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Co-defendants Tony Bluml (left), Kisha Schaberg (third from left) and Drew Ellington (right) sit in Sedgwick County District Court with their attorneys and listen to Braden Smith testify during a preliminary hearing July 17. Smith agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for his testimony.

Witness details plot to kill couple
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: July 24, 2014

Three to stand trial on capital murder charges

Drew Ellington wanted money. Kisha Schaberg wanted revenge. Tony Bluml wanted both.

But the question was, what was in it for Braden Smith?

Nothing, Smith told defense attorney Jay Greeno during a preliminary hearing July 17 in the Nov. 15, 2013, shooting deaths of Tony Bluml's adoptive parents Roger and Melissa Bluml.

"Had the Blumls done anything to you?" Greeno asked.

"No sir," Smith answered.

"Do you think it's OK to go killing people?" Greeno asked.

"No sir, I do not," Smith said again.

Smith said he wasn't there when the shooting happened. But prosecutors said he helped make it happen. Smith admitted he supplied the gun that was used to kill the Blumls and arranged  transportation to the Blumls' rural Valley Center home.

But Smith said in Sedgwick County District Court that it was Tony Bluml who lured his parents away from their home Nov. 15, it was Ellington who drove to the residence and it was Schaberg, Tony Bluml's birth mother, who shot Roger and Melissa.

In exchange for his testimony, Smith could be spared from a sentence of life in prison or the death penalty. Smith agreed to plead guilty to two counts of second-degree murder.

Ellington, Schaberg and Bluml are each charged with two counts of capital murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, burglary and theft. They are accused of killing the Blumls and burglarizing their home at 5932 E. 109th North. Melissa Bluml, 53, died Nov. 16. Roger Bluml, 48, died Dec. 21.

Smith had faced the same charges before reaching a plea agreement the day before last week's preliminary hearing. Prosecutors said they would request a 24.5-year sentence for Smith, meaning he could get out of prison in his 40s.

Prosecutors have not decided whether to seek the death penalty.

Sedgwick County District Court Judge Jeffrey Goering found enough evidence to take the case to trial. Arraignment and trial dates have not been set.

In the July 17 preliminary hearing, District Attorney Marc Bennett directed Smith's testimony as defense attorneys — Gary Owens, attorney for Bluml; Greeno, attorney for Ellington; and Jeffrey Wicks, attorney for Schaberg — delivered cross examination.

In testimony provided by Smith, a 19-year-old high school dropout and an admitted drug user, prosecutors laid out the details of the days and weeks leading up to the Nov. 15 shooting. Smith also described what he learned from Schaberg, Ellington and Bluml in the days after the shooting.

Together, it painted a picture of a drug-fueled summer, revenge, greed and a grisly crime that took the lives of a well-respected couple, tore apart a family and shook a community.


Summer of drugs

Smith said he and Bluml had known each other since they were students at Valley Center Middle School, but Smith dropped out of Valley Center High School during his junior year and started selling drugs.

Bluml, a standout wrestler and football player, had planned to go into the Air Force after high school, but his future changed when he was caught smoking marijuana during his senior year.

Smith said Bluml had gotten kicked out of Roger and Melissa Bluml's house, and things spiraled downhill for Bluml.

Jail records show that in June 2013, Bluml was arrested on assault charges and was picked up on a DUI charge in July.

By then, Smith said Bluml had moved in with a mutual friend, and Smith and Bluml started partying together, smoking marijuana, popping the prescription drug Xanax and drinking alcohol.

Smith, who said he started smoking marijuana when he was a freshman in high school and was using every day by the time he was 15 years old, was smoking six or seven blunts (cigars filled with marijuana instead of tobacco) each day.

Smith said Bluml worked at Subway and Papa Johns, but Smith, who was living with his grandmother, never had a job.

When Bluml later moved in with Smith, the two decided to set up a small marijuana-selling operation, but they weren't very good at it, attorneys suggested on cross examination.

