November 27, 2025 • 47 mins
On Thanksgiving evening, November 28, 1985, there would be a deadly explosion at Hilltop Mobile Home Park at 7800 Jacksboro Highway between Lake Worth and Azle, Texas, just outside Fort Worth. The explosion would kill three members of the Blount family: Joe Blount, his daughter Angela, and Angela’s cousin, Michael Columbus. And to this day, what happened remains a mystery. This is the story of the Blount Family bombing.
If you have information on what happened to the Blount Family, you are encouraged to contact the Attorney General of Texas at 512-463-2100.
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SOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20100830181454/http://www.michaeltoney.com/case.htmhttps://www.deseret.com/1997/12/6/19349732/12-year-probe-into-briefcase-blast-at-texas-home-finally-yields-an-arrest/https://murderpedia.org/male.T/t/toney-michael-roy.htmhttps://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/man-convicted-in-lake-worth-bombing-dies-in-crash/287-411350872https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/jyly61/a_thanksgiving_mystery_the_blount_family_bombing/The Fort Worth Star Telegram
If you have information on what happened to the Blount Family, you are encouraged to contact the Attorney General of Texas at 512-463-2100.
WAYS TO SUPPORT & CONNECT:
Join the Patreon for perks and ad free episodes starting at just $2/month: Patreon.com/perplexitymysterypodcastHit that follow button, drop a 5 star review, and spread the word!!!Buy Kaydra a coffee and get a shoutout: https://buymeacoffee.com/perplexitymysterypodcastMerch: https://www.bonfire.com/store/perplexity-mystery-podcast/ be sure to tag us on Instagram in your merch!Subscribe to the YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/@perplexitymysterypodcastWebsite: https://perplexitymysteryp.wixsite.com/perplexityFollow Perplexity on Instagram and TikTok @PerplexityMysteryPodcast.
SOURCES:https://web.archive.org/web/20100830181454/http://www.michaeltoney.com/case.htmhttps://www.deseret.com/1997/12/6/19349732/12-year-probe-into-briefcase-blast-at-texas-home-finally-yields-an-arrest/https://murderpedia.org/male.T/t/toney-michael-roy.htmhttps://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/man-convicted-in-lake-worth-bombing-dies-in-crash/287-411350872https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/jyly61/a_thanksgiving_mystery_the_blount_family_bombing/The Fort Worth Star Telegram
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Primetime Crime. I'm your host, Kylie. Let's talk
right now in true crime, and then together we're going
to work on warming up some cold cases. Let's go.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
It drives me crazy thinking about her bones, you know,
laying out somewhere and just being herself.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
We took a nap in the van and she got
up one and going the mall and she went in supposedly,
and I fell backtually for a while and woke up
and went in looked for I made a mistake, but
letting going them off. I shouldn't have done that this season.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
On Missing in Hushtown season two, Bethany Markowski.
Speaker 5 (00:41):
I still asked one of our CID people about and
their response, but they assured me that not one time
was she seen on any video going inside that mall.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Bethany Leanne Markowski was never seen entering the mall, walking
through the mall, or exiting the mall.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Number one, the most important thing to me is to
find out what happened to Bethany. It's time to find Bethany,
let her rest and just know the truth.
Speaker 5 (01:20):
Bethany has paid the ultimate price, and you're not.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Nobody can convince me that he didn't have anything to do.
Speaker 6 (01:28):
With it, And if I make people mad, I don't care,
because the ultimate goes to find Bethany.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Are we ever going to know what happened? I know
Bethany is not the most famous missing person. She is
to me, and I know she's not the most important
person in the world.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
She's me.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
You are now a part of Bethany's brigade.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Let's go.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Missing in Hushtown. Season two is executive produced in partnership
by Fireeyes Media LLC's Jules Thorpe and Jen Rivera, as
well as mom Cast Productions Rachel Holloway and Heather Northcraft.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Hey, guys, welcome to this week's episode of Primetime Crime.
It's Kylie Happy Thanksgiving if you are listening to this,
which are probably not because it's Thanksgiving. But this week
I decided that I was going to take the week off,
but I still wanted to give you guys an episode,
and my friend Kadra from Perplexity, a mystery podcast, so
(02:43):
graciously gave me an episode to share with you guys.
It is true crime. It actually the crime took place
on Thanksgiving and it is technically still unsolved. So all
of the components of a primetime crime episode brought to
you by the ever so lovely Cadra. So I am
(03:04):
going to link all of her socials and everything else
below in the show notes. And I hope you guys
in enjoy this episode because Cadra is the best, and
she did a really great job on this episode. And
this is another one that leaves you with way more
questions than answer, So please enjoy this episode from Cadra.
Speaker 7 (03:34):
You are listening to Perplexity.
Speaker 6 (03:53):
On Thanksgiving evening, November twenty eighth, nineteen eighty five, there
would be a deadly explosion at Hilltop Mobile Home Park
at seventy eight hundred Jacksborough Highway between Lakeworth and Azel, Texas,
just outside Fort Worth. This explosion would tragically kill three
members of the Blunt family, Joe, his daughter Angela, and
(04:17):
Joe's nephew Michael Columbus, and to this day, what happened
remains a mystery. This is the story of the Blunt
Family bombing. Hello everybody, and welcome back to another episode
(04:37):
of Perplexity, a mystery podcast. As always, I'm your host, Kdra.
If you're new to the show, Hello and welcome. I
tell tales every single week that have perplexed me. So
if you love a good mystery that leaves you wanting more,
you're in the right place. Though today's episode is definitely
more of a somber tone. If you enjoy today's episode,
(04:58):
I would love if you continue to fallow along. If
you're a returning listener, Hello, my friends, welcome back. I'm
happy you're here. We have an unsolved story, an important
case to cover today, and I would like to thank
Chris for bringing this story to my attention. I was
not familiar with the Blunt family bombing and personal connection.
(05:20):
My first job ever outside of graduate school was in Azel, Texas.
Azel's a very tiny town. It was a very fascinating
and tragic case to learn about. I look forward to
getting into it with you guys and hearing your thoughts. Because,
as I mentioned, it's technically unsolved. I do want to
issue a quick trigger warning for today's episode for violence
(05:43):
and references to drug use. Listener discretion is advised, and
all the sources used for today's episode will be available
down in the show notes. So let's get into the
story of the Blunt Family bombing. Originally from Seattle, Washington,
(06:04):
the Blunt family, Joe and Susan and their two children,
Angela and Robert, had come to North Texas to help
Joe's father in July of nineteen eighty five. This family
of four crowded into their station wagon with a humble
amount of belongings lugging behind them and a small U haul.
This family consisted of forty four year old father, Joe Blunt,
(06:27):
who was a large and friendly man. He was a
skilled mechanic, but he struggled with alcoholism and this resulted
in him having difficulty holding down jobs. Then there was Susan,
wife to Joe, and Susan was a devout Mormon and
a disciplinarian for their two children. Her and Joe had
previously been separated and they were trying to patch things
(06:48):
back up again. She also had been the primary breadwinner
of the family because, as I stated earlier, Joe had
difficulty holding work down.
Speaker 8 (06:57):
At the time, Susan and Joe's.
Speaker 6 (06:59):
Two kids were fifteen year old Angela and thirteen year
old Robert. Angela was known to be a very happy
and talkative teenager. She had long brown hair and freckles.
Robert was quite the opposite of Angela. He was more
reserved and quiet, but Angela and Robert were very close
and they were looking forward to attending a decent high school.
(07:21):
So when the Blunts would arrive to this small town
in Fort Worth, Texas, they would unlock the door to
their new rental home, a quaint trailer and Lot eight
of the Hilltop Mobile Home Park. The family didn't have
much money. According to Susan quote, we were the brokest
people in the world. The Blunts had no furniture and
(07:42):
when they first moved in, they slept on the floor.
They didn't even have a phone line. Susan said that
they couldn't afford to pay the phone bill, but she
always managed to get the rent paid on time every month.
Things were starting to look up for the Blunts. Joe
was able to get a good job at a nearby
auto shop as a mechanic, and he was really enjoying it.
(08:05):
He told his wife Susan that he hoped he could
work there for the rest of his life. The family
was also looking forward to this fresh start, and with
Joe's new job, maybe they would finally have some stability
after a few months of living in this area. Thanksgiving
was approaching and Susan was looking forward to some normalcy.
(08:25):
She wanted the family to have a proper Thanksgiving dinner,
so they decided to invite some people over. They managed
to rent some furniture and they even borrowed some chairs
from Joe's job to make sure people had places to sit.
They ate in their laps, but nevertheless, they enjoyed an
early dinner of turkey and dressing. Among those in attendance
(08:47):
that day was Ray, Joe's brother, and Ray and Susan
didn't get along with each other, but Susan wanted to
make the most of this special time and she wanted
to be a supportive spouse. It was also as special
day for Ray his long estranged son. Joe's nephew, Michael Columbus,
would be in attendance. Michael was eighteen years old and
(09:10):
had been studying airplane mechanics in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Speaker 8 (09:14):
Him and his.
Speaker 6 (09:14):
Dad Ray hadn't spoken in years, and the dinner was
going really well. Ray and Michael actually had a heart
to heart and they reconciled. Michael's mother even told media
after that Michael had called her after the dinner saying
that he had good news.
