REOPENED: Gone In A New York Minute

Summary

Cold Case Files — REOPENED: Gone In A New York Minute

Original Air Date: June 18, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Cold Case Files reexamines the disappearance and murder of Bruce Blackwood, a hard-working New Yorker who vanished in March 2006. Host Marisa Pinson narrates the twelve-year journey from Blackwood’s unexplained absence through a cold case investigation, culminating with a rare “no-body” murder conviction. The case pivots on the dogged persistence of Bruce's brother Ed, the tireless work of New York detectives, and a long-awaited, risky confession. The episode highlights themes of family loyalty, the challenges of prosecuting a murder without a body, and the breakthrough that brought a killer to justice.

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Key Discussion Points & Timeline

The Disappearance of Bruce Blackwood

• Bruce Blackwood goes missing: On March 6, 2006, Bruce, a dedicated manager at an OTB parlor, calls in sick for the first time ever, claiming he slipped in the bathtub and needed to go to the hospital ([03:10]).
• Immediate concern from friends: Friend Tina tries repeatedly to contact Bruce without success. Close friends panic after days of silence ([03:28], [04:00]).

"Bruce is not the type of person to just go off and not let anybody know where he was going and what he was doing. The fear started to set in..."
— Ed Blackwood ([01:27])

• Official missing persons report: Bruce’s brother Ed notifies police ([04:38]). Detectives are assigned the case ([04:47]).

Investigation—Early Dead Ends

• No evidence, no leads: Bruce's home and car show no signs of struggle ([08:18]). The lack of evidence heightens suspicions ([09:00]).
• Extensive but fruitless canvassing: Police question tenants, canvass neighborhoods, and distribute posters citywide, but no meaningful leads emerge ([12:30], [12:57]).

"He just disappeared off the face of the earth."
— Detective Steve Pellen ([11:06])

• Mysterious 'Mike': A handyman reports Bruce left his building with a man named Mike in a black Toyota Camry, but no one knows Mike’s identity ([14:10]).

A Disturbing Discovery—Fraud and Possible Motive

• Financial irregularities: Investigation into Bruce’s finances reveals 13 forged checks totaling $7,700, mostly made out to his handyman, Luis Perez, and an accomplice, Martin Rodriguez ([20:45]-[21:20]).
• Perez’s criminal history: Detectives uncover Perez's violent background—he previously served 10 years in prison for attempted murder ([21:53]).

"All 13 forged checks...Louis Perez did write those checks out."
— Detective Peter Galasso ([23:00])

The Trail Grows Cold

• No forensic evidence: Despite extensive searches—including tearing up Perez’s apartment—detectives find no DNA or physical proof ([25:35], [26:10]).
• Case stagnates, Perez imprisoned only for fraud: Perez is sentenced to 2–4 years for forgery, but murder charges seem impossible without more evidence ([26:37], [26:53]).

The Relentless Brother—Ed Blackwood’s Campaign

• Refusing to give up: Ed persistently advocates for his brother, forging partnerships with detectives and eventually attracting media attention ([27:21], [28:22]).

"Giving up on him is like maybe giving up on myself. You know, I would find out really what happened to my brother."
— Ed Blackwood ([27:21])

• Media brings renewed attention: Five years later, Ed contacts Daily News reporter Carrie Burke, whose article generates public interest and prompts police to reopen the investigation ([29:10]–[30:30]).

Breakthrough—A Daughter’s Risky Confession (2011)

• Perez’s daughter cooperates: Out of fear for her own family, Perez’s estranged daughter contacts detectives and agrees to tape her father as he boasts about committing the “perfect crime” ([31:35], [32:15]).

"She goes, he talks about it all the time because it's like a trophy to him about how he got away with killing this man."
— Detective Wendell Stradford ([32:15])

• Covert recording: The tape is suggestive but not a full confession; prosecutors work to find corroborating witnesses ([33:06]).

Building the Case—No-Body Prosecution

• Indictment without a body: The District Attorney moves forward despite the rarity and difficulty of “no-body” homicide cases ([33:22]–[33:49]).
• Witness testimony: Perez’s helper Martin Rodriguez and his girlfriend both testify that Perez confessed to and described the crime in detail ([34:30], [36:37]).

