Blum guilty of murder

James Blum, who stood trial this week for the Jan. 11, 2010 death of his wife Patricia Blum was found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury Friday afternoon.He is being held without bond. Sentencing will be Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. in the Washington County Courthouse.

    The trial of James Blum came to an end Friday morning. Blum, 71, of Washington, is charged with second-degree murder of his wife Patricia Blum, who was found unresponsive at the couple?s home at 1009 E. Washington St. on Jan. 11, 2010.

    On Thursday, the defense had a chance to call witnesses, of which it called only one ? James Blum. Blum took the stand and testified about his background, such as his time on the Wellman City Council, his job at Stutsman?s and his marriage to Patricia Blum. He said the two of them got married in the summer of 2004, when he lived in Wellman and she lived in Cedar Rapids. They moved to Washington that fall.

    Blum said he and Patricia began having heated arguments in 2008, the year Patricia?s mother, Virginia Bryne, was flooded out of her house in Cedar Rapids. Blum said that Patricia?s sister Pam Hyeton thought the Blums should have done more to help Bryne after the flood, and later filed legal papers to prevent the Blums from seeing Bryne.

    Then Blum spoke about what happened on the day of Jan. 11, 2010. He said the two of them were arguing about finding a lawyer that morning. At one point, he said Patricia slapped him across the face, and he pushed her onto the davenport in the living room. Early that afternoon, Blum said Patricia got in the car in the garage to go to the grocery store, and backed into the garage door. Blum said he went outside, and determined he could not fix the door.

    Blum testified that he came back inside and played cards on the computer while he waited for a phone call from an attorney. He said Patricia continued asking questions about why he hadn?t called the attorney.

    ?I tried to get her to calm down,? he said. ?It didn?t work. She got louder. She raised her voice. She called me names.?

For the full story, see the Jan. 10 edition of The Washington Evening Journal