A Fragile Justice

Summary

This Doesn't Happen to People Like Me: Episode Summary - "A Fragile Justice"

Introduction to the Case

In the gripping tenth episode of the true crime series This Doesn't Happen to People Like Me, titled "A Fragile Justice," host Mike Boudet delves deep into the harrowing ordeal of Tina Lohman, a 77-year-old grandmother whose life was shattered by a brutal crime. The episode examines not only the heinous attack but also the subsequent investigation, the relentless quest for justice, and the profound impact on Tina's family and the local community.

The Attack on Tina Lohman

On November 9, 2021, Tina Lohman became the victim of a vicious home invasion and sexual assault. As Tina was returning home, she encountered two assailants who hijacked her white Toyota Avalon. According to assistant State's Attorney Josh Jones, “She was on the side of the road and she was like, you know, what's going to happen to me? You never really think that, that it's going to be a nightmare” (03:26).

The attackers forcefully took Tina from her car, subjecting her to unimaginable violence. Laura Keck, another Assistant State's Attorney, detailed the brutality of the assault: “At one time the man, the woman or both of them had a knife and was threatening her with the knife that she was going to be killed” (05:40). Tina endured both physical and psychological torment, including being sprayed with carpet cleaner and being sexually assaulted multiple times.

Immediate Aftermath and Tina's Recovery

After the attack, Tina was found by police, sitting on the floor of her home, visibly distressed and injured. Upon examination at the hospital, her injuries were severe: “She had contusions on her legs and on her arms and on her hands. She had chemical burns... tearing and bleeding in her vaginal area” (06:52). Despite her critical condition, Tina provided crucial descriptions of her attackers, which became instrumental in the subsequent investigation.

Investigation and Pursuit of the Attackers

Detectives Josh Jones and Laura Keck spearheaded the investigation with decades of prosecutorial experience. Utilizing Tina’s description and surveillance footage from a gas station in Hannibal, Missouri, they swiftly identified the perpetrators. As Josh Jones explained, “We were able to get the video from that gas station showing the man and the woman coming into the gas station leaving Tina Lohman's car” (08:04). The collaboration with the U.S. Marshals Service enabled the rapid apprehension of the suspects, Bradley Yawn and Karen Blackledge, within a day of the attack.

Arrest and Charging of the Criminals

Bradley Yawn, a 34-year-old with a long history of criminal offenses, and Karen Blackledge were arrested and brought to the Adams County Courthouse. During their first court appearance, the judge set record-breaking bond amounts: $5 million for Karen and $15 million for Bradley (26:59). The authorities charged them with multiple serious offenses, including home invasion, aggravated kidnapping, vehicular hijacking, residential burglary, and sexual assault.

Tina's Struggle and Family Support

Tina's family stood as her pillar of strength during this tumultuous time. Her daughters, Heidi and Ilsa, along with her granddaughter Carly, provided unwavering support. Heidi recounted her first visit to Tina post-attack: “She put on makeup. She was definitely more put together than all of us combined. But I did see bruising on her arms” (10:14). Despite her trauma, Tina remained determined to maintain a semblance of normalcy, preparing for holidays and seeking to protect her family from the graphic details of her ordeal.

The Tragic Death of Tina Lohman

Tragedy struck on December 12, 2021, when Tina Lohman passed away, just weeks before the holiday season. Laura Keck revealed the devastating news: “tina Loman is dead” (27:48). Tina's death left her family shattered and posed significant challenges for the prosecution, as the primary victim and witness was no longer available to testify.

Implications for the Prosecution's Case

Tina's untimely death complicated the legal proceedings against Bradley Yawn and Karen Blackledge. Without Tina's testimony, proving the full extent of the crimes became exceedingly difficult. Josh Jones acknowledged the severity of the situation: “Bradley Yawn and Karen Blackledge were charged with home invasion and residential burglary charges, but they were not charged with murder” (29:20). Although Bradley was responsible for Tina's death, establishing legal culpability for murder was extraordinarily challenging without her testimony.

Reflections from Tina's Family and Prosecutors

Heidi expressed deep frustration over Tina's death, stating, “It makes me so mad. I just firmly believe she was not done here” (29:15). Carly, Tina's granddaughter, underscored the emotional toll: “Ultimately, I know that they did murder my mother” (29:42). Meanwhile, prosecutors like Laura Keck maintained a professional stance, focusing on the available evidence to seek justice for Tina and her family despite the heartbreaking loss.

