A “Family Feud” contestant who joked on national television that he regretted getting married was convicted of first-degree murder and home invasion Wednesday in the fatal shooting of his estranged wife earlier this year.
Following a jury trial that lasted more than a week in Illinois, local circuit court records show, an Adams County jury found Timothy Bliefnick, 40, guilty in the February slaying of Rebecca Bliefnick.
The 41-year-old woman’s father found her dead Feb. 23 on her bathroom floor after she failed to pick up her three kids from school in Quincy, a small city in western Illinois near the Missouri state line.
Her estranged husband was arrested on March 13 in connection to her killing.
Sentencing is set for Aug. 11, court records show.
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Shot 14 times and left for dead
Court records show that at the time of his estranged wife’s death, the couple was in the process of divorce. The victim, a nurse and mother of three, also filed for an order of protection from her husband in 2021, according to additional court papers filed in Adams County.
A hearing in the divorce had been set a week before prosecutors said she was found shot 14 times.
Last week, Sarah Reilly, a sister of the victim, took the stand on behalf of the prosecution, and testified her sister previously told her she was worried her estranged husband might physically harm her.
“If something ever happens to me, make sure the number one person of interest is Tim,” the victim texted her sister in 2021.
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Bliefnick joked about marriage on ‘Family Feud’ appearance
Bliefnick appeared on game show “Family Feud” as a contestant on an episode that aired in 2020 in which he joked on national television he regretted marrying his wife.
“What’s your biggest mistake you made at your wedding?” host Steve Harvey asked Bliefnick during the show.
“Said I do,'” Bliefnick replied. “Not my mistake, not my mistake − I love my wife. I’m gonna get in trouble for that, aren’t I?”
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