Smith and Bluml made some money, but it was never enough to satisfy their habits and pay for their own place, Smith said.

Plus, Smith had been robbed twice last summer — once of drugs and the second time of money he got from selling drugs. He bought a pistol for protection, but he was afraid it wouldn't be enough to keep him safe.

Meanwhile, Bluml had reconnected with his biological mother, Schaberg, who was living in San Diego, Calif. Roger and Melissa Bluml had adopted Tony Bluml and his younger brother, Chris, when Tony was about 6 years old. Chris, who was in the courtroom during the July 17 preliminary hearing, is two years younger than Tony.

Late last summer, Smith and Bluml decided to go west, and they had big plans in California.

Smith and Bluml planned to stay at Schaberg's one-bedroom apartment in San Diego with Schaberg and "her wife," with whom she shared the apartment, and Schaberg's young child, Smith said.

On cross examination by Greeno, Smith said he and Bluml wanted to expand their marijuana operation and learn about the medical marijuana business while in California.

"I find it interesting," Smith said.

"That and medical marijuana in California is supposed to be a little bit more potent, isn't it?" Greeno asked. "And if you could set up a supplier from California back to Kansas, you would probably be demanding higher prices for the marijuana that you are distributing. Is that correct?"

"Correct," Smith said.

Plus, Smith also learned that Schaberg had been a drug dealer and may still have some connections in the business.

"So, a lot of the things that you did during that summer and your trip to California were motivated by your desire to increase your income through the distribution of marijuana," Greeno said. "Is that correct?"

"Correct," Smith answered.


California dreams

Smith said he drove his car to California, and he and Bluml arrived in San Diego late at night.

Smith said Schaberg and her partner's relationship started getting "rocky" soon after Smith and Bluml arrived from Kansas.

"I know (Schaberg's partner) didn't like the fact that Kisha was spending so much time with (Bluml)," Smith said on cross examination.

They stayed at the couple's apartment for more than a month before moving into a motel, where Smith said he paid to live for two weeks.

Smith used a debit card to pay for the motel. He said his grandmother had been putting money into the debit card account for him. Schaberg didn't have a job, but was receiving $1,000 a month in state assistance, Smith said.

Smith, Bluml, Schaberg and Schaberg's young daughter moved into the motel together.

Smith said Bluml didn't discuss his adoptive parents much while in California.

However, Smith overheard Schaberg and Bluml talk about Schaberg's efforts to reconnect with Bluml's younger brother, Chris.

"Tony would say that Chris was reluctant, not very sure if he wanted to or if he didn't want to," Smith said.

Schaberg didn't like Roger and Melissa Bluml, Smith said.

Schaberg told Smith that the Blumls were "probably feeding Chris bad things about her," Smith said.

"We were talking one time and Kisha told us that she had drove up to the street where they live and wanted to shoot them then but she got scared," Smith said.

It wasn't clear when that happened, Smith said. And on cross examination by Wicks, Smith said he couldn't be sure whether Schaberg made up the story.

Things weren't working out for Schaberg, Bluml and Smith in California. They were running out of money, and no one had been looking for a job. Mostly, they just smoked marijuana and played video games.

Smith said he shopped at a legal medical marijuana dispensary in California and asked how to get a job there. He was turned down.

Within less than two weeks at the motel, the group decided to return to Wichita.

Bluml and Schaberg were reluctant to take the young daughter away from Schaberg's partner, but they agreed to leave California.


The plot

They drove for about eight hours before stopping in Arizona for the night.

Smith said he didn't remember the town they came to, but he recalled paying for the motel room.

"When we got to the hotel, we went to our room," Smith said. "We needed to get blankets because it was really cold."

Smith and the young girl stayed in the room while Schaberg and Bluml went to the car to get the blankets, Smith said. They returned, made a pallet for the girl to sleep on and then discussed "the plan" with Smith, he said.

It was the first Smith had heard of Schaberg and Bluml's intentions, he said.

