Message Board

[Admin]

Mother, Daughter Missing As Mystery Grows
Someone Called Daughter's School On Day She Vanished

Wayne Harrison
ABC 7
November 15, 2001

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- There was still no sign of a 34-year-old Grand Junction mother and her 6-year-old daughter Thursday, both of whom were apparently snatched from their upscale home after a violent struggle.

Jennifer Blagg and her daughter, Abby were reported missing Tuesday. Michael Blagg came home from work and found a pool of blood in the master bedroom, and his wife and daughter gone.

"There was obviously some kind of violent event inside the home," said Janet Prell, spokeswoman for the Mesa County sheriff's department. "There was a significant amount of blood."

Blagg is a stay-at-home mother and Abby attended Bookcliff Christian School.

The mystery deepened Wednesday when investigators revealed that Abby was excused from school on the day she vanished.

Someone called Bookcliff School Tuesday morning to report that Abby would not be attending classes that day, Prell said. Investigators don't know who called the school, she said.

Jennifer Blagg's car was still in the garage.

Investigators were interviewing neighbors, associates, and friends to reconstruct their daily routine and to learn who may have visited the house.

"Basically we're looking at them as a family and trying to understand their lifestyle," Prell said.

Authorities also used bloodhounds to search for the two along the Colorado River near their house.

Blagg told investigators he left for work at 6 a.m. He called police at 4:20 p.m.

Blagg works as a manager at the Dixson Division of AMETEK Inc., which designs and manufactures instrumentation, controllers and display systems.

He is not a suspect, Prell said.

"He's being very cooperative," she said.

Investigators won't say whether there were signs of forced entry into the Blagg home.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the sheriff's department at (970) 244-3500 or Crime Stoppers of Mesa County at (970) 241-7867.

[Admin]

Search For Missing Mom, Daughter Expands
Blood Analysis Will Help Investigators Learn What Happened

Wayne Harrison
ABC 7
November 19, 2001

AND JUNCTION, Colo. -- The search for a missing mother and daughter has expanded to include neighborhoods around the Grand Junction home where they were last seen.

Investigators knocked on doors over the weekend to see if anyone had seen anything suspicious on Nov. 13, the day they disappeared.

Police are looking for clues in the disappearance of Jennifer Blagg, 34, and her 6-year-old daughter, Abby.

Michael Blagg, 38, said that he came home from work Tuesday and found a pool of blood on the bed in the master bedroom and his family missing.

Authorities said that he is not a suspect in his family's disappearance. They also said they do not believe there is any threat to the public associated with the Blaggs' disappearance but would not explain why.

Investigators are waiting for lab work from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation on the blood found in the residence. They're hoping the type of blood and the analysis of blood splatters will tell them more about what happened inside the house.

"Probably the most key piece of crime scene evidence is a pool of blood," said Janet Prell, Mesa County sheriff's spokeswoman. "The hope is the analysis of that could give us an idea of what types of weapons, what kind of struggle was involved, who the victim could have been, and are there two victims."

The Mesa County sheriff's department has received many calls from the public regarding the case, many with their own theories of what happened to the couple. So far, none of the information has proved useful, said Prell.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the sheriff's department at (970) 244-3500 or Crime Stoppers of Mesa County at (970) 241-7867.

[Admin]

Nationwide Appeal Made For Missing Mother, Daughter
Grand Junction Police Join Investigation

Wayne Harrison
ABC 7
November 20, 2001

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- A Grand Junction man made a nationwide appeal for information about his missing wife and daughter Tuesday.

Michael Blagg was interviewed on ABC's "Good Morning America."


Jennifer Blagg, 34, and her daughter, Abby, 6, disappeared from their Grand Junction home on Nov. 13.

Blagg said he came home from work and discovered his wife and daughter missing.

"There were several indications to me that things were not right, beyond that I really can't go into details of what was in the house," Blagg said. "There were signs of disturbance inside. I can't go beyond that."

Investigators said that Blagg found a large pool of blood on the bed in the master bedroom. They're awaiting laboratory tests to determine whose blood it was.

Seven detectives from the Grand Junction Police Department joined 15 Mesa County Sheriff's detectives on Monday to try to solve the disappearances.

The extra help was added to handle the large number of interviews of staff and faculty at Bookcliff Christian School, where Jennifer Blagg was a teacher's aide and Abby was a student, and the company where Michael Blagg was employed, said sheriff's spokeswoman Janet Prell.

"We have about 180 interviews (to do) and the police are helping us do that," Prell said Monday.