"It was very clear that Martin Rodriguez had nothing to do with the murder…he was terrified of Perez."
— District Attorney Melissa Carvajal ([34:44])

The Chilling Confession — How Bruce Blackwood Was Murdered

• Gruesome details revealed: On the stand, Perez’s daughter recounts how Perez admitted tying Bruce to a chair, choking him to death, dismembering the body with a saw and machete, bleaching the scene, and distributing the remains via unwitting individuals so sanitation would collect them ([35:04]–[36:15]).

"He went to work on his body. He used a saw, he used a machete."
— District Attorney Melissa Carvajal ([35:48])

Verdict, Closure, and Continuing Pain

• Guilty verdict: The jury deliberates less than three hours, convicting Perez of murder in the second degree; he is sentenced to 25 years to life ([37:28]).
• Justice, but little solace: Ed Blackwood and Bruce’s friends voice the anguish of not having Bruce’s body and the horror of his murder’s details. Justice is partial—Perez is imprisoned but the family never recovers Bruce’s remains ([38:03]–[38:47]).

"I've lost my brother. Someone that I had loved...You can never replace that."
— Ed Blackwood ([38:35])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Brother’s Resolve:
  "Giving up on him is like maybe giving up on myself. I was going to find out what happened to my brother."
  — Ed Blackwood ([01:27], [27:21])

• Detective’s Frustration:
  "All roads led us to believe that there was definitely something nefarious...but we didn't have any physical evidence even to say that this was a crime."
  — Detective Peter Galasso ([09:00])

• On No-Body Prosecution:
  “It's almost unprecedented that someone's convicted of homicide without a body. There is no crime.”
  — Reporter Carrie Burke ([33:33])

• On Seeing the Case Reopened:
  “NYDP has really countless cold cases. And they only hear people who keep trying. And that's what Ed Blackwood did.”
  — Reporter Carrie Burke ([28:34])

• On the Case’s Toll:
  "I've lost my brother...You can never replace that. That's all I can say is I miss him a lot. I miss my brother."
  — Ed Blackwood ([38:35])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:27 — Ed Blackwood introduces his brother and the close bond they shared
• 04:38 — Case handed to police after missing persons report
• 14:10 — Handyman reports Bruce left with ‘Mike’ in a black Camry
• 20:45 — Investigators uncover forged checks tied to Luis Perez
• 25:35 — Perez arrested for grand larceny and forgery
• 27:21 — Ed resolves not to let the case go cold
• 29:10 — Reporter Carrie Burke joins the search, renewing media focus
• 31:35 — Luis Perez’s daughter brings forward a game-changing tip
• 32:15 — Details of Perez’s taped conversations about the murder
• 34:44 — Martin Rodriguez testifies, revealing Perez’s actions
• 35:04 — Perez’s daughter testifies, sharing her father’s confession
• 37:28 — Jury finds Perez guilty; sentencing delivered
• 38:35 — Ed and Bruce’s friends reflect on the enduring pain and limited sense of closure

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Tone & Style

This episode maintains a factual, investigative tone, deeply empathetic toward victims and their families. There is a strong emphasis on perseverance, both by law enforcement and family, and a sobering honesty about the anguish of unresolved loss.

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Summary

“REOPENED: Gone In A New York Minute” is a powerful portrait of persistence in the face of uncertainty. The Bruce Blackwood case is rare—a “solved” cold case with no physical body, resolved only by unwavering family advocacy, emerging witness courage, and creative police work. The episode underscores that, though justice is sometimes hard-won and incomplete, the search for truth can—and does—change the outcome for the 1% of cold cases that are ever solved.

Transcript

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[Ed Blackwood]

Bruce is my brother. He's my youngest brother. Me and my brother were close. We were tight. Bruce is not the type of person to just go off and not let anybody know where he was going and what he was doing. The fear started to set in when I had not heard from my brother. The police are looking to see if there was anything that may have caused him to disappear. They can't find him. Nobody wants to feel somebody that they love to be discarded like that. I wasn't going to let him go like that. He didn't deserve this. And I just kept at it, at it, at it, at it again. Giving up on him is like maybe giving up on myself. I was going to find out what happened to my brother.

[Narrator]

There are 120,000 unsolved murders in America. Each one is a cold case. Only 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare stories. It's the morning of Monday, March 6, 2006 in Queens, New York and 55 year old Bruce Blackwood does something unusual, at least for him. He calls into the off track betting parlor he manages and tells him that he won't be coming to work. The call concerns Bruce's friend Tina.

