Morris Blankenbaker and Glynn Moore were both shot to death and found in the city of Yakima in the state of Washington near the end of 1975. This was a terrible time for the city. Soon, the police thought that the two men might have something to do with each other because they were both divorced from the same woman. “Betrayed: Down For The Count” on Investigation Discovery tells the story of the cold-blooded murder and shows how good police work helped close the case. Let’s find out more about the crime and where the person who did it is at the moment, shall we?
How Did Morris Blankenbaker and Glynn Moore Die?
Morris Blankenbaker, who was 32 years old, taught PE at Wapato High School. His friends and students said he was a kind person who was always willing to help those who needed it. Morris was also divorced from his ex-wife, Dee Ann Brock, but the show said that he still got along well with Dee and that there was a chance that they could get back together. Glynn Moore, on the other hand, was a wrestling coach at Davis High School. Even his students spoke highly of his kindness and generosity. Surprisingly, Dee married Moore and stayed with him for a long time after she left Morris. Still, Dee tried to get back together with her first husband before she and her second husband got a divorce.
Morris Blankenbaker
On November 22, 1975, the police heard there might have been a murder in Yakima and went there right away. When they got to the scene of the crime, they saw that Morris Blankenbaker had been shot to death. From what I could tell, the physical education teacher was shot close up, and it looked like he was put to death. Also, an autopsy showed that Morris was shot and that the bullet was of a small calibre, which usually comes from a handgun.
Glynn Moore
About a month and two days after Morris’s death, police got another report saying that Glynn Moore was found dead in his own house on December 24 after his son had shot him. There were no signs of a break-in, which suggests that Glynn knew his attacker, and an autopsy showed that the victim was killed by the same calibre bullet used to kill Morris.
Who Killed Morris Blankenbaker and Glynn Moore?
Even though the initial investigation into the murders of Morris and Glynn was slow, the police always thought they were linked. When detectives found out that both Morris and Glynn had been divorced from Dee Ann Brock, they knew that their suspicions were right. During their investigation, they also found out that Dee had been married to Morris before she left him for Glynn. But when she and Glynn had problems in their marriage and got a divorce, Dee got back in touch with Morris, which made Glynn very angry. This gave the wrestling coach enough reason to kill, but detectives didn’t know why Glynn was also killed by the same person who seemed to have killed the wrestling coach.
Still, detectives kept looking for clues in the area and were finally able to get a gun out of the Naches River near Yakima. Soon after that, a woman named Carolyn Elliot went to the police and said that she gave both Morris and Glynn the gun that was used to kill them. Carolyn also insisted that Angelo Pleasant was the one who killed the people, and that the police didn’t waste any time in catching him.
Angelo was arrested, and when he was asked about the murder, he said he had nothing to do with it. Instead, he put his younger brother Anthony and someone named Larry Lovato in jail. Angelo says that Anthony was the one who killed Morris and that Larry was the one who killed Glynn. Even though there was no proof that Larry and Anthony were involved in the crime, the police wanted to be safe and charged them with first-degree murder anyway.
What happened to Angelo Pleasant?
Anthony and Larry had a good excuse for where they were on the day of the murders, so the judge soon decided to clear them of all charges and let them go. Angelo, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. A jury found him guilty of first-degree murder for killing Morris Blankenbaker, but they only charged him with manslaughter for killing Glynn. The show said that Glynn planned the murder and even asked Angelo to shoot him with the same gun.
The plan didn’t work, though, because the bullet hit a bone and then hit Glynn in the chest, killing him. Angelo was found guilty of murder, so he was given a sentence of 20 years to life in prison and a 10-year sentence for manslaughter. From what the show says, he was locked up for twenty years before he was let out. Angelo moved to Yakima after that and has lived there ever since.
