UTICA, ONEIDA CO. -- A sex offender convicted of murdering a Utica motel owner will spend the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
That was the sentence handed down to Robert Blainey in Oneida County Court Thursday morning. The judge called Blainey the "personification of evil" and a "monster."
In January, Blainey pleaded guilty to raping and murdering 68-year-old Linda Turner, the owner of the Davis Motel. Her lifeless body was found at the motel last November.
Blainey admits he went into Turner's office to rob her because he was squatting illegally. That's when he says he strangled her with a clothes line while she fought for her life. Blainey says he tore her clothes off and strangled her with his own belt and his bare hands.
At the time he admitted his guilt, the judge called Blainey "the most cold blooded person he ever had in his courtroom in 20 years." Blainey told the judge he took that as a compliment.
Investigators found Blainey in Pennsylvania driving Turner's car. They had been searching for him after he skipped out on parole.
Blainey was previously convicted of two rapes and two attempted rapes, including one involving a 6-year-old child.
"He had raped two women before and, for whatever reason, one of the courts ran those sentences concurrent instead of consecutive. There's certain people that don't belong on the streets and Mr. Blainey is obviously one of them," says Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara.
