True Conviction is investigating the murder of Bruce Blackwood by Luis Perez, who killed and dismembered his victim in a Brooklyn apartment in 2006. Perez managed to escape justice for nearly ten years until a stupid confession sent him to prison.
Bruce Blackwood was a 55-year-old landlord who owned several properties in Brooklyn and Queens, but one day, on March 6, 2006, he suddenly vanished and was never seen again.
The landlord had hired Perez to be his handyman and allowed him to live in one of his properties as a perk of the job. However, Blackwood subsequently learned that Perez had stolen his checkbook and had helped himself to nearly $8,000.
When Blackwood went to confront Perez and threatened him with the police, he was murdered.
Luis Perez bragged about killing Bruce Blackwood
Initially, the police struggled to learn what had happened to Blackwood, but the case was blown wide open in 2011 when Perez’s daughter obtained a recording of her father confessing to murder.
Irene Perez recorded Perez bragging about the murder and explaining in detail how he cleaned up the murder scene. Perez said he dismembered Blackwood using a machete and then used industrial strength bleach and carpet cleaner to wipe away any trace of the crime. He then put Blackwood’s remains into garbage bags.
In the recording, Perez told his daughter, “It’s not about committing the perfect crime – it’s just about how well you clean it up.”
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelDuring Perez’s trial, Irene Perez claimed that the police had coerced her into helping them catch her father. She said the cops had threatened to lock her up and take away her children.
In 2015, a jury convicted Perez of murder, and he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
At the sentencing, Blackwood’s brother, Ed, told the killer: “You’re a cold-blooded killer, there is nothing more to say about you…you will meet your maker in the future, but until then, I hope you suffer.”
More from True Conviction
Follow the links to read about more murders profiled on True Conviction.
George Shaw brutally sexually assaulted and suffocated 14-year-old Barbara Rowan before dumping her body in a secluded wood in Bucks County, Pennslyvania. He escaped justice for over 30 years until an accomplice finally came forward.
Beatrice Camper was having an affair with convict John Murray, and when he left prison, they hatched a plot to murder her husband, Terry Camper. Murray shot Camper in the back of his head in a taxi cab.
True Conviction airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.