Joliet defendant gives shifting stories of 2016 homicide, video shows

A man charged with a 2016 murder in Joliet Township gave detectives two versions of what happened, at first saying he struck the victim with a pipe and then indicating his brother struck the victim with a baseball bat.

The 2016 video interview of Blaique Morgan, 26, by two detectives with the Will County Sheriff’s Office, was played as part of an ongoing bench trial. Judge Vincent Cornelius will determine whether Morgan is guilty of the first-degree murder of Robert Bielec, 62.

Bielec was found in the driveway of his residence with a pool of blood by his head on Jan. 7, 2016.

The video was played Thursday during the testimony of R.J. Austin, one of the two sheriff’s detectives who interviewed Blaique Morgan.

In the video, detectives were heard trying to get Morgan to talk about what led to Bielec’s homicide by telling Morgan they could prove Bielec was terrorizing his family and the incident was self defense.

“Bob [Bielec] was [expletive] crazy,” said one of the detectives.

Later, one of the detectives said, “He came at you. You had to defend yourself.”

Under cross examination by Morgan’s attorney, Gabriel Guzman, Austin agreed with Guzman that police are not always truthful with suspects in interviews as a tactic to get those suspects to tell the truth of what happened.

Morgan was in the interview room with the two detectives on Jan. 8, 2016. Morgan at first insisted he couldn’t remember what happened because he had “blacked out” and then accused Bielec of creeping on his house. The Morgan brothers and Bielec were next door neighbors in the 1700 block of Houston Avenue.

“He used to look through my sister’s window,” Morgan said.

Morgan eventually told the detectives that he struck Bielec in the head with a solid pipe. He said his brother Amari Morgan, 24, who’s also charged with Bielec’s murder, was not at the scene.

In a second interview with Blaique Morgan, the detectives accused him of giving a story “filled with lies” and that they knew his brother was with him during the two men’s confrontation with Bielec.

Blaique Morgan then gave detectives another version of what happened, saying he and his brother both attempted to confront Bielec when he pulled up to the driveway of his home. He said Bielec was “reckless, creepy.”

During that confrontation, Blaique Morgan said Bielec started ranting at the brothers. He said Amari Morgan became angry and pushed him, and then Bielec appeared to be reaching for a gun in his pocket.

Blaique Morgan said his brother had grabbed a baseball bat and struck Bielec more than once, but he couldn’t remember exactly how many times.

Detectives asked Blaique Morgan about notes left at the scene of Bielec’s death. The notes said, “Reap what you sow.” He denied he wrote those notes and said he was sure they were there before the incident.