Anthony Bluml and His Birthmom Accused of Murder UPDATED
This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.
From Valley Center, Kansas, adoptee Anthony Bluml, 18, has been accused of “first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder” and also “two counts of aggravated robbery, burglary and theft” in a November shooting of his adoptive mother.
He is being held “on bonds of $500,000 ” along with “Braden Smith and Andrew Ellington, both 18 and of Park City. The three men had been classmates at Valley Center High School, where Tony Bluml last year became one of the state’s top wrestlers.”
“Kisha Schaberg, 35,” is being held on ” a $1 million bond.”
“Fifty-three-year-old Melissa Bluml, a bank vice president, and her husband, Roger Bluml, were shot outside their home on 109th Street North on the night of Nov. 15. Melissa Bluml died the next day, and Roger Bluml was left critically injured.The attempted-murder charge accuses the four of shooting Roger Bluml in the head. The murder charge says that the defendants killed Melissa Bluml intentionally “and with premeditation.”
The judge ordered Tony Bluml, the Blumls’ adopted son, to have no contact with his adoptive father.
Jay Greeno, a defense lawyer appointed for Ellington, said there is a double tragedy in the case in that someone lost their life and in that young people are being affected. Greeno said he has talked with Ellington but “there’s no facts that I can comment on.”
One of the robbery charges accuses the four of taking Melissa Bluml’s purse by force or threat.
The other robbery charge alleges that the four took a cellphone and keys from Roger Bluml. According to a 911 dispatcher the night of the shooting, the two victims were found shot in a car.
The burglary charge says the four entered or remained in the Blumls’ home at 5932 E. 109th St. North with the intent to commit theft.
The theft charge, a misdemeanor, accuses the defendants of taking coins and miscellaneous property valued at less than $1,000.
During their brief first appearances in Sedgwick County District Court, by a video link to the jail, all four defendants wore green jail jumpsuits.
The defendants heard the charges, and Judge Ben Burgess scheduled their next hearing for Dec. 10. They have public defenders or court-appointed attorneys.
In a financial affidavit that Schaberg filled out in applying for a court-appointed attorney, she said she has been unemployed for two years, is separated or divorced and has one dependent: a 7-year-old daughter.
Tony Bluml, the biological son she recently reunited with in California, said in his affidavit that he had been unemployed for a year.
Ellington wrote on his affidavit that he had been unemployed for a year but also said he had worked for a golf course and for a construction company. In high school, Ellington competed in golf.
Smith said he had been unemployed for eight months but had worked at some point for an appliance and construction business.
Smith said he owned a Nissan Altima, apparently the same car that he, Bluml, Schaberg and Schaberg’s young daughter used to travel from California to Kansas around Oct. 30, according to Schaberg’s girlfriend, who was interviewed by The Eagle last week.”
“In a November shooting that killed a Valley Center-area woman and injured her husband, investigators gathered cartridge casings and guns “related to the incident,” a court document says.Investigators also found a purse and “what appears to be a long-sleeved shirt/garment” with one of the firearms, according to the document, which was filed Friday by District Attorney Marc Bennett.
On Nov. 25, Bennett’s office charged four people with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder in the shootings of Melissa and Roger Bluml. One of the defendants, Anthony Bluml, is the couple’s 18-year-old adopted son. Another defendant, Kisha Schaberg, is Anthony Bluml’s 35-year-old biological mother.
The two other defendants are former classmates of Anthony Bluml’s: Braden Smith and Andrew Ellington. The defendants also are charged with two counts of aggravated robbery, burglary and theft.
Melissa Bluml, a 53-year-old bank vice president, and Roger Bluml were shot outside their home on 109th Street North on the night of Nov. 15. Melissa Bluml died the next day, and Roger Bluml was left critically injured. According to the charges, he was shot in the head.
The guns, casings, purse and shirt cited in the court document have been given to the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center for forensic DNA analysis, the court document says.
The document also says that a DNA analyst told prosecutors that “due to the environment in which the items were found and the nature of the items themselves, she expected to encounter difficulties obtaining a sufficient quantity of biological material for DNA analysis from these items. As such, the entire swabs collected will likely have to be consumed to provide the best opportunity for such analysis to produce comparable results.”
The document doesn’t say where or when investigators found the items.
During searches after the shootings, investigators could be seen at lakes or ponds near the shooting scene and in a park off Woodlawn just north of K-96. Officers also searched on foot and on horseback along roads near the couple’s house.
A judge has ordered the defendants to give blood or mouth swabs containing their DNA, to be tested by the Forensic Science Center. Their DNA could be compared with any DNA found on evidence.
A preliminary hearing, at which prosecutors would have to present enough evidence to convince a judge that the case should go to trial, has been rescheduled for Jan. 23.
Meanwhile, Schaberg, the biological mother, remains in jail on a $1 million bond. The three other defendants still have bonds of $500,000 each.
According to Schaberg’s girlfriend, Schaberg and biological son Anthony Bluml reunited in California around mid-September. Schaberg, Anthony Bluml and Smith drove from San Diego to the Wichita area about two weeks before the shootings, the girlfriend told The Eagle.”
Guns, casings, shirt were found in Valley Center-area Shooting
[The Wichita Eagle 12/22/13 by Tim Potter]
“Prosecutors on Friday filed capital murder charges against four people accused of fatally shooting a Valley Center-area husband and wife in November, including the couple’s 18-year-old adopted son.
