A jury deliberated five hours before finding Edward Blackburn guilty of murder in a trial that took seven full days in Starke Circuit Court.
Based on evidence presented during the trial, Blackburn shot Cord Colgrove to death in the face at a North Judson residence on March 3, 2017. The State of Indiana, represented by Prosecutor Nicholas Bourff and Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mary Ryan, called 15 witnesses while Defense Attorney Caroline Briggs called six witnesses, including the defendant. Blackburn was the last to be called by the defense late Monday, Aug. 20 with the state calling two rebuttal witnesses.
Blackburn was claiming self defense in saying that Colgrove had been threatening him through text messages and damaged his truck prior to the incident. Bourff said not only did he have to prove the murder charge, he also had to disprove the claim of self defense.
There were 12 jurors with three alternates seated for the trial. The trial began on Monday, Aug. 13 and ended in the evening of Aug. 21 with the return of the verdict.
Blackburn will be sentenced on Thursday, Oct 11 at 10 a.m. in Starke Circuit Court. He faces 45 to 65 years in prison on the charge of murder.
Bourff noted that this was the second murder trial this month in Starke Circuit Court. The two completely unrelated events occurred within two months of each other and both had guilty verdicts. He also commented that this is the fourth murder trial in the last 10 years with three of them in the past three years.
Bourff also commented that he appreciated the jury’s time in serving in this civic duty. He was hopeful that Cord Colgrove’s family received some closure in this chapter in their life.
