MUSKEGON, Mich. - Anthony Blamer was found guilty of second-degree murder by Muskegon County Circuit Judge William Marietti for killing D'Anthony Keenan in August 2017.
The trial started on Tuesday, July 17, and Blamer didn't want a jury to hear the case, which was decided by Marietti on Wednesday, July 25.
Blamer was also found guilty of felony firearm, and carrying a concealed weapon. The judge ruled Blamer was not guilty of armed robbery. Armed robbery was needed for a first-degree murder conviction.
Investigators said that Blamer and Keenan got into an argument about money, and Blamer shot Keenan in the head.
During the trial, the judge viewed surveillance video of Blamer driving Keenan's SUV. Other videos show Blamer buying clothes, a shovel and a chainsaw with cash. He was also seen at a car wash in Holton, and several other places from Muskegon north to Fremont. In all police retrieved evidence from more than one dozen sites between Muskegon, Fremont and Newaygo.
Blamer claimed he killed Keenan during a struggle over a gun and in self defense. Marietti said that claim was not supported by evidence presented at trial.
"You do not shoot someone four times including two times in the face and once in the back of the head in self defense," said Marietti. "The multiple shots and the locations of the shots also convince me this is not merely an accident."
The trial in Muskegon County did not include a dismemberment charge because investigators believe Blamer committed that act in Newaygo County.
The trial did however include testimony from a deputy who told the judge he and other detectives were lead by Blamer to a bag containing Keenan's head and hands.
Duck hunters were the first to alert police to the discovery of an incomplete body on Aug. 5, 2017 on a remote trail in the Manistee National Forest.
The prosecutor says the dismemberment was likely an effort to make Keenan's body difficult for authorities to identity.
Police found evidence on Keenan's phone showing he and Blamer arranged to meet for an unspecified transaction at a Muskegon Township car wash.
Keenan's mother testified her son had more than $1,500 in cash the day he was last seen alive.
The judge was convinced Blamer took money from Keenan, but according to Marietti the case lacked evidence showing Blamer planned or intended to steal the money prior to the shooting.
Blamer will be sentenced on September 10th.
Second-degree murder is punishable by any number of years up to life in prison.
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