Bleything was indicted on 14 charges in connection with the murder of Connie Vang, 71, in her Yellow Springs home on March 14.
“My sister was the most fabulous, kind person,” said Lona Vang, Connie Vang’s sister. “Giving, caring, and what huge influence she had in our family. I just want you to know how much she is missed, what a wonderful person she is, or was, and what a wonderful family she left behind,”
“I’m going to miss my sister every day,” said Arleen Vang, also a sister of Connie Vang. “Every day. I love her with all my heart. All of us do.”
Bleything was sentenced by Judge Mike Buckwalter to life in prison with a minimum of 30 years before the possibility of parole. The maximum sentence Bleything faced was life in prison without parole.
If Bleything is granted parole, he will have to register as a violent offender in Clark County.
Around 7:50 p.m. on March 14, a Yellow Springs police officer, along with a fire department medic, was called to a house on South High Street on the report of an assault with a victim suffering from a gunshot wound.
Two adult children of Vang’s were in the residence when she was shot in her doorway. Both were in different parts of the house when they heard a loud bang.
Vang’s son told police he heard his mother answer a knock at the door and have a conversation with someone before he heard a loud noise, believing she had fallen. When he came to his mother’s aid, he noticed glass had shattered and no one was outside.
“The biggest advocates for Connie were her children,” said Greene County Prosecutor David Hayes on Monday. “They were with the police and prosecution throughout this entire case, they were supportive of the resolution in this case, and it was their voices that we wanted to make sure were heard.”
Bleything was apprehended after threatening a man with a gun in Yellow Springs the weekend after the fatal shooting on March 17.
Investigators with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and agents with Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation contacted Bleything at his residence in German Twp. in Clark County, where he was taken into custody.
Bleything originally pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder. Bleything’s attorney asked the court for and was granted two psychological evaluations to determine whether Bleything was competent to stand trial, “as well as to determine his sanity at the time of the charged offense,” according to a court document.
Attorneys for Bleything withdrew the not guilty by reason of insanity plea on Friday.
“I really can’t say enough about the investigation in this case,” Hayes said. “I want to commend the Yellow Springs Police Department, and especially the Ohio Bureau Criminal Investigation ... it was because of their thoroughness and professionalism, that we were able to get the outcome we got today.”
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