[Friend of Bruce Blackwood]

It was a very brief call, the person that took the phone call said. Bruce said, I slipped and fell in the bathtub I have to go to the hospital. I can't make it into work. I was worried about him.

[Narrator]

Bruce had never missed a day of work, and his colleagues are concerned, especially because he tells them he had hit his head.

[Friend of Bruce Blackwood]

When I heard that Bruce called in sick, I immediately called Bruce. When he didn't pick up the first time, I figured, okay, maybe he just didn't get to the phone. Second time, I was telling him, bruce, it's Tina. Pick up. It's me. The third time, the fourth, fifth, I said, something's wrong. He always picks up for me.

[Narrator]

Bruce never picks up or calls back. The next day, he fails to show up for work again, and even his close friends can't get in touch with him.

[Friend of Bruce Blackwood]

I was out on maternity leave, but Bruce and I would talk to each other at least two or three times a day. After not hearing from him for a couple of days, I was in a complete panic. He was just gone.

[Narrator]

Bruce's friends contact his brother Ed.

[Ed Blackwood]

A friend of his told me that she had not heard from Bruce, and did I hear from Bruce within those two days? And I said, no, something may have happened to Bruce because Bruce is not that type of a person to just go off and not let anybody know where he was going and what he was doing. The fear started to set in.

[Narrator]

Ed goes to the New York City police and reports his brother as a missing person. Detective Peter Galasso works on the case.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

We received an official missing persons report on March 9, which was three days after he called in sick.

[Friend of Bruce Blackwood]

At that point, when Ed made this missing persons report, I knew it was very serious. That was scary. It was like reality hit. I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. I prayed that he was okay.

[Narrator]

The first thing the detectives do is interview Bruce's brother Ed, in an effort to learn more about the missing man.

[Ed Blackwood]

We grew up together in Queens. Bruce, he played the clarinet for the band in high school. He sang in a glee club. He was very much involved in different types of organizations. Bruce was very friendly. Me and my brother were close. I mean, we were tight. And Bruce always had a lending hand. He helped my mother out quite a lot.

[Friend of Bruce Blackwood]

When I was pregnant, Bruce would come over and rub my belly, and he'd say, I can't wait till you have this baby. I can't wait to hold him. I said to Bruce, you're going to make a great uncle. He was so excited.

[Ed Blackwood]

He was a very giving person. He listened to you. He could always talk to my brother about anything. He would come through. He'd be there for you now. My brother was missing. I'm left out in the cold.

[Narrator]

The detectives learn that Bruce is well off, at least on paper. He has real estate holdings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, providing him with financial security that took almost four decades to cement. As he climbed the career ladder at the off track betting parlor known as OTB.

[Ed Blackwood]

Bruce worked for the airlines for 30 years as flight attendant. And at that time, being a flight attendant was like star quality, you know what I mean? Then TWA went out of business. The otb, it just went from a cashier all the way up to a manager.

[Friend of Bruce Blackwood]

Bruce loved to work. Bruce's life was work. He then got into the real estate. He wanted to invest in buying property. And when he was retired, he wanted to be able to just live a comfortable life. He was a go getter.

[Narrator]

New York Daily News reporter Carrie Burke learns more about Bruce through reporting on the case.

[Reporter Carrie Burke]

Bruce Blackwood was a striver, a hard working New York guy who took what little money he had and bought run down properties and turned them into apartments.

[Narrator]

After reporting his brother missing, Ed begins his own search for Bruce.

[Ed Blackwood]

I went to the building that he owned in Bushwick. I got a group together that consisted of family, friends, and I made up a picture of my brother and wrote out had anybody seen him? And we went into that area passing out posters, went into the stores, nailed them up on the trees, stopped people in the street. That's what he did.

[Reporter Carrie Burke]

They do what they always do in New York. They post flyers everywhere and they go door to door trying to get any lead about where he might be, but they found nothing.

