Timothy Blackburn

Overview

Timothy Blackburn escaped from the North Las Vegas jail with the help of his wife, Sophia Lee. During a nearly three-week search, federal and local authorities pursued Blackburn after he was identified as a fugitive. Blackburn was killed during a shoot-out with police at an eastern Las Vegas motel after police say he killed his family.

Timeline

• Aug. 11 — Timothy Blackburn escaped from the North Las Vegas jail with the help of his wife, Sophia Lee.
• Aug. 20 — Police and FBI agents swarmed on Mount Charleston on a hunch that a Nissan parked in the desert belonged to Blackburn.
• Aug. 21 — Police trail a mix-up, with four people hunted by police for about 90 minutes after being mistaken for Blackburn and his group.
• Aug. 26, 1999 — A Las Vegas Sun report described Blackburn as one of the most elusive fugitives sought by local FBI officials.
• Sunday morning, Aug. 29, 1999 — SWAT officers entered Budget Suites Room 234; police negotiations preceded gunfire; Blackburn was shot dead by SWAT officers while he was in the apartment.

People

• Timothy Blackburn (25) — Fugitive; killed during a shoot-out with police.
• Sophia Lee (24) — Blackburn’s wife; escorted Blackburn during the escape; was killed in the motel room.
• Puthea Lee — Listed as Blackburn’s wife in relation to the earlier escape and the alleged flight with the family; the source also uses “Sophia Lee.”
• Jorge — A witness who said he heard 10 to 15 shots and described Blackburn coming out of the apartment with one hand around his wife’s neck.
• Timothy Lee Blackburn (25) — Identified in a criminal complaint as the person who climbed through the opening into the visitors room and followed his wife through exit doors.
• Robert Bates (26) — Accomplice named in connection with the Dec. 21, 1998 robbery; scheduled to go to trial with Blackburn.
• Ulrich Smith — Blackburn’s attorney.
• FBI Special Agent Kevin Caudle — Compared Blackburn to other notorious robbers and commented on the difficulty of hiding a wife and children.
• Sgt. Ken Hefner — Police homicide sergeant who described the negotiation and SWAT entry and said Blackburn threatened the lives of his wife and family.
• Steve Meriwether — Las Vegas police spokesman who said the people hunted were not doing anything wrong and that circumstances matched the suspect description.
• Sgt. Dan Lake — North Las Vegas jail official who said Blackburn was the first inmate to break out and remain at large longer than a half-day.
• Capt. Henry Hoogland — Custody bureau director who discussed that no one had successfully escaped from the Clark County Detention Center and commented on forced escapes.
• Glen Whorton — Chief of classification and planning for the Nevada Department of Prisons who discussed escape rates and recapture patterns.
• Roy Burney Bell (39) — Named as an example of a Nevada state prison escape that year.
• Raphael Basurto — Named as the Nevada’s longest missing prisoner.
• Misty Leann Smith (23) — Named in a comparison to another robbery case.
• Heather Tallchief (21) — Named in a comparison to another robbery case.
• Roberto Zelaya-Solis (48) — Named in a comparison to another robbery case.
• Anthony Frisco — Named in a comparison to another robbery case.

Background

Timothy Blackburn was considered a fugitive after escaping the North Las Vegas jail. FBI Special Agent Kevin Caudle described Blackburn as being among a notable set of elusive fugitives and speculated that Blackburn may have left the country. Authorities suspected Blackburn had fled with his family and faced difficulty finding the wife and children together.

North Las Vegas jail officials said Blackburn was the first inmate to break out of the facility and remain at large for longer than a half-day. The jail had seen only two other escape attempts that were marginally successful: one inmate made it outside the jail before getting stuck trying to climb the perimeter fence, and in another case two inmates escaped but one was caught just outside the facility and the second was recaptured 12 hours later. Capt. Henry Hoogland stated that no one had successfully escaped from the 1,488-bed Clark County Detention Center and that inmates had gained premature release through inadvertent paperwork snafus, while also cautioning that saying it cannot happen is wrong.

The offence

Bank robbery charge and alleged conduct

Timothy Blackburn was being held on federal charges stemming from the Dec. 21, 1998, robbery of about $1.1 million from a Bank of America ATM repository at 4215 E. Charleston Blvd. An armed guard was shot in the chest during the heist and was not fatally wounded.

Blackburn was scheduled to go to trial Oct. 13 in U.S. District Court with his accomplice, Robert Bates. Blackburn’s attorney, Ulrich Smith, said that if convicted, Blackburn likely would have faced life in federal prison.

Alleged earlier escape involvement

A report said Blackburn and his wife escaped from the North Las Vegas Corrections Center with the help of his wife and that their whereabouts remained unknown.

Investigation

Police homicide Sgt. Ken Hefner said investigators learned of Blackburn’s location around 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Investigators contacted Blackburn and began several hours of negotiations over the telephone.

Hefner said the negotiations deteriorated and Blackburn threatened the lives of his wife and family. Early Sunday, SWAT officers entered the apartment while Blackburn shot his wife and children.

During the nearly three-week search, a massive manhunt involving federal and local authorities culminated in multiple sightings and police operations tied to reports that a Nissan in the desert belonged to Blackburn.

Arrest / detention events

North Las Vegas jail escape

Blackburn broke out of the North Las Vegas jail with the help of his wife, Sophia Lee. The escape occurred Aug. 11.