Because of the close proximity of the Blagg home (pictured, right) to the Colorado River, investigators continued to search the river for any clues. "It is the nature of river searches, that you have to go back every few days and check it again," said Prell.

No suspects have been named by investigators.

Blagg told ABC's Charlie Gibson that he doesn't have a theory on what happened to them.

"Can you assure everyone that you had absolutely nothing to do with their dissapearance?" Gibson asked Blagg.

"I had absolutely nothing to do with their disappearance and I have been cooperating in every way, fully and completely, with the investigators in charge of this," Blagg said.

Prell said 150 pieces of evidence taken from the family home were being processed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation at its Montrose, Colo., lab.

"Right now, we have numerous scenarios we are checking out, and that takes a lot of legwork," Prell said. "This is truly still a mystery at this point."

Anyone with information is asked to call the Mesa County Sheriff's Department at (970) 244-2500.

[Admin]

Blood Tests 'Focus' Missing Mom, Daughter Case
Sources Dispute 'Inconclusive' Test Results Report

Wayne Harrison
ABC7
November 29, 2001

DENVER -- Sources told 7NEWS Wednesday that an earlier story about inconclusive blood tests in a missing mother and daughter case is not accurate.

The Grand Junction Sentinel reported Wednesday that a full DNA analysis of the blood could not determine if the blood came from Jennifer Blagg, 34, her 6-year-old daughter Abby (pictured, left), or someone else.

A source close to the investigation told 7NEWS reporter Julie Hayden, however, that the test results helped investigators "clarify some issues" and is giving a "focus" to the investigation.

"We cannot yet rule out that the blood does not belong to one of the missing people," Mesa County sheriff's spokeswoman Janet Prell said Wednesday.

While the results of the blood test haven't been disclosed, Hayden said sources told her that the evidence indicated the blood is probably from one person.

Michael Blagg reported his wife and daughter missing from the family's home on the afternoonn of Nov. 13. He said he last saw his wife before he left for work.

Abby Blagg did not show up for school that day, and Jennifer Blagg's car was still in the garage that afternoon. That indicates the two disappeared sometime after Michael said he left for work and the start of Abby's first class.

Blagg arrived home to find a large pool of blood on the bed in the master bedroom. Samples of that blood are undergoing additional analysis by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation in Montrose, Colo.

Sources told 7NEWS no other blood pools, or blood drops, were found in the house, which was a significant indication of what may have happened to the bleeding person.

Results from more thorough tests on the blood are expected early next week.

Numerous searches of the area around the Blagg home, including the nearby Colorado River, have failed to turn up any trace of the mother and daughter. Searchers planned to probe the river again later this week.

Investigators said previously that Michael Blagg is not a suspect in the case but now say they haven't ruled anyone out at a suspect.

[Admin]

Search For Blaggs Moves To Landfill
Michael Blagg's Lease Expires Wednesday

ABC 7
May 15, 2002

The search for a missing Grand Junction mother and daughter has moved to the county landfill.

Jennifer and 6-year-old Abby Blagg disappeared from their home in November.

Despite several organized searches, with more than 2,000 volunteers combing the rugged terrain near their house, there's been no trace of the 34-year-old woman and her daughter.

Now investigators have decided to dig through the Mesa County landfill. They plan to spend a month searching the area where household trash was being dumped. A spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff said the search was not triggered by a specific tip, but that it was the last large area to search.

Meanwhile, Michael Blagg is making plans to move out of the state to search for a new job.

He was fired from his management job after stolen property from the office was found in his home.

His town house lease expires Wednesday and he has said that he will be moving to Georgia, where his mother lives.

Michael Blagg called authorities on Nov. 13 to report his wife and daughter missing.

Investigators found a large pool of blood, later identified as Jennifer Blagg's, on the master bed. No arrests have been made, though Michael Blagg has not been ruled out as a suspect, according to police.

Mesa County District Attorney Frank Daniels said that he will call a grand jury this fall.

The benefit of a grand jury would be to obtain some information that the investigation has not been able to obtain through ordinary investigative techniques, Daniels said.

[Admin]

Human Remains Found In Grand Junction Dump
Remains May Be Those Of Missing Mom, Abby Blagg

Part of a leg with a foot attached found at the Mesa County Landfill Tuesday may be connected to the disappearance of mother and daughter Jennifer and Abby Blagg, officials confirmed Tuesday night.

"The forensic pathologist was called out and able to verify it was a human leg and foot," said Riecke Claussen, Mesa County sheriff.

Authorities said the remains are believed to belong to one of the Blaggs because the garbage surrounding the remains is from last November, 7NEWS reported.

