A high-profile murder involving a millionaire from San Antonio got the spotlight in a new docuseries by Law & Order (and the many spin-offs) creator Dick Wolf. Some familiar trappings, including the iconic “dun dun” and a voice fans of Law & Order may recognize, accompanies the true crime series Blood & Money, which premiered on CNBC on March 7, and Oxygen on March 11.
The second episode in the series titled “A Millionaire’s Defense” focuses on the 1997 murder of Sheila Bellush in front of her children and the eventual conviction of her ex-husband Allen Blackthorne. The former self-made millionaire, who was sentenced to two life sentences for the murder, died in prison in 2014.
Blackthorne was married to Bellush for five years and the couple had two daughters together. The pair had reportedly gone through a string of custody battles that favored Bellush, afterwhich she fled to Florida with Jamie Bellush, her second husband, their 2-year-old quadruplets, and her daughters. Blackthorne was accused of tracking her down and hiring two men to kill his ex-wife in her new home in Sarasota. The quadruplets were reportedly present for the murder, and Sheila’s body was discovered on the floor of her kitchen by her 13-year-old daughter. Blood & Money explores the investigation into the the brutal murder and the discovery, and unraveling, of the sinister murder-for-hire-plot. The true crime docuseries can be seen on CNBC every Tuesday at 9 p.m. The show will explore other cases like the premiere case of Robert Durst, as well as the Menendez brothers, notorious mother-son grifters Sante and Kenneth Kimes Jr., con artist “Clark Rockefeller,” and more, according to a news release.
