The Murder of Jennifer Webb
For this case, I watched an episode of Where Murder Lies. It’s season 1 episode 2, titled ‘No Hiding the Truth.’
A 32-year-old pregnant woman is found dead.
Background
At this time of her death, Jennifer Webb was heavily pregnant. After the initial shock, Jennifer was excited to become a mother. She moved into a new home, and had been fixing things up around it, including the nursery for baby Braxton, which is what she had been planning on naming her son.
Jennifer Webb
The Discovery
On August 3o, 2011, officer Kenneth Bluew was out on his usual third shift patrol. It had been over an hour since anyone in the department had heard from him.
An officer named Tim Patterson was sent out to look for him. He drove to a wooded area where Ken would often park. As he drove up, he saw Ken’s patrol car. Officer Bluew told him that he had been checking out a suspicious vehicle.
The two officers went closer to the vehicle, and that’s when they discovered the body of a heavily pregnant woman, near a drainage ditch. Officer Bluew said he believed it had been a suicide. There was an extension cord wrapped around Jennifer’s neck, and tied around the car. Officer Bluew also found a note in the woman’s purse. In the note, “Jennifer,” claimed that she had lied about the baby’s father, and that it was man named Chris, who she had met in a bar.
Other officers, detectives, the crime lab and a forensics team arrived at the scene around 11:30pm that evening.
A Weird Feeling
In May 2011, Jennifer’s friends discovered that she was pregnant. One of her friends, Andrea, said that Jennifer was quite upset about it at first, but decided to keep the baby. In fact, she was set on making the best life for herself and her unborn son.
In July 2011, only a month before Jennifer’s death, her home had been broken into twice. The first time, Jennifer’s neighbor reported that the person had stolen a TV. After the second time, Jennifer and her loved ones started to believe that it wasn’t a random robbery. Jennifer didn’t have many valuables, and they had already taken her TV.
Jennifer decided to move back in with her parents to protect her and the baby. Jennifer had been worried that something was going to happen to her, and had shared this feeling with her close friends.
The Bombshell
On August 31, 2011, Detective Sean Waterman was tasked with notifying Jennifer’s family.
Det. Waterman asked them about this Chris person, and about the father of the baby. Donald and Dawn Webb both reveled that Jennifer did know who the father was, and that she never would’ve killed herself. They revealed that father of the baby was none other than officer Ken Bluew.
Detective Waterman said he was stunned and felt sick to his stomach. He also said that’s when he knew that Jennifer’s death probably wasn’t a suicide.
The Evidence
The case was now being looked at as a potential murder.
The forensics team found a pair of flip flops in the ditch. About 100 feet down the road, they also found a blood spot in the road. A small piece of necklace and a cigarette were also collected.
The police learned that Jennifer had met Ken Bluew in 2000-2001, and that they had met in a bar. Ken had told Jennifer that he was separated from his wife, but Jennifer had never been interested in a long-term relationship with him.
The whole department felt betrayed by Ken. He claimed to be a family man, and talked often about his wife and kids. The Michigan State police was called in to assist, and they were tasked with interviewing Ken.
Ken’s Story
Ken was interviewed by Detective Sergeants Jason Teddy and Allan Ogg. Ogg knew of Ken, as he had seen him at other investigations.
Ken was asked about his relationship with Jennifer. Ken said they had seen each other recently about once or twice every month, but that he had never had a sexual relationship with her.
The police asked Ken how he didn’t recognize her at the scene. Ken said because of how she was positioned, and because he “went into work mode,” and had been focusing on the evidence.
Allan Ogg also noticed several injuries on Ken, including an eye injury. He asked Ken about it, but Ken said he had been playing with his puppy, who scratched him.
They then changed the conversation back to his relationship with Jennifer. They asked him if it was possible that he was the father of her baby. Ken said it was not.
Ken agreed to give the police a sample of his DNA. The police didn’t have anything to charge Ken with, so he was released.
Ken’s interview starts at 2:49
The Arrest and Conviction
Jennifer’s autopsy results came back about 13 hours into the investigation. It revealed that Jennifer’s cause of death had been strangulation, and that she had been murdered.
The crime scene had been staged. Jennifer had been killed about 100 feet, near the area where the blood spot had been found. Her body and car were then transported to the drainage ditch.
On September 1, 2011, the lab processed Jennifer’s car. Some blood and a partial bloody fingerprint were found inside the car. Jennifer’s clothing was also processed. The bloody fingertip portion of a latex glove was found. There was blood inside and outside of the glove, along with some saliva.
The police requested the evidence to be expedited and analyzed. About a week later, on September 6, 2011, the results came back.
The blood spot on the pavement was Jennifer’s. The cigarette had Ken’s DNA on it. Ken’s blood was also found in Jennifer’s car and in the latex glove. Ken had also been the author of the suicide note, as there were 14 fingerprints on the page. He had an injury to his right index finger, which helped the police determine that he had written the note before he killed Jennifer.
It was also confirmed that Ken was in fact the father of the baby.
Ken was arrested on September 12, 2011. On October 11, 2012, he was convicted of first degree premeditated murder, assault of a pregnant person with the intent to cause miscarriage or stillbirth, and possession of a firearm during a felony. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Ken was also originally sentenced to 65-100 additional years for the assault charge. However, a judge reduced the assault charge to 18 to 40 years.
It’s obvious that Ken killed Jennifer because he probably didn’t want to pay child support, and didn’t want his secrets being exposed.
Kenneth Bluew
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ken is a major piece of shit. He lied to many people for years, especially to his wife, Jennifer, and co-workers in law enforcement. Jennifer had a feeling that something was going to happen to her. She was right, and Ken not only took her life, but the life of their unborn son. May he rot in hell.
Sources
https://thecinemaholic.com/jennifer-webb-murder-where-is-ken-bluew-now/
https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/2014/11/judge_reluctantly_reduces_ken.html