"We're certainly optimistic that these remains will be connected to the disappearance of Abby and Jennifer Blagg," Mesa County sheriff's spokeswoman Janet Prell said.

Police said that DNA testing was needed before they can verify any connection between the discovery and the baffling missing-persons case.

Jennifer and her 6-year-old daughter Abby disappeared from their home Nov. 13.

Michael Blagg told police that he came home from work and discovered his wife and daughter missing and a large pool of blood in the master bedroom.

The Mesa County Sheriff's Department said that there was no sign of forced entry and there was so much blood lost that whoever it belonged to was most likely dead.

DNA tests showed that the blood belonged to 34-year-old Jennifer Blagg.

Michael Blagg told investigators that he last saw his wife and daughter when he left for work that morning. The family van was still in the garage when police were called that afternoon. It was impounded as evidence in the case and authorities have not disclosed if any forensic evidence was found in the van.

Officials have said that Michael Blagg has not been ruled out as a suspect.

Last month, he moved to Warner Robins, Ga., an Air Force-base town 120 miles south of Atlanta where his mother lives, to look for work. He was fired from his management job at the Ametek Dixson plant, three months after his family's disappearance, after stolen office equipment was found in his home.

The search for the Blaggs moved to the county landfill after several organized searches, with more than 2,000 volunteers combing the rugged terrain near their house, proved unsuccessful.

Detectives were able to use landfill records to locate the area where Ametek trash was dumped last November. That's where they have been concentrating their search efforts and apparently where the discovery was made Tuesday.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation were called in to help search the dump for additional body parts. The dump was closed Tuesday to allow investgators to expand their search.

"Initially our search was more of a massive search where large quantities of trash were pulled from the landfill looking for evidence. now that we've found something and we've verified that, it will take up more of the character of an archaeological dig," said Claussen.

Tuesday was was the 16th day of searching at the landfill by a team of Mesa County detectives investigating the disappearance of Abby and Jennifer Blagg.

[Admin]

Body identified as missing woman

Associated Press
June 6, 2006

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) -- A body found in a landfill Wednesday was identified as 34-year-old Jennifer Blagg, who was last seen Nov. 13.

Her 6-year-old daughter, Abby, who disappeared at the same time, was still missing.

Jennifer Blagg, a native of Ardmore, Okla., died of a gunshot wound and her death was ruled as a homicide, Mesa County Sheriff Riecke Claussen said.

Claussen would not say what kind of firearm was used or where Blagg was shot.

Deputies were still searching for the daughter. "Obviously, we'd like to locate Abby if we can," Claussen said.

Blagg's husband, Michael, reported the pair missing. Authorities say they have not ruled him out as a suspect, but no one has been arrested in the case.

Michael Blagg told police he had returned home from work on Nov. 13 and found a pool of blood in the master bedroom and his wife and daughter gone.

Blagg left Grand Junction in mid-May, and investigators believe he is in Warner Robins, Ga., 120 miles southeast of Atlanta. No telephone listing for Blagg was available.

"This has just been an extremely difficult six or seven months for him," Blagg's attorney, Stephan Schweissing, said Wednesday. "It's certainly very important for him to find out what happened to his family. We're supportive of continued investigation."

District Attorney Frank Daniels, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI were working with sheriff's investigators.

Deputies found a human leg with a foot attached while digging through the landfill Tuesday. They found the rest of the body Wednesday morning.

The landfill search began 17 days ago after widespread searches for Jennifer and Abby Blagg and numerous interviews turned up nothing.

[Admin]

Search For Abby Blagg Continues
Michael Blagg On Suicide Watch In Georgia

Kim Ngan Nguyen and Wayne Harrison
ABC 7
June 7, 2002

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Michael Blagg, the husband of the missing woman whose body was found in a landfill on Wednesday, was arrested late last night in Georgia for suspicion of murder.

The arrest occurred hours after dental records confirmed that the mummified body belonged to 34-year-old Jennifer Blagg. She had been shot in the head, officials said.

Michael Blagg was arrested just before 10 p.m. MDT without incident at his mother's home in Warner Robins, Ga. by Warner Robins police officers, said Janet Prell, a spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff's Department.

Blagg faces one count of first-degree murder and is being held on $1 million bond, Prell said. Blagg was at the Houston County Sheriff's Department awaiting extradition to Mesa County, 7NEWS reported.

Michael Blagg's attorney, Stephan Schweissing, told 7NEWS that Blagg had tickets to fly back to Grand Junction Thursday morning, but was arrested before he could return.