Speaker 8 (09:31):
Him and his dad were doing better and he seemed
really excited about it.
Speaker 6 (09:35):
By the time five o'clock rolled around, Joe's brother Ray
was ready to go home, and around nine pm, Susan
went to the bedroom and took a nap. She was
tired from a long day of cooking, but Joe and
the kids were hoping to hang out a little bit longer,
so together Robert, Angela, and Michael would pile into Joe's
car and Joe would take them a half mile down
(09:57):
the road to get some snacks and some ice cream.
Joe also bought some beer while they were gone. Susan
was kind of going in and out of sleep when
she heard the sound of tires crunching on gravel and
did knock at the door.
Speaker 8 (10:12):
Susan was confused.
Speaker 6 (10:14):
It was nine o'clock at night on Thanksgiving, they shouldn't
have anybody there, and Joe had a key, so they.
Speaker 8 (10:22):
Must have had the wrong house.
Speaker 6 (10:24):
Susan decided to knock, get up and not answer the door,
and soon enough she heard the car pull away and
the sound of the gravel crunching again. She drifted back
to sleep, but the next sound she would hear would
be one she would never forget. Meanwhile, Joe Robert, Angela,
and Michael would soon return from the convenience store. They
(10:47):
had their snacks, Joe had his beer. They were looking
forward to spending a couple more hours together on this
special day. When they approached the porch of their home, Angela, Robert,
and Michael noticed a mysterious black briefcase sitting on the
front porch. The three teens bubbled with excitement, cracking jokes.
What could the briefcase be? Filled with jewels, cash, mysterious treasure.
(11:12):
Joe wasn't so sure about this, but he also didn't
see the harm. So fifteen year old Angela brought the
briefcase inside and the four of them sat around it.
Angela opened the latches of the suitcase and what happened
next would be the sound that Susan would hear, awaking
her from her sleep, guttural screams. The black briefcase would
(11:36):
explode with the power of two thousand feet per second,
twice as fast as a bullet. Inside the briefcase was gasoline,
so after the explosion, a fireball would also erupt the trailer.
The explosion was so violent a neighbor would later say
it sounded like cannon fire. The explosion would cause Susan
(12:00):
to shoot out of bed and run into the living room,
and when she opened her bedroom door, she was met
with a thick cloud of smoke. The smoke assaulted her
nostrils and clouded her vision. Her house was covered in flames.
Where was her family? Were they okay? What was going on?
She stumbled down the hallway, burning her feet with each
(12:23):
step because the floor was so scalding hot. As she
made her way into the living room, she would come
across her husband, Joe's lifeless and charred body, sitting in
the same chair he had sat in for their Thanksgiving dinner.
Uncertain of what was going on and terrified, Susan's memory
(12:43):
is fuzzy after this, but somehow she escaped through the
back door of the trailer. She was barely clothed she
had been sleeping. The cold air bit at her skin.
Her memory of what would happen would continue to be
in bits and pieces. She was in total shock, and
she had no idea where her children were. Many of
(13:05):
Susan's neighbors had actually shown up to the trailer to
do anything they could to help. One neighbor even tried
to run inside to rescue people. The neighbors had shown
up with the limited resources they had, trying to put
out the fire with gardening hoses and fire extinguishers while
they waited for the fire department. Susan doesn't remember this,
(13:27):
but she ran to the neighbor's house and she phoned Sherry,
her other daughter from Washington. She would cry into the phone, saying,
everybody's dead. Joe, Angela, Robert, and Michael, they're all dead.
Fire crews would arrive and Susan was given medical attention.
This is when she found thirteen year old Robert alive,
(13:51):
lying on a stretcher, but he was severely burned. His
clothes and shoes had melded to his skin. The blast
was so powerful it had blown him out the door
of the trailer, and that's the only way that he survived.
The front door to their mobile home laid beside him.
So Later at the hospital, Susan and Robert received treatment.
(14:15):
When she was finally able to flag down a police
officer to find out what was going on, Susan's worst
fears would be confirmed. Joe, Angela, and Michael had not
made it.
Speaker 8 (14:26):
They were all dead.
Speaker 6 (14:28):
An unspeakable Thanksgiving tragedy. The family had only been in
town for a couple months. Investigators were dumbfounded. Why would
someone target this family, They had no known enemies. When
Robert would come to in the hospital, police would later
interview him and he would tell them what he could remember.
(14:51):
He remembered Angela clicking the latches open and hearing a
powerful click. He described it as sounding like a mouse
trap springing back. Neighbors would also speak to police and
the Fort Worth Star Telegram because they arrived on the
scene very quickly, they would describe hearing the explosion. A
(15:12):
firefighter would also later tell the Fort Worth Star Telegram
the blast was powerful enough to have likely killed Joe, Angela,
and Michael instantly. Because this was a bombing, the FBI
would also get involved. They reconstructed the explosion device that
was in the briefcase, and they confirmed there was a
(15:33):
mouse trap inside, so when Angela clicked the latches that
triggered the bomb. The bomb was made out of two
galvanized metal pipes filled with smokeless gunpowder and a ninefolt battery,
and naturally, as difficult as this could be to wrap
their heads around, police did have to look at Susan
(15:56):
because she was part of the family, and she was
the only one that.
Speaker 8 (15:59):
Had hadn't been injured.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
She was also present at the time of the crime
and had apparently heard a knock at the door and
ignored it. Susan would later tell the media that police
had pressed her hard, but she knew she was innocent.
Speaker 8 (16:15):
Police were just trying to look for any motive.
Speaker 6 (16:18):
Maybe Susan had taken out a life insurance policy on
her family. Maybe this was financially motivated, but remember, the
Blunts were very poor. Susan couldn't even afford major policies
on her family. Her policy for her husband's Joe was
just two thousand dollars. She didn't have a policy on Robert,
(16:39):
and the policy for Angela was just one thousand dollars.
This wouldn't even cover the cost of giving her family
a proper funeral. Phone records showed calls to friends and relatives,
but little else. Fort Worth ped also contacted Seattle PD
to have them look into the Blunts for any troublesome history,
(17:00):
a fairer's violence, etc. But they came up empty. The
Blunts were a normal American family. Susan would also pass
a polygraph and she and Robert moved into an apartment
in small town asal.
Speaker 8 (17:14):
They pushed their beds together.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
And they awoke night after night terrified if they heard
any sound that was slightly unusual, what if this killer
would come back and get them. Robert was also still
recovering from his burns. He had gone through months of
multiple skin grafts, and he was suffering from nightmares. That Christmas,
(17:38):
less than a month after the bombing, Susan and Robert
came home one day to find a box outside their
front door.
Speaker 8 (17:46):
Horrified, they left.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
The box untouched and immediately called the police, But as
it would turn out, it was just a box of
chocolate from someone at church. But this really just shows
how much fee Robert and Susan had to live in.
I can't imagine losing my entire family to something so
violent and tragic. Detectives began to wonder if the bomb
(18:11):
had been put at the Blunt's home by mistake, what
if it was meant for someone else. One neighbor would
also testify as he was pulling into his driveway that
he remembered seeing a red late model station wagon pulling
out of the blunts driveway.
Speaker 8 (18:29):
He also recognized the car, but didn't know who it
belonged to.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
He just had seen this car in the area multiple times,
but police apparently were never able to find.
Speaker 8 (18:39):
This red late model station Wagon.
Speaker 6 (18:42):
For a while, police wondered if the bomber had maybe
been after a man named Wayland Tim Tortella, a known
drug dealer in the area who sold meth and automatic
weapons out of his nearby home. Tortella had also allegedly
had an affair with a married woman, and he would
later testify that he believed the bomb was meant for him.
(19:04):
This guilt would eat away at him, and he would
later write, quote, for fourteen years, I felt that it
was my fault that those three people died. There's a
possibility that if I wasn't doing what I was doing
back then, they would still be alive.
Speaker 8 (19:20):
End quote.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
But unfortunately, and you'll see this as a continued pattern
throughout this story, this lead would go nowhere for police.
Another man that police looked at in March of nineteen
eighty six was a man named Douglas Raymond Brown, a
businessman and a former candidate for mayor. Brown was arrested
(19:42):
for selling bombs to an undercover agent from the Bureau
of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms, or the BATF he was
also selling drugs. The bombs were delivered in a brief
case similar to the bomb that had killed the Blunt family,
but a mouse trap detonator was not present. Explosives and
(20:05):
chemicals were also found at Brown's office and at his house.
The whole reason Brown got arrested is because the FEDS
had been on his trail investigating a drug trafficking ring.
This whole thing ended up leading to ten arrests. Police
had actually been watching Brown for months, but Brown was
never charged with the Blunt bombing, and just two days
(20:27):
after his arrest he was freed on a ten thousand
dollars bond. Five months of being watched by investigators all
for him to be held in jail and released after
two days. He was still kept on the suspect list
for the Blunt bombing because if he didn't place the bomb,
maybe he had sold it to the person who did.
(20:51):
The ATF also raided a man's home in Booie, Texas,
with a known history of trading explosives. In his helm,
police found grenades, gunpower, and bomb making materials, including a
roll of gray and white seven strand copper wire that
was similar to what was used in the Blunt bombing,
but similar to Brown, Investigators couldn't prove this man was involved.
