MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — Testimony in Jeffrey Willis’ trial for the murder of Rebekah Bletsch will continue Wednesday morning after a judge decided that some of the suspect’s cousin’s statements can be admitted as evidence.
Some of the statements by Kevin Bluhm that jurors will hear involve how he handled the gun that authorities say was used to kill Bletsch and that he knew where she lived.
The defense has been trying to pin Bletsch’s June 2014 murder on Bluhm, though investigators previously testified he has an alibi. On Tuesday, the judge ruled Bluhm’s own statement about his alibi was not admissible. On Friday, Bluhm was called to the stand, but he pleaded the Fifth.
Bluhm, a former employee at a state prison in Muskegon, is charged as an accessory after the fact in the other murder Willis is charged with — that of Jessica Heeringa in April 2013. Authorities say Bluhm previously told investigators that he helped Willis bury Heeringa’s body the day after she went missing from the Norton Shores gas station where she worked and then said that story was a lie. Heeringa’s remains have not been found.
Wednesday marks the seventh day of testimony in Willis’ trial. It was supposed to have continued Tuesday, but it was postponed because the judge had to decide what parts of Bluhm’s statements were admissible.
Defense attorney Fred Johnson said he’ll probably call two more witnesses and their testimony should take only one day. After the defense rests, attorneys from both sides will deliver closing arguments.
Late last week, jurors heard perhaps the most damning evidence against Willis. A ballistics expert testified the handgun found in Willis’ minivan — which had been stolen from Willis’ co-worker — was used to kill Bletsch, who was shot three times in the head. A DNA expert testified that Bletsch’s DNA was found on a sex toy and glove recovered from the minivan.
Prosecutors have tried to depict Willis, 47, as a serial killer as they laid out the evidence seized from his minivan, his Muskegon Township home and the property of his late grandfather. Authorities testified they found a list of items to go in a rape kit in the trash at the grandfather’s house. They say Willis had electronic files labeled with Bletsch’s and Heeringa’s initials and a code for the date of the women’s death and disappearance, respectively.
Also found on his electronic devices were thousands of murder porn videos — some staged but others real. One was titled “The Jogger” and featured a man kidnapping a woman as she jogged, then raping and murdering her. Blestch was killed as she was jogging near her Dalton Township home.
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