The Illinois man accused of gunning down his estranged wife, an award-winning nurse and mother of three, is both a college football hall of famer and former “Family Feud” contestant who once joked that his “biggest mistake” was getting married.
Timothy Bliefnick, who police say shot and killed Becky Bliefnick in her home in Quincy, Illinois, before she was found on Feb. 23, appeared on an episode of “Family Feud” with his parents and siblings three years ago.
“What’s your biggest mistake you made at your wedding,” the host Steve Harvey asked in an episode that aired in January 2020.
“Honey, I love you, but, said I do,” Bliefnick replied, prompting a mix of laughs and gasps from the crowd.
Tim Bliefnick, left, was a college football star and contestant on the “Family Feud” game show. Now he’s accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife, an award-winning nurse named Becky Bliefnick, right. (Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Becky Bliefnick/Facebook)
“Not my mistake, not my mistake – I love my wife,” Bliefnick added. “I’m gonna get in trouble for that aren’t I?”
The episode had been taped in the fall of 2019, according to the local ABC affiliate.
Bliefnick, through his attorney Casey Schnack, has maintained his innocence in his wife’s slaying.
WATCH: Timothy Bliefnick tells jokes on TikTok
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Schnack told Fox News Digital Wednesday the “Family Feud” remark was a harmless quip and had nothing to do with the couple’s eventual decision to separate.
Becky Bliefnick pictured with her family on Halloween in 2018. Police said she was found shot to death in her Quincy home on Feb. 23, 2023. On Monday, they arrested her estranged husband Timothy Bliefnick on charges of murder and home invasion. (Becky Bliefnick/Facebook)
“It’s a game show,” she said. “A silly answer to a silly question on a silly show doesn’t make one a murderer.”
Speaking with the local ABC affiliate KHQA, Bliefnick praised Harvey’s fashion choices after taping “Family Feud.”
“My older brother had this white and floral sport coat and that automatically drew Steve’s eye, and then my younger brother had blue suede shoes on, so they got into a commentary thing which was neat to see,” he told the station.
Tim Bliefnick speaks with a deputy as investigators search his home on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. QPD Officer Gabe VanderBol checks Tim Bliefnick to see if he is armed before putting him in the squad car. Bliefnick was not arrested at that time and was cooperative. (MuddyRiverNews.com)
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Since the “Family Feud” appearance and the beginning of the couple’s divorce process, Tim Bliefnick grew his hair out and moved his jokes to a TikTok account, which has since been set to private.
Before he closed off access, Twitter user @901Lulu backed up several of the videos, which show Bliefnick staring into the camera with a coffee mug before telling a joke and taking a sip.
Tim Bliefnick and his mother at estranged wife Rebecca Bliefnick’s funeral at St. Peter Church in Quincy, Illinois on Friday, March 3, 2023. Rebecca Bliefnick was found shot to death in her home in February. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
“So at a party, my girlfriend told me to, ‘Stop being an idiot – just be yourself,'” he said in one. “I looked at her and said, ‘You better make up your mind.’”
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Both Bliefnicks had graduated from Quincy University, the local Catholic college, where Tim was a football star.
In the fall of 2019, the university announced that he would be inducted into the program’s hall of fame – however his name was not visible on the roster of inductees when accessed Wednesday.
“Tim Bliefnick ’05 was a linebacker on the football team and finished with 287 career tackles, fourth-best in school history,” the original announcement stated. “His 104 tackles as a senior in 2004 rank fourth all-time in a single season.”
Tim Bliefnick is seen at his home on the day of Rebecca Bliefnick’s funeral on Friday, March 3, 2023 in Quincy, Illinois. He was wearing a T-shirt and sweats by the time family members dropped off the couple’s three children, who sat with their mother’s side of the family during funeral Mass and attended her burial. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
He had several other honors – including multiple all-conference teams and the school’s Mart Heinen Award in his senior year, which “is given to the most outstanding male and female senior athletes at Quincy University.”
Becky, for her part, graduated valedictorian from the local Catholic high school and went on to become an award-winning nurse, honored with a Daisy Foundation award at the height of the coronavirus pandemic for assisting the wife of a man whose husband was rushed into emergency surgery on short notice.
But police earlier this week charged Tim with her murder.
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A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday to determine where the couple’s three sons could be placed following their mother’s death and father’s incarceration.
The family has set up a GoFundMe campaign for their care and to create a scholarship in Becky’s honor.