Mesa County sheriffs said that they will continue searching the dump for any signs of 6-year-old Abby Blagg, who along with her mother, vanished from their Grand Junction home on Nov. 13.

Michael Blagg had told police that he came home from work that day and discovered his wife and daughter missing and a large pool of blood on the bed in the master bedroom.

Authorities said that the blood belonged to Jennifer Blagg, and because of the amount of blood lost, they feared she was dead. There was no other blood found in the house and no sign of forced entry in the home.

There were some items missing frm the couple's bedroom that lead investigators to suspect foul play, but they would not reveal what the items were.


The family van was parked in the garage when officers were called to the home. When Michael Blagg arrived home from work that afternoon, neighbors said that he parked in front of the house, rather than in the driveway, which was unusual.

Investigators said DNA evidence from the van proved it was likely used to move Abby and Jennifer's bodies.

Last month, authorities began searching the county landfill for the woman and girl after 2,000 volunteers combed through rugged terrain near the Blagg home and found nothing.

Mesa County Sheriff Riecke Claussen said that a backhoe was digging out a section of garbage at about 10:15 a.m. Tuesday when an investigator spotted a leg inside the backhoe's bucket.

The digging was stopped until a coroner arrived and the scene could be sealed.

Investigators found the remainder of Jennifer Blagg's body in the bucket Wednesday after removing other trash.

Michael Blagg moved from Grand Junction on May 15, the day after investigators began rummaging through the landfill.

Searchers had focused in on an area where trash from Ametek Dixson was dumped in November.

Michael Blagg worked for the Ametek Dixson plant when his wife and daughter disappeared.

Blagg was fired from his management job three months after their disappearance, when stolen office equipment was found in his home.

He has steadfastly maintained his innocence in the disappearances but authorities had never ruled him out as a suspect.

According to dispatch reports on the day that Jennifer and Abby disappeared, Micheal Blagg kept a gun in the house.

Claussen would not disclose what type of weapon what used to kill Jennifer Blagg.

Officials fear that Michael Blagg could attempt suicide again.

He had slashed his wrists in February, one day after he was questioned for 10 hours about his wife and daughter's disappearance.

The dump remains closed to allow investigators to expand their search.

TIMELINE
Nov. 13 - Michael Blagg calls 911 to report his wife and daughter are missing.

Nov. 19 - The search expands to other neighborhoods.

Nov. 20 - Blagg discusses the case on ABC's Good Morning America.

Nov. 29 - Blood tests confirm crime-scene blood is from Jennifer Blagg

Dec. 5 - Michael Blagg moves into an apartment.

Feb. 6 - Blagg is questioned by police about case.

Feb. 7 - Blagg attempts suicide.

April 3 - Police say family van may have been used to remove bodies.

April 17 - 11-day volunteer search begins for missing mother, daughter.

May 15 - The search moves to the county landfill.

May 16 - Michael Blagg moves to Georgia.

June 4 - A Human leg and foot are discovered in landfill.

June 5 - A body is found attached to the leg. It is identified as Jennifer Blagg. Michael Blagg is arrested.

[Admin]

Details In Blagg Case Released
Arrest Warrant Contains Evidence Incriminating Michael Blagg

Wayne Harrison
ABC 7
June 17, 2002

New information released Monday made it clear that investigators suspected very early on that Michael Blagg killed his wife and daughter.

The Grand Junction man bragged to them that he was a born-again Christian and that his life was "an open book" for them to investigate. Authorities did, and their investigation revealed a very different, dark side of Blagg, 7NEWS reported.

According to the arrest warrant, Blagg called police on Nov. 13, 2001 at 4:37 p.m. to report his wife Jennifer and daughter Abby missing.

When Mesa County Sheriff's deputies arrived, they found a large amount of blood on the bed in the master bedroom -- so much that it dripped onto the carpet underneath the bed.

Crime scene investigators found the blood to be dried and determined that it had been there for more than 3 to 4 hours, but less than 24 hours.

Investigators, using a special light to detect blood that can't be seen with the naked eye, found trace amounts of blood in several areas of the family minivan -- on the driver's side, on the steering wheel, brake pedal, front door handle, and sliding door, according to the arrest affidavit.

There were no trails of blood droplets leading from the master bedroom to the minivan (pictured, left), indicating that the victim had been wrapped tightly in something before being moved to the van, the affidavit said.

Two pillows were missing from the master bedroom and police theorized that Jennifer Blagg had pillows placed over her as she slept and was then shot in the face.