"I don't really recall if it was one or the other or both of them," Smith said. "It wasn't very clear. It was just basically along the lines of if we kill my parents …"

Wicks, Schaberg's attorney, objected to the testimony, saying the judge shouldn't allow it because he could not question Schaberg or Bluml about the statements during the hearing. The judge overruled Wicks' objection and Smith continued.

"It was very vague, just that if they killed his parents they could get will money," Smith said.

On cross examination by Wicks, Smith said he told investigators that Bluml was the first to tell Smith about the plot to kill Bluml's parents.

Wicks said according to Smith's interview with investigators, Bluml picked the day the shooting would happen and made arrangements to get his parents out of the house, that he knew where money was in the house so they could make it look like a robbery and he figured he would get money from his parents' will once they were dead.

Smith said Bluml told him that his parents were wealthy, but he didn't know how much of an inheritence he would receive.

"They weren't very specific at all," Smith said.

Smith said Schaberg and Bluml didn't discuss what they wanted to do with the money.

Wicks said that, according to Smith's interview with investigators, Bluml also told Smith that he was unhappy with his adoptive parents, that he felt like they favored Bluml's younger brother over him and he wasn't happy about being kicked out of the house.

"Correct," Smith agreed.

He said Schaberg also wanted money, but, like Bluml, there was more.

"I had a feeling that it was a lot out of hatred too," Smith said. "… Every time that Tony would try to get ahold of Chris and try to set up a lunch or something like that, he would say no, and she would get upset and talk about how much she didn't like Roger and Melissa. They were her two blood children and they got taken away from her."


The driver

Smith said Schaberg and Bluml wanted Smith to become part of the plan, because they needed a driver to take Schaberg to the Blumls' house.

Smith said he told Schaberg and Bluml that he didn't want to drive to the house, but he offered to get them guns if they needed them.

"They don't really know nobody in Wichita that could get pistols," Smith said. "They were on board."

The next day, the group traveled 16 hours back to Wichita. Smith said he did all the driving.

Smith said the group went to his grandparents' house for the night. It was about two weeks before the Nov. 15 shooting.

"We just needed to sleep there until the morning," Smith said.

The next day, Schaberg and Bluml booked a monthly-stay motel, Value Place, in south Wichita. Smith drove them to the motel. Schaberg and Bluml had no access to a vehicle, he said.

"I stayed with them two or three days a week," Smith said. "… I would come and visit during the day sometimes."

Smith said Schaberg and Bluml began to talk more specifically about their plan to burglarize the Blumls' home and kill Roger and Melissa.

"They would need the Blumls gone and Chris would have to be gone," Smith said. "… Gone like so they could get into the house. … They wanted to break in and steal money and whatever they could find. … Tony had known where they keep a stash of cash. … He just said that it was a lot."

Smith said Ellington's involvement began when Smith decided he didn't want to drive Schaberg to the Blumls' residence. Just days before the Nov. 15 shooting, Smith said he suggested to Schaberg and Bluml that Ellington could do it.

Ellington and Smith had been friends since they were in middle school together. Like Bluml, Greeno said Ellington had been kicked out of his house because he was smoking marijuana and was drifting in and out of friends' homes.

But Greeno said Ellington had a steady job at a golf course.

Smith said Bluml and Schaberg asked if Ellington was "a solid guy."

"I replied that Drew was just like me," Smith said. "He wouldn't run his mouth or anything."

He said that Ellington knew Bluml from school and had met Schaberg for the first time when the group returned from California. Ellington came to Smith's grandparents' house late that first night.

Later, Smith told Ellington about the group's plan while both of them were living at a friend's house in Park City. But Smith said he didn't say anything about the plot to shoot the Blumls, only to burglarize the house and look for anything of value.

Smith said he told Ellington that Schaberg needed a ride to the Blumls' house.

"He was alright with it, but he wanted to get paid," Smith said.

Ellington didn't say how much money he wanted.

"I told Tony and Kisha, and they said they would offer him $1,000," Smith said.

On cross examination by Wicks, Smith said he thought Ellington knew more about the plot than Smith told him.

