Background information
Born 16 September 1961(age 51)Conviction 1982 2nd degree murder
Sentence Life imprisonment
Killings
Number of victims 8Country U.S.
State(s) Kansas City, Missouri
Date apprehended September 14, 2004
Terry Blair was born into a family which would have many encounters with the criminal justice system. He was the fourth eldest of 10 siblings, born to a mother who had only finished the 9th grade and suffered from mental illness.[1]
While in jail for a separate incident, brother Walter Blair Jr met a man who offered to pay him $6,000 to kill Katherine Jo Allen so she could not testify at his rape trial. Blair confessed to abducting Allen from her apartment before taking her to a vacant lot and shooting her. He was convicted of murder and was executed in 1993.[1]
Half brother Clifford Miller was convicted in the 1992 abduction of a woman from a bar. He shot the woman in the arm and drove her to an abandoned house before raping her repeatedly and beating her until she passed out. She suffered a gunshot wound, fractured skull, broken jaw and broken cheek bones. She spent two months in the hospital, recovering. Clifford Miller was sentenced to two life sentences plus 240 years for charges including kidnapping and forcible sodomy.[1]
Mother Janice Blair fatally shot Elton E. Gray, but was sentenced to probation after entering an Alford plea.[1]
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CrimesBelow is the list of victims Terry Blair was convicted of killing:
- Angela Monroe (see below)
- Anna Ewing, 42, died on or before July 14, 2004.[2][3]
- Patricia Wilson Butler, 58, died on or before September 2, 2004.[3]
- Sheliah McKinzie, 38, died on or before September 2, 2004.[3]
- Darci I. Williams, 25, died on or before September 4, 2004.[3]
- Carmen Hunt, 40. September 4, 2004.[4]
- Claudette Juniel, 31, died on or before September 4, 2004.[4]
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Murder of Angela Monroe in 1982In 1982, the pregnant Angela Monroe, mother of two of Blair's children, was murdered.[4] Blair was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for this murder. He was released on parole after serving 21 years.[5] According to court records he was angry with Monroe for performing acts of prostitution.
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Trial and imprisonment for murders that happened in 2003-2004On October 15, 2004, Terry Blair was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree assault, and three counts of forcible rape.[6][7] Two of the murder charges (the ones for Sandra Reed and Nellia Harris) were dropped in October 2003. The rape and assault charges were also dropped.
The murders came to light when a caller informed 911 of dead bodies and claimed responsibility for the killings. The caller stated that the reason the individuals were killed was that they were prostitutes and therefore they were "scum". Investigators were not able to tie Blair to the phone, but established that the calls were made from near where he lived. Linguistics testimony was introduced, and the finder of fact came to believe the voice was Blair's.[8]
Although the evidence was mainly circumstantial, Blair's semen was found on one victim. Blair's defense was that this item of evidence only proved he had engaged in sex with the victim; the prosecution countered that since she hadn't tidied herself up afterwards, he must have been the last to see her alive.[8] Because Blair continues to deny responsibility for the crimes, his motive cannot be understood beyond a compulsion to kill prostitutes.[5]
Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty in exchange for Blair waiving his right to a jury trial.[4] Blair was found guilty by Judge John O'Malley on March 27, 2008. For these six murders he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.[9]
Blair is currently housed in the Potosi Correctional Center in Mineral Point, Missouri.
Blair appealed his conviction, but his appeal was denied by the Missouri Court of Appeals in August, 2009.[8]
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TriviaThe case of the seven homicides he was convicted of is featured in the episode "A Serial Killer Calls" of the TV show The First 48 and "The Killer Speaks". The episode follows detectives as they receive information of the death of the first woman found on Prospect Avenue all the way up until his capture. In the episode, Blair admits to the killing of Angela Monroe for the first time since he was convicted of the killing in 1982. He maintains his innocence, however, in the Prospect murders. [10]
References
- ^ a b c d CourtTV news story[dead link]
- ^ "Police Identify Woman Found Dead Outside KC Apartment". KMBC.com. 14 July 2004. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
- ^ a b c d "6th Body Linked To 5 Others Found In K.C. Neighborhood". KMBC.com. 5 September 2004. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
- ^ a b c d e "Blair Found Guilty On All Murder Counts". KMBC.com. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
- ^ a b Twiddy, David (27 March 2008). "Judge convicts Kansas City man of killing 6 women". Southeast Missourian. Associated Press. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ Circuit Court Docket Sheet 16th Judicial Circuit. 6 December 2004
- ^ Indictment 04CR203141. Circuit Court of Jackson County Missouri. 3 December 2004
- ^ a b c State v. Blair, WD 69602 (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District 18 August 2009).
- ^ "Blair Sentenced To Life Without Parole". KMBC.com. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ IMDb
"I didn't do these ladies."
I come from a crazy ass family"
Cherry Chadbough
Former Prostitute Testifies At Blair Trial.
The victims.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL63F398266E53C207&v=jHb7pQ4Iixk&feature=player_detailpage