\u201cWhen I put my arms around her I didn\u2019t think I was going to strangle her.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what murder suspect William Blackburn, Jr., 42, told a Colorado Bureau of Investigations agent during a recorded interrogation on April 23. Blackburn is charged with second-degree murder as an act of domestic violence in the strangulation death of 61-year-old Cindy Johnson, his lover.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t have come to this,\u201d Blackburn replied when interrogators asked what he was thinking on the night of Jan. 7.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe passed out?\u201d the agent asked.<\/p>\n
Johnson let go of his forearms and fell back onto a couch, said Blackburn.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought she just gave up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d the agent continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that point, I went to bed,\u201d said Blackburn.<\/p>\n
The exchange was included in a 15-minute interrogation video broadcast at a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, June 30. After three hours of testimony inside a sweltering Dove Creek courtroom, District Court Judge Todd Plewe bound the case over to district court. An arraignment hearing was set for July 14.<\/p>\n
Unshackled, but in custody wearing khaki Montezuma County inmate clothing, Blackburn didn\u2019t testify at Tuesday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n
Questioning Dolores County Sheriff Jerry Martin, public defender Justin Bogan repeatedly tried to solicit testimony that Johnson, instead, died of a drug overdose. Bogan even pointed out that interrogators, and not his client, used the word \u201csqueeze.\u201d<\/p>\n
After repeated objections by prosecutors, Plewe halted Bogan\u2019s line of questioning, saying citing possible defenses weren\u2019t to be considered at a preliminary hearing. A jury, Plewe added, should determine the cause of death.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re pushing the limits,\u201d Plewe told Bogan.<\/p>\n
On direct examination by District Attorney Will Furse, Martin testified that Johnson, upon returning home from work on Jan. 8, called dispatch at 6 p.m. to report Johnson\u2019s death. According to a medical examiner\u2019s report, Johnson died the night before, sometime between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.<\/p>\n
Martin also testified that Johnson suffered bruising on her throat and arms as well as hemorrhaging in her eyes. Blackburn\u2019s DNA evidence was also found under her fingernails on her left hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Blackburn didn\u2019t request medical help,\u201d said Martin. \u201cHe called, because he thought Ms. Johnson was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
The only other witness to testify on Tuesday was Dolores County Sheriff\u2019s deputy David Harrington. He was the first to respond to the crime scene, a residence on the 1000 block of North Pine Street in Dove Creek. Harrington said he was met at the door by Blackburn. Unresponsive, Johnson was lying on the couch.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe appeared to be dead,\u201d said Harrington. \u201cHer skin was cold to the touch.\u201d<\/p>\n
A lifelong resident of Dove Creek, Johnson enjoyed horseback riding with family and friends. She apparently had a crush on NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath and appropriately named her horse, \u201cBroadway Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n
If convicted, Blackburn faces up to 48 years in prison. He remains in custody under a $200,000 bond.<\/p>\n
According to Martin, the homicide case is the first in Dove Creek in more than three decades.<\/p>\n