Related links
SUNSET HILLS, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) -
Prosecutors have now filed charges against the man they believe killed a woman in an upscale Sunset Hills neighborhood. James Harvey, 37, of St. Louis, is charged with second degree murder in the death of 49 year old Sherry Bladdick.
Bladdick died Saturday after attending a party with Harvey. Prosecutors say the two went to the function, got into a fight, and left. At the time, witnesses said Harvey returned holding Bladdick, who was unresponsive. He claimed she had simply passed out.
Prosecutors now say the fight had escalated while the two were gone, and Harvey broke the woman's neck.
Questions were raised as to why the death didn't become a murder investigation until three days after Bladdick died. Prosecutors say it simply didn't look like a murder.
"It does appear there may not have been significant external injuries, and that may have resulted in the belief at some point that there may not have been foul play at all," St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCullough said in a news conference.
He said the case against Harvey shouldn't suffer from the delay in the investigation.
In the meantime, Sherry's ex-husband, Tom Bladdick, said a number of things didn't seem right about Sherry's death. He wouldn't get into specifics, because he didn't want to interfere with the police investigation, but he told FOX 2 a number of things didn't add up.
Asked if something made him "smell a rat," he responded, "Exactly. Hang around a skunk long enough, as my brother says, you're gonna smell like a skunk."
Tom pushed for an autopsy to be performed, and when it was, it was discovered Sherry's neck was broken. She had been murdered.
In the interim, Harvey was already in jail. He had been arrested on alcohol related charges in St. Clair County, Illinois, "less than 24 hours" after returning to that party and saying Sherry Bladdick was dead. Prosecutors say it is far from the first time Harvey has been behind bars.
"There's some indication that he's certainly not a stranger to law enforcement," McCullough said.
That's part of what baffles Tom Bladdick.
"It just blows my mind, finding out the things that are happening with this gentleman, how Sherry even got involved with someone like this, because she just was not like that."
What was she like? Capable, he says, of "stealing your heart."
"Oh my gosh. You talk about a loving, caring person, somebody that could just get involved in something. If somebody needed something she'd give the shirt off her back. She'd be there in a heartbeat."
Whether those traits had anything to do with Sherry Bladdick's death, her ex-husband says he doesn't know.
He choked back tears as he talked about her being "a very loved woman."
"Nobody deserves to go through hell," he told us, "and she went through hell."
James Harvey is being held on $500,000 bond in St. Clair County. He's awaiting extradition back to St. Louis. He's charged with second degree murder.
Bladdick died Saturday after attending a party with Harvey. Prosecutors say the two went to the function, got into a fight, and left. At the time, witnesses said Harvey returned holding Bladdick, who was unresponsive. He claimed she had simply passed out.
Prosecutors now say the fight had escalated while the two were gone, and Harvey broke the woman's neck.
Questions were raised as to why the death didn't become a murder investigation until three days after Bladdick died. Prosecutors say it simply didn't look like a murder.
"It does appear there may not have been significant external injuries, and that may have resulted in the belief at some point that there may not have been foul play at all," St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCullough said in a news conference.
He said the case against Harvey shouldn't suffer from the delay in the investigation.
In the meantime, Sherry's ex-husband, Tom Bladdick, said a number of things didn't seem right about Sherry's death. He wouldn't get into specifics, because he didn't want to interfere with the police investigation, but he told FOX 2 a number of things didn't add up.
Asked if something made him "smell a rat," he responded, "Exactly. Hang around a skunk long enough, as my brother says, you're gonna smell like a skunk."
Tom pushed for an autopsy to be performed, and when it was, it was discovered Sherry's neck was broken. She had been murdered.
In the interim, Harvey was already in jail. He had been arrested on alcohol related charges in St. Clair County, Illinois, "less than 24 hours" after returning to that party and saying Sherry Bladdick was dead. Prosecutors say it is far from the first time Harvey has been behind bars.
"There's some indication that he's certainly not a stranger to law enforcement," McCullough said.
That's part of what baffles Tom Bladdick.
"It just blows my mind, finding out the things that are happening with this gentleman, how Sherry even got involved with someone like this, because she just was not like that."
What was she like? Capable, he says, of "stealing your heart."
"Oh my gosh. You talk about a loving, caring person, somebody that could just get involved in something. If somebody needed something she'd give the shirt off her back. She'd be there in a heartbeat."
Whether those traits had anything to do with Sherry Bladdick's death, her ex-husband says he doesn't know.
He choked back tears as he talked about her being "a very loved woman."
"Nobody deserves to go through hell," he told us, "and she went through hell."
James Harvey is being held on $500,000 bond in St. Clair County. He's awaiting extradition back to St. Louis. He's charged with second degree murder.
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
StumbleUpon
