition charge, which is basically a fugitive from justice charge that we use.
20:32And it was on the parole, the fact that he was wanted for parole. So he wasn't charged with any crime associated with the homicide or the sexual assault in Pennsylvania.
20:40or in New York at that point.
20:44While Blaney is held at the Pennsylvania State Police Barracks, a more thorough search of Linda Turner's vehicle is conducted.
20:52While we were looking through the vehicle inside the driver's side door console, there was additional women's underwear located in that door.
21:01And then also in the glove box, there was also women's underwear in there.
21:09On top of the women's underwear, he had some children's underwear in the vehicle.
21:12We don't know where that came from, but to have the possession of children's underwear in the vehicle is really, really concerning.
21:19For someone who is willing to perpetrate the crime we're speaking about, as well as perpetrate the crimes that we know he had committed, which placed them on parole in the first place, you have to wonder whether there's other victims.
21:29We did what we could to put out information to the law enforcement communities, and we never got any returns or any information from any other departments that may have had a similar case.
21:41I think it's a great possibility that there are other victims out there that haven't been identified or are scared to come forward with information that are associated with crimes committed against them.
21:52We sent two investigators. At that time, Investigator Edward Smith and Investigator Stanley Fernald to Pennsylvania to interview Mr. Blaney.
22:15Hi, Robert. Investigator Smith here. This is Investigator Fernald.
22:20How you doing, Rob?
22:22No.
22:23We're from the Utica Police?
22:25Yeah.
22:26I guess you were expecting us at one point?
22:29Yeah.
22:31So we come down here to talk to you about the incident and take you from there.
22:38Yeah, whatever. I'll do whatever you gotta do.
22:41I don't care no more. Just do what you gotta do.
22:44Rob, what do you prefer to be called? Robert? Rob?
22:47It doesn't matter.
22:48It doesn't matter.
22:49Rob, what?
22:50Just so you .
22:51Come back, I really don't care.
22:52All right, well.
22:53Just so you where the conversation is recorded.
22:57Yeah.
22:58Audio and video, you okay with that?
23:00Yeah.
23:01Okay.
23:02Can you give us a little information on what happened over at the Davis Motel?
23:06Yeah.
23:07Great, the woman.
23:09Just like that?
23:10Just like that.
23:11Yeah, s*** in the life, that's all.
23:16If I'm gonna be miserable, somebody else is gonna be miserable with me.
23:25Is there any way you can back us up a little bit and tell us how you started this with her?
23:48Oh!
23:49It's a straight rape, that's it. Whatever else you want to put in there, go ahead. It's just, that's just the way it is.
24:02We're just hoping to get some details even up to her.
24:05Ultimately, what we see here in this person is the evil and the coldness in him basically doesn't care.
24:16That makes it even harder for a victim's family to deal with knowing that this type of person exists and that the last person their loved one was encountered with was this person.
24:27Robert was just very matter of fact, he seemed to have given up on himself.
24:35And I think this might stem from his childhood. Since he did have a hard childhood, he was the victim of physical and emotional abuse.
24:44He even said in his own words, he felt like a throwaway. He felt like his parents didn't want him.
24:50So he had a very rough start in his childhood. And it's, it's not an excuse because a lot of people have a bad childhood.
24:58It doesn't mean you can go out and rape and, you know, do whatever it is that you want. That doesn't give you the right.
25:04But when people feel like they're throwaways, it's hard to make them want to be a better person.
25:12And I don't know if he ever wanted to be a better person. I think he knew who he was and he stuck with that.
25:22Let me ask you this. Why did you run for parole in first place? What started all this?
25:27Well, my ex-friend, Randy, that's got everything going on for himself right now.
25:37I'm thinking, oh, that's never going to happen for me. You know, he's got a nice apartment, nice vehicle.
25:41He's got a girlfriend now and he's got his odd jobs that he does. He's got a good life.
25:47And you talk to him, he'll tell you, yeah, a couple of months ago, I told him, my life sucks.
25:51Actually, two or three months ago, I told him, I think.
25:54I said, what do you mean by that? I said, listen, you've got a vehicle, you've got a girlfriend, you've got a nice apartment.
26:01Well, what the hell more could you want? You know, and you've got all these odd jobs lined up, you're doing good.
26:08He says, well, give it a time, it'll happen for you. I said, Randy, it's not going to happen for me, trust me.
26:13He said, no, it'll happen. I said, it's not going to happen for me.
26:17Oh, well. And it didn't, so.
26:21Because he was so jealous of another parolee, he abandoned the life that he tried so hard to create, recreate for those two years and went on the run.