Police also found that Abby Blagg's dental retainer was not in its case. Since she only wore the retainer when she slept, investigators believed she too was harmed while she slept, the affadavit said.

A co-worker of Michael Blagg at Ametek-Dixson told deputies that on the day Jennifer and Abby Blagg disappeared, Michael was acting strangely.

The man said he saw Blagg pushing a pallet jack with two large cardboard boxes toward the trash compactor and when he asked if he could help, Blagg said in a strong voice, "Nope, just get away." That behavior, the coworker said, was unusual for Blagg.

Another coworker said Blagg came out to the loading dock area more than 20 times that day and "looked dazed." Others at Ametek-Dixson said Blagg was seen around the office more than usual that day, and investigators suspect that it was his attempt to build an alibi, the affadavit said.

Police also confirmed that Michael Blagg had been visiting a local escort service in Grand Junction. An employee of the escort service identified Blagg's picture out of a photo lineup, and said he visited two to three times a month between December 2000 and April 2001. The affidavit stated that Blagg asked for topless massages and masturbation.

According to the affidavit, detectives found more than 1,800 images of adult pornography on Blagg's home and work computers. When confronted with that information later, Blagg told investigators that his wife had been having difficulty with sexual intercourse due to her hysterectomy and that they were researching oral sex, according to the affidavit.

A former worker at Colorado Legal Service also contacted police after the case became public and identified Jennifer Blagg as the woman who came in two weeks before her murder to say she was a victim of domestic violence. The woman told investigators that Jennifer Blagg said she "couldn't handle it anymore. I can't take anymore of this abuse."

Grand Junction Police contacted a retired agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation who previously worked as a criminal profiler. He said he was 99 percent certain that the crime was not a "random killing," the affidavit said.

The agent based his theory on "the execution, crime scene clean up and body removal" which took some time.

The retired FBI agent said that "whoever committed this crime had a high level of comfort in the house."

"Stranger intruders are not normally comfortable with long periods of time in a dwelling. .. who would be comfortable meticulously cleaning up after the murders? Secondly, burglars and rapists do not move and transport bodies; their perception of risk is increased with removal of a body," the affadavit said.

According to the affidavit, the retired agent believed the crime scene -- with jewelry and money strewn everywhere -- was staged.

The agent also said that the behavioral scientist's "rule of thumb" is that body removal indicates an intimate relationship between the killing and the victim(s). He determined that Jennifer Blagg was the target and Abby was mostly likely an "ancillary victim."

The affidavit says the retired FBI agent said the crime was premeditated and said that in 99 percent of the cases when the bodies are removed, it is an intimate partner who does the killing.

Police confronted Michael Blagg in February after he was observed by detectives stealing items from his employer. He was put under surveillance as a suspect in the murder case.

After nearly 10 hours of questioning, the affidavit said that Michael Blagg was asked to tell the truth about what happened to his wife and daughter.

"I can't tell you," the affidavit quotes Blagg as saying as he broke down sobbing. He later asked about the consequences and differences in types of murders, according to the affidavit. He told police that he wanted to tell the truth, but wanted a lawyer to tell him what the truth was going to mean, according to the affidavit.

The body of Jennifer Blagg was found in the Mesa County Landfill on May 13 and an autopsy revealed that she had been shot in the head, apparently with a 9 mm weapon.

Michael Blagg made his first Colorado court appearance Monday morning before Mesa County District Judge David Bottger as investigators continued to sift through tons of trash at the landfill, hoping to find the body of his daughter Abby.

The judge rescheduled Blagg's arraignment for July 18th.

Lawyers say the case file covers more than 16,000 pages.

[Admin]

Search For Abby Blagg Will End Wednesday
Investigators Sort Through Tons Of Garbage In Fruitless Search

Wayne Harrison
ABC 7
July 23, 2002

The exhaustive search for the body of a 6-year-old Grand Junction girl will end Wednesday at a Mesa County landfill.

Sheriff's Investigator George Barley said that authorities should finish their search for the remains of Abby Blagg (pictured, left) by Wednesday afternoon.

Investigators have been looking through 4,400 tons of garbage for her body for the past 11 weeks. The body of her mother, Jennifer Blagg, 34, was found in the landfill last month.

That gruesome discovery led to the arrest of husband and father Michael Blagg, who had moved to Georgia. Abby and Jennifer were reported missing from their Mesa County home Nov. 13 by Michael. Crime scene detectives found a large amount of Jennifer's blood on the master bed and traces of blood in her van.

An autopsy on Jennifer's remains revealed that she had been shot in the head.

