Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
Shortly after committing the murder of Jessie Blodgett, Daniel Bartelt sat with her family, who were unaware of his heinous act.
In 2013, after attending a party, 19-year-old Jessie returned to her home in Hartford, Wisconsin. Daniel, a close friend and former boyfriend, broke into her house.
While Jessie was asleep, Daniel raped and strangled her. He left the scene but later returned to offer condolences to Jessie’s family, concealing his role in her death.
No one initially suspected Daniel of the crime.
In a new episode of Investigation Discovery’s A Killer Among Friends, Jessie’s friend Ian reflects: “At this point in time, nobody knew who the killer could be. It became tough to conceptualize who could have done this thing.”
Jessie’s friends were unsurprised when Daniel was questioned by police, given his close relationship with her.
Friends dropped Daniel off at the police station after his visit to Jessie’s family.
He requested to be picked up just 30 minutes later, but when his friends arrived, they were informed that he was being held by the police.
The investigation took a turn when Daniel was connected to another crime committed a few days before Jessie’s murder.
He confessed to attacking a woman in a local park, holding her at knife-point, claiming he ‘only meant to scare her’, according to PEOPLE.
Despite admitting to the park attack, Daniel initially denied involvement in Jessie’s murder.
However, during police questioning, he slipped up by mentioning that Jessie had been ‘raped and murdered’—details that were not publicly known at the time.
Further investigation led to the discovery of a cereal box in a park trash can, containing ropes, bloody sanitizing wipes, and tape. Both Daniel and Jessie’s DNA were found on these items.
Daniel faced charges for Jessie’s murder and first-degree reckless endangerment related to his earlier attack on another woman.
He received a five-year sentence for the reckless endangerment, to be served consecutively with his life sentence for murdering Jessie.
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