[Narrator]

Meanwhile, detectives Peter Galasso and Steve Pellen search through Bruce's home for clues.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

Detectives from my Office responded to Mr. Blackwood's residence in Queens. Mr. Blackwood's Cadillac SUV was standing in his driveway. He had nice things, nice house.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

We searched the house to make sure he hadn't fallen or something happened to him inside the house. There was nothing there to find out where he was and there was no signs of any foul play.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

We didn't have any physical evidence even to say that this was a crime. He wasn't on any types of medication, he wasn't depressed. He didn't have any financial problems that we were aware of, and there was no reason why he would be missing.

[Narrator]

The lack of physical evidence does little to suppress the detective's suspicions.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

All roads led us to believe that there was definitely something nefarious had been done to Mr. Blackwood.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

There was definitely foul play involved, but we didn't know what.

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It's March 10, 2006. Four days since anyone heard from Bruce Blackwood.

[Ed Blackwood]

My brother was missing. We had not heard from him. They say that if they're not found within two to three days, then the outlook doesn't look good.

[Narrator]

The detectives try tracking Bruce's cell phone, but it has been switched off so they have no way of determining his location. They subpoena his cell phone records instead of and begin to speak with people who know Bruce.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

We had it all hands on deck. I was a homicide investigator at the time and worked in a 113 precinct for a long time. We do morgue search, check for car accidents. Unfortunately, in this case he had just disappeared off the face of the earth.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

Nobody had a bad thing to say about the man. He was loved by all.

[Narrator]

The detectives speak with Bruce's colleagues at the Off Track betting parlor.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

He handled the money. The OTB back then, the OTB in the city was making a lot of money and people could bet on horses in the bar. He was responsible for the safe. So we needed to check to make sure someone didn't rob him or hold him. Maybe Try to take money from the otb.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

We spoke to everybody to try to gain more information. Nobody knew anything additional.

[Ed Blackwood]

Those are crazy gamblers. But he never led me to believe that there might be a customer that might. Might be after him or anything like that.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

We went down every avenue possible to see if there was any other potential people who may have been involved in Bruce's disappearance. We turned up nothing.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

Nothing made sense. Nothing jumped off the planet page as to why who

[Narrator]

investigators ask the public to help them find Bruce Blackwood.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

We had the missing person squad print up missing posters. We distributed them to every precinct in the city, all 75 of them. We also flooded the neighborhood where Bruce resided and the locations where he owned the property in the Bronx and in Brooklyn.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

Sometimes witnesses come forward. I've seen that individual. I last saw him here. I heard about this, Things of that nature.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

Unfortunately, we didn't develop any leads from the missing posters. So we were very concerned. But we never turn our backs on anybody.

[Narrator]

Police question the tenants in the buildings Bruce owns. If he's met with foul play and isn't just missing, a tenant might be to blame.

[Reporter Carrie Burke]

Police obviously hit neighbors, tenants, particularly tenants, because if he's going to have any kind of conflict, it's going to be with tenants, people who don't pay the rent, people who complain and threaten lawsuits, people who might be conceivable enemies.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

I went to the Hancock street address in Brooklyn to interview the tenants that live in the building. And the handyman, slash super, he lived in the apartment on the third floor. He invited us in. We went up to his apartment on the third floor.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

The handyman told detectives that he saw Mr. Blackwood on Tuesday, the following day, which would be March 7th.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

Bruce had arrived at the house at about 9, 30, 10 o' clock in the morning. They discussed renovations that were being done. And Bruce had told him that he had to take a ride somewhere to run some errands.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

At some point, he heard a horn beeping outside, and Mr. Blackwood told him that his friend Michael Mike was outside. He then observed Mr. Blackwood leave the building and entered a black Toyota Camry and drove off with this individual.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

The handyman didn't know who Mike was, Never saw him before, and that was the last time that he had seen Mr. Blackwood.

[Narrator]

Detectives sweep the Brooklyn neighborhood in search of video footage of the black car.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

We checked the immediate area for video cameras. There was a supermarket directly across the street, but the video cameras that they had were not working properly.

[Narrator]

The investigators also ask Bruce's friends if they Know anyone called Mike?

[Friend of Bruce Blackwood]

I could not think of one person that Bruce ever mentioned to me with the name Mike. There were a couple of co workers named Mike at work, but no one that Bruce was friendly with on that level.

[Reporter Carrie Burke]

All cops had was Bruce. Blackwood was last seen with a guy named Mike in a car, but Mike could be anybody.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

We needed to find out who Mike was immediately. We were running out of time.