Michael Blagg was charged with first-degree murder in connection with Jennifer's death and has maintained his innocence in his wife's murder and daughter's disappearance.

Investigators found Jennifer's body June 4 among trash that came from the industrial trash bin and compactor at the Grand Junction company where Michael Blagg's worked. Other documents in the same area dated the trash as being from November 2001.

[Admin]

Prosecutors Present Evidence Against Blagg
Preliminary Hearing To Be Continued Dec. 24

ABC 7
December 10, 2002

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Prosecutors on Monday presented crime-scene evidence from the home of a man accused of killing his wife and dumping her body in a trash bin.

Michael Blagg, 39, appeared in court for a preliminary hearing, which the judge decided to resume on Dec. 24 because there was so much evidence to review, 7NEWS reported.

Blagg is accused of shooting his wife, Jennifer, in the head while she slept and dumping her body in an industrial trash bin at work.

He had reported that when he arrived home from work on Nov. 13, 2001, his wife and their 6-year-old daughter, Abby, were missing. Seven months later, Jennifer Blagg's body was found in the Mesa County landfill on June 4.

Abby remains missing and is presumed dead. Investigators had looked through 4,400 tons of garbage for her body but nothing was found. No charges have been filed in her disappearance.

Prosecutors also presented evidence found at the landfill and at Blagg's former workplace. They say their murder case against Michael Blagg is "strong and compelling" and the likelihood of convicting him of killing his wife is "strong."

But defense attorneys argued that much of the evidence is circumstantial, and pointed out that no blood from Michael Blagg has been found at the crime scenes.

Crime scene detectives found a large amount of Jennifer's blood on the master bed and traces of blood in her van.

Michael Blagg was arrested on June 5 at his mother's house in Warner Robins, Ga., and extradited to Colorado. He has been held in the Mesa County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail since then.

Public defenders David Eisner and Ken Singer filed court documents claiming prosecutors had unreliable witnesses, conflicting statements from law enforcement officers and evidence that is either unsubstantiated or inadmissible.

The documents were in support of a request to reduce Blagg's bail. Mesa County District Judge David Bottger said he will not rule on the request until the preliminary hearing is complete.

The case of the missing Sunday school teacher and her daughter garnered national media attention, peaking in April when hundreds of volunteers gathered in Grand Junction to scour the surrounding desert for signs of Abby and Jennifer.

[Admin]

Man denied killing wife before trying to end his own life

By Ellen Miller
Rocky Mountain News
December 21, 2002

GRAND JUNCTION - Michael Blagg left a short, neatly printed suicide note denying he killed his wife before he tried to kill himself three months after the disappearance of his wife and daughter, court records show.

"God love you all," the note begins. "I have tried to do the right thing throughout my life. I have made many mistakes along the way, and I am sorry for any of these mistakes that have harmed any of you out there now.""The sheriff's department is going to say many things about me in the coming weeks," the note continues. "I am not perfect, but neither am I a murderer."

The suicide note, previously reported without specific text, and other evidence, including transcripts and reports from several interviews of Blagg by investigators, were placed in the public court file this week.

The documents suggest that investigators have chipped away at Blagg's accounts of his activities the night of Nov. 12, 2001, and the day of Nov. 13, when he reported his wife, Jennifer, and daughter, Abby, missing.

Among discrepancies noted in the court records are Blagg's account of his use of a pornography site on his home computer the night of Nov. 12, and when he showed up for work the following morning.

Officers found Blagg late on the morning of Feb. 6 after his suicide attempt. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was kept for a week while being treated for his injuries.

Blagg, 38, stands accused of first-degree murder in his wife's death. His preliminary hearing will conclude Tuesday when Mesa County District Judge David Bottger is expected to bind Blagg over for trial.

Bottger also will hear arguments on a motion by Blagg's attorneys to reduce his $1 million bond, citing his lack of a record and his decorated military service.

The partially mummified body of Jennifer Blagg, 34, was found last June in the Mesa County Landfill. Searchers sifted through debris for 11 weeks but failed to find the couple's 6-year-old daughter, who remains missing and is presumed dead.

The gun used in Jennifer Blagg's slaying has not been found. Michael Blagg's home records indicate he owned a 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun, but none was found.

Defense attorneys have noted that while a 9 mm handgun could have fired the bullet found in Jennifer Blagg's head, four other widely available types of guns could have fired it, too.

In Blagg's first interview with police, which lasted more than five hours the evening of Nov. 13, he insisted he woke up that day at his usual time of 5:30 a.m. and left for work at 6 a.m. He stuck to that time through many interviews over the next two months.