26:35He was actually living in an abandoned house in the basement, but in the community, the kids would hang out there and they kept daring each other to go downstairs.
26:47So he knew it was only a matter of time before somebody brought a flashlight and they found him.
26:52So everything that he had on him, his sweatpants, his boots, everything and all the other clothes was all from that abandoned house.
27:01And that's what he had with him.
27:05He had heard police sirens, whether it was an emergency from an ambulance or maybe a police siren, but he actually tried to commit suicide.
27:12He wrapped the rope around his neck and the tree actually, the branch had broke.
27:17So he wasn't able to successfully commit suicide, but that's kind of gives you a mindset of how he lived.
27:23I guess he was always looking over his shoulder, worried about what was coming up next as he was absconding from parole.
27:29He knew there was a good likelihood that he was going back to prison for a very long time if he was ever found.
27:33That was Halloween night, actually. And when that failed, that is when he went to the Davis Motel and started pulling on doors and found one that was open.
27:50He was trying to find a place to stay.
27:52He said, you know, during the day he would allow himself to watch TV at night.
27:57Everything was off in the room. He kept all of his belongings under the bed in case anyone ever came in.
28:03He was always ready to dive under the bed because he would hear voices going up and down the hall.
28:12He just felt like his time was running out and he was looking for money.
28:18So he figured the office probably has money.
28:22Did you knock or was the door open?
28:25I think she thinks she locked it all the way.
28:28Well, when she must be when she pulled it, it didn't latch.
28:34I just, you know, was pushed down. I said, I just pushed down and it opened up.
28:39I was actually surprised that it opened up.
28:44So what happens at this point?
28:46Well, at this point, I'm making haste. I'm going in there. I said, I got to get money, got to get money, got to get money.
28:52I went in there looking for them little freaking green things with a zipper on them.
28:56Little money bags?
28:57Yeah.
28:59When you pushed the door open, where is she?
29:03She was out showing somebody a room.
29:05Oh, so she wasn't even in there?
29:07No, she wasn't in there.
29:08Oh, that's why the door was unlocked.
29:11Yeah, she came in the house and scared the out of me.
29:13So I had nowhere else to go.
29:16I couldn't go back towards the door because it means she opens that door.
29:19She said, I'm going to be right there.
29:21So I went to the darkest place in the house.
29:24Okay, now where was that?
29:25Right around the corner with Art Richter in the bedroom or whatever.
29:30He had hidden behind a, what I would call like a room divider.
29:36It was like an accordion plastic type door.
29:38And Linda Turner actually had a phone call.
29:40And that's when he took the opportunity to surprise her and come out from behind the partition that he was hiding behind.
29:48Does she come into the bedroom?
29:50Yeah, that's why.
29:51And that's when she sees you?
29:52She didn't even see me.
29:53When she came through, that's when I grabbed her.
29:55Now when you grabbed her, how did you grab her?
30:06Around the throat.
30:07Did you grab her with your hands or?
30:09No, I had a piece of rope that was maybe, what, two foot long, three foot long.
30:15Actually, it might have been a little longer than that.
30:18What color was it?
30:19White.
30:20White.
30:21Well, it was kind of dirty at the time.
30:22I was going to say, was it a little bit?
30:24Yeah.
30:25Gray maybe?
30:26Yeah.
30:27That's more of the color it was.
30:28You check, you check, you probably find some of my skin in there too.
30:31Was it weathered?
30:32A little older like?
30:33Well, by the time I got done with it, yeah.
30:36Yeah.
30:37All right.
30:38But the tree episode probably, yeah.
30:41So getting back, when you grabbed her, did you put it around her chest?
30:44Did you get it right around the neck right away or?
30:47Well, it was kind of like more around, I was trying for the neck right away, yes.
30:51But I got like here, scuffle probably lasted ten, five, ten minutes maybe.
30:58Five or ten minutes?
31:00Yeah.
31:01Really?
31:02That long?
31:03Yeah.
31:04There was a gumbo cowboy that didn't have full force on the rope.
31:06It was just enough to take the fight out of her, so to speak.
31:14Is that all that was around her neck?
31:17No.
31:18Because you never mentioned anything else.
31:20No?
31:21Yeah, I was waiting for you to tell us.
31:23You think I'm an idiot?
31:24No, no, no.
31:25Well, I mean, it doesn't matter.
31:26I mean, I don't care what you think of me.
31:27I really don't.
31:28Yeah.
31:29I actually had to take the felt out of her, loose over pants.
31:33Okay.
