FL - Sheila Bellush, 35, dies in contract killing, Sarasota, 7 Nov 1997

[wfgodot]

Former S.A. millionaire convicted in ex-wife’s slaying dies in prison..(Express-News)

Allen Blackthorne, 59, who was serving life in prison for hiring a hitman to kill his former wife, has died in federal prison.

The former millionaire died Tuesday in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he had been since April 15, the Bureau of Prisons told the San Antonio Express-News. The cause of death was not released.

He had spent more than 15 years behind bars for the 1997 murder in Florida of Sheila Bellush in the presence of her quadruplet toddlers.

Rule's Every Breath You Take

 

[EmmaliLucia]

GOOD!

Good. One less dangerous, life-ruining sociopath to worry about.

I read that book, it broke my heart to pieces how some people can be so cruel.

 

[Kimster]

Reading that book brought on the tears many times. :tears:

 

[Dave AHFB]

Was just coming to post about this. Here is a local link http://www.ksat.com/content/pns/ksat/news/2014/11/21/tx-obit-blackthorne-quad-mom.html

I was living at Redington Beach when the killing happened, just a few miles from Sarasota. It was a HUGE story there at the time. Shortly after I moved home to San Antonio which obviously is where the other part of the story was taking place. Without saying too much, a broken attorney/client privledge led to a lot of information being discussed with me. The guy truly was a piece of work.

 

[wfgodot]

Interesting case but the book was a disappointment. Rule failed to capture the flavor of its setting -- S.A. Indeed, about the only named commercial location that I can recall was an oyster bar (!) near my house. I thought it was the first of Rule's "phone it in" efforts. (Nevertheless, when she appeared at a book signing after the thing was published, the line at closing time stretched most of the way across a large parking lot.)

 

[seattlechiquita]

I ABHORRED that a-hole. He is possibly one of the worst human beings I have ever read about/heard of. Glad he is byebye. Hope he enjoys hell.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

He was creepy beyond belief.....vile person.

I'll never forget reading about those poor toddlers crying and walking thru their mommy's blood. And the awful 911 call from her daughter when she found her mom's dead body and the babies covered in Shiela's blood. The daughter sounded so helpless during the call and my heart broke listening to her.

Oh, and how Allan was such an a-hole to his daughters as well....tricking the one daughter into telling him the vicinity they were living in.....after the family moved in the dead of night out of fear of him finding them....and then he tracked the family down via private detective to have Shiela killed by a hitman. All the details are foggy after so many years but this story really haunted me.

I wonder how all the kids are today? I heard that Shiela's widow re-married and had not had contact with the two daughters since the remarriage. Sad all the way around.

 

[TGIRecovered]

No cause of death released. I'm curious. Did he have any serious medical conditions? I cant imagine that a man so evil that he would leave his babies to fend for themselves as they wallowed in their mother's blood would be making friends in prison. Maybe he met with foul play!

MOO

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wfgodot]

No cause of death given, but an interesting little article:

Notorious killer Allen Blackthorne dies in prison at age 59 (myfoxtampabay.com)

 

[wfgodot]

Also, as an aside, hard to believe it's been 17 years (and 2+ weeks) since the murder -- 17 more years than Sheila got.

 

[SwampMama]

I remember this case so well. Allen was really a nasty evil piece of work. His arrogance and his belief that he was above everyone else backfired on him. Good riddance!

 

[wfgodot]

Interesting case but the book was a disappointment. Rule failed to capture the flavor of its setting -- S.A. Indeed, about the only named commercial location that I can recall was an oyster bar (!) near my house. I thought it was the first of Rule's "phone it in" efforts. (Nevertheless, when she appeared at a book signing after the thing was published, the line at closing time stretched most of the way across a large parking lot.)

Oh, I should admit that I know that last little factoid first-hand as I hied myself to Barnes and Noble to get my own copy of that book I just dissed, signed by its author, lol. Holier than thou I sure ain't. Visions of an eBay sale danced in my head.

 

[sneak]

I wonder how all the kids are today? I heard that Shiela's widow re-married and had not had contact with the two daughters since the remarriage. Sad all the way around.

I was friends with one of the daughters and knew the family fairly well. I remember hearing Stevie's name at roll call when the new school year started, and wondering what had happened to her. I never heard from her again.

I think Sheila was their rock, and without her, the family fell apart.

 

[arielilane]

Just saw this thread. I recall when AB first entered prison he was beat up pretty badly. I can't help forget the actual killer del torro who had the opportunity not to kill Sheila Belush, but chose to do so anyway as instructed by AB. This story was haunting and senseless. Ann Rule wrote about this story at the request of Sheila.

 

[carole]

No cause of death released. I'm curious. Did he have any serious medical conditions? I cant imagine that a man so evil that he would leave his babies to fend for themselves as they wallowed in their mother's blood would be making friends in prison. Maybe he met with foul play!

Blackthorne was not the father of the babies. Shelia had remarried and the babies father was her new husband.

Still shows how evil he was. One of his daughters found her mother dead and the babies covered in Shelia's blood. The daughter called 911.

 

[pedalpumping]

I can not find anything does anyone know how to access the death certificate. This case originally caught my attention because at some point during the murder the Killer put float devices on the little babies. Because there was a pond or pool in the back yard that was accessible to the children. This whole case really pisses me off and I need confirmation on how AB died and that he did really die. I do not trust these rich people. I find this strange a man who committed a gut-wrenching act against a family with murder involved and a high profile case is reported dead but no other information is revealed. Why?:thinking:

 

[Ray_of_hope]

The only good thing to come out of that mess, besides AB going to jail was Tom Spalding (a reporter) finding Fred during the trial.
https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AIBAJ&sjid=ZH8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6160,4451796&hl=en

 

[PayrollNerd]

Inside The Murder Plot of a Mom of Quadruplets, Whose Children Were Found Covered in Blood

A new true-crime series from Law & Order creator Dick Wolf takes a deeper look at the brutal murder of 35-year-old Sheila Bellush and the two men behind it

people.com

A new true-crime series from Law & Order creator Dick Wolf takes a deeper look at the brutal murder of 35-year-old Sheila Bellush and the men behind it​

 

[PayrollNerd]

Murder of Sheila Bellush, Sarasota mom of quads, featured on CNBC series, 'Blood & Money'

The CNBC show “Blood & Money” is featuring an episode on the Sarasota murder of 35-year-old Sheila Bellush. The episode, produced by “Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf, aired on Tuesday and is available to watch on CNBC, CNBC Prime or Peacock.