Anthony Bluml; his biological mother, 35-year-old Kisha Schaberg; and two of Anthony’s former Valley Center High School classmates, 18-year-olds Andrew Ellington and Braden Smith, each face the amended murder charge in the killings of Anthony’s adoptive parents, Roger and Melissa Bluml.
The four originally were charged on Nov. 25 with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 15 shootings. The new charges come less than two weeks after 48-year-old Roger Bluml, who had been hospitalized with a gunshot wound to his head, succumbed to his injuries Dec. 21.
His wife, a 53-year-old bank vice president, died Nov. 16 at a Wichita hospital. The couple was found shot outside of their rural Sedgwick County home the night before after an apparent robbery.
Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett on Friday acknowledged that the case is now death-penalty eligible. Asked whether prosecutors plan to seek the death sentence, he said a decision would be made at a later date.
In Kansas, the definition of capital murder includes the “intentional and premeditated killing of more than one person as a part of the same act or transaction.” A single complaint filed in Sedgwick County District Court on Friday accuses the four defendants of killing the Blumls “unlawfully, intentionally, and with premeditation” in the same or connected acts.
Each defendant faces two counts of premeditated, intentional first-degree murder as an alternative to capital murder.
The complaint also sets forth aggravating circumstances that could influence the sentencing phase of the case, if any of the suspects are convicted:
The defendant or defendants killed or created “great risk of death” to more than one person
The crime was committed “for the purpose of receiving money” or other valuables
The defendant or defendants “authorized or employed another person to commit the crime”
The crime was committed “in an especially heinous, atrocious or cruel manner.”
In court Friday, each defendant listened silently as Sedgwick County District Court Judge Warren Wilbert read the modified charges. Each wore a green jail jumpsuit and appeared via a video link from the Sedgwick County Jail, where they have remained in custody since their Nov. 20 arrest.
Ellington wore glasses, a neatly-trimmed full beard and hair noticeably shorter than he had when originally charged in November.
Smith also sported a noticeable change in appearance, wearing well-groomed facial hair and a cropped hairstyle.
None spoke, except to acknowledge his or her identify and to thank the judge after being advised of the charges.
Bennett, the district attorney, stood at the back of the courtroom as the hearings progressed. Several attorneys were present.
The four charged are due back in court on Jan. 16 for preliminary hearings, where a judge will hear testimony to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to take the case to trial. Bennett called Jan. 16 “a control date” that would likely be pushed back “given the size and scope of the situation.” He added that he expected each suspect to be tried separately.
Wilbert, the judge, told the defendants he expected their preliminary hearings to be delayed.
Also on Friday, Wilbert increased bond for each defendant to $2 million because, he said in court, “this is now a capital murder case.”
Schaberg originally had been held in lieu of $1 million. Bonds for Anthony Bluml, Ellington and Smith were initially set at $500,000.
In addition to the murder charge, Anthony Bluml, Schaberg, Ellington and Smith also face identical counts of aggravated robbery, burglary and theft in the case. The aggravated robbery charges accuse the four of forcefully taking a purse from Melissa Bluml and of taking a cellphone and keys from her husband, according to the complaint filed in court.
The burglary count says the defendants unlawfully entered the couple’s home at 5932 E. 109th in Valley Center “with the intent to commit a theft.”
The theft charge accuses each of obtaining coins and other miscellaneous property, worth less than $1,000.
The complaint includes a list of about 270 state witnesses.
According to Schaberg’s girlfriend, Anthony Bluml had reunited with Schaberg – his biological mother – in California around midsummer after the pair had contact over social media. Smith, who lives in Park City, had gone along to California with Anthony Bluml.
The trio drove from San Diego to the Wichita area, Schaberg’s girlfriend has told The Eagle, about two weeks before the shootings.”
Capital Murder charges filed against for people in slayings of Roger and Melissa Bluml[The Wichita Eagle 1/4/14 by Amy Renee Leiker]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update: “Braden Smith, one of four people charged in the fatal shooting of a Valley Center-area couple, pleaded not guilty Monday during his arraignment in Sedgwick County District Court.
A trial technically has been set for Nov. 10 but is expected to be continued. Smith, who was escorted into and out of the courtroom in shackles, waived his rights to a speedy trial.
This summer, Smith, 19, made a plea deal with prosecutors that would reduce his capital-murder charge to two counts of second-degree intentional murder. In exchange, Smith agreed to testify against the other three defendants, Anthony Bluml, Andrew Ellington and Kisha Schaberg. She is Anthony Bluml’s biological mother.
The District Attorney’s Office said Monday that Bluml, 19, will be arraigned on Oct. 15, and Ellington on Nov. 20. Schaberg’s arraignment has not been set. The three will be arraigned on capital murder charges, meaning they could also face the death penalty.
Roger and Melissa Bluml both were shot in the head as they sat in a car outside their rural Valley Center home Nov. 15 in what Smith described in July as a scheme to get life insurance money and because their adopted son, Anthony Bluml, allegedly resented being kicked out of the family’s house for smoking marijuana, The Eagle has reported.
Melissa Bluml, 53, died at a Wichita hospital the next day. Her husband, who was 48, died from his injuries about five weeks later.
Smith testified he provided guns for Schaberg and Ellington to take with them on the night Roger and Melissa Bluml were shot.
Prosecutors will ask that a judge sentence Smith to 24.5 years, but a judge does not have to abide by terms of the plea deal.”
Braden Smith pleads not guilty in fatal shooting of Roger and Melissa Bluml [The Wichita Eagle 10/6/14 by Tim Potter]
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