Sarasota Herald Tribune 

June 23, 1998
Section: A SECTION
Page: 1A
Jose Luis Jimenez STAFF WRITER

The man accused of killing Sheila Bellush might be in a Texas jail today instead of fighting deportation from Mexico, but for a thunderstorm four days after the murder.

Jose Luis Del Toro Jr. arranged to meet his girlfriend, Anna Morales, at a bar in the Mexican border town of Piedras Negras on Nov. 11. Morales was cooperating with authorities. Texas Rangers flew her to Piedras Negras as bait in a trap that would lead to Del Toro's arrest.

But bad weather forced the plane to land in Del Rio, Texas, delaying their arrival by an hour. The Rangers later learned from Mexican officials that Del Toro showed up for the meeting but left before they got there.

The story of how close authorities came to catching Del Toro, 22, is one of several revelations contained in nearly 1,000 pages of evidence released Monday by the Sarasota state attorney's office.

The evidence is part of the discovery process in the criminal cases of Samuel Gonzales and Daniel Alex Rocha, two San Antonio men accused of hiring Del Toro in a plan allegedly hatched by Bellush's former husband, Allen Blackthorne, to hurt the mother of six children, including quadruplets.

Court documents also show that Rocha, 29, will speak only to authorities when he has worked out a plea arrangement. The documents also detail that without Rocha's testimony, prosecutors are hesitant to arrest Blackthorne, and that the amount of money alleged to have been exchanged between the men to hurt Bellush may be as much as $50,000.

Blackthorne has not been charged with a crime and has said, though his lawyers, that he is innocent.

Gonzales, 27, pleaded guilty on June 12 to a conspiracy to commit murder charge and received a 19-year sentence in return for cooperating with investigators. Rocha, who faces a first-degree murder charge in addition to the original conspiracy to commit murder charge, remains at the Sarasota County Jail awaiting trial.

When authorities were unable to nab Del Toro near the border, he moved deeper into Mexico. He was arrested in Monterrey about two weeks later.

Instead of returning Del Toro to the border, Mexican officials transferred him to a Mexico City jail, where he is fighting extradition.

Since the beginning, Black-thorne's name has been linked to the crime, records show.

Stevie, Bellush's 13-year-old daughter, who found her mother's body when she came home from school, told authorities that she suspected that her father, Blackthorne, might be behind the murder, the records show. Jamie Bellush also mentioned Blackthorne's name to investigators.

Rocha, a golf partner of Blackthorne, says he wants to help investigators but declines to do so until he has a deal for his cooperation.

An oral agreement had been reached by prosecutors and Rocha's defense attorney after his arrest in San Antonio. Rocha would have received a sentence similar to Gonzales.

Sarasota prosecutor Charlie Roberts flew to San Antonio on Nov. 24 to consummate the deal. But Rocha's attorneys took issue with Bexar County, Texas, District Attorney Steve Hilbig when he proposed changes to the agreement.

The talks died, and Rocha still has no deal with authorities. He faces a solicitation to commit murder charge in Texas.

The records show that prosecutors consider Rocha's testimony key to completing their investigation.

``It is emphasized by prosecutor Henry Lee . . . based on the information to date, he is reluctant, at this time, to pursue any arrest of Blackthorne feeling that a successful prosecution would be at considerable risk without the direct testimony of Danny Rocha,'' the records say.

Roberts did not dispute the records.

``That speaks for itself,'' he said Monday.

Rocha's Sarasota attorney, Jack McGill, declined to comment, saying that he had not reviewed the material.

But authorities have learned some of what Rocha knows because he spoke to his family and a neighbor about his role in the crime, the records show.

Rocha gathered his family at his San Antonio home after Del Toro's identity was reported in the media.

``Danny also mentioned a sum of $4,000 Joey got to beat the lady up and that the money came from Allen,'' Rocha's aunt, Otilia Rocha, voluntarily told police.

But Rocha's neighbor, Richard Jack Speights, said a lot more money was involved.

``Danny told me that Sammy (Gonzales got) $50,000, but he only gave his cousin $4,000. I asked him if he got any money, and he said he did not,''

Speights voluntarily told police. ``I hugged him and told him to do the right thing.''

Speights saidRocha asked for his help in caring for his wife and three young boys in case he was arrested, the records said.

Roberts declined to comment on the $50,000 amount, and authorities still decline to name Blackthorne a suspect in the case.

``Up to this point, we have not been able to get a complete statement from Rocha,'' Roberts said.

Gonzales told investigators he received no money for hiring his cousin Del Toro to kill Bellush, according to court records.

The handgun used to shoot Bellush was a Colt .45 semi-automatic that Del Toro obtained through a friend of Morales, she told police.

Armando Michael Kelly of Austin, Texas, had the pearl-handled gun as collateral for a $1,000 loan Kelly had given to a friend.

``I gave the gun to Anna (Morales),'' Kelly told police. ``And it ended up being that guy Joey wanted to borrow it.''

Earlier records showed how authorities think the plot to harm Bellush was hatched in July and was supposed to take place in San Antonio. But through a combination of factors, the attack never took place, and the Bellush family thought they had escaped their past by moving to Sarasota.

If Del Toro had come one day later, Bellush may have escaped again.

The week she was killed, Sheila Bellush went to a Sarasota salon to get her hair and nails done. She told beauticians she was going to Jacksonville with her husband to attend a formal party. The party was scheduled for Nov. 8, the day after she was murdered.

``Sheila (Bellush) had an appointment at 1030 a.m. on 11/08/97 to get her hair done again, apparently for the party that evening,'' the records said.

Jose Luis Jimenez covers the judicial system in Sarasota County. He can be reached by phone at 957-5149, fax at 957-5276 or e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it