Conclusion

"A Fragile Justice" paints a poignant picture of the ripple effects of violent crime, highlighting both the resilience of Tina Lohman's family and the systemic challenges faced in the pursuit of justice. The episode underscores the profound impact such crimes have on victims and their loved ones, and the often unpredictable nature of the legal process. As the series progresses, listeners are left to grapple with the complexities of justice and the enduring quest for closure in the wake of unimaginable tragedy.

Transcript

[Mike Boudet]

Last time on this does it Happen to People Like Me?

[Heidi]

We're getting my son ready for bed and she called me really hysterical. I couldn't really understand what she was saying, so I kind of told her I was like, I need you to calm down and kind of walk me through what you're saying. And she just said that my grandmother had been raped at her house and that she was going to take her to the hospital.

[Laura Keck]

Specifically, those individuals showed up in a white Toyota Avalon, is that correct?

[Josh Jones]

Correct.

[Laura Keck]

Was their video surveillance at the gas station?

[Josh Jones]

Yes.

[Mike Boudet]

Welcome to this Doesn't Happen to People Like Me. A ten part true crime series by the creators of Sword and Scale. If you like the show, you can subscribe to an ad free [e-mail] Please take a moment to review and rate us at Apple Podcasts and Spotify. I'm your host Mike Boudet. The show was written and produced by Michael Stabile. On September 9, 2021, 77 year old Tina Loman described to Illinois detectives the horrible details of the attack that she endured at the hands of two criminals who broke into her home. After speaking with Tina, detectives contacted the Adams County State Attorney's office. This brought two prosecuting attorneys into the investigation.

[Josh Jones]

My name is Josh Jones. I'm an assistant State's Attorney for Adams county and lead trial attorney for the State's Attorney's Office.

[Laura Keck]

My name is Laura Keck. I'm an Assistant State's Attorney for the Adams County State's Attorney's Office.

[Mike Boudet]

Between them, Josh Jones and Laura Keck have nearly four decades of experience as lawyers and they've prosecuted countless cases, many of which are pretty horrific. Even so, they weren't unfazed when they learned about what happened to Tina Lohman.

[Josh Jones]

The day that I first found out about it was the night that it happened was actually at the Quincy Community Theater. And in the middle of rehearsals, I got a urgent text message from the sheriff's office saying that there was a home invasion and sexual assault and they needed to speak with me. So I stepped out of rehearsals, got an update on what was going on, and then went into the office. The next morning, found out a little bit more about it and met with Laura and started talking with her about the case.

[Laura Keck]

I found out about the case the next morning when Josh shared the initial reports that we had about what had occurred. And quite frankly, I was horrified because this is the type of case that occurs in a person's nightmares. It occurs in movies, but thankfully does not generally occur in real life. In Real life, you don't normally have 77, 78 year old women sexually assaulted, attacked on the side of the road and in their own homes by complete strangers.

[Mike Boudet]

As Josh and Laura began reviewing this case and the police reports, they learned how Tina encountered the two criminals who attacked her.

[Josh Jones]

We know that she was coming home, it was getting dark, she wasn't sure how the lights on her car worked. There was some confusion about that. And so she pulled over to the side of the road where she was hoping that she was going to get some help. You know, it was one of those, those things that everybody's scared about. You know, you're, you're on the side of the road and it's dark and she's a 77 year old woman and she's like, you know, what's going to happen to me? You never really think that, that it's going to be a nightmare. You live in Quincy, somebody's going to show up and somebody's going to help you. That's what we've come to expect. I mean, I've seen, I don't know how many stories of somebody's on the side of the road and somebody shows up and helps them to change a tire or brings them gas or things like that. That's what we would anticipate happening in Quincy, Illinois. And I think that's what Tina thought was going to happen.

[Mike Boudet]

The police reports went on to describe what happened to Tina after she was carjacked and kidnapped.