However, last March, a woman who works at Ametek-Dixson, the manufacturing plant where Blagg was operations manager, told investigators she arrived for work at 5:35 a.m. and found Blagg already there.

Blagg also said in a interview on Nov. 28, 2001, that he hadn't accessed an adult pornography site from his home computer for six to eight months.

But computer records showed he was on such sites for about an hour the evening of Nov. 12, 2001, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing on Dec. 4.

[Admin]

Agent: Prints are Blagg’s

By Mike Wiggin
The Daily Sentinel
3/16/04

The vast majority of the fingerprints found in Michael Blagg’s home and compared to other prints belong to the man suspected of shooting his wife to death, a former Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent testified Monday.

Darren Jewkes, who now works as a crime lab manager in Idaho, told jurors in Blagg’s first-degree murder trial that 22 of the 29 fingerprints deemed suitable for comparison were identified as Blagg’s. The remaining seven weren’t identified, although they were consistent with a small woman’s or child’s fingerprints, Jewkes said, referring to Blagg’s wife and daughter.

Blagg reported Jennifer, 34, and Abby, 6, missing in November 2001. He was arrested in June 2002 after Jennifer’s body was found in the Mesa County Landfill. Abby has not been found and is believed to be dead.

Defense attorneys say the fact that most of the fingerprints belong to Blagg means nothing, since he lived in the house. But prosecutors point to some key areas in the house where Blagg’s fingerprints were found that they say implicate him in Jennifer’s slaying.

Jewkes testified that eight of the 11 prints found on Jennifer’s minivan deemed suitable for comparison belong to Blagg. The van is important because investigators believe it was used to transport Jennifer’s body from the home.

Jewkes also said all four fingerprints found on the back door of the home were identified as Blagg’s. Blagg told police the back door was open when he reported his wife and daughter missing.

CBI agents found 16 palm prints in the house that they deemed suitable for comparison but couldn’t identify them because they had nothing to which they could compare them. Police obtained Blagg’s fingerprints, but not his palm prints.

Jewkes attempted to match the unidentified fingerprints. The CBI obtained the fingerprints of two landscapers who were working in the neighborhood at the time Jennifer was killed, but neither of their prints matched those in the house. Jewkes also ran some of the prints through a state computer database containing fingerprint information about known criminals but found no matches.

He said he also tried to develop fingerprints from Jennifer’s hands. The hands were cut off her body and sent to the CBI in Montrose, where Jewkes tried several methods to glean prints. But the hands were so badly decomposed that he could only obtain three or four fingerprints suitable for comparison, he testified.

The trial ended for the day before Jewkes could finish testifying for the prosecution and defense attorneys had a chance to cross-examine him. But Public Defender David Eisner didn’t attach much significance to the CBI’s findings.

“I’m sure it’s not surprising Mr. Blagg’s fingerprints are found at his own house,” Eisner said.

Jurors also heard testimony from two evidence custodians with the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department who helped collect evidence from the Blagg home.

One of those evidence custodians, Paulette Campbell, testified about notes written by Jennifer in the margin of a religious text in which she referenced a fight she had with Blagg on Nov. 9, three or four days before she was killed. Prosecutors say the note and the fight led to Jennifer’s murder.

During cross-examination, defense attorneys noted that, while the two evidence custodians wore gloves and foot coverings, they didn’t wear anything to cover their heads, implying that the crime scene could have been contaminated.

[Admin]

Slain woman's friend challenges idea of happy Blagg family

Nancy Lofholm
Denver Post
March 17, 2004

GRAND JUNCTION - Ten days before Jennifer Blagg was murdered, she asked her best friend, Edith Melson, to pray for her.

Melson, who spoke to Jennifer by phone from Simpsonville, S.C., would later tell a defense team who came to Simpsonville to question her that she believed an upset Jennifer was telling her "to pray for something like you've never prayed before."

Melson testified Tuesday in Michael Blagg's murder trial that she didn't know what she was praying for because Jennifer said she couldn't tell her at the time. As Melson recounted the conversation, Jennifer said, "I have something to tell you. I pray I will get the courage to tell you."

Melson testified that Jennifer did tell her she and her 6-year-old daughter, Abby, would be visiting her soon in Simpsonville, where the Blagg family had lived before moving to Grand Junction in early 2001. That was an unusual occurrence, Melson said: Jennifer never traveled without husband Michael.

Melson's testimony came in a damaging day for the defense, which is trying to show that the Blaggs had a happy marriage and that Jennifer Blagg was killed, not by her husband, but by a stranger who entered the Blaggs' home early on Nov. 13, 2001, and shot Jennifer in the head.

