Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
The man responsible for the murder of Jessie Blodgett sat with her grieving family just hours after killing her.
In 2013, Jessie, 19, returned home from party when her close friend and ex boyfriend Daniel Bartelt snuck into her family's Hartford, Wisconsin home.
While Jessie was in bed, Daniel raped her and strangled her to death. He fled the scene afterwards but returned to the home just hours later to comfort the Blodgett family in the wake of Jessie's death.
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Nobody had a clue who had killed Jessie, and Daniel wasn't a suspect at first.
Discussing this, Jessie's friend Ian said on a new episode of Investigation Discovery's A Killer Among Friends: "At this point in time, nobody knew who the killer could be. It became tough to conceptualize who could have done this thing."
Furthermore, Jessie's friends weren't surprised when Daniel was called in for questioning by police as they knew he was close with the late 19-year-old.
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He was dropped off at the police station after visiting Jessie's family to comfort them.
Daniel asked to be picked up just 30 minutes after being taken to the station by friends, but they received a shock when they arrived to collect him and were told by law enforcement that he couldn't be released as he was being detained.
The turning point in the investigation came after Daniel was linked to another crime just days prior to Jessie's murder.
He went on to admit to an attack where he tackled a woman in a local park and held her at knife-point. Allegedly, Daniel 'only meant to scare her', says PEOPLE.
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While he admitted to the park attack, initially, the 19-year-old killer denied any involvement in Jessie's death.
Ultimately, Daniel gave himself away during police questioning when he said that Jessie had been 'raped and murdered' — but it was not public information that Jessie had been sexually assaulted.
As the investigation continued, law enforcement found a cereal box in a park trash can that contained ropes as well as bloody sanitizing wipes and tape. These items had both Daniel and Jessie's DNA on them.
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Daniel was charged with Jessie's murder as well as first-degree reckless endangerment regarding the attack he'd carried out the other woman days before.
He was sentenced to five years imprisonment for the reckless endangerment, which he's serving consecutively with his life sentence for Jessie’s murder.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact GrieveWell on (734) 975-0238, or email [email protected].
Topics: True crime, Crime, Life, US News, Documentaries
Niamh Shackleton