[Josh Jones]

He forced her into the passenger seat as they were driving. The man began to force Tina to perform sexual acts on him. They then got to her house, she ran away from them, got into the house, locked the door, the man kicked open the door, followed her in, ransacked the house looking for jewelry, looking for cash, looking for anything, stole a significant amount of jewelry, stole some cash that was in the house, sexually assaulted her again. According to Tina, he sprayed her with a can of carpet cleaner on her body and in her mouth. Got into Tina's car, took her car keys and fled from the location.

[Laura Keck]

Also during the course of the sexual assault inside of the house, at one time the man, the woman or both of them had a knife and was threatening her with the knife that she was going to be killed and was, Tina was told repeatedly they would kill her if she did not comply with their demands.

[Mike Boudet]

After the attack and after the two criminals fled, police arrived on scene and found Tina sitting on the floor of her home.

[Laura Keck]

When officers arrived, they located Tina was sitting in the living room of the house right when you walked in, she was bleeding from what appeared to be the lower part of her body. She was crying off and on. They also observed blood on the floor of the house. In addition, in the kitchen, which was connected to the living room. It was all kind of one big room. On the floor was a can of carpet cleaner as well as a knife, both laying on the floor. They got a very brief statement from Tina about what had happened to her, which was basically her saying she had been raped and that there was a man and a woman. After they got that information from her, then they arranged with her daughters for her to go to Blessing Hospital to have a sexual assault kit done.

[Mike Boudet]

When Tina was examined at the hospital, she was in pretty bad shape. She'd been brutalized. She was still in shock and had bruises all over her body.

[Josh Jones]

Ms. Sloman had significant injuries. She was bruised. She had contusions on her legs and on her arms and on her hands. She had chemical burns, or what appeared to be chemical burns in her mouth. She underwent a pelvic exam, and there was tearing and bleeding in her vaginal area as well.

[Mike Boudet]

Despite her condition, Tina was able to give police descriptions of her attackers. The hunt to find these two monsters began immediately. They needed to be found and arrested as soon as possible.

[Josh Jones]

Ms. Loman gave the police a generalized description of the man and the woman who had carjacked her and broken into her home and sexually assaulted her. We also knew that the suspects had taken Tina Loman's car, and so we were looking for that car.

[Mike Boudet]

A BOLO, or be on the lookout was issued to local law enforcement for Tina's white Toyota Avalon. Eventually, surveillance cameras captured the vehicle about 20 miles south of Tina's home.

[Josh Jones]

Turned out that that car was later found in Hannibal, Missouri, at a gas station. We were able to get the video from that gas station showing the man and the woman coming into the gas station leaving the Tina Loman's car. I think maybe an hour or certainly less than two hours after the events occurred. The suspects then fled that location, fled across the river back into Illinois. But once we had the video of them, it was easier to identify who they were. Both. Both suspects were people who were known to Quincy police officers based on prior involvement.

[Mike Boudet]

The police had surveillance footage of their suspects and were quickly able to identify them after they knew who they were searching for. The U.S. marshals Service was contacted within a day of the attack. The authorities located Tina's attackers and arrested both of them. In November of 2021, detectives in Adams County, Illinois, as well as the U.S. marshal Service began their hunt to find the criminals who brutally attacked 77 year old Tina Loman. Meanwhile, Tina began what was going to be a very long journey towards recovery.

[Ilsa]

Tina went to the Urgency Room that night.

[Mike Boudet]

Yes.

[Ilsa]

And maybe a week later, she went to see her OB GYN, Dr. Ada Kaguma, is that right?

[Mike Boudet]

Yes. Thankfully, Tina had a very loving family to support her. This included her two daughters, Heidi and Ilsa, and her granddaughter Carly.

[Heidi]

The very next day, so November 10th, I did see my grandma. I came out to my aunt's salon where my aunt and my mom and the detective were there. And I got to see my grandma for the first time since her attack. She looked beautiful. She put on makeup. She was definitely more put together than all of us combined. But I did see bruising on her arms. Even though she was collected, she was very in shock. Still. She was definitely trying to distract herself from her reality is what I could tell.

[Mike Boudet]

When Tina spoke to her family, she left out the details of the attack. She wanted to protect them from the more graphic elements of the crime. Despite her weakened state and the shock she was experiencing, Tina was doing her best to stay positive. She was trying to recover at that point.

