Joey Del Toro was a hired gunman who brutally murdered Sheila Bellush, a 35-year-old mother of six, on November 7, 1997, in Sarasota, Florida. He was paid $14,000 by Allen Blackthorne, Bellush’s ex-husband, who wanted custody of their two children. Del Toro shot Bellush in the face and slit her throat in front of her toddler-aged quadruplets, who were left unharmed but covered in blood. He fled to Mexico after the crime, but was extradited to the US in 1999 and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and armed burglary charges in 2000. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. But what was the cause of his death?
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A Mysterious Death in Prison
According to Oxygen, Del Toro died on February 8, 2014, at the age of 46, while serving his life sentence at the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida. However, the exact cause of his death remains unknown. The Florida Department of Corrections did not release any details about his death, citing confidentiality laws. Some sources speculated that he may have died of natural causes, such as a heart attack or a stroke, while others suggested that he may have been killed by another inmate or committed suicide.
A Brutal Murder for Hire
Del Toro was one of the four men involved in the murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by Blackthorne, who had stalked and harassed Bellush since their divorce in 1987. Blackthorne asked Daniel Alex Rocha, a golfing acquaintance with a minor criminal history, for help. Rocha then contacted Samuel Gonzales, who introduced him to his cousin Del Toro. Blackthorne allegedly told Rocha that Bellush was abusing their two children, Stevie and Daryl, and offered him $50,000 to beat her up. Rocha then passed on $14,000 to Del Toro to carry out the attack.
Del Toro traveled to Sarasota in a car registered to his grandmother and bought camouflage clothes at a Sports Authority store. He also stopped at a gas station for directions to Bellush’s address, which Rocha had given him. On his way to Bellush’s house, he was spotted by a neighbor who memorized his license plate number. This would later lead to his capture.
Del Toro broke into Bellush’s house and saw her with her quadruplets. He later told the police that he almost changed his mind when he saw how caring she was with her children. However, when she noticed him, he shot her in the face with a .45 caliber gun and stabbed her with a kitchen knife. He left behind a towel with gunshot residue and a fingerprint on the clothes dryer in the garage.
Bellush’s body was found by her 13-year-old daughter Stevie when she returned from school. The quadruplets had been walking around in their mother’s blood, leaving small bloody footprints all over the house.
A Long Road to Justice
Del Toro escaped to Mexico after the murder but was arrested by Mexican authorities in July 1999. He was extradited to the US after agreeing to plead guilty and cooperate with the prosecution. He testified against Rocha and Blackthorne in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
Rocha was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy in 1999 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. He claimed that he only hired Del Toro to beat Bellush and that Del Toro acted on his own when he killed her.
Blackthorne was convicted of murder-for-hire and conspiracy in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years. He maintained his innocence and appealed his conviction several times but failed. He died in prison on November 20, 2014, at the age of 59. The cause of his death was also not disclosed.
Gonzales pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in 1998 and received a 19-year sentence. He testified against Rocha and Blackthorne as part of his plea deal.
Bellush’s husband Jamie remarried in 2000 and moved with his six children to Texas. He wrote a book about his wife’s murder titled “A Promise Kept: The Story of an Unforgettable Love”. He also founded a non-profit organization called “Sheila’s Voice” to help victims of domestic violence.
A Tragic Story That Shocked the Nation
The murder of Sheila Bellush was one of the most notorious cases of domestic violence and murder-for-hire in American history. It shocked the nation and inspired several books, documentaries, and TV shows. It also raised awareness about the dangers of stalking and the need for better protection for victims.
Sheila Bellush had told her sister before her death that if anything happened to her, she wanted Ann Rule, a famous true crime writer, to write her story. Rule did just that and published a book titled “Every Breath You Take: A True Story of Obsession, Revenge, and Murder” in 2001. The book was a bestseller and was adapted into a TV movie in 2002.
The murder of Sheila Bellush also inspired an episode of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” titled “The Good Doctor” in 2002, and an episode of “Forensic Files” titled “A Novel Idea” in 2004. It was also featured on several true crime shows, such as “Blood & Money”, “Snapped”, “American Justice”, and “Dateline NBC”.
Joey Del Toro was the hitman who killed a mother of six for money and revenge. He died in prison without revealing the cause of his death. He left behind a legacy of pain and sorrow for the Bellush family and a stain on the conscience of society.