(21:16):
Another suspect was Darren Irvin, the Blunt's neighbor. Irvin was
twenty two years old at the time of the bombing.
He had been selling meth and allegedly had a bit
of a domestic history with his wife, but once again
there was nothing to tie him to the crime. Police
also wondered if maybe Irvin, kind of like Tortella, had
(21:37):
been the bombing target. And you might be wondering why
there's so many people in this area selling weapons, bombs, drugs.
Speaker 8 (21:49):
Uh. I lived in Azel for a while and I mean,
in my opinion, it tracks.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
But yeah, many people argue the most promising suspect was
a teenager named Matthew Huff from Azel. Some sources call
him Mikey. Huff was just fifteen years old at the time,
and he went to school with Angela. There were a
lot of rumors that Huff really liked Angela and tried
(22:22):
to make a pass at her, but she rejected him.
Huff also had a criminal history. He used drugs and
he would break into places. He also boasted to his
other classmates that he worshiped Satan and that he knew
how to build bombs. Other students described him as odd
and having a short temper. Some anonymous tipsters also told
(22:46):
investigators that Huff had bragged about being the one who
did it. I found multiple reports about this. Other people
say he just bragged about having built a bomb before,
but not necessarily the bomb that killed the Blunt family.
Huff's stepfather also apparently found pieces of a bomb in
his bedroom and noticed that he was missing two mouse traps,
(23:10):
the same kind that had triggered the bomb at the Blunts,
But once again, investigators apparently didn't have enough evidence to
build a proper case. Another thing I want to point
out is this bomb wasn't just some simple pipe bomb
that you would think a high schooler would make. So
a lot of people say it doesn't make sense that
(23:30):
this bomb was something that a fifteen year old built.
After looking at all of these suspects, the case for
the murders of the Blunts quickly went cold. Eleven years passed,
and by now Susan and Robert were back in Seattle
just trying to put this all behind them. In nineteen
ninety six, the Oklahoma City bombing prompted a reinvestigation for
(23:53):
all unsolved domestic bombings, including the Blunt Family bombing. For
people who aren't familiar, though, Oklahoma City bombing is the
largest domestic terrorism attack in US history, so police had
a lot of funding that they could now use, and
a twenty five thousand dollars reward was announced for any
(24:14):
information about the Blunt Family bombing. The ATF would use
this funding to look into a lot of unsolved bombings
all throughout the US, and at the time, the Blunt
Family bombing was the biggest unsolved bombing in American history.
The case would be reopened, and this is when a
new suspect would come into the scene, one that continues
(24:35):
to perplex and divide anyone familiar with the story today.
Speaker 8 (24:41):
A man named Michael Tony.
Speaker 6 (24:44):
Tony grew up in a small town in California, and
he had come from a very troubled home. His father
had abandoned the family when he was young, and Tony's
mother started dating around with a lot of problematic men.
Speaker 8 (24:58):
She would often.
Speaker 6 (24:59):
Bring these men and home and they were very violent.
They would beat Tony, his siblings, and his mother. Tony
would often spend nights sleeping outside just to get away
from the situation. One man was so dangerous that, according
to Tony, he once duck taped him to a lawn chair,
covered Tony's hands in gasoline and lit them on fire
(25:23):
multiple times. He would light them for a couple seconds,
put out the fire with a towel, and do it
over and over, just to fuck with Tony, all the
while he was laughing. In nineteen seventy eight, Tony would
suffer more trauma when his dear friend and Nat Celix,
(25:44):
was murdered by a serial killer. Darryl keith. Rich was
later convicted of killing Celix and three other young women,
and he was executed in the year two thousand at
San Quentin. Tony's aunt, Donna ray Ton Branson, was also
murdered and raped in the year of nineteen ninety. Her killer,
(26:05):
James Tulk, was convicted of first degree murder in nineteen
ninety two and sentenced to death at Saint Quentin. When
Tony was fifteen years old, another one of his mother's
boyfriends attacked him with a fishing gaff, which is a
long handheld poll with a really sharp hook. The man
injured Tony severely in his hip, and Tony had finally
(26:29):
had enough. He could not live like this. He knew
his mother wasn't going to help him, so he fled.
He quit school before tenth grade, and he ended up
traveling all over. He went to Alaska, Hawaii, but he eventually.
Speaker 8 (26:43):
Ended up in Texas.
Speaker 6 (26:46):
Specifically, he was in the Hurst Julis Bedford area, which
is like twenty minutes from where I grew up.
Speaker 8 (26:51):
We call it the HB.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
He did a lot of construction over here, and Tony
was a very handsome man. He was known to be
a ladies man. He had several women in his rolodex,
but he was also known to be violent. One of
the women that Tony dated was Tammy Rail, and she
says this is horrific. He once played Russian Roulette with her.
(27:16):
She survived, but of course she was absolutely terrified, and
she remembered that Tony was laughing the whole time, which
sounds a lot like the story that Tony tells of
the boyfriend who burned his hands. Tony also had a
criminal history. In June of nineteen ninety seven, mister Tony
(27:36):
was in jail awaiting a hearing on a nineteen ninety
three burglary charge when he started talking to an inmate
named Charles Jack Ferris, he started talking to him about
the Blunt bombing. Ferris was later released from jail after
telling authorities that Tony had confessed to the bombing. He
(27:57):
would also face charges for capital murder in December nineteen
ninety seven, but a few months later, Charles Jack Ferris
recanted all of his statements. He claimed get This that
he and Tony had made up this entire story. Tony
had given Ferris permission to lie to police and say
(28:20):
that Tony had done the Blunt bombing to get Ferris
out of prison because jel house informants often get commuted sentences,
But the police weren't budging. They were determined to bring
justice to the Blunt family, and so they charged Tony,
and in May of nineteen ninety nine, the trial for
(28:41):
the Blunt Family bombing would begin. Michael Tony's ex wife,
Kimberly Tony, was married to Tony from nineteen eighty five
to nineteen eighty nine, and she would testify at his
trial that on Thanksgiving night nineteen eighty five, the night
of the murders. She had gone with mister Tony and
(29:01):
his best friend Chris Meeks to hang out. They had
gone to the parking lot of a propane supply shop
on Jacksboro Highway near Lakeworth. The propane shop was right
next to the Hilltop Mobile Park where the Blints lived.
Kimberly claimed when they got there, Tony got out of
his truck. Keep in mind it's a truck, not a
(29:22):
red late model station wagon. Then Kimberly says that Tony
took out a brown briefcase, not a black one, from
the truck bed, went into the propane supply shop and
disappeared for several minutes, then returned without the briefcase. The friend,
Chris Meeks, also would testify, and he said the three
(29:43):
of them were near the trailer park that night. He
had seen Tony with some kind of briefcase, and that
Tony had stated he needed to fulfill a contract. And
this probably seems like a slam dunk so far, but
stay with me. Chris claims that Tony asked for Chris
(30:04):
to look into the bushes nearby to get a good
look at the mobile home. Chris wasn't exactly sure what
he was looking for. He claims he had no idea
what was going on, but apparently Chris looked in the
bushes and told Tony it looked like no one was home,
and that's when Tony left for several minutes. When he returned,
(30:25):
he didn't have the briefcase and he seemed giddy. They
then went fishing over at the nature Center. According to
Kimberly weeks before the bombing, Chris Meeks also claims that
he overheard a conversation with Michael Tony and a man
who went by the name Larry. Chris claims that the
(30:45):
words bombing and contract were mentioned. Then some time later,
Tony showed Chris the briefcase and said that he needed
to blow something up. Another cellmate of Michael Tony's, Finnis Blankenship,
also testified, and he claimed Tony told him he was
paid five thousand dollars for the job, twenty five hundred
(31:07):
to make the bomb, twenty five hundred to place it
as part of a drug related hit. Blankenship also testified
Tony had mistakenly put the explosives on the wrong doorstep,
but Blankenship was a serial informer who had a known
history of giving out false information to police to commute
(31:28):
his sentences, and Blankenship was also a pedophile, so he's
not exactly a reliable source. Michael Tony testified he had
told Ferris that he could blame the bombing on him
to help him get out of jail earlier, and that
the story was completely fabricated, which might sound crazy to
(31:50):
people who don't have a prison history, but this is more.
Speaker 8 (31:54):
Common than you might think.
Speaker 6 (31:57):
Tony also testified he only knew the details of the
Blunt family bombing years after the fact. He said he
learned about it from another inmate named Benny Joe Toole.
Toole was friends with Matthew Huff, the fifteen year old
that was a suspect in the Blunt bombing that was
(32:18):
classmates with Angela. Michael Tony maintains the following alibi quote.
I spent Thanksgiving nineteen eighty five at my friend Chris
Meeks home in Keller, Texas. Present that day were Chris,
his mother, his stepfather, his girlfriend, and I. That evening,
(32:39):
I received a phone call from my girlfriend, Kim, who
I later married on March fourth, nineteen eighty six. We
divorced in nineteen eighty nine. She was leaving her family
get together and was going to her apartment. We had
agreed to meet at her apartment that evening, got in
my car and left Keller by myself.
