The family feud has long been a source of hilarious moments between host Steve Harvey and a host of contestants who take to the stage during the weeks of filming. But all the comedic events associated with the appearance of Timothy Blifnik with his family in 2019 are forever spoiled by the murder in 2023 of his ex-wife Rebecca “Becky” Blifnik. He was charged with the crime in March, he denied his guilt then and after, but the start of the murder trial this week made public a message she wrote that somewhat foreshadowed a deadly tragedy.
Since Timothy Blifnik is being held without bail in Illinois, a Quincy resident has the right to a speedy trial, and the prosecution had quite a lot of evidence and testimony that needed to be presented during the first week of the trial. The victim’s sister Sarah came forward this week and shared a disturbing text message she received from Becky Blifnik, which indicated that she already knew and feared that something potentially violent could happen as a result of their bitter dispute over divorce and custody of their three children. It is reported that the text message read:
If something happens to me, make sure that the person #1 I’m interested in is Tim. . . . I am writing this in writing that I am afraid that he will harm me in some way, come after me or try to [do] something to me that will take me away from the children or the children away from me. He has repeatedly lied to the time to portray himself as a victim and me as a criminal, when everything is quite the opposite.
Timothy Blifnik is accused of breaking a window on the top floor of Becky’s house on the night of February 22 and then shooting her 14 times in the bathroom adjacent to her bedroom. It is noted that she died not from the gunshot wounds themselves, but from internal bleeding. He allegedly used a homemade silencer on the 9mm pistol used in the murder, and the Aldi bag used in its manufacture was linked to evidence that led to Blifnik’s arrest. After examining the defendant’s search history, which resulted in other evidence being found, authorities reportedly discovered that he was looking for instructions on how to make the same silencer at home.
Although Becky Blifnik apparently didn’t mention it in her text message to her sister, one of the requests she filed when their divorce proceedings began was for the defendant to return a 9mm pistol belonging to her, which apparently never happened. According to WGEM, her former divorce attorney Danny Woodworth took a stand and stated that the victim bought a gun safe with the intention of buying a gun to protect herself from her husband.
Two friends of Becky Blifnik, Nicole Bateman and Kristin Moore, also spoke out and shared their experiences when Becky sent angry and frightening messages about the behavior of her future ex. WGEM also reported that one of the messages shared by Moore was a victim saying she was considering filing a court order of protection against him.
Clearly, there were times before her murder when Rebecca Blifnik expressed concern that her estranged husband was taking things to extremes while their divorce was ongoing. Even his aforementioned appearance in “Family Feud” was an ominous premonition when he replied, “What is the biggest mistake you made at your wedding?” saying “Yes”, laughing, apologizing to his “dear”. Anyway, instead of his usual loud and cheerful reaction to the wild response of his opponent, Steve Harvey just looked down at the grinning Blifnik from top to bottom.
The appearance of the family on Family Feud at that time was celebrated by the local community, as can be seen from the video below, without any idea of what was to happen a few years later.
At the end of the court session on Thursday, a total of 36 witnesses had already spoken in three days, and the trial continued on Friday before the Memorial Day weekend.
