Colorado man gets life without parole after 2nd conviction in wife's 2001 murder
GOLDEN, Colo. -- A Colorado man convicted for the second time in his wife's 2001 murder was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Michael Blagg was convicted in Jennifer Blagg's death in Mesa County in 2004. "48 Hours" investigated the case that year in the episode, Dark Side of the Mesa. But his conviction was overturned 10 years later after a judge learned a juror concealed her experience with domestic violence in order to serve on the jury.
Blagg's latest trial ended Thursday in suburban Denver after jurors found him guilty of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and two counts of theft.
Prosecutors argued that Blagg killed his wife as she slept and put her body in a trash container at work. They pointed to blood smudges and stains in the family's minivan as evidence. According to court records, police officers testified that blood they discovered on a mattress in the couples' home appeared to have been there for some time, contradicting Michael Blagg's version of events.
The defense argued that a child predator targeting the couple's 6-year-old daughter, Abby, killed Jennifer Blagg. Abby disappeared and is still missing.
Blagg's defense attorney Tina Fang told jurors that Abby hasn't been found because her father is innocent. Fang also said the blood found in the minivan could have been tracked in by an investigator.
Jennifer Blagg's mother, Marilyn Conway, told the Jefferson County judge who sentenced Blagg sentence that she lost two children in 2001.
"For my girls, I will see them," Conway said, according to The Denver Post. "Jennifer and Abby were as precious as any parent recognizes their kids are. My world is never going to be complete until I do."