Speaker 8 (32:59):
Chris stay home with his family.
Speaker 6 (33:02):
Kim and I met less than a month prior, so
we were still in the phase of our relationship where
we spent about every minute we could together end quote. Now,
there were a lot of problems with this trial. There
were tons of inconsistencies with Chris Meek's statements and Kimberly's
statements Tony's ex wife. There was also a complete lack
(33:26):
of physical evidence, but nevertheless, the jury would convict Michael
Tony and sentenced him to death on June tenth, nineteen
ninety nine. The trial had only gone on for fifteen days,
and the jury only deliberated for four hours, which is
about as much time as it takes to do the paperwork.
(33:48):
Kimberly Tony, the star witness, also had an interesting medical history.
So this is where the case against Michael Tony, in
my opinion, starts to fall apart. But I do want
to emphasize, and I don't mean any disrespect at all,
they know more about this than I do. Susan apparently
(34:09):
maintains and some other people in the family that they
believe Michael Tony was responsible. So I will let you
guys come to your own conclusions. But Kimberly was an
Army veteran who served in the nineteen ninety one Persian
Gulf War, and she had significant exposure to toxic chemicals
in Kuwait, which resulted in her having significant cognitive deficits,
(34:33):
specifically short term memory loss. So obviously, if she's the
star witness in this case against Michael Tony, we have
to question if her testimony was reliable at all. She
also initially told police when she was interviewed that she
had never heard of the Blunt bombing, and then she
went to the library and researched it, learned about the bombing,
(34:57):
and that's when she went back to police and told
them everything that she quote unquote remembered. So this could
have all just been confabulation. The friend that was with
them that night, also, Chris Meeks was only able to
corroborate parts of Kimberly's testimony. Like I said earlier, their
testimonies had some flaws. They didn't match up with each other.
(35:20):
Miss Tony, for example, said that they went to the
Nature Center right after mister Tony delivered the briefcase, but
Chris claims that they actually went to the center several
days before. There's a ton of other flaws as well
that we just don't really have time to get into,
but I do want to mention. Even prosecution acknowledged that
(35:41):
Meeks was not a reliable witness either. They said, quote
his Budweiser intake was eighteen to twenty four cans a day.
Mister Meeks also, like Kimberly, changed his story multiple times,
according to prosecution, four.
Speaker 8 (35:58):
Times to be exact.
Speaker 6 (36:00):
But like I said earlier, Susan Blunt and other family
members feel they have found the right man. So when
Michael Tony was convicted, they were relieved, and I mean
I get it. They probably felt for the first time
in decades that they could breathe again and they were
finally getting justice for their family. In two thousand and one,
(36:22):
after a visit from an investigator working on mister Tony's appeal,
Chris Meeks signed an affidavit recanting his entire trial testimony.
Blankenship the pedophile we were talking about earlier, that also
testified and was trying to get his sentence commuted. Also
now claims that his entire story was false. Meanwhile, a
(36:47):
private detective continued working on Michael Tony's case, hoping to
one day get him out of prison. Michael Tony hoped
that the further investigation would be able to free him.
He continued to man he was wrongfully convicted and had
nothing to do with the Blunt's murders. He also cited
important flaws in his ex wife and Chris Meeks testimonies.
(37:10):
For example, they claimed that he was driving a truck
on the night of the bombing. Tony claims he didn't
even own this truck until about a month and a
half after the bombing. He feels that this could further
discredit Chris and Kimberly's testimonies. One of mister Tony's former girlfriends,
Tammy Reel, also claims that she saw Tony the night
(37:33):
of the murders and that he was driving a small car.
The Texas Innocence Network at the University of Houston soon
took on Michael Tony's case. Tony continued to maintain his innocence, saying, quote,
I have learned through the many cases, I have studied
that the prosecution often resorts too highly unethical and often
(37:54):
illegal acts to obtain a conviction. They will use every
dirty trick in the book to get a conviction and
then defend their actions on appeal because they know how
reluctant the courts are to overturn a conviction. I am
unequivocally innocent of this crime. I have never in my
life been to the Hilltop Mobile Home Park, and I
(38:16):
am in no way whatsoever connected to the crime, the victims,
or anyone else in that area. I've never been there.
I didn't even know the place existed until just prior
to my trial. The reason there is no evidence is
because I am completely innocent end quote. He says that
(38:37):
he's never been to Hilltop Mobile Home Park and he
hadn't heard of the Blunt family bombing until years later.
And like I mentioned earlier, I know it's controversial, but
I have to agree based on what was presented in
the trial. I don't think that prosecution had enough to
put this man away, especially to be given a death sentence.
(38:59):
If my Tony is innocent, then that would mean this
killer is still walking free. Tony agreed with this saying quote.
Since the trial, my family and I have received numerous
phone calls and letters from people saying they know I'm
innocent because they know who did the bombing and why
it was done. I believe the fact that no one
(39:21):
could ever determine the motive is the reason they couldn't
solve the crime. I've been in contact with these people
who wrote and called my family. They have told me
what the motive was, who did it, and why the
motive was never determined. Yes, I have learned who the
real murderers are, but they will remain free to commit
more murders unless the investigation is reopened. No one will
(39:45):
listen to me because the case has been closed. The
case has been closed, but the crime was not solved.
The people who committed this terrible crime live in the
Fort Worth area. As far as I'm concerned, no one
is safe until the real murderers are brought to justice.
I am doing everything I can to try to make
that happen. The Blunt family deserves to know the truth,
(40:08):
and they deserve the real murderers to be brought to justice.
Speaker 8 (40:12):
End quote.
Speaker 6 (40:14):
In October two thousand and eight, the Tarrant County District
Attorney's office was found to have withheld fourteen pieces of
critical evidence for Michael Tony's defense during his trial. After
this discovery, the prosecutors turned the case over to the
Attorney General of Texas. Michael Tony's death sentence was also
(40:36):
overturned because of this. December seventeenth, two thousand and eight,
and on September second, two thousand and nine, Michael Tony
was released from Tarrant County Jail. He had been in
prison for the Blunt Family bombing for a decade, but
just one month after his release, Michael Tony would die
(40:58):
in a serious car accident. This happened at the time
that the state was trying to actually decide if they
should retry Michael Tony for the crime. Also, if anyone
looks into this case and comes across an AI generated
disgusting Medium dot com article, it's fake. It's not true.
(41:22):
I just want to put that out there and call
out whoever made this.
Speaker 8 (41:25):
It's disgusting, it's horrific.
Speaker 6 (41:28):
When I was researching this case, I had read all
these articles, learned the story, and luckily came across this
medium dot com article afterwards, so I was immediately able
to tell it is a completely fake story, but they
use the Blunt family name. They changed the first names
of the victims. They included that it happened on Thanksgiving
(41:49):
Day nineteen eighty five, but they said it was in
some different town in Tennessee. They said, you know, it
was a bombing, and then they like made up a
bunch of things like fake suspects and stuff like that,
and then they had all these AI generated images and
it just made me so angry, Like I already hate
(42:10):
so many things about AI, but I just wanted to
put that out there in case anybody looks up this
story and comes across that medium dot com article, it's
not true.
Speaker 8 (42:21):
Look at the sources in my show notes. Please. At
the time of Michael Tony's.
Speaker 6 (42:26):
Release in two thousand and nine, the case would again
become unsolved, and the case to this day is still
collecting dust on the Attorney General of Texas's shelf. The
type of bomb used has also never been made public,
though we have some idea, like with the mouse traps,
for example, media outlets have questioned why more information about
(42:50):
the bomb has not been released to the public. They
hope that this could stir up new tips in the
cold case, it does seem like this was a targeted hit,
though for somebody else, it does seem to me like
the bomb was not meant for the Blunts. Since Michael
Tony's death, the case continues to remain inactive, with.
Speaker 8 (43:11):
No known leads.
Speaker 6 (43:13):
Police sources main most likely the bomb was placed at
the wrong trailer by mistake, which would make it difficult
to identify the murderer. But I truly hope that Susan
and Robert Blunt have been able to find peace, that
they're doing well, as well as the other loved ones
of the Blunt family. When I was coming across other
(43:34):
articles and videos of people who have talked about this,
there were a lot of people in the commons saying
they either knew the Blunts or they knew somebody who
knew them. And my heart goes out to anybody who
knew this family. It's a truly heartbreaking, horrific story, and
I really hope that there is a break in this case.
(43:54):
I want us to get answers, because whether Michael Tony
did it or not, his conviction was over, so the
case is unsolved. Susan, Robert, and other loved ones of
the Blunts deserve to know what happened. If you have
any information on what happens to the Blunt family on
Thanksgiving Day nineteen eighty five, you are encouraged to contact
(44:17):
the Attorney General of Texas at five one two four
six three twenty one hundred and this will also be
in the show notes and that everybody is the perplexing
and tragic story of the Blunt family bombing and the
unsolved murders of Joe Blunt, Angela Blunt, and Michael Columbus.
(44:52):
Thank you all so very much for listening to today's episode.