The prosecution is attempting to show that Jennifer was planning to leave her husband and that he killed her. Michael Blagg denies murdering his wife.

Melson described Michael Blagg as "controlling" and Jennifer as "an adoring wife."

She said she and Jennifer would talk on the phone three or four times a week, but always during the day, when Michael Blagg was not home. She said he often would not let her talk to Jennifer if he answered the phone and that Melson and her husband rarely socialized with the Blaggs as a couple.

Under cross-examination by Michael Blagg's attorney, Mesa County Public Defender David Eisner, Melson admitted she has said different things to different people about the state of the Blaggs' marriage. At times, she described the Blaggs as "a wonderful family."

Melson admitted she did not tell law enforcement of her serious concerns about the Blaggs' marriage. Several times on the witness stand, she said she regretted that.

Melson also testified that she had seen a red-and-black tent in the Blaggs' garage. Jennifer's body was wrapped in a red-and-black tent when it was found in the Mesa County landfill seven months after she and Abby disappeared. Abby has not been found.

Melson's testimony came on a day when Mesa County District Attorney Frank Daniels also called as witnesses a dozen neighbors of the Blaggs' former home at 2253 Pine Terrace Court in a subdivision near Grand Junction.

One neighbor who lives across the street from the former Blagg home said she was awakened by a noise about 1:30 a.m. on the day Jennifer was killed. Two neighbors who live to the west of the Blaggs' then-home said their dogs barked uncharacteristically in the middle of that night.

Most of the neighbors going about their normal business that day on the quiet cul-de-sac said they did not see or hear anything unusual. One neighbor said she heard several male voices talking in a normal conversational tone on the road behind the Blaggs' home between 6:15 and 6:30 a.m.

The defense had used that incident in its opening statements to assert those voices belonged to Jennifer's killers. But a woman delivering newspapers said she saw four joggers on that stretch of road about 6:30 a.m. when she had stopped her vehicle near the Blagg home to fold and band papers.

[Admin]

Prosecution rips Blagg buying spree
Purchases show he wasn't grieving for missing wife and daughter, lawyers say

Nancy Lofholm
Denver Post
March 18, 2004

GRAND JUNCTION - Less than a week after Christmas 2001, when Michael Blagg sadly placed some wrapped presents, including a Barbie nightgown and gold earrings, under a Christmas tree for his missing wife and daughter, he went on a shopping spree.

Blagg bought $5,441 worth of state-of-the-art entertainment equipment, including a big-screen television with a surround-sound package, according to testimony Wednesday. Two weeks later, he spent another $1,291 on a new computer and modem for himself.

Prosecutors in Blagg's murder trial contend that shopping spree showed Blagg was not a man grieving and searching for a wife and 6-year-old daughter who had vanished from their home less than two months earlier.

Blagg's defense attorneys argue that it was Blagg's way of trying to make himself feel better after his wife and daughter disappeared.

Testimony about Blagg's purchases from the Grand Junction Circuit City came in the sixth day of testimony during Blagg's murder trial. Blagg is charged with but has denied killing his wife Jennifer, 34, on Nov. 13, 2001, placing her body in a Dumpster, and reporting her and daughter Abby missing.

Jennifer's body was found in the Mesa County landfill in summer 2001. Abby has not been found.

Circuit City sales associate Devon Tilly said Blagg came into the store several times and also made several calls to the store trying to get the best price. When he finally settled on his purchases 10 minutes before closing and bought the items on a no-interest credit plan, Tilly said Blagg told him, "Man, this country is great. You can walk away with a whole bunch of stuff and not pay anything."

Under cross-examination, Mesa County Public Defender David Eisner pointed out that Blagg's father-in-law, Harold Conway, was with Blagg on one trip to the store. He also noted that Blagg was not trying to hide his identity. He was wearing a "missing" pin for Jennifer and Abby.

The most heated exchange in the trial to date also came Wednesday, when former Orlando, Fla., police officer Kevin King testified that Blagg was "passionless" as the two spoke a day or two after Jennifer and Abby disappeared.

King, who was helping with the search for the pair, said Blagg showed no emotion when he talked about Jennifer. When he talked about Abby, King said, he put his head down and covered his eyes "like he was crying, but there were no tears."

Eisner angrily attacked King's portrayal, pointing out that the way King might react to a missing wife and daughter was not necessarily the way Blagg would. King had said he would do anything, including getting arrested, in carrying out a search for missing family members.

Eisner commented that Blagg "could have a faith in the Lord that would help him through difficult times."