[Narrator]

The detectives canvassed the neighborhood to try and track down their only lead. Someone the building handyman had seen with Bruce on the day he went missing.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

Nobody knew any individual by the name of Mike with a black Toyota Camry and certainly didn't know anybody that Mr. Blackwood would just go with without letting anybody know. We were unsuccessful coming up with any mics.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

We just could not find him. It really bothered me. Bruce Blackwood was an upstanding citizen. Did everything right his whole entire life. What happened to Mr. Blackwood?

[Narrator]

The uncertainty starts to take a toll on Bruce's brother, Ed.

[Ed Blackwood]

Not knowing about whether my brother was alive or dead is the. The hardest thing to grasp. I felt that something will show up eventually, and I was just hoping that the best would show up, you know, not the worst.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

Mr. Blackwood was not an individual that would go off the grid for several days. There was no reason other than something must have happened to him for him to disappear like this. We believed Mr. Blackwood was no longer with us. And it was extremely frustrating not being able to find any physical evidence to indicate that he was, in fact, a victim of a homicide.

[Narrator]

A week has passed since anyone heard from Bruce Blackwood. And the detectives are told by the missing man's friends that they had recently seen a change in his behavior.

[Friend of Bruce Blackwood]

Right before I went on maternity, I knew something was wrong. Bruce was very anxious. He was very moody. He didn't want to talk, and that was not like him. He said, yeah, everything's fine. Everything's okay. As his friend, I just felt like, okay, I'm gonna respect his privacy.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

Bruce Blackwood had a very good friend who lived in Pennsylvania, and he would come up and visit him every other weekend.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

He had been staying with him for the weekend prior to him last being seen. This individual had told us that Mr. Blackwood was on edge and there was something bothering him. At some point during the day, Mr. Blackwood just got very angry and agitated and started saying stuff like, I don't know why I got involved with these individuals.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

His friend questioned him on it, trying to get him to give him some information, and he refused. He just wouldn't Say who he was actually talking about.

[Narrator]

Detectives speak with a friend of Bruce's who says she went looking for him at his Brooklyn building. Even before he was reported missing. There was no sign of Bruce. But she did see something at the

[Detective Peter Galasso]

time of Mr. Blackwood's disappearance. One of his best friends. She observed the handyman, luis Perez, driving Mr. Blackwood's Cadillac SUV.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

She immediately flagged down a police car she saw going by and relayed the information that Bruce Blackwood owns that car and that he would not have given it to anybody else.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

The officers actually conducted a car stop and spoke to Mr. Perez. Yes, this is my boss's car. Mr. Blackwood asked me to hold onto the car for him and move it for alternate side of the street.

[Reporter Carrie Burke]

We have alternative side parking in New York and you have to move your car to the other side of the street once, twice a week, some neighborhoods every day. So it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for a handyman to move someone's car.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

The explanation that Luis Perez gave us was very legitimate because alternate side of the street was in effect for that whole week

[Narrator]

looking for a solid lead. Detectives interview. One of Bruce's neighbors spoke to a

[Detective Peter Galasso]

neighbor who recalled the weekend right before Mr. Blackwood went missing that he observed Mr. Blackwood involved in a argument with two individuals standing in his driveway. Described both individuals as being male Hispanics. One of the males he recognized from doing work on Mr. Blackwood's house. He believed that he was a employee and the handyman for Mr. Blackwood. He stated that the altercation became heated. Both men appeared very agitated. He overheard Mr. Blackwood say something to the effect that it wasn't supposed to cost this much money. That's not what we agreed on. The argument was definitely over money. As we all know, money could be the right money can destroy friendships. It can destroy families. So this argument definitely raised our suspicions a lot because we were looking for a motive for Mr. Blackwood's disappearance. And money appeared to be a very viable motive at this point.

[Narrator]

Bruce Blackwood had been doing well at this point of his life. He drove a nice car, owned several properties and seem to have money. The police think that money is a likely motive, and they take a closer look at Bruce's handyman, Luis Perez, as a suspect. A week has passed since Bruce was last heard from and the investigators pry into Bruce's finances.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

I personally went to the American Airlines credit union, and that's when we realized Bruce had been to that credit union to report that he was missing.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

13 checks a total of 13 personal checks that were fraudulently signed, all forged checks. 12 of those checks were written out to Luis Perez and one check was written out to Martin Rodriguez, an individual Luis Perez basically hired to do work at Hancock Street. The total amount for all 13 forged checks was. Was $7700.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

Luis Perez was somehow involved, but unfortunately we had to wait on subpoenas to the banks, to the credit union to prove it.