If you enjoyed the way this story was told, continue
to follow along. If you're watching on YouTube, I would
love if you drop a comment down below with your
thoughts like this video, subscribe. If you're listening on a
podcast platform, add this show to your list, leave a
five star rating and review. If you're listening on Spotify,
(45:13):
you can leave a comment on this exact episode letting
me know your thoughts and if you would really like
to support the show. If you want early and ad
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a community, join the Perplexed Society at Patreon dot com
slash Perplexity Mystery Podcast or check out the YouTube memberships.
(45:34):
Thank you again to Chris for requesting today's episode. If
you have a topic that you would like to request
or a story of your own, I love listener stories.
You can always send those to me at Perplexity Mystery
Podcast at gmail dot com. Thank you to everybody so
much for listening. You all are amazing. I hope you
have a great week. Please stay safe and I will
(45:57):
talk to you next week.
Speaker 8 (45:59):
Bye.
Speaker 7 (46:01):
Thank you for listening to Perplexity, a mystery podcast hosted, written,
and produced by Kater Brannan assistant producer is t J McCrae.
If you enjoyed today's episode, tell the world about it
by leaving a five star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
It really is the best way to support. Have a
(46:23):
topic request or a perplexing story of your own you'd
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Perplexed Society at Patreon dot com. Forward slash Perplexity Mystery Podcast,
(46:44):
Perplexity merch and additional support links can be found in
the episode description. Until next week, stay curious
Welcome to Primetime Crime. I'm your host, Kylie. Let's talk
right now in true crime, and then together we're going
to work on warming up some cold cases. Let's go.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
It drives me crazy thinking about her bones, you know,
laying out somewhere and just being herself.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
We took a nap in the van and she got
up one and going the mall and she went in supposedly,
and I fell backtually for a while and woke up
and went in looked for I made a mistake, but
letting going them off. I shouldn't have done that this season.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
On Missing in Hushtown season two, Bethany Markowski.
Speaker 5 (00:41):
I still asked one of our CID people about and
their response, but they assured me that not one time
was she seen on any video going inside that mall.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Bethany Leanne Markowski was never seen entering the mall, walking
through the mall, or exiting the mall.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Number one, the most important thing to me is to
find out what happened to Bethany. It's time to find Bethany,
let her rest and just know the truth.
Speaker 5 (01:20):
Bethany has paid the ultimate price, and you're not.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Nobody can convince me that he didn't have anything to do.
Speaker 6 (01:28):
With it, And if I make people mad, I don't care,
because the ultimate goes to find Bethany.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Are we ever going to know what happened? I know
Bethany is not the most famous missing person. She is
to me, and I know she's not the most important
person in the world.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
She's me.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
You are now a part of Bethany's brigade.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Let's go.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Missing in Hushtown. Season two is executive produced in partnership
by Fireeyes Media LLC's Jules Thorpe and Jen Rivera, as
well as mom Cast Productions Rachel Holloway and Heather Northcraft.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Hey, guys, welcome to this week's episode of Primetime Crime.
It's Kylie Happy Thanksgiving if you are listening to this,
which are probably not because it's Thanksgiving. But this week
I decided that I was going to take the week off,
but I still wanted to give you guys an episode,
and my friend Kadra from Perplexity, a mystery podcast, so
(02:43):
graciously gave me an episode to share with you guys.
It is true crime. It actually the crime took place
on Thanksgiving and it is technically still unsolved. So all
of the components of a primetime crime episode brought to
you by the ever so lovely Cadra. So I am
(03:04):
going to link all of her socials and everything else
below in the show notes. And I hope you guys
in enjoy this episode because Cadra is the best, and
she did a really great job on this episode. And
this is another one that leaves you with way more
questions than answer, So please enjoy this episode from Cadra.
Speaker 7 (03:34):
You are listening to Perplexity.
Speaker 6 (03:53):
On Thanksgiving evening, November twenty eighth, nineteen eighty five, there
would be a deadly explosion at Hilltop Mobile Home Park
at seventy eight hundred Jacksborough Highway between Lakeworth and Azel, Texas,
just outside Fort Worth. This explosion would tragically kill three
members of the Blunt family, Joe, his daughter Angela, and
(04:17):
Joe's nephew Michael Columbus, and to this day, what happened
remains a mystery. This is the story of the Blunt
Family bombing. Hello everybody, and welcome back to another episode
(04:37):
of Perplexity, a mystery podcast. As always, I'm your host, Kdra.
If you're new to the show, Hello and welcome. I
tell tales every single week that have perplexed me. So
if you love a good mystery that leaves you wanting more,
you're in the right place. Though today's episode is definitely
more of a somber tone. If you enjoy today's episode,
(04:58):
I would love if you continue to fallow along. If
you're a returning listener, Hello, my friends, welcome back. I'm
happy you're here. We have an unsolved story, an important
case to cover today, and I would like to thank
Chris for bringing this story to my attention. I was
not familiar with the Blunt family bombing and personal connection.
(05:20):
My first job ever outside of graduate school was in Azel, Texas.
Azel's a very tiny town. It was a very fascinating
and tragic case to learn about. I look forward to
getting into it with you guys and hearing your thoughts. Because,
as I mentioned, it's technically unsolved. I do want to
issue a quick trigger warning for today's episode for violence
(05:43):
and references to drug use. Listener discretion is advised, and
all the sources used for today's episode will be available
down in the show notes. So let's get into the
story of the Blunt Family bombing. Originally from Seattle, Washington,
(06:04):
the Blunt family, Joe and Susan and their two children,
Angela and Robert, had come to North Texas to help
Joe's father in July of nineteen eighty five. This family
of four crowded into their station wagon with a humble
amount of belongings lugging behind them and a small U haul.
This family consisted of forty four year old father, Joe Blunt,
(06:27):
who was a large and friendly man. He was a
skilled mechanic, but he struggled with alcoholism and this resulted
in him having difficulty holding down jobs. Then there was Susan,
wife to Joe, and Susan was a devout Mormon and
a disciplinarian for their two children. Her and Joe had
previously been separated and they were trying to patch things
(06:48):
back up again. She also had been the primary breadwinner
of the family because, as I stated earlier, Joe had
difficulty holding work down.
Speaker 8 (06:57):
At the time, Susan and Joe's.
Speaker 6 (06:59):
Two kids were fifteen year old Angela and thirteen year
old Robert. Angela was known to be a very happy
and talkative teenager. She had long brown hair and freckles.
Robert was quite the opposite of Angela. He was more
reserved and quiet, but Angela and Robert were very close
and they were looking forward to attending a decent high school.
(07:21):
So when the Blunts would arrive to this small town
in Fort Worth, Texas, they would unlock the door to
their new rental home, a quaint trailer and Lot eight
of the Hilltop Mobile Home Park. The family didn't have
much money. According to Susan quote, we were the brokest
people in the world. The Blunts had no furniture and
(07:42):
when they first moved in, they slept on the floor.
They didn't even have a phone line. Susan said that
they couldn't afford to pay the phone bill, but she
always managed to get the rent paid on time every month.
Things were starting to look up for the Blunts. Joe
was able to get a good job at a nearby
auto shop as a mechanic, and he was really enjoying it.
(08:05):
He told his wife Susan that he hoped he could
work there for the rest of his life. The family
was also looking forward to this fresh start, and with
Joe's new job, maybe they would finally have some stability
after a few months of living in this area. Thanksgiving
was approaching and Susan was looking forward to some normalcy.
(08:25):
She wanted the family to have a proper Thanksgiving dinner,
so they decided to invite some people over. They managed
to rent some furniture and they even borrowed some chairs
from Joe's job to make sure people had places to sit.
They ate in their laps, but nevertheless, they enjoyed an
early dinner of turkey and dressing. Among those in attendance
(08:47):
that day was Ray, Joe's brother, and Ray and Susan
didn't get along with each other, but Susan wanted to
make the most of this special time and she wanted
to be a supportive spouse. It was also as special
day for Ray his long estranged son. Joe's nephew, Michael Columbus,
would be in attendance. Michael was eighteen years old and
(09:10):
had been studying airplane mechanics in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Speaker 8 (09:14):
Him and his.
Speaker 6 (09:14):
Dad Ray hadn't spoken in years, and the dinner was
going really well. Ray and Michael actually had a heart
to heart and they reconciled. Michael's mother even told media
after that Michael had called her after the dinner saying
that he had good news.
Speaker 8 (09:31):
Him and his dad were doing better and he seemed
really excited about it.
Speaker 6 (09:35):
By the time five o'clock rolled around, Joe's brother Ray
was ready to go home, and around nine pm, Susan
went to the bedroom and took a nap. She was
tired from a long day of cooking, but Joe and
the kids were hoping to hang out a little bit longer,
so together Robert, Angela, and Michael would pile into Joe's
car and Joe would take them a half mile down
(09:57):
the road to get some snacks and some ice cream.
Joe also bought some beer while they were gone. Susan
was kind of going in and out of sleep when
she heard the sound of tires crunching on gravel and
did knock at the door.
Speaker 8 (10:12):
Susan was confused.
Speaker 6 (10:14):
It was nine o'clock at night on Thanksgiving, they shouldn't
have anybody there, and Joe had a key, so they.
Speaker 8 (10:22):
Must have had the wrong house.
