Posted on 05/18/2014 9:14:35 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A Hailey man charged with second-degree murder in the death of a man who has been missing since January told police he killed 47-year-old Steven Romanchuk in self-defense, according to court records.
Keith Eric Blankenship, 49, was arrested Wednesday after voluntarily going to the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office. Police reported finding human remains in Blankenship’s backyard Thursday.
Deputies’ report gives this account:
Romanchuk’s wife, Lauraine Phillips, reported her husband missing Jan. 15. In the report, she said her husband lent $40 to a neighbor whom he later confronted over the principle of the money.
The next day, police spoke to Phillips who said Romanchuk had gone to Blankenship’s home a number of times to talk to him about the money, which she said was actually $100.
When deputies went to Blankenship’s home, he initially said he didn’t know Romanchuk but later said he knew him slightly. Blankenship said Romanchuk had never loaned him money or been to his home. He gave deputies permission to look into the windows of his garage, but they saw nothing suspicious.
On April 23, deputies interviewed Blankenship at his home. Again, he said he barely knew Romanchuk but had talked with him a few times when walking around the neighborhood.
On Wednesday, May 14, Blankenship came to the sheriff’s office and spoke to Chief Deputy Steve Harkins.
“I’m here to tell you something really bad,” he told Harkins. “This is the hardest thing I have ever done.“
Blankenship told Harkins: “I killed a man, I killed a man in self-defense.“
Blankenship identified Romanchuk as the man and said: “I buried him in my backyard.“ He then asked to speak to an attorney.
Thursday, detectives were taking video of the outside of Blankenship’s home when they came upon an 8-by-4-foot pile of dead leaves with partially exposed human remains. Detectives reported finding a partially decayed human torso and skull with exposed, rotting teeth.
The remains were about 15 feet from Blankenship’s back door, at 14 Deer Creek Road in Hailey.
Along with second-degree murder, Blankenship was charged with concealing evidence.
In Idaho, second-degree murder is defined as “willfully, unlawfully, deliberately and with malice aforethought, but without premeditation” killing another person.
The Idaho State Police Forensic Response Team and the coroner’s office are assisting sheriff’s deputies with the extraction of the body and collection of the evidence. The cause of death and identity of the body are undetermined and awaiting results of an autopsy which had not been scheduled Thursday. Sheriff’s office staff on Friday said no further information was available.
In February, Romanchuk’s truck was found in the Sun Valley Lodge parking lot. The vehicle was processed by forensic experts, reported the Idaho Mountain Express. Investigators said the man’s disappearance was the subject of extensive searches over the past several months.
Romanchuk, who had lived in the area for about a year, was self-employed, providing snow-removal and cleaning services, the Express reported.
Blankenship is being held in the Blaine County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is set May 29.
Well Blankenships life as a free man will be over for a while
I guess he is the man on the right with brown-gray hair. All this for a loan of $100.
Particularly exposed body under a pile of leaves.
Don’t loan leftist alcoholics money, not only will you not get your money, they are to lazy to bury you.
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