[Reporter Carrie Burke]

Blackwood, he's a small investor and $7700 is a great deal of money to a blue collar worker who's trying to make good.

[Ed Blackwood]

My brother became very suspicious about the checks. So he knew that something was going on with Perez.

[Narrator]

It's March 15, 2006, and the detectives start to dig into Luis Perez's criminal record. They discover that Perez spent 10 years in jail in Massachusetts for attempting to kill his daughter and her mother. State troopers had tried to stop him and he had stabbed one of the troopers in the struggle. Bruce's phone records are finally released on May 2, 2006. It's been two months since he went missing and the detectives begin to go over his calls, including the one he made to the bedding parlor to let them know he had slipped in the bathtub and wouldn't make it to work that day.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

We were able to triangulate that call and he was hitting off a cell phone tower approximately two blocks away from the Hancock street location. We believed that he was actually inside and that he was with Luis Perez.

[Narrator]

Detectives can't prove that Bruce was murdered, but they do have proof that someone was stealing from him.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

We received copies of all the forged checks. Handwriting analysis was able to determine that Lois Perez did write those checks out.

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[Narrator]

It's now June 20, 2006, and the detectives make their move.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

Luis Perez was arrested and was charged with multiple counts of grand larceny and forgery. He also secured a search warrant for Perez's Hancock street residence, where we believe Mr. Blackwood was murdered. We had extreme high hopes of finding any kind of physical evidence inside that residence linking Luis Perez to the murder. DNA, blood, weapons, knives, things of that nature. Our crime scene unit ripped up carpeting. They removed drain pipes, traps in the sinks in the shower and bathtub.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

Unfortunately, there was nothing there that they found that could help in our investigation. So it was very disheartening and very upsetting to everybody who was involved. I was very dejected.

[Narrator]

A year passes and on June 5, 2007, Luis Perez pleads guilty to passing fraudulent checks.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

We put Luis Perez in jail for at least two to four years, and he probably was gonna do all four because of his past criminal history.

[Reporter Carrie Burke]

But all this proves is that these guys were stealing from Blackwood and this still is a missing persons case.

[Friend of Bruce Blackwood]

It was upsetting to think that Luis Perez would only get two to four years for forgery when he definitely had something to do with Bruce's disappearance. But they had no evidence.

[Narrator]

The detectives have no evidence, no witnesses, and no body to prove that Bruce was murdered. As a result, the case goes cold.

[Friend of Bruce Blackwood]

I never thought that this case was ever going to get solved. There was nothing.

[Ed Blackwood]

So I said to myself, I'm not going to let my brother die like this. I'm not. This is a hell of a way for him to go out. He didn't deserve this. Giving up on him is like maybe giving up on myself. You know, I would find out really what happened to my brother.

[Narrator]

The lingering questions weigh heavy on Ed Blackwood's heart as he struggles to come to terms with his brother's disappearance.

[Ed Blackwood]

They had determined that it was a cold case. They couldn't go any further. Nobody wants to feel somebody that they love to be discarded like that. I wasn't going to let him go like that. I was going to find out who killed my brother.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

If somebody murdered a family, family member of mine, when nobody was held accountable, that would destroy me, my family, anybody's family.

[Narrator]

It's now March 6, 2011, exactly five years since Bruce Blackwood went missing.

[Friend of Bruce Blackwood]

Bruce's brother Ed never gave up. He was not letting this go. He wanted justice to be served.

[Ed Blackwood]

I just kept at it, at it, at it, at it again.

[Reporter Carrie Burke]

NYPD has really countless cold cases. And they only hear people who keep trying. And that's what Ed Blackwood did.

[Narrator]

Ed forms bonds with others who are as determined as he to find his brother. One of the people he strikes up a friendship with is Detective Pellen.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

I retired in 2008, but I became friends with Ed over the years. Ed told me he was gonna try to get ahold of news agencies, TV networks, somebody that would show a little interest in his brother's disappearance.

