An Oregon man will spend over two decades behind bars for killing his girlfriend and disposing her body in the woods.
A Clackamas County Circuit Court judge sentenced 56-year-old William Glen Blake to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the shooting death of his 38-year-old girlfriend, Jennifer Ruth Stuart. Though the defendant initially pleaded not guilty, Blake later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
On Sept. 1, authorities responded to a U.S. Forest Service parcel off Hillockborn Road after reports from a couple on a hunt who saw turkey vultures circling an object that appeared to be human remains. Stuart was identified as the victim, and an autopsy report showed she died from a gunshot wound to the lower left side of her body.
According to KPTV, Stuart was shot on Aug. 14 after the couple engaged in a heated argument. Then, Blake went to a Home Depot store to purchase a large tote, garbage bags, and gloves to dispose of the victim’s body. Surveillance cameras from the Home Depot captured the defendant’s purchase of the tote and his vehicle.
According to prosecutors, the defendant realized the tote could be traced to him and decided to dump her body in the woods.
During a search of the home the couple shared, authorities found the tote Blake had initially used to conceal the body. The defendant later confessed to shooting Stuart and discarding her body during an interview.
“To end being shot, crammed into a plastic container … loaded up like an animal … (and) dumped out like trash … is unfathomable,” said Stuart’s mother, Elizabeth Stuart, during the victim impact statement, reported KGW8.
Blake will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years in prison.
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