[Heidi]

My grandma had told me her kind of side of things. She did leave out details of the rape and she did not tell me about the sodomy. And I think that just she's a very private person and very dignified and she didn't want people to know that or she was embarrassed by that for whatever reason. None of this was her fault. But just in the time, like she was 77, she was born and raised in a time where you just don't talk about that kind of stuff.

[Josh Jones]

I know that I saw during this proceeding a video of her being interviewed not long, I want to say within 24 hours of her release from the hospital after the attack. And she seemed in pretty good spirits.

[Mike Boudet]

Tina shielded her family from the graphic nature of the crime. But when it was time to talk to detectives and prosecutors, Tina couldn't omit anything about what happened to her.

[Laura Keck]

The meeting we met with her in person, she was positive and she was upbeat, but it was because she would still. While she would talk about the crime, she wanted to talk about anything else other than the crime. She wanted to talk about her life, she wanted to talk about her family, she wanted to show pictures of her family. But she was in denial that such a thing had occurred to her. Talking with Tina, even at that time, and I don't think ever she would not go back to her house where the incident had happened. She stayed at a different property that she owned. She lived in hotels because she did not want to go back to where it had happened, and she was so terrified about what had happened to her and that it could happen to her.

[Mike Boudet]

Understandably, Tina struggled to grasp the reality of the assault she had endured. She was traumatized. The assault itself had ended, but the pain had not. Tina suffered both physically and mentally.

[Ilsa]

I'd like you to describe for us your mother's pain.

[Mike Boudet]

Was.

[Josh Jones]

Was she in pain?

[Carly]

Yes, she was in extreme pain.

[Heidi]

I'm sorry?

[Carly]

She was in extreme pain.

[Ilsa]

After the assault, did she go back to that house or did she stay somewhere else for a period of time?

[Carly]

She stayed somewhere else for a period of time.

[Ilsa]

In fact, she didn't even go back to that house until two and a half weeks later.

[Josh Jones]

Is that right? Yes.

[Ilsa]

She wouldn't go back to that house two and a half weeks later. Until you redecorated that house?

[Carly]

Yes.

[Ilsa]

Until you helped her erase those memories?

[Carly]

Yes.

[Mike Boudet]

For a time, Tina refused to go home. She stayed in hotels and at another property that she owned. All the while, Tina's family did what they could to support her.

[Heidi]

My whole family was just shook up. My uncles came to town. One lives in Springfield, Illinois, and one lives in Colorado. They came to town with their wives and just to kind of all be together and just make sure she was doing okay.

[Carly]

She had my brothers coming and staying with her at hotels, and I don't think she was dealing with it fully, but she was trying to push through because we were going into Thanksgiving, and then she was really excited about Christmas coming up and was getting everything prepared for Christmas.

[Mike Boudet]

Tina did her best to get her life back on track. With the holidays coming up, she tried to settle back into a routine. And when she was around her family, she tried putting on a brave front.

[Heidi]

And she just always did. She never let anything, like, affect her, at least outwardly. And she was so protective of us. She never wanted us to worry about her. She never wanted us to feel any pain about it, Even though that was inevitable. She just wanted us to try to move on from it. She wanted to move on from it.

[Mike Boudet]

While Tina was only beginning to recover, the local police and the US Marshal service were searching for the two monsters that attacked her. This search effort ended pretty quickly. Surveillance cameras at the local gas station and convenience store in Hannibal, Missouri, captured a man and a woman driving Tina's car. The couple had apparently stopped at this location to gas up and use the convenience stores. Gambling machines after the defendant finished robbing.

[Laura Keck]

Tina of her dignity, he fled. He fled with Tina's purse, he fled with her jewelry. He took her money. He fled with Tina's car, even took Tina's rosary. Then he went across the river to Hannibal and he played video poker.

[Mike Boudet]

With Tina's account of what happened, her description of the attackers, the photo lineup, and this video surveillance footage. The authorities knew the names of the people they were searching for. They knew the names of Tina's attackers. So the next day, the US Marshals Service arrested them both. For Tina and her family, the pursuit of justice could finally begin. Or so they thought.

[Unknown]

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[Mike Boudet]

On November 10, 2021, a team of U.S. marshals arrived at a mobile home park in Missouri. They were there to arrest the man and the woman who had attacked, robbed, carjacked and raped Tina Loman the night before.

