'Family Feud' contestant who joked about regretting his marriage is now on trial for wife's murder
Internet searches on Tim Bliefnick's phone included 'How to make a homemade pistol silencer,' prosecutors said.
QUINCY, Ill. -- A "Family Feud" contestant who joked on national television that getting married was a mistake is now on trial accused of killing his estranged wife.
"What's the biggest mistake you made at your wedding?" asked host Steve Harvey.
"Honey, I love you, but said 'I do.' Not my mistake -- I love my wife," Tim Bliefnick responded.
Authorities say Bliefnick killed his wife, Becky, in February.
"His phone shows searches for the following: 'How to open my door with a crowbar? Can I force open my door with a crowbar if I lock myself out? How to make a homemade pistol silencer?'" said prosecutor Josh Jones.
On Tuesday, Bliefnick was in court for opening arguments in his case
"The last minutes of Becky's life were spent in fear and pain and terror," Jones said.
"This case is dripping with reasonable doubt," Bliefnick's defense attorney said.
Becky's father, William Postle, took the stand on Tuesday, telling jurors how he discovered her body.
"I ran up the stairs, and since she supposedly was sick, I went to the bedroom to see if she was laying down. Didn't see anything in her bedroom. Went into the attached bathroom, and that's when I found her body lying on the floor. She looked like she was dead," Postle said.
The mother of three boys was shot 14 times after someone used a crowbar to enter the home where she was living.
The couple was in the midst of a messy divorce. Her sister, Sarah Reilly, told jurors that Becky feared her husband.
"This is a text that Becky sent to myself and my husband, Bret, regarding fear for her life: 'If something ever happens to me, please make sure the number one person of interest is Tim, as that is who would do something to me,'" Reilly said.
The defense pounced.
"You never sent this message to either your mom or your dad, correct?" Bliefnick's lawyer asked.
"Correct," Reilly responded.
"And you did not report this message to law enforcement?" Bliefnick's lawyer pressed.
"I did not," Reilly said.
Bliefnick's defense team alleged that the divorce is not evidence to convict.
"No divorce is good, but it's not murder," one attorney said.
