The family of an Illinois nurse gunned down in her own house by her estranged husband – a former "Family Feud" contestant and college football player – is speaking out a day after his conviction on home invasion murder charges.
"We should not be standing here today," relatives of Rebecca "Becky" Postle Bliefnick said in a statement authored by her sister Sarah Reilly Thursday morning. "We should not be delivering this statement. We should not be living in a world where a crime like this is possible."
A jury found Wednesday that Timothy Bliefnick, 40, broke through a second-story window with a crowbar and shot the 41-year-old Postle Bliefnick 14 times, using a homemade silencer and leaving her bullet-riddled body to be discovered by her father on Feb. 23.
"We should not have to suffer a life without Becky who was robbed of her life in the most hateful, cowardly and cruel way," the statement continued. "Her boys were robbed of a loving, devoted mother. I was robbed of my sister and best friend. My parents were robbed of their daughter, and as a parent myself, I cannot imagine a greater torture."
TIMOTHY BLIEFNICK JURY REACHES VERDICT IN ‘FAMILY FEUD’ MURDER TRIAL
Police searched his home in early March and ultimately found more than two dozen shell casings in his basement that state forensics experts said were fired from the same gun as eight casings recovered at the crime scene. Prosecutors at trial revealed that the former criminal justice student had searched Google for information on how to commit the crime, including on breaking into a home with a crowbar and the local police response time.
The couple was going through a contested divorce and bitter battle for custody of their three sons – with Postle Bliefnick telling friends and family that if anything should happen to her, it would be because her husband snapped.
Tim Bliefnick was a member of the Football Hall of Fame at Quincy University, a member of a community theater troupe and a contestant on "Family Feud" with his side of the family in 2020. However, he had a dark side, and during the divorce, Postle Bliefnick repeatedly voiced concerns for his safety.
After they split, he grew his hair out and began posting TikTok videos of himself sipping coffee and making jokes.
He attended her wake, and he left her funeral early.
He was photographed on his front porch, already wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants by the time relatives returned from her burial with his sons.
Quincy police arrested him on March 13. The trial began last week, and on Wednesday, after about four hours of deliberations, jurors found him guilty of all charges.
Bliefnick's defense attorney, Casey Schnack, told Fox News Digital Thursday she was "disappointed" in the verdict "but happy the jury gave it the consideration that case and the families deserved."
"The judicial process cannot bring her back nor can it heal our wounds, but we are relieved that the verdict delivers justice, and we are thankful for all who made it a reality," the statement from Postle Bliefnick's family statement continued.
"Our family would like to express our eternal gratitude for the tenacity, professionalism and compassion shown by the Quincy Police Department, the state's attorney's office and the jury of our peers who all had to face such horrible realities to bring forward this resolution."
Postle Bliefnick was a homegrown hero – valedictorian at her local Catholic high school who stayed in the area and found success at Quincy University. She began her career in the pharmaceutical industry but became a nurse in time for the coronavirus pandemic – during which she was given a Daisy Award for her dedication to patients.
"Becky was a niece, an aunt and a cousin; a friend, a colleague and a caregiver," her family said Thursday. "All those who love her carry heavy heartache in the wake of this tragedy."
She was a mother of three, who practiced CrossFit and her devout Catholic faith.
"As a family of faith, we are deeply thankful for our family, friends and the complete strangers who have rallied around us and prayed for us during these incredibly dark days," the family said. "We live with the hope that the worst moment of our lives cannot define who we are, as we pick up the pieces to raise Becky's boys in the way we know she would want."
Her sister set up a GoFundMe campaign to support her three nephews, who are now without both parents.
Judge Robert Adrian scheduled Bliefnick's sentencing for Aug. 11 at 1:30 p.m. CT. He faces up to life in prison.
"While life cannot be normal in the ways it once was, such love and support does help restore the belief that the world does, in fact, have more good than evil," Postle Bliefnick's family said. "As they go forward with the certain truth that their father murdered their mother, we ask that you keep Becky’s three, incredible boys in your prayers. We will move forward by leaning on each other—and our faith—for healing. We will speak of Becky warmly and often, remembering the way she lived and loved, not the way she died. She will be missed forever and loved always."