Speaker 6 (10:24):
Susan decided to knock, get up and not answer the door,
and soon enough she heard the car pull away and
the sound of the gravel crunching again. She drifted back
to sleep, but the next sound she would hear would
be one she would never forget. Meanwhile, Joe Robert, Angela,
and Michael would soon return from the convenience store. They
(10:47):
had their snacks, Joe had his beer. They were looking
forward to spending a couple more hours together on this
special day. When they approached the porch of their home, Angela, Robert,
and Michael noticed a mysterious black briefcase sitting on the
front porch. The three teens bubbled with excitement, cracking jokes.
What could the briefcase be? Filled with jewels, cash, mysterious treasure.
(11:12):
Joe wasn't so sure about this, but he also didn't
see the harm. So fifteen year old Angela brought the
briefcase inside and the four of them sat around it.
Angela opened the latches of the suitcase and what happened
next would be the sound that Susan would hear, awaking
her from her sleep, guttural screams. The black briefcase would
(11:36):
explode with the power of two thousand feet per second,
twice as fast as a bullet. Inside the briefcase was gasoline,
so after the explosion, a fireball would also erupt the trailer.
The explosion was so violent a neighbor would later say
it sounded like cannon fire. The explosion would cause Susan
(12:00):
to shoot out of bed and run into the living room,
and when she opened her bedroom door, she was met
with a thick cloud of smoke. The smoke assaulted her
nostrils and clouded her vision. Her house was covered in flames.
Where was her family? Were they okay? What was going on?
She stumbled down the hallway, burning her feet with each
(12:23):
step because the floor was so scalding hot. As she
made her way into the living room, she would come
across her husband, Joe's lifeless and charred body, sitting in
the same chair he had sat in for their Thanksgiving dinner.
Uncertain of what was going on and terrified, Susan's memory
(12:43):
is fuzzy after this, but somehow she escaped through the
back door of the trailer. She was barely clothed she
had been sleeping. The cold air bit at her skin.
Her memory of what would happen would continue to be
in bits and pieces. She was in total shock, and
she had no idea where her children were. Many of
(13:05):
Susan's neighbors had actually shown up to the trailer to
do anything they could to help. One neighbor even tried
to run inside to rescue people. The neighbors had shown
up with the limited resources they had, trying to put
out the fire with gardening hoses and fire extinguishers while
they waited for the fire department. Susan doesn't remember this,
(13:27):
but she ran to the neighbor's house and she phoned Sherry,
her other daughter from Washington. She would cry into the phone, saying,
everybody's dead. Joe, Angela, Robert, and Michael, they're all dead.
Fire crews would arrive and Susan was given medical attention.
This is when she found thirteen year old Robert alive,
(13:51):
lying on a stretcher, but he was severely burned. His
clothes and shoes had melded to his skin. The blast
was so powerful it had blown him out the door
of the trailer, and that's the only way that he survived.
The front door to their mobile home laid beside him.
So Later at the hospital, Susan and Robert received treatment.
(14:15):
When she was finally able to flag down a police
officer to find out what was going on, Susan's worst
fears would be confirmed. Joe, Angela, and Michael had not
made it.
Speaker 8 (14:26):
They were all dead.
Speaker 6 (14:28):
An unspeakable Thanksgiving tragedy. The family had only been in
town for a couple months. Investigators were dumbfounded. Why would
someone target this family, They had no known enemies. When
Robert would come to in the hospital, police would later
interview him and he would tell them what he could remember.
(14:51):
He remembered Angela clicking the latches open and hearing a
powerful click. He described it as sounding like a mouse
trap springing back. Neighbors would also speak to police and
the Fort Worth Star Telegram because they arrived on the
scene very quickly, they would describe hearing the explosion. A
(15:12):
firefighter would also later tell the Fort Worth Star Telegram
the blast was powerful enough to have likely killed Joe, Angela,
and Michael instantly. Because this was a bombing, the FBI
would also get involved. They reconstructed the explosion device that
was in the briefcase, and they confirmed there was a
(15:33):
mouse trap inside, so when Angela clicked the latches that
triggered the bomb. The bomb was made out of two
galvanized metal pipes filled with smokeless gunpowder and a ninefolt battery,
and naturally, as difficult as this could be to wrap
their heads around, police did have to look at Susan
(15:56):
because she was part of the family, and she was
the only one that.
Speaker 8 (15:59):
Had hadn't been injured.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
She was also present at the time of the crime
and had apparently heard a knock at the door and
ignored it. Susan would later tell the media that police
had pressed her hard, but she knew she was innocent.
Speaker 8 (16:15):
Police were just trying to look for any motive.
Speaker 6 (16:18):
Maybe Susan had taken out a life insurance policy on
her family. Maybe this was financially motivated, but remember, the
Blunts were very poor. Susan couldn't even afford major policies
on her family. Her policy for her husband's Joe was
just two thousand dollars. She didn't have a policy on Robert,
(16:39):
and the policy for Angela was just one thousand dollars.
This wouldn't even cover the cost of giving her family
a proper funeral. Phone records showed calls to friends and relatives,
but little else. Fort Worth ped also contacted Seattle PD
to have them look into the Blunts for any troublesome history,
(17:00):
a fairer's violence, etc. But they came up empty. The
Blunts were a normal American family. Susan would also pass
a polygraph and she and Robert moved into an apartment
in small town asal.
Speaker 8 (17:14):
They pushed their beds together.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
And they awoke night after night terrified if they heard
any sound that was slightly unusual, what if this killer
would come back and get them. Robert was also still
recovering from his burns. He had gone through months of
multiple skin grafts, and he was suffering from nightmares. That Christmas,
(17:38):
less than a month after the bombing, Susan and Robert
came home one day to find a box outside their
front door.
Speaker 8 (17:46):
Horrified, they left.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
The box untouched and immediately called the police, But as
it would turn out, it was just a box of
chocolate from someone at church. But this really just shows
how much fee Robert and Susan had to live in.
I can't imagine losing my entire family to something so
violent and tragic. Detectives began to wonder if the bomb
(18:11):
had been put at the Blunt's home by mistake, what
if it was meant for someone else. One neighbor would
also testify as he was pulling into his driveway that
he remembered seeing a red late model station wagon pulling
out of the blunts driveway.
Speaker 8 (18:29):
He also recognized the car, but didn't know who it
belonged to.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
He just had seen this car in the area multiple times,
but police apparently were never able to find.
Speaker 8 (18:39):
This red late model station Wagon.
Speaker 6 (18:42):
For a while, police wondered if the bomber had maybe
been after a man named Wayland Tim Tortella, a known
drug dealer in the area who sold meth and automatic
weapons out of his nearby home. Tortella had also allegedly
had an affair with a married woman, and he would
later testify that he believed the bomb was meant for him.
(19:04):
This guilt would eat away at him, and he would
later write, quote, for fourteen years, I felt that it
was my fault that those three people died. There's a
possibility that if I wasn't doing what I was doing
back then, they would still be alive.
Speaker 8 (19:20):
End quote.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
But unfortunately, and you'll see this as a continued pattern
throughout this story, this lead would go nowhere for police.
Another man that police looked at in March of nineteen
eighty six was a man named Douglas Raymond Brown, a
businessman and a former candidate for mayor. Brown was arrested
(19:42):
for selling bombs to an undercover agent from the Bureau
of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms, or the BATF he was
also selling drugs. The bombs were delivered in a brief
case similar to the bomb that had killed the Blunt family,
but a mouse trap detonator was not present. Explosives and
(20:05):
chemicals were also found at Brown's office and at his house.
The whole reason Brown got arrested is because the FEDS
had been on his trail investigating a drug trafficking ring.
This whole thing ended up leading to ten arrests. Police
had actually been watching Brown for months, but Brown was
never charged with the Blunt bombing, and just two days
(20:27):
after his arrest he was freed on a ten thousand
dollars bond. Five months of being watched by investigators all
for him to be held in jail and released after
two days. He was still kept on the suspect list
for the Blunt bombing because if he didn't place the bomb,
maybe he had sold it to the person who did.
(20:51):
The ATF also raided a man's home in Booie, Texas,
with a known history of trading explosives. In his helm,
police found grenades, gunpower, and bomb making materials, including a
roll of gray and white seven strand copper wire that
was similar to what was used in the Blunt bombing,
but similar to Brown, Investigators couldn't prove this man was involved.
(21:16):
Another suspect was Darren Irvin, the Blunt's neighbor. Irvin was
twenty two years old at the time of the bombing.
He had been selling meth and allegedly had a bit
of a domestic history with his wife, but once again
there was nothing to tie him to the crime. Police
also wondered if maybe Irvin, kind of like Tortella, had
(21:37):
been the bombing target. And you might be wondering why
there's so many people in this area selling weapons, bombs, drugs.
Speaker 8 (21:49):
Uh. I lived in Azel for a while and I mean,
in my opinion, it tracks.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
But yeah, many people argue the most promising suspect was
a teenager named Matthew Huff from Azel. Some sources call
him Mikey. Huff was just fifteen years old at the time,
and he went to school with Angela. There were a
lot of rumors that Huff really liked Angela and tried
(22:22):
to make a pass at her, but she rejected him.