On that night, investigators said, Blackburn’s wife came to visit him at 11:05 carrying a gun and an electric screwdriver to remove the screws in the window separating visitors from inmates. At the time, the jail was not equipped with metal detectors for visitors. Jail administrators promised a thorough review of procedures and said they were in the process of procuring a detector.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court described what happened next:

"At 11:45 p.m., Timothy Lee Blackburn climbed through the opening into the visitors room and followed his wife through the exit doors, which she had left ajar,"

Gunfire broke out in the parking lot as two warrant officers attempted to stop Blackburn from fleeing.

Attempted stopping during escape

The escape included gunfire with police who tried to stop Blackburn before he reached a getaway car after leaving the jail.

Trial

Scheduling

Blackburn’s case was scheduled to go to trial Oct. 13.

Sentencing

No sentencing information was provided.

Appeals

No appeals information was provided.

Outcome

Timothy Blackburn was shot and killed during the police SWAT entry at Budget Suites Room 234 in eastern Las Vegas.

A witness described hearing 10 to 15 shots during the shooting stopped. A witness who wanted to use only his first name, Jorge, said:

"He was yelling things, I don't know what exactly,"
"I thought he might kill them all."

Jorge also said that at one point during hours of negotiations, Blackburn came out of the apartment with one hand around his wife’s neck.

Homicide Sgt. Ken Hefner said:

"The negotiations started to deteriorate, and Blackburn threatened the lives of his wife and family,"
"Two SWAT officers fired at Blackburn, hitting him several times,"

Hefner said SWAT officers entered the apartment while Blackburn shot his wife and children. The children were taken to an unidentified hospital, but they died from their wounds. Blackburn and his wife were declared dead at the scene.

Two SWAT officers fired at Blackburn and hit him several times. Blackburn had killed his two little girls and was in the process of killing his wife when the SWAT team burst into his eastern Las Vegas motel room.

The Metropolitan Police Department did not report the names of officers involved in shootings until 48 hours after an incident.

Aftermath

Blackburn was described as one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives earlier that month after escaping. A Las Vegas Sun report discussed Blackburn’s ability to evade authorities since breaking out of jail Aug. 11 and listed other similar cases involving armored truck and ATM robberies.

Mount Charleston false sighting

On Aug. 20, police and FBI agents swarmed on Mount Charleston after a hunch that a Nissan parked in the desert belonged to Blackburn. An estimated 60 officers, including SWAT snipers, converged on a family of four who huddled together and prayed. It was the third false sighting of the 25-year-old since his escape. The report said it reached a climax on that date. One report also said that for about 90 minutes on Aug. 21, four innocent people were hunted by more than 60 police officers, FBI agents, SWAT team officers and snipers. One of the four was a 2-year-old child.

Las Vegas police spokesman Steve Meriwether said:

"They were doing nothing wrong. Unfortunately, everything matched our description of the suspect's vehicle and family,"
and:

Meriwether also said:

The siege began after a police helicopter conducting routine surveillance over Kyle Canyon spotted a vehicle similar to the one Blackburn was thought to be driving. The party also resembled the group with whom Blackburn is believed to be running: his wife, two children and a male friend.

The units included unmarked police cars, all-terrain vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances, a helicopter, surveillance vehicles and two “Peacekeepers,” which are armored vehicles that allow officers to enter into tense situations where there is little cover. Snipers with long guns were positioned on ridges overlooking the valley where the people were.

Police had cut off all available escape routes and roads from the valley. According to accounts on scanners that monitor police radios, the family was “huddled and praying around the car” as law enforcement approached. The three adults were taken into custody at 1:30 p.m., but they were not arrested or booked on any charges. Meriwether said:

"There's no crime to just hang out up there and act suspicious,"

Comparison cases and broader escape context

The Las Vegas Sun report compared Blackburn’s case to other high-profile thefts and escapes. It cited armored robbery cases involving Circus Circus and a similar caper involving Belz Factory Outlet World mall, and it noted that authorities had tracked down Anthony Frisco and had not found Blackburn for 15 days.

The report also referenced Nevada’s escape context: it described a Nevada state prison escape by Roy Burney Bell on Jan. 22 and said authorities recaptured him 10 days later. It also discussed that the state prison system held 9,115 inmates and that 27 inmates walked away from residential-confinement and work-release programs and eight remained at large, based on Glen Whorton’s statements.

The report mentioned Raphael Basurto, who was convicted in the early 1970s for “infamous crimes against nature” and escaped in 1975 in Carson City and has never been found. It described Basurtos as rare and said many escapees are stopped because they make traffic mistakes such as having headlights out or registration expired.

Whorton said:

"They get pulled over for having their headlights out or registration expired. I mean, it's like, 'Didn't you check? Didn't you see that stop sign?' "

Other details

People detained during the siege

The police operation on Mount Charleston involved four people, including a 2-year-old child. The names and ages of the people ambushed were not available.

Vehicle and route

The Mount Charleston operation took place on an isolated stretch of desert and began when units arrived at the State Route 157-Harris Springs Road intersection, about 13 miles west of U.S. Highway 95.

Jail population and facility size

The jail was described as housing 650 inmates. Capt. Henry Hoogland described the Clark County Detention Center as a 1,488-bed facility.

Accomplice and robbery figures

A report described Blackburn and Robert Bates as suspected of stealing $1 million from a Bank of America ATM repository at 4215 E. Charleston in December.