[Ed Blackwood]

I was reading an article from this Daily News reporter. I thought it was well done. So I said, what the hell did I have to lose?

[Narrator]

Ed reaches out to the Daily News, and reporter Carrie Burke gets to work.

[Reporter Carrie Burke]

I hit the streets and started climbing stairs and knocking doors like detectives do, trying to find folks who remembered Bruce Blackwood. And much to my surprise, five years later, people did.

[Narrator]

Carrie goes in search of Luis Perez, the man convicted of stealing over $7,000 from Bruce. Perez is out of prison and back on the street.

[Ed Blackwood]

Perez was the key point in my brother's death. I felt that very strongly.

[Reporter Carrie Burke]

But Luis Perez was like a Ghost. I turned my attention to trying to find him, but this guy moved around a lot. Eventually I got him by phone and he basically denied everything. On March 6, we ran the story and it got a kind of response that was remarkable.

[Detective Steve Pellen]

It was in the Sunday paper and it was a big article. They had interviewed me and I told them that this case still haunted me. And I felt I didn't do my job.

[Ed Blackwood]

I didn't finish what I started in One Police Plaza. They didn't want to have any bad publicity going on and that's when they reopened up the case.

[Narrator]

Detective Wendell Stradford is assigned to investigate the cold case.

[Detective Wendell Stradford]

I was a first grade detective at the time. Cold case squad. We only focus on homicide from reading the articles in the newspaper. A few days go by and I'm getting summoned to One Police Plaza by the chief of detectives and the police commissioner along with my boss. And they're telling me that I am going to take this cold case. It's my job as a detective to look at every single piece. I want to see everything. Why all of a sudden this man would just go missing. We checked everything. Everything led back to Perez. But when you can't even find the body and if you don't have that one witness, you have nothing.

[Narrator]

It's July 2011 and the detective gets contacted by an unexpected source.

[Detective Wendell Stradford]

Was Luis Perez's daughter. She proceeded to tell me what she knew about this case. She says, he's going to do something like that again. She was so afraid of him. But she was afraid for the well being of her daughter that she decided to come forward.

[Narrator]

District Attorney Melissa Carvajal explains Perez's daughter's

[District Attorney Melissa Carvajal]

reasons she was willing to come forward with this evidence because she did not want him near her or near her kids.

[Narrator]

The detectives speak with Perez's daughter and she confides in them about her father's favorite topic of conversation.

[Detective Wendell Stradford]

She goes, he talks about it all the time because it's like a trophy to him about how he got away with killing this man. And I feel bad, you know, for that man's family. I asked her would she be willing to record him talking about it. We had a mini recorder that we gave her. She can seclude it any place she wanted. I instructed her, listen, don't bring it up. Let him talk. If he's going to talk, he talks, but I don't need you prompting him to do anything.

[District Attorney Melissa Carvajal]

What she did, it was very risky because he is a terrible man. I think there was a part of her that realized that her father was pure evil.

[Detective Wendell Stradford]

He talked about how he could do the perfect crime and no one would ever find out.

[Narrator]

The conversation is recorded, but the recordings alone may not be enough to convict Luis Perez.

[Detective Wendell Stradford]

What he said on that recorder is not really a confession. Any defense attorney be like, yeah, you know, look at him. He's a braggart, you know, big guy in the streets. And we knew, and the DA said it, too. You're going to have to bring in whatever witnesses you can find that can corroborate that tape.

[District Attorney Melissa Carvajal]

There was no body. The body in itself is such a big piece of evidence in a murder case. From a prosecutor's standpoint, that is a very, very tough case and not a case that is brought often at all.

[Reporter Carrie Burke]

It's almost unprecedented that someone's convicted of homicide without a body. There is no crime.

[District Attorney Melissa Carvajal]

Without a victim, a defense attorney could stand up and say, we don't know what happened to Bruce Blackwood. And that could have convinced a jury. There's always that fear.

[Narrator]

The district attorney is confident that they have their killer, but they don't have any physical evidence to back it up.

[District Attorney Melissa Carvajal]

We knew Luis Perez killed Bruce Blackwood. We knew that he had gotten rid of his body and that he had done a good job in getting rid of it. There was no forensic evidence whatsoever, meaning not even a blood trail. No body, not even a piece of a body. Still, I secured an indictment, and Detective Strafford went out and arrested Louis Perez.

