Jennifer Webb
Jennifer Webb was eight months pregnant at the time she committed suicide. She was a 32-year-old woman from Buena Vista, Michigan, known for her happy attitude and generous heart. She was always in a good mood and had lots of friends.
Her attitude made her the perfect customer service representative, which is what she did for a living. She didn't have a boyfriend, so when she told her family that she was pregnant, everyone was shocked.
A Surprise
The baby was also a surprise to Jennifer, who only found out about her pregnancy when she was five months along. But she welcomed the pregnancy with open arms and was actually really excited about it.
Naturally, the first question her family and friends had was about the identity of the baby's father, but Jennifer was very private about it. Eventually, she gave in and told her parents the name of the man.
Mystery Man
She told her parents that she would raise the baby alone and that she was actually very happy about that. After all, she wasn't even in a relationship with the baby's father.
She also told her family that the baby's father was married and had no intention of leaving his wife. Jennifer was OK with it and just wanted to be a single mother to her son, who she was going to name Braxton.
Supporting Her
Although her family and friends thought the situation was a little strange, they gave Jennifer their full support. After all, she seemed happy with how things were and was really looking forward to raising this baby.
But just one month before she was supposed to give birth, Jennifer's family got some terrible news from the police department: Jennifer had been found dead after taking her own life.
Meeting The Father
On August 31, 2011, Jennifer visited her friend Andrea and told her that she was meeting the baby's father later that day. Apparently, she wanted to convince him to put his name on the baby's birth certificate, but he wasn't sure.
But only a few hours later, Jennifer's body was found on the side of the road. There was an extension cord tied to the top of her car, and it seemed as though she had strangled herself with it.
The Police
Jennifer's body was found by officer Kenneth Bluew, who had been patrolling the area and stumbled upon the scene. He was quickly followed by officer Tim Patterson, and the two started investigating the scene.
Patterson examined the body and the car while Bluew took her purse out of her car. In it, he found a folded piece of paper that appeared to be a typed-up and printed suicide note.
The Note
The suicide note explained that she had lied to everyone about the baby's father. Initially, she had said that it was a married man with whom she had an affair with, but this was a lie. In fact, the father was a random man she met at a bar one night, and she lied because the truth was embarrassing.
She also said in the note that she felt like a failure and that her career wasn't going anywhere. She was not able to support her baby and it was better to just end it all.
Telling Her Family
Jennifer's family was informed about what happened as soon as possible. When they were told that Jennifer had committed suicide, they just couldn't believe it. They knew that Jennifer was happy with her life and wanted to have her baby.
They also pointed out that the suicide note didn't seem real. It was typed-up and printed and the wording didn't sound like something she would write. Although they were convinced that Jennifer had committed suicide, they decided to ask her family more questions.
The Mysterious Man
Her family told the police she was supposed to meet the baby's father around the time she died, which sounded suspicious already. When asked whether they knew the identity of this mystery man they said yes: his name was Kenneth Bluew, and he was a police officer.
When the police heard this, they were shocked. Not only was Kenneth Bluew one of their own, but he had also been the man who had found Jennifer's body. And he had never mentioned having an affair with her.
Officer Bluew
As far as the police were concerned, Kenneth Bluew was a good officer who had a normal life. He was apparently happily married with children, but the truth seemed to be different.
If what Jennifer's family were saying was true, then Bluew had been cheating on his wife with Jennifer. Then, Jennifer got pregnant, and Bluew wanted nothing to do with her and had no intentions of leaving his wife.
Nothing Is Found
The Michigan state police took over the case now that a local police officer was involved. When they went to investigate the crime scene, however, they realized that there was no crime scene to begin with.
Because it had been ruled a suicide, everything was gone from the scene. Her car had been towed and no DNA had been taken from the scene. Not only that, but the evidence photos had been taken by Kenneth Bluew himself, so they couldn't be trusted.
