TUCSON, Ariz. - Husband and wife murder suspects made a fresh appearance in Pima County Superior Court Monday.
Blane and Susan Barksdale are charged with killing Frank Bligh. Blane Barksdale is also accused of burning Bligh’s house.
Frank Bligh’s body has never been found but Tucson Police say what they found in his abandoned car convince them Bligh is dead.
No motive has been posed for Bligh’s death but his family has said he had about a hundred guns that have not been found.
The Barksdales became fugitives twice over. They had been in northern Arizona but after Tucson Police searched where they were living in northern Arizona, they left the state.
U.S. Marshals found and arrested them in upstate New York near the Canadian border. A private transport company was moving the couple back to Arizona when they overcame the guards and were on the run again for about two weeks before U.S. Marshals found them in a remote part of northern Arizona and arrested them again.
The couple were set for a status conference today. Both of them appeared wearing leg shackles and chains as well as handcuffs. They wore striped jail uniforms that set them apart from the orange scrubs jail inmates usually wear.
Status conferences may cover a variety of issues from various motions to setting a trial date but the only action today was to set a new status conference.
