Early in the morning of April 7, our daughter was awakened by
the sound of explosions not far from her house. A few minutes later, her
backyard was bathed in bright light, almost as bright as the afternoon
sunshine.
In a panic, she woke her husband Chris, and they dashed
outside in their night clothes to see the cause of the light and the
explosions.
Initially, they assumed that their neighbor to their immediate
north had experienced a house fire, but they quickly realized that it was the
house next to her that was on fire.
Kelly and Chris rushed to the front door and pounded on it in
the hopes of rousing their neighbor, Frank Bligh – but no one answered the
door.
When they got back home, they discovered that Frank’s terrified
little dog (who had been inside the house when the fire started) was now
cowering in the bushes in front of their house. (Later that day, Kelly called the
Humane Society to pick up the dog, who was later adopted by another family.
Kelly and Chris didn’t know their neighbor well, but they DID
know a little about him. Chris would occasionally see him walking his dog, but
their interaction was largely limited to that.
That night and the next day, their street was filled with a
variety of official vehicles (including the bomb squad) – and they stayed for
several days. Chris was one of the neighbors who was interviewed by the police,
and he eventually got his 5 minutes of fame on a local TV station.
It later came out that Mr. Bligh was a military veteran who
lived alone with his dog. His social life essentially consisted of a weekly
visit to a local bar (the Cowpony) , where he had usually two drinks and went
home. His last visit there was roughly about a week before his house was set on
fire. If you look at the picture below, it’s safe to say that this place is a
real dive, and best to be avoided.
On one of his visits, he struck up a conversation with a man
named Blane Barksdale, 56, who is 16 years younger than Mr. Bligh – but he
looks a LOT older. At some point in time (either on the first night they met,
or on a subsequent visit) he likely mentioned to Mr. Barksdale that he was ex-military
– and that he liked guns. If you look at Barksdale’s picture in the link below, you’d
quickly conclude that it’s better not to tell this guy ANYTHING, since he looks
more than a little shady.
This guy is a long way from being a Boy Scout. He has numerous
tattoos on his hand and his arms, including a few swastikas. He served
nearly eight years in an Arizona prison for theft and drug
convictions that date back to 1984. He was released from prison in January
1993, according to online records. The AP reported that Blane was also
sentenced to 10 years in prison for a 2003 federal marijuana possession conviction
in Kentucky. He was reportedly released early in 2012.
Sometime late in the day on April 6, Barksdale and his wife Susan
(who he married six years ago) stole a car, and drove it to Mr. Bligh’s house
on South Calexico Drive in Tucson. They managed to talk themselves into the
house, and then quickly killed Mr. Bligh. After stuffing his body into his own
car, they gathered up the 100 firearms that Mr. Bligh had inside the house, and
put them in the back of the stolen car. At that point, they set fire to his house,
which eventually caused the ammunition stored in the back of the house to
explode.
Authorities later found both vehicles abandoned south of Tucson.
Forensic evidence in Bligh’s Cadillac had DNA residue that matched Mr. Bligh,
which led authorities to conclude that he had been murdered. The other car was
found near the state prison in Tucson, but it had been picked clean of its
cache of weapons. To date, Mr. Bligh’s body has not been found.
The Barksdale fled to the East coast, and were arrested on May 24 in Henrietta, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester, on charges
of first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, arson and other criminal
offenses related to the slaying of Frank Bligh, 72, of Tucson, in April.
After their arrest,
they spent 3 months in jail in upstate New York, as which point they were
extradited back to Arizona. Ultimately, the private carrier that was hired to transport
them drove towards a county jail in Monticello, Utah. On the way to the jail, Susan
pretended to have an "intestinal issue" before she and her husband
charged the guards. The Barksdales used shoelaces to bind the guards and then
put them in the back of a transport van with an unidentified third inmate, They
took money from the guards, but likely were unaware of a handgun inside a
lock box. The couple then drove the van to Vernon, Arizona, where a friend gave
them his red GMC truck, Gonzales said. The friend has not been charged but is
still being questioned by law enforcement.
Authorities have described them
as “armed and dangerous”, and have placed a $10,000 rewards for the capture of
each fugitive. Although I find the story to be
of interest simply due to the fact that the crime scene is literally in our
daughter’s neighborhood, it’s a compelling enough story that it got front page
coverage on the New York Times on August 28,
The story has also received a lot of coverage in a variety of
Arizona newspapers.
All of the electronic billboards in the state of Arizona have a
description of the red pickup, including its license number, so it’s just a
matter of time before the Barksdales are apprehended again.
Police had made contact with Mr. Bligh’s brother, who lives in Arizona, but he
is apparently the only living relative.
Mr. Bligh and I are exactly the age. If I had known him before
his death, I would have given him a few pieces of advice:
1)
Nobody needs to own 100 guns. I understand that
there ARE people who own small collections
for the same reason that guys my age buy muscle cars from the 1960’s, but owning
enough weapons to outfit an armory makes you a target for the bad guys.
2)
Not every bar is as friendly as “Cheers”. If you
REALLY feel that need to get out of your house and have a few pops with a few
friends, you at least need to be smart enough to go to a bar that doesn’t look like
the front office of a chop shop
