Viswa Vanapalli
The sudden and uncharacteristic disappearance of Bruce Blackwood in 2006 had everybody stumped back then. The case actually remained cold for many years until an unlikely confession changed the course of the inquiry. Investigation Discovery’s ‘True Conviction: The No Body Homicide’ and ‘Cold Case Files: Gone in a New York Minute’ chronicles how the police brought the killer to justice for murder despite never finding any remains.
Bruce Blackwood Was Choked and Dismembered
Bruce Blackwood lived in Queens, New York, and owned several rental properties across New York’s boroughs. Apart from that, he served as a supervisor at a location of the Off-Track Betting Corporation, a position he’d held since 2004. His life was honestly great, but he was having some issues with his bank checks, according to a phone call he had with a friend on March 2, 2006. Four days later, he didn’t come to work, calling in sick at the last moment — he claimed he’d slipped in the bathtub and had hurt his head, so he was going to the hospital.
That was the last time anyone heard from the 55-year-old landlord. After a missing person report was filed around March 9, the authorities mounted a comprehensive search for Bruce but couldn’t find any evidence that helped uncover what’d happened. Then, in 2011, additional information led them to believe that he was choked to death, dismembered, and then disposed of. At that point, they already knew who was responsible.
Bruce Blackwood Was Killed by His Handyman
In February 2006, Bruce Blackwood bought a property in Brooklyn, New York, and hoped to renovate and rent out units. So, he placed an ad looking for a handyman, which led to Luis Perez. Bruce eventually hired him and even let him live on the property while the renovations happened. Little did he know that Luis would soon begin stealing from him – the handyman had found his checkbook and began writing checks to himself.
According to official records, Luis cashed in about $7,700 by forging Bruce’s signature on numerous checks. About five days before Bruce’s disappearance, he found out about this and went to the police, who asked him to come back with evidence. The same night, Bruce spoke to a friend on the phone and told her that he would confront Luiz about it after the weekend on March 6, 2006. It was also the last time Bruce was heard from.
The landlord called work at around 10:45 am that day, saying he couldn’t make it because he slipped and hurt his head. However, records showed that Bruce’s phone was in Brooklyn and not Queens, where his primary residence was. The case hit a wall soon after with no other forensic evidence despite significant efforts. So, Luis was convicted of the theft alone and was sentenced to two to four years in prison. At the time, he was the sole suspect in the case, especially as he was known to be violent – he’d previously spent time in a Massachusetts prison for trying to kill his daughter and the child’s mother.
When Luis was initially questioned regarding his landlord, he said Bruce had given him his car keys for the purpose of alternate parking and left with someone named Mike. A few years later, in 2011, Luis’ daughter, Irene, told the police that she knew who killed Bruce; it was her father, and he told her all about it. In audio recordings, he even confessed to getting away with murder for killing Bruce after he’d found out about the forged checks. He admitted to choking the 55-year-old until his neck snapped. Then, he claimed he dismembered the body, placed the remains in garbage bags, and disposed of them.
According to the police reports, Luis had placed plastic sheets in his apartment before cutting up the body using a saw and a machete. Following this, he also used extensive amounts of bleach and carpet cleaner to remove the evidence in the apartment and the bathroom, going as far as to put down bleach in the drains. Luis said in the recording, “It’s not about committing the perfect crime — it’s just about how well you clean it up.” The investigators believed that he’d held a toy gun to Bruce’s head and forced him to make the call when he called in sick.
Luis Perez is Now Behind Bars
At Luis Perez’s trial in September 2015, Irene initially pleaded the Fifth regarding questions about the recordings but later testified when given immunity. She was the one to approach officials, but she claimed they had coerced her into cooperation by saying she’d lose her children. Phone calls between her and her father while he was in prison later proved that he’d asked her to lie in court, telling her she should say she was threatened.
Furthermore, a friend of Luis’ said, “He (Luis) was planning on killing him. He was planning on torturing him, getting his bank numbers, and getting his PIN numbers.” In the end, following mere hours of deliberation, Luis was found guilty of second-degree murder. As a result, in October 2015, the then 50-year-old was sentenced to 25 years to life. Prison records indicate that Luis remains incarcerated at the Attica Correctional Facility in Wyoming County, New York. He will be eligible for parole in March 2039.
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