Smith said Bluml planned to take Roger and Melissa Bluml out to dinner on Nov. 15 as a way to get them away from the house. And Bluml knew his brother would be at a wrestling meeting at the high school.

"Tony had wrestled for all of high school and maybe longer and he was still in contact with people from the wrestling team," Smith said.

Smith said he then went about getting guns for Schaberg and Bluml as he had promised.

Bennett showed pictures of three pistols — two .25-caliber guns (one with a white handle and the second with a dark handle) and one black .38-caliber pistol.

Smith said he bought the .38-caliber handgun for himself, protection because he said he had been robbed earlier that summer. Smith said he left the .38 with a friend before he moved to California.

The two .25-caliber guns were purchased specifically for Schaberg and Bluml, Smith said.

On cross examination by Wicks, Smith said he bought the two pistols from different individuals. One of Smith's friends helped him set up the illegal purchase of one of the .25-caliber handguns (the one with a dark handle). Smith said he and his friend met a black male in the Home Depot parking lot on North Woodlawn and paid $250 for the gun.

A friend of a friend helped Smith get the second gun, the .25-caliber pistol with the white handle. He paid $199.

"When I bought them, I carried them around in a compartment in my car," Smith said. "… From what I recall, I left them at (the Value Place motel) and the next day Drew drove there and waited until the Blumls and Tony were out to dinner."

Smith said he didn't tell anyone else of Schaberg, Bluml and Ellington's plans.

On the day of the murder, Smith said he talked to Ellington at their friend's house in Park City after Ellington got off of work in the early afternoon. Smith said Ellington told him he was going to the Value Place motel to wait with Schaberg.

Ellington took his vehicle. It was about 3 p.m., Smith said.

About six hours later Roger and Melissa Bluml — each with a single gunshot wound to the head — were discovered barely clinging to life in the truck outside their home.


The shooting

Smith said he talked to Bluml and Schaberg together while sitting in a vehicle outside of the Value Place motel two days after the shooting.

As usual, they were smoking marijuana.

Smith said he wanted to know what happened at the Blumls' residence.

Bluml and Schaberg told him.

Smith said Schaberg and Ellington were able to get into the house, but Schaberg did not talk much about what they did inside.

"I asked Kisha, and she said when the Blumls arrived back from dinner, her and Drew came from the side of the house (where they were hiding)," Smith said.

Schaberg walked up to the side of the truck, where Melissa Bluml was sitting, Smith said.

Melissa Bluml opened the door as Schaberg and Ellington approached the truck, Smith said.

Schaberg "said that Melissa said, ‘Oh, my gosh, Kisha,'" Smith said.

Schaberg used the pistol to shoot Melissa Bluml once in the head, Smith said.

Quoting Schaberg, Smith said that Roger Bluml turned to his wife and said, "Baby, baby, are you alright?"

Schaberg then walked around to the other side of the truck and pointed the pistol at Roger Bluml. She pulled the trigger, Smith said, but nothing happened. The gun jammed. She pulled the trigger at least three more times before it fired and a bullet struck Roger Bluml in the head, Smith said.

Smith said that Ellington did not use the white-handled pistol he had.

The two then ran to Ellington's vehicle, which was hidden on the property away from the residence.

Bluml was not at the home at the time of the shooting, and prosecutors did not ask Smith about Bluml's whereabouts.


After

Minutes after the shooting, Ellington called Smith and said Schaberg was having a panic attack and needed to smoke some marijuana to calm herself down, Smith said. Schaberg and Smith were in Ellington's vehicle in the driveway at their friend's house in Park City. Smith was inside the house.

Smith said he rolled a marijuana cigarette and then walked to the car to smoke it with Schaberg and Ellington.

Smith said there was no discussion about what happened at the Blumls' residence other than Schaberg's evaluation of Ellington's role.

"Just that Drew did good, Drew was great," Smith said.

Smith said Ellington responded by smiling.