[Narrator]

By the time the murder trial begins in September 2015, the police have located some key witnesses, including Perez's former helper, Martin Rodriguez.

[Detective Wendell Stradford]

This little squirrely, mousy type of guy who couldn't hurt a fly, who, scared to death by that Perez was out to get him. Martin Rodriguez was Perez's flunky, for want of a better word, because that's exactly what he was.

[District Attorney Melissa Carvajal]

Martin Rodriguez got on the stand, and that's how we got a lot of insight into what happened to Bruce Blackwood. It was very clear that Martin Rodriguez had nothing to do with the murder of Bruce Blackwood.

[Narrator]

Fourteen days into the trial, Perez's daughter takes the stand to reveal what her father told her.

[District Attorney Melissa Carvajal]

She testified to what her dad had told her in gruesome, terrible details, everything that he did to Bruce Blackwood. But the jury needed to hear the recording in his own voice. He said that Bruce had found out he had been stealing checks from him. And Perez said he told the police

[Detective Steve Pellen]

is gonna come and get me and arrest me, so we're not.

[Narrator]

Perez said he tied Bruce to a chair and put him in a chokehold. But he choked him too hard and snapped his neck.

[District Attorney Melissa Carvajal]

He then said that he knew he had to get rid of him.

[Detective Wendell Stradford]

Plastic that I put down is a construction plastic. The real thick plastic.

[District Attorney Melissa Carvajal]

And then he went to work, his words. He went to work on his body. He used a saw, he used a machete.

[Narrator]

Melissa went on to describe how her father used a saw and a machete to dismember Bruce Blackwood before he bleached the crime scene and the drains to remove any forensic evidence. After cleaning up, Perez put Bruce's remains into garbage bags.

[Detective Wendell Stradford]

He paid several homeless people. They didn't know what they were doing. And they just deposited the bags that had Mr. Blackwood's remains in different locations so that they would be picked up by sanitation.

[Narrator]

To strengthen their case, prosecutors call Perez's former girlfriend and neighbor to the stand.

[Detective Peter Galasso]

She goes into Perez's apartment and she says, Where's Mr. Blackwood? I heard the police have been here. And Perez says, Don't worry about Mr. Blackwood. He's gone. I went to work on his body. He's not coming back. And he had some type of electrical sore or a power saw on top of the table. Dismantled in several pieces, and he was placing them inside a garbage bag. He told her, if you tell anybody, I'll kill you. I'll kill your family. Keep your mouth shut.

[District Attorney Melissa Carvajal]

She was crucial to my case because I think the jury needed to believe that a whole body has disappeared. It makes it more real.

[Narrator]

After a three week trial, the jury begins deliberating.

[Friend of Bruce Blackwood]

I was worried, thinking that Luis Perez might go free because there was no evidence and there was no body.

[District Attorney Melissa Carvajal]

The jury deliberated for less than three hours and they found him guilty of murder in the second degree. Luis Perez was sentenced to 25 to life. And that was the maximum sentence that was allowable under the law. So there is some justice there. Is there justice for Bruce Blackwood? No. The way he was tragically taken, the way his remains were desecrated, there's no justice in that.

[Narrator]

Ed Blackwood only receives a small comfort from the verdict.

[Ed Blackwood]

I didn't have a body to bury. My brother was chopped up. And for him to be stuffed in bags like he was a piece of garbage, to be destroyed like that, you know, I mean, that hurt really, really tremendously.

[Friend of Bruce Blackwood]

But I know if he was here, we would still be friends. Bruce would have made a great uncle. He would have been so involved and so loving to my son. I miss Bruce tremendously.

[Ed Blackwood]

I've lost my brother. Someone that I had loved that I my coffin and you can't replace that. You can never replace that. That's all I can say is I miss him a lot. I miss my brother.

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[Narrator]

Cold Case Files is hosted by Paula Barros. It's produced by the Law and Crime Network and written by Eileen McFarlane and Emily G. Thompson. Our composer is Blake Maples for A and E, our senior producer is John Thrasher and our supervising producer is McKamey Lin. Our executive producers are Jesse Katz, Maite Cueva and Peter Tarshis. This podcast is based on A E's Emmy winning TV series, Cold Case Files. For more Cold case files, visit aetv.com.

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