Accomplice sentenced to life in murders of Valley Center couple

Andrew Ellington’s involvement in a murder-for-money plot that took the lives of a friend’s adoptive parents lasted about 90 minutes.

But he will spend nearly 38 years in prison for it.

Ellington, the third of four people convicted of killing Roger and Melissa Bluml, was ordered Thursday to serve life in prison, plus 155 months, for his role in the fatal Nov. 15, 2013, shooting outside the couple’s rural Sedgwick County home.

He pleaded no contest in June to first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree intentional murder.

Originally he faced capital murder – an offense eligible for the death penalty – as well as aggravated robbery, burglary and theft. But those charges were dismissed in exchange for his plea.

During his sentencing hearing Thursday morning in Sedgwick County District Court, the 20-year-old gave no explanation for why he agreed to drive to the Blumls’ house where the murders took place.

He did not explain why he held Roger Bluml at gunpoint, poised to pull the trigger.

He stood silent except to give a quick “No, sir,” when asked by District Judge Warren Wilbert whether he had anything to say.

Defense attorney Jay Greeno during the hearing said he tried to find answers but had none. Drugs, he said, seemed to be “the theme that prevails throughout this case.”

“It appears … he did not realize how quickly his life could be forever altered,” Greeno said, referring to his client.

“I ask the court to follow the plea agreement in this particular case, and allow Mr. Ellington to go on and do his time.”

Prosecutors asked for a “Hard 25” life sentence for Ellington’s first-degree murder conviction, meaning he must serve 25 years in prison before he can ask to be paroled. If and when that request is granted, Ellington will start serving the 155-month portion of his sentence.

He’ll be in his 50s at his earliest chance for release.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett has said Ellington’s involvement in the murder-robbery plot – devised by then-18-year-old Anthony Bluml and Kisha Schaberg, Bluml’s biological mother, after the two reunited in California – amounted to about an hour and a half of time.

At a hearing last summer, another man involved in the plot, Braden Smith, testified that Anthony Bluml resented Roger and Melissa, his adoptive parents, for kicking him out of their house for smoking marijuana. He testified that Schaberg thought the couple had kept her from her two sons, whom she gave up for adoption when they were young children.

The pair decided to rob and kill the couple over hatred and the belief that Anthony would inherit some money after the Blumls were gone.

Smith provided the guns – two .25-caliber pistols, according to court documents and statements previously made in court.

Ellington drove to and from the Blumls’ rural Valley Center home and held Roger at gunpoint.

Schaberg fatally shot the couple.

Anthony Bluml, in addition to planning the murders, used cash stolen from his adoptive parents’ home to purchase a half-pound of marijuana to sell. He also took his adoptive parents to dinner while Ellington and Schaberg drove to their home and waited for their return.

Melissa Bluml, 53, died in the hospital a day after being shot in the head. Her husband, 48, succumbed to his injuries about five weeks later.

Schaberg and Anthony Bluml are serving life prison sentences without parole eligibility after pleading no contest in June to capital murder and aggravated robbery.

Smith, who agreed to testify against his accomplices in exchange for a plea deal that will lessen his charges, is scheduled for a jury trial Sept. 14. He is expected to plead guilty to two counts of second-degree murder.

Before the judge announced Ellington’s sentence Thursday, one of Roger Bluml’s sisters-in-law stood up in court and spoke of how her family is moving forward in spite of the killings.

But, she said, they are not moving on.

“We do not forget. Nor do we have closure because, you see, there are always empty chairs at our family gatherings,” Patty Bluml said.

“Although you pleaded no contest, you are guilty. You did not turn the car around, and you held a gun to someone’s head knowing the intent to kill.”

This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 9:42 AM with the headline "Accomplice sentenced to life in murders of Valley Center couple."