31:34That's where that came from.
31:35Yeah.
31:36All right.
31:37Yeah.
31:38So, when did you know that you were going to rape her?
31:44That was the split second decision.
31:46That was nothing that was planned.
31:48Listen, I'm asking you.
31:49No, I know.
31:50I know.
31:51I know.
31:52Like I said, when she was in there, I'm looking for an out.
31:54I don't...
31:55Can't get the money.
31:56I'm looking for an out.
31:57But we're just...
31:58He was just asking.
31:59Yeah, I know.
32:00I did.
32:01I know.
32:02I had no chance in doing that, man.
32:03Fighting with us rocks.
32:04Yeah, come on.
32:05Just...
32:06That's...
32:07Meh.
32:08Yeah, I'm already going back anyway, so...
32:10Well, I'm screwed.
32:12What the hell.
32:13Let's...
32:14Plank, blank, cut and dry everything.
32:16Mm-hmm.
32:17Okay.
32:18Mr. Blaney admitted with very flat effect, with no emotion, with not a care in the world,
32:31that he, in fact, had committed the crime.
32:33Didn't care that we had him in custody.
32:35Just a really, really bad and cold individual.
32:39It actually came out that after assaulting two women and trying to assault an
32:48eight-year-old girl, he didn't even serve his full sentence.
32:51They let him out early for good behavior.
32:54During his parole hearing, he told them that he was going to hurt somebody and that he should
33:01stay there because he's broken and he doesn't want to hurt anybody, but he's going to do it.
33:05He said himself, society is safer with me in prison.
33:09And if that isn't enough to keep him in there, I'm not sure what else could be done.
33:15I said, how can I put this?
33:17Um...
33:18It's like, it's like reverse.
33:21It's like, in prison I did 20 years, two misbehavior reports in 20 years.
33:28Okay?
33:29It's like, I can live in there a lot better than I can out here.
33:32Right.
33:33Out here, I got two counseling sessions a week, or a month and a half I go to.
33:38I have reported to, uh, Detective Salerno once every, what was it, every three months or
33:44two months or whatever it is for the registry purposes.
33:46I had, uh, I had a bunch of that, like Monday through Friday, I was always busy.
33:51I was always going somewhere, always doing something.
33:54So now I get to go back and I got all the time in the world for myself.
33:58I got to worry about nothing.
33:59I mean, I tried living, I can't live out here.
34:02It was just, this is living proof.
34:05There's no way I can make it out here.
34:07No way.
34:08No.
34:10Perpetrators like this, they don't change their patterns.
34:15And it, it happens time and time again.
34:18We've seen this in so many other cases.
34:20They get out, they re-offend.
34:23And even in this case, and a lot of other ones, then they escalate.
34:28He had never murdered anyone before.
34:30Now it's escalated to murder.
34:32What'd you throw him?
34:33What was that?
34:34Well, mostly to get him up off the floor so I wouldn't chip walk him again, of course.
34:39And then, like I said, the other reason was in case she got cold.
34:41I'm not going to put her clothes back on.
34:42I'm trying to get the hell out of her.
34:43Listen, Rob.
34:44You make me understand this.
34:45You just broke into the girl's house.
34:46You robbed her.
34:47You raped her.
34:48You told me you're worried if she's going to get cold in it.
34:49Yeah, pretty much.
34:50Rob, I think you know that she was lifeless when you left.
34:54And I think that's why you put the clothes on her.
34:55No.
34:56No.
34:57No.
34:58No.
34:59No.
35:00No.
35:01No.
35:02Stomach was going up and down, do you know?
35:05I don't know.
35:06You know what?
35:07No.
35:08No.
35:09No.
35:10No.
35:11No.
35:12No.
35:13No.
35:14No.
35:15No.
35:17No.
35:18No.
35:19No.
35:20No.
35:21No.
35:22No.
35:23No.
35:24No.
35:25No.
35:26No.