Smith said Schaberg told him she "needed to be higher and she wanted to take what's called a dab, which is a different part of a marijuana flower."

Smith, Schaberg and Ellington went into the house for the additional marijuana.

Schaberg smoked two "dabs" from a bong, Smith said.

Smith said that as Schaberg and Ellington returned to Ellington's vehicle, Smith asked whether they had gotten rid of the two pistols. They said they hadn't.

Smith told them to throw the two guns into a lake on the south side of Wichita.

Smith said Ellington, instead, gave him the gun that was not used in the shooting — the .25-caliber pistol with a white handle. Smith said he didn't see the dark-handled pistol.

"They just gave it back to me, the one that wasn't used," Smith said.

Ellington and Schaberg left the residence.

Smith said he called Bluml later that night.

"I just asked him how he was doing, if he was alright," Smith said. "… He said, ‘I'm good.' I said, ‘OK, well I'm coming by tomorrow.'"

Meanwhile, Chris Bluml returned to the Blumls' house after a wrestling meeting about 9:15 p.m. and discovered Roger and Melissa inside the truck. They were taken to the hospital. Melissa was pronounced dead the next day. Roger died about five weeks later. It was unclear whether Roger was able to speak to investigators about the shooting.

The day following Nov. 15, Smith said he and Tony Bluml talked again, but Bluml did not discuss the shooting. They talked about drugs, instead, Smith said.

Bluml told Smith he had enough money to buy a half pound of marijuana, and he agreed to sell it to Smith at a discount so he could break it down, resell it and make some cash, Smith said.

Smith said Bluml got at least part of the money from Roger and Melissa's house.

Smith said he bought all eight ounces of the marijuana — in two installments — and resold it.

On cross examination by Wicks, Smith said Bluml paid $1,800 for the marijuana, and Smith paid Bluml $1,900 for it. Smith resold the marijuana and made between $150 and $200 in profit.


‘For nothing'

Smith said Bluml told him he went to the hospital in the days after the shooting to see his father. While there, Bluml learned from a family member that Bluml may not be in the couple's will after all.

"He said, ‘This might all have been for nothing,'" Smith recalled.

Smith said Bluml didn't discuss with him his feelings about his parents' deaths.

"I got the impression that he wasn't happy about it, but he wasn't extremely sad," Smith said.

On cross examination, Smith described Bluml as usually happy and energetic. After the shooting, Bluml was "flat," Smith said.

Smith said it didn't seem like Ellington was upset.

"He wasn't mad at you for getting him involved in a murder plot?" Owens asked.

"I don't believe so," Smith answered.

Ellington and Smith left their friend's Park City house in the days following the shooting. Smith said he didn't want to get their friend's family in trouble.

"I went to a buddy of mine's house who lives on North Seneca in Park City," Smith said. "… Drew came with me to the first house I went to and then he went back to (their friend's house)."

Smith said Ellington did not give him any details about the murders.

But, Smith said, Ellington told him he didn't know Schaberg was going to shoot the Blumls.

"He said it was crazy," Smith said.

Smith said Ellington didn't know about the money that was found at the home, even though he was inside when it was taken. Smith said he asked Ellington if he had been paid, and he said he hadn't. Smith said he asked Schaberg if they found any money. Schaberg said they had, but she took it in a way that Ellington couldn't see so she wouldn't have to pay him, Smith said.

On Nov. 16, Smith got a message from his family that sheriff's investigators were looking to interview him about the homicides. The next morning, as he was driving to his grandmother's house to go to the sheriff's office together, he stopped at Chisholm Creek Park and threw the white-handled pistol and his .38-caliber pistol into a pond, even though neither were used in the shooting.

During his interview with law enforcement, which Smith said lasted three days, Smith said he lied about his involvement in the case. He later relented, and he was arrested on Nov. 20.

Bluml and Schaberg were arrested Nov. 19 at the Value Place motel at 4665 S. Broadway. Ellington was arrested in Park City.

All four are being held in the Sedgwick County Jail.  





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