reveals - Bad Sporters

Baseball Player Reveals He Found Out His Family Was Murdered On Facebook

admin — Tue, 05 May 2020 20:16:33 +0000

“I just immediately began to scream in the middle of the airport.”

A minor league pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays’ farm team said he found out his family was murdered via social media.

During a service at The River Church in Danville, Virginia on Sunday, Blake Bivens revealed how he discovered his wife, baby son and mother-in-law were shot to death last August when he checked his Facebook.

“First headline I see is two females and a small child were gone,” Bivens, 24, began in the confessional, which was broadcast over Facebook. “I immediately knew that was them. I found out my family was gone over a Facebook headline. I just immediately began to scream in the middle of the airport.”

Bivens’ wife Emily, 25, their 14-month-old son Cullen, Emily’s mother, Joan Bernard, 64, and a pet dog were found slain in their Keeling, VA home while Bivens was out on a road trip with the Montgomery Biscuits.

His brother-in-law, Matthew Bernard, 19, was arrested and charged with three counts of murder after leading the police on a chase while naked. Police say there may have been “religious motivation” for the shootings, according to a search warrant, per ESPN. A determination hearing is scheduled for next week to see if Bernard is competent enough to stand trial.

Bivens spoke for more than 30 minutes on the broadcast, detailing how he first checked his phone while packing up for a bus ride to a day game, which led him to the awful news.

“There weren’t any messages from Emily or anyone,” he said. “I knew then something was going on and immediately called my parents. They were trying to figure out what was going on also. I knew I needed to get my stuff together. I needed to probably get an airport trip home, not knowing the extent of anything going on.”

Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.

He went on to discuss the heartbreaking trip home.

“The only thing I really remember from the whole plane ride is I just went through periods,” he said. “I just stared at the back of the seat the whole time, trying to get my mind to wrap around what I’m hearing.”

“It’s almost kind of like, ‘This isn’t really happening.’ I was more in a state of shock. I would go through periods of shaking,” he said. “Then I would start to lose it a little bit and break down and cry. It was kind of like a circle. The plane rides just seemed like they took forever.”

Pittsylvania County Police Department / Facebook

Baseball Player’s Family Killed as Naked 19-Year-old Brother-in-Law is Charged With Triple Murder

View Story

Bivens confessed the trip home “could have been a whole lot worse for me” if he hadn’t been joined by three members of his baseball team.

“I think the hardest moment for me was when I got home and I walked in my son’s bedroom for the first time and realized I was never going to see him on this earth again,” he revealed. “That was the worst moment in my life. Nothing ever will come to feeling the way I felt at that moment.”

Got a story or a tip for us? Email TooFab editors at tips@toofab.com.

Source link

The post Baseball Player Reveals He Found Out His Family Was Murdered On Facebook first appeared on Bad Sporters.

Pal of rugby players accused of rape reveals what he believes happening on night

admin — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 15:49:53 +0000

A close friend of Ulster rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding accused of rape told a court he was shocked to hear alleged victim was ‘in hysterics’ when she left the house.

Blane McIlroy took Belfast Crown Court the events of the night. He claims that the woman had smiled at him when he walked in on her and Jackson in bed together earlier in the evening.

The 26 year-old, of Royal Lodge Road, Belfast, who is charged with one count of exposure, was giving evidence in his own defence at the high-profile trial on Friday.

He is on trial alongside Jackson and Olding who are both charged with raping the same woman following a night out in Belfast on June 28 2016.

Ireland and Ulster rugby player Paddy Jackson (left) arrives at Belfast Crown Court
(Image: PA)

He told the court that during a party in Jackson’s house he went upstairs and found his friend in bed with the alleged victim.

“I went up and opened the door of Mr Jackson’s room. I was fully clothed.

“I saw Paddy and (the woman) lying on the bed naked. I said ‘Oh sorry’ and then I went in,” McIlroy told the court.

He added: “I said ‘What have you two been up to tonight?’ and she smiled.

“I sat down on the bed beside (her). She turned towards me and me and her were talking and we started kissing.”

Ireland and Ulster rugby player Stuart Olding outside Belfast Crown Court
(Image: PA)

He was asked by his defence barrister Arthur Harvey QC if there had been any reluctance on the woman’s part.

He replied: “No”.

When asked if the kissing was mutual he replied “yes.”

Mr Harvey then asked him: “Did you force yourself on her?”

He replied: “Not at all.”

When asked if the woman had said “no” or “stop” McIlroy replied: “Never. No.”

Paddy Jackson arrives at court – he as already given evidence in the trial
(Image: Getty Images Europe)

He told the court that the woman then put her hand down the waistband of his boxer shorts and performed a sex act on him.

McIlroy said he then left the room to find a condom and when he came back the woman was at the foot of bed getting dressed and Jackson was lying in the bed.

“I said I couldn’t find a condom. She said ‘it’s fine. It’s late.’ She said ‘I don’t usually have one night stands’,” McIlroy said.

He claimed that the woman continued to get dressed and then she went downstairs and left in a taxi with co-accused Rory Harrison.

Paddy Jackson of Ulster kicks
(Image: Getty Images)

McIlroy said the alleged victim was not upset when she left the house.

He told a court today he dismissed a warning from his friend Harrison that te woman who claims she was raped was in “hysterics” after leaving Jackson’s house.

McIlroy confirmed he received text messages from another pal Rory Harrison in which he stated the woman had been “hysterical” and another saying “it wasn’t going to end well”.

Asked how he reacted to the messages, McIlroy said: “Obviously I didn’t take it seriously because I’d seen [the complainant] leave and I knew she wasn’t in hysterics.”

When asked what his reaction had been when he found out Jackson and Olding had been arrested, he said: “I was shocked. I knew they had been out the night before.

“I just wanted to make sure they had a solicitor or someone to advise them. I was just in shock.”

McIlroy denied the charge against him.

Jackson, 26, from Oakleigh Park in Belfast, and Olding, 24, from Ardenlee Street in the city, deny raping the woman.

Another man, Rory Harrison, 25, of Manse Road, Belfast, is charged with perverting the course of justice and withholding information. He denies the charge.

Source link

The post Pal of rugby players accused of rape reveals what he believes happening on night first appeared on Bad Sporters.