The case of Sheila Bellush, 35, who was brutally murdered in front of her children on November 7, 1997, was covered in episode two of the docuseries Blood & Money, which begins similarly to Law & Order.
Sheila married wealthy businessman Allen Blackthorne in 1982, and the couple had two daughters, Stevie and Daryl. Balckthorne became extremely violent with Sheila, and the marriage lasted only five years. Their divorce was a lengthy ordeal that lasted ten years.
Blood & Money explores the investigation into the brutal 1997 murder of Sheila Bellush in front of her childrenhttps://t.co/xBUtzDx51A
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Balckthorne was furious when Sheila was awarded custody of the two children. He claimed that Sheila was a bad mother who couldn’t win against him. Sheila then married pharmaceutical sales representative Jamie Bellush. They had quadruplets together and moved to Sarasota, Florida to escape Blackthorne’s constant harassment.
Blackthorne, on the other hand, did not relent. He discovered the Bellush residence after hiring a private investigator. He then hired a shooter with the help of a golf friend, Daniel Rocha. Jose Luis Del Toro was assigned the task of assaulting Sheila, and Blackthorne paid him $14,000.
Jose claims that when he broke into Sheila’s Sarasota home on November 7th, he almost did not carry out the murder. He almost changed his mind after seeing Sheila take such good care of her four children. Sheila, on the other hand, had spotted him and an alarmed Jose shot her in the face. He slit her slit as well. The entire murder took place in front of the four toddlers.
Stevie Bellush, 13, was the first to discover Sheila’s body after returning from school a few hours later. Her four half-siblings walked around covered in their mother’s blood, completely unaware of what had happened.
Stevie immediately dialled 911 from her bedroom phone, but then hung up. Maybe she was too shaken to speak. Then she used the kitchen phone to call the police, telling the operator what had happened through tears in her eyes.
The police responded quickly to the Sarasota home, but they had little information to begin their investigation. Only one of the quadruples had begun to speak and was unable to communicate with the police. With the assistance of Jamie Bellush, the police determined that Stevie’s biological father, Allen Blackthorne, was the perpetrator.
Finally, in the year 2000, Blackthorne was apprehended and brought to trial. He was found guilty and sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole. He dies in prison, never seeing Stevie and Daryle Bellush again.