35:27last grasp there was there was enough room you could put your pinky I can put
35:33my pinky up in between there so that wasn't doing but it's still being rough
35:37like that because it looked rough I'm giving it to you straight yeah you want
35:41it straight I'll give it to you straight and belt was wrapped around her and
35:44wrapped around her tight and wrapped around her hair and it's that's good
35:50enough for me okay that's what you say I mean I'm just I know I know you were
35:55straight with me and I want to be straight that's why yeah okay that's
36:01good enough to leave it at that it's not one of those situations where you know
36:06somebody made a poor decision to drive drunk and killed somebody and they
36:09regret this decision for the rest of their life this is somebody who knew what
36:13they were doing we're calculating what they were doing did what they did know
36:17they did it and just don't care or if they do they don't know how to offer any
36:22condolences or sympathies or remorse
36:27okay I don't know what else to say all right hang loose to these troopers I
36:32come in I came here and they're gonna take you out thank you it's hard for me to
36:38even say thank you believe me
36:41you
36:43you
36:44you
37:05utica New York 2011 police have secured Robert Blaney's confession to the murder of a
37:10of Linda Turner in the Davis Motel preparations are made for Robert Blaney to
37:16be extradited back to Oneida County to face the consequences for his heinous
37:21actions in order for him to be charged in county court it had to go by way of a
37:27grand jury indictment so we had to bring forth evidence to the grand jury to to
37:32prove the case and so when you're getting a case prepared for grand jury you're
37:38looking for what evidence do we have certainly confession helped but we could
37:43go beyond that so there are some really crucial pieces of evidence that we
37:48located within the crime scene certainly the belt that we tested for DNA you know
37:52the ropes things of that nature things he may have touched fingerprints of that
37:55nature however one really crucial piece of evidence was the sex assault kit that
37:59was performed on the deceased individual that had the DNA of mr Blaney on it
38:04we believed it was going to be a very strong case regardless of the the
38:08confession so in this instance if there's other charges that that follow
38:13the indictment unless they plead to the entire indictment we recommend what we
38:18feel the sentence should be and what would be appropriate in this case murder in the
38:23first degree carried with it a sentence of life without the possibility of parole and
38:28so that was our position was if he wants to admit to that fine we'll let him do that but
38:33otherwise we will prove the case because we believe the sentence should be life
38:38without parole and the judge agreed with us
38:42I told you what the sentence is going to be but you're not getting out you understand that
38:46it's true
38:46right there anybody else promise you anything to get you to plead guilty
38:49anyone threaten you to get you to plead guilty
38:51nope
38:52so you're ending this plea here this morning valentarily
38:54yes sir
38:55he knew he was such a danger that even facing life without parole his response is bring it on
39:02he he he was more comfortable in the system and being incarcerated where he was not only not a
39:12danger to others but to himself
39:19Mr. Blaney uh when this happened you were out on parole then correct that was for another rape right
39:24yep you've had how many rapes in the past
39:26yeah
39:27I'm sorry
39:29too many
39:30too many
39:31sort of sort of can't help yourself is that right
39:34didn't in fact the last time you were released did you tell parole board or someone that you they shouldn't let you out
39:43yep
39:44all right you all you're satisfied yeah all right how do you plead then Mr. Blaney to the first count murder in the first degree guilty or not guilty
39:53nothing
39:54Mr. McNamara that's free to satisfy all counsel the indictment would be satisfied with people
39:58with the understanding he would be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole against you
40:02a young kid another woman and now Linda Turner were brutally violated at the hands of Robert Blaney no amount of time in prison is enough for him
40:13there's a chill in the air here Mr. Blaney you're the coldest person I've ever seen in this courtroom
40:18thank you for a compliment
40:20a compliment? you think that's a compliment?
40:22that didn't mean it to be a compliment
40:24thanks anyway
40:25okay we'll see you on the 16th March
40:26take care
40:27thank you Rob
40:28you're welcome
40:29thank you Rob
40:30you're welcome
40:31Robert Blaney was convicted of murder in the first degree for the murder of Linda Turner
40:50and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole
40:55this sentence was the max the maximum sentence that's allowed in New York State so we couldn't have gotten more time even if we had a trial
41:05I grew up in that area and you know I know that area very well and I do recall you know seeing a picture of Mr. Blaney as a parole absconder
41:19and again that the picture that they had was not up to date and so you know that sticks with me
41:26and I think that's a that's something that I think this community and parole learned from this is to ensure that
41:33they are quick with alerting the community if they do lose sight or they do have an absconder on parole and they get that out to the community
41:43and that they have an updated picture so that we can try to bring that person to justice
41:52it took me quite some time and I've come to terms with pretty much everything to the point where I really don't hold any animosity
42:01or anger or hatred or ill will towards Blaney it's a name that is etched in my mind
42:08I almost feel sympathy for him
42:11somebody who recognized their danger
42:14who alerted the people that needed to be alerted that he was a danger
42:18and was put in a position to take a life
42:23and now has to live with that
42:25when he knew he didn't want to
42:27when he knew it was a real threat
42:30and it's unfortunate
42:32and the place I hold ill will is for those responsible for not heeding his warning
42:36we're not heeding his warning
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