Huff also had a criminal history. He used drugs and
he would break into places. He also boasted to his
other classmates that he worshiped Satan and that he knew
how to build bombs. Other students described him as odd
and having a short temper. Some anonymous tipsters also told
(22:46):
investigators that Huff had bragged about being the one who
did it. I found multiple reports about this. Other people
say he just bragged about having built a bomb before,
but not necessarily the bomb that killed the Blunt family.
Huff's stepfather also apparently found pieces of a bomb in
his bedroom and noticed that he was missing two mouse traps,
(23:10):
the same kind that had triggered the bomb at the Blunts,
But once again, investigators apparently didn't have enough evidence to
build a proper case. Another thing I want to point
out is this bomb wasn't just some simple pipe bomb
that you would think a high schooler would make. So
a lot of people say it doesn't make sense that
(23:30):
this bomb was something that a fifteen year old built.
After looking at all of these suspects, the case for
the murders of the Blunts quickly went cold. Eleven years passed,
and by now Susan and Robert were back in Seattle
just trying to put this all behind them. In nineteen
ninety six, the Oklahoma City bombing prompted a reinvestigation for
(23:53):
all unsolved domestic bombings, including the Blunt Family bombing. For
people who aren't familiar, though, Oklahoma City bombing is the
largest domestic terrorism attack in US history, so police had
a lot of funding that they could now use, and
a twenty five thousand dollars reward was announced for any
(24:14):
information about the Blunt Family bombing. The ATF would use
this funding to look into a lot of unsolved bombings
all throughout the US, and at the time, the Blunt
Family bombing was the biggest unsolved bombing in American history.
The case would be reopened, and this is when a
new suspect would come into the scene, one that continues
(24:35):
to perplex and divide anyone familiar with the story today.
Speaker 8 (24:41):
A man named Michael Tony.
Speaker 6 (24:44):
Tony grew up in a small town in California, and
he had come from a very troubled home. His father
had abandoned the family when he was young, and Tony's
mother started dating around with a lot of problematic men.
Speaker 8 (24:58):
She would often.
Speaker 6 (24:59):
Bring these men and home and they were very violent.
They would beat Tony, his siblings, and his mother. Tony
would often spend nights sleeping outside just to get away
from the situation. One man was so dangerous that, according
to Tony, he once duck taped him to a lawn chair,
covered Tony's hands in gasoline and lit them on fire
(25:23):
multiple times. He would light them for a couple seconds,
put out the fire with a towel, and do it
over and over, just to fuck with Tony, all the
while he was laughing. In nineteen seventy eight, Tony would
suffer more trauma when his dear friend and Nat Celix,
(25:44):
was murdered by a serial killer. Darryl keith. Rich was
later convicted of killing Celix and three other young women,
and he was executed in the year two thousand at
San Quentin. Tony's aunt, Donna ray Ton Branson, was also
murdered and raped in the year of nineteen ninety. Her killer,
(26:05):
James Tulk, was convicted of first degree murder in nineteen
ninety two and sentenced to death at Saint Quentin. When
Tony was fifteen years old, another one of his mother's
boyfriends attacked him with a fishing gaff, which is a
long handheld poll with a really sharp hook. The man
injured Tony severely in his hip, and Tony had finally
(26:29):
had enough. He could not live like this. He knew
his mother wasn't going to help him, so he fled.
He quit school before tenth grade, and he ended up
traveling all over. He went to Alaska, Hawaii, but he eventually.
Speaker 8 (26:43):
Ended up in Texas.
Speaker 6 (26:46):
Specifically, he was in the Hurst Julis Bedford area, which
is like twenty minutes from where I grew up.
Speaker 8 (26:51):
We call it the HB.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
He did a lot of construction over here, and Tony
was a very handsome man. He was known to be
a ladies man. He had several women in his rolodex,
but he was also known to be violent. One of
the women that Tony dated was Tammy Rail, and she
says this is horrific. He once played Russian Roulette with her.
(27:16):
She survived, but of course she was absolutely terrified, and
she remembered that Tony was laughing the whole time, which
sounds a lot like the story that Tony tells of
the boyfriend who burned his hands. Tony also had a
criminal history. In June of nineteen ninety seven, mister Tony
(27:36):
was in jail awaiting a hearing on a nineteen ninety
three burglary charge when he started talking to an inmate
named Charles Jack Ferris, he started talking to him about
the Blunt bombing. Ferris was later released from jail after
telling authorities that Tony had confessed to the bombing. He
(27:57):
would also face charges for capital murder in December nineteen
ninety seven, but a few months later, Charles Jack Ferris
recanted all of his statements. He claimed get This that
he and Tony had made up this entire story. Tony
had given Ferris permission to lie to police and say
(28:20):
that Tony had done the Blunt bombing to get Ferris
out of prison because jel house informants often get commuted sentences,
But the police weren't budging. They were determined to bring
justice to the Blunt family, and so they charged Tony,
and in May of nineteen ninety nine, the trial for
(28:41):
the Blunt Family bombing would begin. Michael Tony's ex wife,
Kimberly Tony, was married to Tony from nineteen eighty five
to nineteen eighty nine, and she would testify at his
trial that on Thanksgiving night nineteen eighty five, the night
of the murders. She had gone with mister Tony and
(29:01):
his best friend Chris Meeks to hang out. They had
gone to the parking lot of a propane supply shop
on Jacksboro Highway near Lakeworth. The propane shop was right
next to the Hilltop Mobile Park where the Blints lived.
Kimberly claimed when they got there, Tony got out of
his truck. Keep in mind it's a truck, not a
(29:22):
red late model station wagon. Then Kimberly says that Tony
took out a brown briefcase, not a black one, from
the truck bed, went into the propane supply shop and
disappeared for several minutes, then returned without the briefcase. The friend,
Chris Meeks, also would testify, and he said the three
(29:43):
of them were near the trailer park that night. He
had seen Tony with some kind of briefcase, and that
Tony had stated he needed to fulfill a contract. And
this probably seems like a slam dunk so far, but
stay with me. Chris claims that Tony asked for Chris
(30:04):
to look into the bushes nearby to get a good
look at the mobile home. Chris wasn't exactly sure what
he was looking for. He claims he had no idea
what was going on, but apparently Chris looked in the
bushes and told Tony it looked like no one was home,
and that's when Tony left for several minutes. When he returned,
(30:25):
he didn't have the briefcase and he seemed giddy. They
then went fishing over at the nature Center. According to
Kimberly weeks before the bombing, Chris Meeks also claims that
he overheard a conversation with Michael Tony and a man
who went by the name Larry. Chris claims that the
(30:45):
words bombing and contract were mentioned. Then some time later,
Tony showed Chris the briefcase and said that he needed
to blow something up. Another cellmate of Michael Tony's, Finnis Blankenship,
also testified, and he claimed Tony told him he was
paid five thousand dollars for the job, twenty five hundred
(31:07):
to make the bomb, twenty five hundred to place it
as part of a drug related hit. Blankenship also testified
Tony had mistakenly put the explosives on the wrong doorstep,
but Blankenship was a serial informer who had a known
history of giving out false information to police to commute
(31:28):
his sentences, and Blankenship was also a pedophile, so he's
not exactly a reliable source. Michael Tony testified he had
told Ferris that he could blame the bombing on him
to help him get out of jail earlier, and that
the story was completely fabricated, which might sound crazy to
(31:50):
people who don't have a prison history, but this is more.
Speaker 8 (31:54):
Common than you might think.
Speaker 6 (31:57):
Tony also testified he only knew the details of the
Blunt family bombing years after the fact. He said he
learned about it from another inmate named Benny Joe Toole.
Toole was friends with Matthew Huff, the fifteen year old
that was a suspect in the Blunt bombing that was
(32:18):
classmates with Angela. Michael Tony maintains the following alibi quote.
I spent Thanksgiving nineteen eighty five at my friend Chris
Meeks home in Keller, Texas. Present that day were Chris,
his mother, his stepfather, his girlfriend, and I. That evening,
(32:39):
I received a phone call from my girlfriend, Kim, who
I later married on March fourth, nineteen eighty six. We
divorced in nineteen eighty nine. She was leaving her family
get together and was going to her apartment. We had
agreed to meet at her apartment that evening, got in
my car and left Keller by myself.
Speaker 8 (32:59):
Chris stay home with his family.
Speaker 6 (33:02):
Kim and I met less than a month prior, so
we were still in the phase of our relationship where
we spent about every minute we could together end quote. Now,
there were a lot of problems with this trial. There
were tons of inconsistencies with Chris Meek's statements and Kimberly's
statements Tony's ex wife. There was also a complete lack
(33:26):
of physical evidence, but nevertheless, the jury would convict Michael
Tony and sentenced him to death on June tenth, nineteen
ninety nine. The trial had only gone on for fifteen days,
and the jury only deliberated for four hours, which is
about as much time as it takes to do the paperwork.
(33:48):
Kimberly Tony, the star witness, also had an interesting medical history.