[Josh Jones]

The police identified as suspects two people. One was a gentleman by the name of Bradley Yan, and then the other other woman. Her name was Karen Blackledge.

[Mike Boudet]

The man who attacked Tina was 34 year old Bradley yawn. And before the night of the attack, he had no prior connection to Tina.

[Ilsa]

At all before November 9, 2021. Have you ever heard the name Bradley on before?

[Josh Jones]

No.

[Ilsa]

Have you ever seen R. Leon before?

[Josh Jones]

No.

[Ilsa]

To the best of your knowledge, had Bradley Y ever had any contact with your wife Christina alone?

[Josh Jones]

No.

[Ilsa]

Have Bradley on ever been in your house?

[Josh Jones]

No.

[Mike Boudet]

Eventually, Tina and her family were told who the two attackers were. This prompted Tina's granddaughter to learn more about these people.

[Heidi]

I think when I first found out their names, Bradley Yawn and Karen Blackledge, it made it more real. It was like, okay, this actually happened. I immediately looked them up on Facebook just so I could see their face. And I think at that point, my aunt and I had both done that and we were just crying, and they looked exactly like how she described it. Made me really sad for their families, honestly.

[Mike Boudet]

Unsurprisingly, this wasn't the first time Karen Blackledge and Bradley Yawn had broken the law. In fact, Bradley had a long, long, long criminal history.

[Josh Jones]

He would be what I would call a career criminal. He was just constantly in trouble with the law. I don't remember him ever having done anything quite as heinous as what happened on that night. But, yeah, he'd been. He was just kind of always in trouble. What I remember about learning more about him, his father was also a career criminal, had been in prison. His mother died when he was young. And as people were putting together a case later on against Bradley, they found out that a lot of his life as a child, nobody had any record of it at all. His sole legacy around here in this area was he was just always in trouble.

[Laura Keck]

I had prosecuted Mr. Yahn about 10 years before for a domestic battery offense. Mr. Yahn had prior convictions, mainly from the state of Missouri, for burglary, I think maybe a drug offense or two. He also had pending warrants, I believe, or we were looking for him as a possible suspect in some other burglary type offenses. I think he had a burglary warrant out of the state of Missouri when this offense occurred, as well as a pending case out of St. Charles County. But for the most part, his criminal history was drugs and burglary.

[Mike Boudet]

Prior to this offense, Bradley had an extensive criminal background, and that's really all he had. All other elements of his life seemed non existent or lost to time.

[Unknown]

Your Honor, one thing that I often do, particularly in cases like this, is I try to imagine my client's baby photo or a preschool photo or some sort of a photo from my client's early years. Because certainly the life that my client has now is not the life that my client has always had. Did my client in those tender years feel safe? Was there trauma in my client's life? What circumstances in my client's young years came to influence my client today? And the truth is that we actually have almost no information about Bradley's early years.

[Mike Boudet]

All we know about Bradley's past is that he was raised mostly by his mother, who died before Bradley became an adult. We also know that he came from a big family, but it appears that his family wasn't particularly close.

[Unknown]

The siblings that Mr. Yan has, he has eight biological siblings. He has five step siblings. None of those siblings sent in a letter describing anything about Mr. Yan's early life or anything about Mr. Yan, period. And this is the information that we have. We do know that Bradley's mother raised him. His father wasn't really around, and when he was 16 years old, his mother passed away. It was as a result of that, his siblings ended up splitting up.

[Mike Boudet]

Bradley lost his mom, and his father spent a good deal of time in prison. So it's safe to assume that Bradley didn't have the best guidance as he was growing up. Though these details about Bradley's life were of little concern to Tina's family and the prosecutors.

[Heidi]

It seemed like he didn't come from a very good place. I know he lived in Hannibal for a short amount of time. He lived in Springfield, Illinois. But, I mean, to be honest, I didn't really care to know much about him. I didn't really. And I still don't have any empathy towards him or where he came from, because at the end of the day, he made his own choices.

[Josh Jones]

The way Ms. Keck and I handle these cases is we don't look that much into the hearts and minds of the people we prosecute. Before this date, Bradley Yon was nobody to us. So he wasn't somebody that was on our radar, wasn't somebody that. That, you know, when the police told us the name Bradley on, I vaguely recognized it, but it wasn't, you know, one of those names that pop into your head. I mean, I hate to sound crass, but he was a nobody.

