94°F
weather icon Cloudy
Las Vegas, NV
Nation and World

Convicted killer forced to repeatedly hear victim’s family on prison ride

Jeffrey Willis appears for sentencing in front of Judge William Marietti for the first degree murder in June 2014 of Rebekah Bletsch in Muskegon, Muskegon County Court House on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017. Willis decided he would leave the courtroom before he was sentenced to a mandatory life sentence without chance of parole. (Joel Bissell/Muskegon Chronicle via AP)
More Stories
Firefighters work on the site of a burning building after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, ea ...
At least 18 killed in major Russian attack on the center of Kyiv
Crosses, flowers and other mementos were places by the sign at Annunciation Cathic Church at a ...
Police: Minneapolis church shooter filled with hatred, admired mass killers
New COVID shots approved, but FDA limits access for many Americans
‘Absolutely incomprehensible’: 2 children, shooter dead after attack at Minneapolis Catholic school
The Associated Press
December 21, 2017 - 2:39 pm
 

MUSKEGON, Mich. — Sheriff’s deputies in Michigan repeatedly played the comments of a murder victim’s anguished family while they drove a convicted killer to prison.

Jeffrey Willis was granted a request to skip his sentencing Monday so he didn’t hear the statements by relatives of Rebekah Bletsch. But Muskegon County Sheriff Michael Poulin had a CD made.

Poulin says the 25-minute CD was played five times as deputies drove Willis 145 miles (230 kilometers) to prison Wednesday.

Willis is serving a life sentence for shooting Bletsch while she jogged in western Michigan. He’s also awaiting trial in the disappearance of a gas station employee.

The sheriff says it’s important that Bletsch’s family knows Willis heard what they said after he left court. Willis blew a kiss to the courtroom on his way out.

A state lawmaker is sponsoring a bill to require convicts to listen to victim-impact statements in court.

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
Firefighters work on the site of a burning building after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, ea ...
At least 18 killed in major Russian attack on the center of Kyiv
By Hanna Arhirova and Samya Kullab The Associated Press

The Kremlin said Russia remained interested in continuing peace talks despite Thursday’s air attack, which was one of the war’s biggest since it began in 2022.

Crosses, flowers and other mementos were places by the sign at Annunciation Cathic Church at a ...
Police: Minneapolis church shooter filled with hatred, admired mass killers
By Giovanna dell’Orto, Steve Karnowski, Mark Vancleave and Hallie Golden The Associated Press

Investigators have recovered hundreds of pieces of evidence from the church and three residences, and are seeking warrants to search devices, Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said.

During Halloween Time at Disneyland Resort, Mickey Mouse and friends don brand-new Halloween-th ...
It’s the cheapest time of the year to visit Disneyland right now
Brady MacDonald, The Orange County Register

The start of Disneyland’s busy Halloween season is also one of the cheapest times of the year to visit the Anaheim theme park when bargain hunters can save more than $100 on tickets.

A giant dust storm approaches the Phoenix metro area as a monsoon storm pushes the dust into th ...
‘It was that bad’: Powerful haboob sweeps through Phoenix
By Ross Franklin and Hallie Golden The Associated Press

A towering wall of dust rolled through metro Phoenix with storms that left thousands of people without power and temporarily grounded flights at the city airport.

FILE - U.S. Postal Service delivery vehicles are parked outside a post office in Boys Town, Neb ...
European postal services suspend shipment of packages to US over tariffs
By Demetris Nellas and Mae Anderson The Associated Press

The exemption, known as the “de minimis” exemption, allows packages worth less than $800 to come into the U.S. duty free. A total of 1.36 billion packages were sent in 2024 under this exemption.

MORE STORIES