So this is where the case against Michael Tony, in
my opinion, starts to fall apart. But I do want
to emphasize, and I don't mean any disrespect at all,
they know more about this than I do. Susan apparently
(34:09):
maintains and some other people in the family that they
believe Michael Tony was responsible. So I will let you
guys come to your own conclusions. But Kimberly was an
Army veteran who served in the nineteen ninety one Persian
Gulf War, and she had significant exposure to toxic chemicals
in Kuwait, which resulted in her having significant cognitive deficits,
(34:33):
specifically short term memory loss. So obviously, if she's the
star witness in this case against Michael Tony, we have
to question if her testimony was reliable at all. She
also initially told police when she was interviewed that she
had never heard of the Blunt bombing, and then she
went to the library and researched it, learned about the bombing,
(34:57):
and that's when she went back to police and told
them everything that she quote unquote remembered. So this could
have all just been confabulation. The friend that was with
them that night, also, Chris Meeks was only able to
corroborate parts of Kimberly's testimony. Like I said earlier, their
testimonies had some flaws. They didn't match up with each other.
(35:20):
Miss Tony, for example, said that they went to the
Nature Center right after mister Tony delivered the briefcase, but
Chris claims that they actually went to the center several
days before. There's a ton of other flaws as well
that we just don't really have time to get into,
but I do want to mention. Even prosecution acknowledged that
(35:41):
Meeks was not a reliable witness either. They said, quote
his Budweiser intake was eighteen to twenty four cans a day.
Mister Meeks also, like Kimberly, changed his story multiple times,
according to prosecution, four.
Speaker 8 (35:58):
Times to be exact.
Speaker 6 (36:00):
But like I said earlier, Susan Blunt and other family
members feel they have found the right man. So when
Michael Tony was convicted, they were relieved, and I mean
I get it. They probably felt for the first time
in decades that they could breathe again and they were
finally getting justice for their family. In two thousand and one,
(36:22):
after a visit from an investigator working on mister Tony's appeal,
Chris Meeks signed an affidavit recanting his entire trial testimony.
Blankenship the pedophile we were talking about earlier, that also
testified and was trying to get his sentence commuted. Also
now claims that his entire story was false. Meanwhile, a
(36:47):
private detective continued working on Michael Tony's case, hoping to
one day get him out of prison. Michael Tony hoped
that the further investigation would be able to free him.
He continued to man he was wrongfully convicted and had
nothing to do with the Blunt's murders. He also cited
important flaws in his ex wife and Chris Meeks testimonies.
(37:10):
For example, they claimed that he was driving a truck
on the night of the bombing. Tony claims he didn't
even own this truck until about a month and a
half after the bombing. He feels that this could further
discredit Chris and Kimberly's testimonies. One of mister Tony's former girlfriends,
Tammy Reel, also claims that she saw Tony the night
(37:33):
of the murders and that he was driving a small car.
The Texas Innocence Network at the University of Houston soon
took on Michael Tony's case. Tony continued to maintain his innocence, saying, quote,
I have learned through the many cases, I have studied
that the prosecution often resorts too highly unethical and often
(37:54):
illegal acts to obtain a conviction. They will use every
dirty trick in the book to get a conviction and
then defend their actions on appeal because they know how
reluctant the courts are to overturn a conviction. I am
unequivocally innocent of this crime. I have never in my
life been to the Hilltop Mobile Home Park, and I
(38:16):
am in no way whatsoever connected to the crime, the victims,
or anyone else in that area. I've never been there.
I didn't even know the place existed until just prior
to my trial. The reason there is no evidence is
because I am completely innocent end quote. He says that
(38:37):
he's never been to Hilltop Mobile Home Park and he
hadn't heard of the Blunt family bombing until years later.
And like I mentioned earlier, I know it's controversial, but
I have to agree based on what was presented in
the trial. I don't think that prosecution had enough to
put this man away, especially to be given a death sentence.
(38:59):
If my Tony is innocent, then that would mean this
killer is still walking free. Tony agreed with this saying quote.
Since the trial, my family and I have received numerous
phone calls and letters from people saying they know I'm
innocent because they know who did the bombing and why
it was done. I believe the fact that no one
(39:21):
could ever determine the motive is the reason they couldn't
solve the crime. I've been in contact with these people
who wrote and called my family. They have told me
what the motive was, who did it, and why the
motive was never determined. Yes, I have learned who the
real murderers are, but they will remain free to commit
more murders unless the investigation is reopened. No one will
(39:45):
listen to me because the case has been closed. The
case has been closed, but the crime was not solved.
The people who committed this terrible crime live in the
Fort Worth area. As far as I'm concerned, no one
is safe until the real murderers are brought to justice.
I am doing everything I can to try to make
that happen. The Blunt family deserves to know the truth,
(40:08):
and they deserve the real murderers to be brought to justice.
Speaker 8 (40:12):
End quote.
Speaker 6 (40:14):
In October two thousand and eight, the Tarrant County District
Attorney's office was found to have withheld fourteen pieces of
critical evidence for Michael Tony's defense during his trial. After
this discovery, the prosecutors turned the case over to the
Attorney General of Texas. Michael Tony's death sentence was also
(40:36):
overturned because of this. December seventeenth, two thousand and eight,
and on September second, two thousand and nine, Michael Tony
was released from Tarrant County Jail. He had been in
prison for the Blunt Family bombing for a decade, but
just one month after his release, Michael Tony would die
(40:58):
in a serious car accident. This happened at the time
that the state was trying to actually decide if they
should retry Michael Tony for the crime. Also, if anyone
looks into this case and comes across an AI generated
disgusting Medium dot com article, it's fake. It's not true.
(41:22):
I just want to put that out there and call
out whoever made this.
Speaker 8 (41:25):
It's disgusting, it's horrific.
Speaker 6 (41:28):
When I was researching this case, I had read all
these articles, learned the story, and luckily came across this
medium dot com article afterwards, so I was immediately able
to tell it is a completely fake story, but they
use the Blunt family name. They changed the first names
of the victims. They included that it happened on Thanksgiving
(41:49):
Day nineteen eighty five, but they said it was in
some different town in Tennessee. They said, you know, it
was a bombing, and then they like made up a
bunch of things like fake suspects and stuff like that,
and then they had all these AI generated images and
it just made me so angry, Like I already hate
(42:10):
so many things about AI, but I just wanted to
put that out there in case anybody looks up this
story and comes across that medium dot com article, it's
not true.
Speaker 8 (42:21):
Look at the sources in my show notes. Please. At
the time of Michael Tony's.
Speaker 6 (42:26):
Release in two thousand and nine, the case would again
become unsolved, and the case to this day is still
collecting dust on the Attorney General of Texas's shelf. The
type of bomb used has also never been made public,
though we have some idea, like with the mouse traps,
for example, media outlets have questioned why more information about
(42:50):
the bomb has not been released to the public. They
hope that this could stir up new tips in the
cold case, it does seem like this was a targeted hit,
though for somebody else, it does seem to me like
the bomb was not meant for the Blunts. Since Michael
Tony's death, the case continues to remain inactive, with.
Speaker 8 (43:11):
No known leads.
Speaker 6 (43:13):
Police sources main most likely the bomb was placed at
the wrong trailer by mistake, which would make it difficult
to identify the murderer. But I truly hope that Susan
and Robert Blunt have been able to find peace, that
they're doing well, as well as the other loved ones
of the Blunt family. When I was coming across other
(43:34):
articles and videos of people who have talked about this,
there were a lot of people in the commons saying
they either knew the Blunts or they knew somebody who
knew them. And my heart goes out to anybody who
knew this family. It's a truly heartbreaking, horrific story, and
I really hope that there is a break in this case.
(43:54):
I want us to get answers, because whether Michael Tony
did it or not, his conviction was over, so the
case is unsolved. Susan, Robert, and other loved ones of
the Blunts deserve to know what happened. If you have
any information on what happens to the Blunt family on
Thanksgiving Day nineteen eighty five, you are encouraged to contact
(44:17):
the Attorney General of Texas at five one two four
six three twenty one hundred and this will also be
in the show notes and that everybody is the perplexing
and tragic story of the Blunt family bombing and the
unsolved murders of Joe Blunt, Angela Blunt, and Michael Columbus.
(44:52):
Thank you all so very much for listening to today's episode.
If you enjoyed the way this story was told, continue
to follow along. If you're watching on YouTube, I would
love if you drop a comment down below with your
thoughts like this video, subscribe. If you're listening on a
podcast platform, add this show to your list, leave a
five star rating and review. If you're listening on Spotify,
(45:13):
you can leave a comment on this exact episode letting
me know your thoughts and if you would really like
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slash Perplexity Mystery Podcast or check out the YouTube memberships.
(45:34):
Thank you again to Chris for requesting today's episode. If
you have a topic that you would like to request
or a story of your own, I love listener stories.
You can always send those to me at Perplexity Mystery
Podcast at gmail dot com. Thank you to everybody so
much for listening. You all are amazing. I hope you
have a great week. Please stay safe and I will
(45:57):
talk to you next week.
Speaker 8 (45:59):
Bye.
Speaker 7 (46:01):
Thank you for listening to Perplexity, a mystery podcast hosted, written,
and produced by Kater Brannan assistant producer is t J McCrae.
If you enjoyed today's episode, tell the world about it
by leaving a five star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
It really is the best way to support. Have a
(46:23):
topic request or a perplexing story of your own you'd
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(46:44):
Perplexity merch and additional support links can be found in
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