4 days ago
Teenage killer raped and murdered best friend before carrying out the unthinkable
A teenager raped and murdered his best friend in her bed before joining his victim's parents in their grief just hours later like nothing had happened.
Daniel Bartelt, who was 19 at the time, killed 19-year-old University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student Jessie Blodgett in the summer of 2013.
Hours before her death, promising young musician Blodgett had been partying with her friends and fellow cast members of the Fiddler on the Roof production she had been starring in.
On the night of the slaying, Bartelt snuck into her family home in Hartford, Wisconsin, where he sexually assaulted her and strangled her before then fleeing the scene.
With no sign of a forced entry, Blodgett's death sparked a major whodunnit within her friendship group of fellow actors, with many of them completely at a loss at who could be behind the heinous act.
Blodgett's death is put under the microscope in ID's latest episode of A Killer Among Friends, which reveals Bartelt had been behind another senseless act before he killed his best friend – but it also exposes his chilling behavior in the hours that followed.
On July 15, Blodgett's mom had found her dead in her bed and immediately called the emergency services.
Hours after murder, a group of Blodgett's friends – including Bartelt – returned to the site of the killing to comfort her parents amid their grief.
At this point in time, nobody knew who the killer could be.
'It became tough to conceptualize who could have done this thing,' friend Ian said in the episode.
'Every person that surrounded Jessie was of, what I thought to be, great character because she bonded with great people.
'So, every stranger was a suspect and every person on the street could be guilty.'
Bartelt had been at the Blodgetts' house sharing memories of the victim when he was called to come in for questioning by cops at the station.
His interrogation, however, didn't raise alarm bells among his friends as they didn't suspect he had anything to do with her death.
'We expected him to be questioned because he was close to Jessie,' Jackie, another friend in the group, said.
'And when we dropped him off, he said, okay, maybe you can come and pick me up in 30 minutes?'
'We drove back to the police station to pick him up and we were met outside by a police officer asking if we were there for Dan. He had said, "we can't release Dan, he's being detained.'"
The friends were left in a state of shock after learning that Bartelt had been detained.
'We couldn't picture Dan being the type of person who did this,' Ian added.
And like the friend group, Blodgett's dad, Buck, refused to believe Bartelt was his daughter's killer – especially given that he had joined him just hours after her life was taken.
Sharing his initial doubt in the episode, he said: 'It's not Dan, he's never been in any trouble at school or the law, that we know of.
'Jessie and Dan sit together at school; he was a straight A student... they would write songs together and sing together, he was welcome in our home.
'He was just over, the day after Jessie's murder, sharing hugs and memories and tears with us until his phone rang and he was called in for questioning.'
While being completely devastated by his daughter's death, Buck was still somehow able to have compassion for her killer.
'Our first reaction wasn't, "we hate this kid," it was "oh my God, what happened to Dan?"' he said.
After a 16-day police investigation, Bartelt was charged with Blodgett's murder, and in August 2014, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.
He also pled guilty to first-degree reckless endangerment for tackling an unknown woman in a park to the ground while he wielded a knife just days before the murder, on July 12, 2013.
When questioned by cops over the attack, he explained that it was a 'spur of the moment decision' and that he wanted to 'scare' the victim.
For the attack, he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment and five years' extended supervision, to be served consecutively to his life sentence.
To this day, Bartelt's motive for killing Blodgett's is unclear and he has maintained his innocence.
After being convicted, he addressed Blodgett's parents, Buck and Joy, in the courtroom.
Speaking to them, he said: 'I can't give you the answers that you're looking for.
'I pray for you, for all of you, and I hope that — I believe that — someday we will be before a court that will know that my conscience is clear.'
A Killer Among Friends airs Mondays at 10/9c on ID, with new episodes weekly. Episodes will be available to stream on HBO Max.
