Rebecca “Becky” Bliefnick, the 41-year-old Illinois nurse found murdered in her own home Feb. 23, told her sister via text message, “If something ever happens to me, make sure the No. 1 person of interest is Tim,” testimony at her husband Timothy’s murder trial revealed this week.
“I am putting this in writing that I’m fearful he will somehow harm me, come after me, or will try to [do] something to me that takes me away from the kids or the kids away from me,” Becky Bliefnick texted her sister, Sarah Reilly, who testified in pool video of the proceedings. “He already has lied multiple times to paint himself as a victim and me as the perpetrator when it is absolutely the other way around.”
The couple was going through a bitter divorce and fighting for custody of their three children. Timothy Bliefnick, 39, a former “Family Feud” contestant, is now accused of breaking into his wife’s house and shooting her.
Becky Bliefnick’s attorney also testified Wednesday that her estranged husband took her gun and refused to give it back prior to the shooting.
In a September 2021 text to a friend, Becky Bliefnick wrote that a co-worker and fellow emergency room nurse had been murdered by an ex and that she “literally had a panic attack” thinking about what her estranged husband might do.
“I am scared of what he might do and his erratic behavior,” she added, telling the friend that her husband had taken her firearms and ammunition.
ILLINOIS NURSE REBECCA BLIEFNICK SHOT DEAD; COPS SEARCH ESTRANGED HUSBAND’S HOUSE
Prosecutors have characterized the crime as domestic violence, a claim Tim Bliefnick’s defense denies.
Becky Bliefnick pictured with her family on Halloween in 2018. Police said she was found shot to death in her Quincy home Feb. 23, 2023. (Becky Bliefnick/Facebook)
Becky Bliefnick’s family said in a statement that relatives would not be commenting until after the jury reaches a verdict.