Striking Gold
The police went to the place where Jennifer's body had been found and of course found nothing as everything had been cleaned up. They still tried to find something that could give them any clues as to what really happened, but found nothing.
They were about to give up the search when one officer decided to take a walk to clear his head. He went about 200 feet away from the scene and by pure chance, he looked down and spotted a used cigarette butt on the floor.
More Clues
Not too far from the cigarette butt, the officer found blood spots and a charm that looked like it had fallen off a necklace. While this was being investigated, Bluew's coworkers were being interviewed.
Officer Patterson, the officer who had been at the scene with Bluew, told police exactly how he found Jennifer's body. He had been looking for Bluew for a while and decided to check whether he was in the usual spot where he went to kill time when he wasn't working. As it turns out, this spot was exactly where Jennifer had died.
Acting Suspicious
Right there, Patterson found Bluew already examining the crime scene. Bluew told him that he had just found it and was about to call him, and Patterson believed him.
It was also discovered thanks to phone records that there had been three calls between Jennifer and Bluew right before she died, which confirms the story about Jennifer going to meet the baby's father that day.
Questioning
When he was questioned, Bluew first admitted that he knew Jennifer from seeing her a few times at a bar, but because he didn't know her well, he didn't recognize her body when he found her. Later, he changed his story and admitted that he had actually known her for ten years.
Still, somehow, even though he knew her very well, he didn't recognize her when he happened to stumble upon her body by coincidence. One of the officers interrogating him also noticed he had many injuries on his body. It was almost all too clear: Bluew had killed Jennifer.
Evidence Is Needed
Although he seemed extremely suspicious, there was still not enough evidence to arrest him and charge him with anything. During questioning, he was asked if he would voluntarily give a DNA sample and he initially refused before finally giving in.
Jennifer's body was re-examined and it was discovered that she had been choked to death and she had several bruises on her body, making it clear that she hadn't committed suicide. Now, it was time to test the evidence for DNA.
DNA Evidence
DNA evidence was the police's only hope to truly link Kenneth Bluew to Jennifer's murder because everything else was circumstantial. Luckily, a lot of DNA evidence was found.
Bluew's blood was found on Jennifer's clothes, meaning that she had hurt him while trying to defend herself. His blood was also found in her car and on the extension cord that had been found around Jennifer's neck.
Even More Evidence
Remember the cigarette butt found on the scene? It also had Bluew's DNA on it. It was very clear that he had been responsible for Jennifer's death. But how did he do it?
The police theorized that he lured Jennifer to that road and tried choking her to death. Before she died, she managed to bite one of his fingers, causing him to bleed everywhere and leave so much blood evidence behind. He then staged the suicide just in time for officer Patterson to find it.
His Motive
His motive was also very clear. Bluew didn't want his wife to find out about his affair with Jennifer and did not want to be a father to her child. He decided to kill her so that nobody would find out he had cheated on his wife and he wouldn't have to be responsible for Jennifer's baby.
He had carefully planned every single step of the crime and even created the fake suicide note and carried it in his pocket, waiting for the perfect moment to kill Jennifer. There was so much evidence against him that it would have been almost impossible for him to walk free.
The Trial
Even after all the evidence against him, somehow Bluew's family believed he was innocent and gave him their full support. His sister was particularly vocal about her opinion and tried to convince people that he was innocent.
According to her, Jennifer had killed herself on purpose just to frame her brother, and then the police decided to continue framing him for whatever reason. Luckily, the judge made the right call and sentenced Bluew to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The End
Despite being found guilty of murder and receiving life without parole, Bluew still maintains his innocence and has tried to appeal his sentence several times. In 2014, his sentence for an assault charge was reduced, but this still does not erase his life sentence.
He is also trying to get his case to the Michigan Supreme Court, but he is most likely to lose. Jennifer's family just want to move on and hope that Bluew will give up and serve the sentence he deserves for taking the life of an innocent woman and her baby.