[Mike Boudet]

Before the attack on Tina Loman, Bradley truly did seem to be a nobody. He was just a repeat criminal offender with an unfortunate upbringing, and that's really all there was to him. Unfortunately, Tina crossed paths with this nobody, and Bradley Yawn victimized Tina in ways that are beyond comprehension. So for the sake of keeping the public safe and for the sake of hopefully getting some justice for Tina, Bradley and his female accomplice, Karen Blackledge, were arrested.

[Josh Jones]

So once we had the names Karen Blackledge and Bradley on, obviously we issued warrants for their arrest, and the police were looking for them as well. I think we used the marshals, U.S. marshals, to help assist in that as well. We knew a possible location for a friend or a family member they had in Springfield. The police arrived at that location based on, I believe, on a tip, and found the car in the general area and were also able to determine that Mr. Yan and Ms. Blackledge were in a trailer on November 10, 2021.

[Ilsa]

Did you receive information about where the defendant might have been located?

[Mike Boudet]

We received information that he was from the Springfield area.

[Unknown]

The guys on the task force from.

[Josh Jones]

Quincy were working this side of the.

[Unknown]

State, so my team and myself decided.

[Josh Jones]

To stay in Springfield and works in banking over there.

[Ilsa]

At some point, was there an address that was associated with the defendant that you learned that the defendant was either at that address or might be in.

[Mike Boudet]

That is correct.

[Ilsa]

And was the defendant, in fact, apprehended at that location?

[Mike Boudet]

Yes, he went to the backyard. Just one day after Tina was attacked, Bradley and Karen were found at the same location and arrested. The news of their arrests quickly reached Tina and her family.

[Heidi]

The day they were arrested was. We were so glad that they were arrested and found and in custody because there's so many cases where the people aren't caught in. The families don't get answers. But that was also the beginning of this terrible journey through trial.

[Unknown]

Bradley Yawn and Karen Blackledge appeared at the Adams County Courthouse for the first time Tuesday afternoon in Quincy. Tuesday's court hearing happened just a day after the couple was transported from the Sangamon County Jail in Springfield, Illinois, where they were arrested, to the Adams County Jail. A judge formally read all of the charges against them, including home invasion, aggravated kidnapping, vehicular hijacking, residential burglary, and sexual assault, all allegedly committed last week in rural Adams County. Yawn and Blackledge both have extensive criminal histories in both Illinois and Missouri. But the most shocking detail of this court hearing, the fact that Yan was mistakenly released from a St. Charles County, Missouri, jail just three weeks before last week's alleged crimes.

[Mike Boudet]

Bradley and Karen were in custody, and the wheels of justice began to turn. At the first court appearance, the Judge ordered a $5 million bond for Karen and a $15 million bond for Bradley, which was an Adams county record. At this point, it appeared that things were going to play out like they do in every other criminal case. Bradley and Karen could plead guilty or not guilty. They might take a plea deal from prosecutors, or they might take their respective cases to trial. It seemed like business as usual in America. But about a month after their arrests, something unexpected happened that threatened the likely conviction of these two criminals.

[Laura Keck]

It was a Sunday night. I was actually already in bed, and I received a text message from. From the primary investigating officer, Kelsey Miller. And she texted me and said something to the effect of, I know it's late, but are you awake? I then either called her or texted her that I was available. And her words to me were, tina Loman is dead.

[Mike Boudet]

On December 12, 2021, just weeks before her favorite holiday, Tina Loman died. While this was obviously devastating for Tina's family. It was also potentially devastating for the prosecution's case. Without Tina, the prosecutors no longer had a victim or a witness to the crime. As time went on, the chances that Bradley Yawn and Karen Blackledge would walk free and avoid being held accountable for what they did to Tina started to seem like a real possibility. Next time on this Doesn't Happen to People Like Me.

[Heidi]

It makes me so mad. I just firmly believe she was not done here.

[Josh Jones]

Bradley Yan and Karen Blackledge were charged with home invasion and residential burglary charges, but they were not charged with murder.

Did Bradley Yonn cause her death? Absolutely. But legally, proving that would have been exceptionally difficult, if not impossible.

[Carly]

Ultimately, I know that they did murder my mother.