Ryan Scott Blinston (born August 26, 1983) is an American

spree killer A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders in a short time, often in multiple locations. There are different opinions about what durations of time a killing spree may take place in. The United States ...

and

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

ist who murdered three women in

Oroville, California Oroville (''Oro'', Spanish for "Gold" and ''Ville'', French for "town") is a city in and the county seat of Butte County, California, United States. Its population was 15,506 at the 2010 census, up from 13,004 in the 2000 census. After the 20 ...

, between May and June 2020. His

modus operandi A (often shortened to M.O. or MO) is an individual's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as . Term The term is often used in ...

typically consisted of murdering clients he worked for at his tree-trimming job. Blinston was caught by a SWAT team while attempting to murder another man with a hatchet. He was later found guilty of the murders and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Early life

Little is known about Blinston's childhood. Born in California on August 26, 1983, he first came to attention of law enforcement in 2006, at age 22, when he stole a black

Ford Explorer The Ford Explorer is a range of Sport utility vehicle, SUVs manufactured by Ford Motor Company since the 1991 model year. The first five-door SUV produced by Ford, the Explorer, was introduced as a replacement for the three-door Ford Bronco II ...

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a New England town, town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university ...

, and kept it in his possession for three days. He was convicted on a felony theft charge. He moved back to California afterwards, where, in 2013, he burglarized three homes, stealing three guns and a

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota, Toyota Motor Corporation. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked amon ...

. He was imprisoned for these crimes at

Pleasant Valley State Prison Pleasant Valley State Prison (PVSP) is a minimum-to-maximum security state prison in Coalinga, Fresno County, California. The facility has housed convicted murderers Sirhan Sirhan, Erik Menendez, X-Raided, Paul Flores and Hans Reiser, among ...

Coalinga, California Coalinga ( or ) is a city in the Pleasant Valley in Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the western San Joaquin Valley, in central California about 80 miles (128 km) southeast of Salinas, California, Salinas. It was formerly know ...

Murders

On the morning of May 23, 2020, Blinston broke into the Los Molinos home of Loreen Severs, 88, and Homer Severs, 91. After locating them in the house, Blinston cut the throats of the couple, killing Loreen Severs, and injuring Homer Severs. Five days prior to the attack, Blinston did tree-trimming work at the Severs' house as part of his

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal ...

job. GPS evidence indicated that Blinston returned to the house the evening before the murders in what the police described as a "scouting trip." Blinston then returned to his home in Oroville. Then, on June 4, 2020, Blinston did tree-trimming work as part of a

team serviced at the Oroville home of Sandra George, 82. After the landscaping crew left, Blinston went back to the home by himself, and fatally stabbed Sandra George in the throat. Her body was found at 5:00 p.m. the following day. Two days later, on June 6, 2020, 56-year-old Vicky Cline was last seen alive with Ryan Blinston in downtown Oroville. On the same day, Cline's car was set on fire between Pine Street and Robinson street in Oroville. An investigation revealed that the car had been deliberately set ablaze with an accelerant. On June 21, 2020, Vicky Cline's remains were found by a

fisherman A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million Commercial fishing, commercial and Artisan fishing, subsistence fishers and Fish farming, fi ...

in the

Feather River The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over . The main stem Feather ...

near Belden, California. Like the other victims, her throat was slashed.

Capture

Authorities forensically matched blood and

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

found on Blinston's car to Vicky Cline. After a week of searching, the Butte County

SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

team located his whereabouts on June 14, 2020: a

motorhome A motorhome (or coach) is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle (RV) which is as the name suggests, like a home on wheels. Features Motorhomes usually have sleeping spaces for two to eight people. Each sleeping space is either fixed o ...

in a wooded area of Brush Creek, California. When the SWAT team arrived, they found Blinston trying to break into the home with a

hatchet A hatchet (from the Old French language, Old French , a diminutive form of ''hache'', 'axe' of Germanic origin) is a Tool, single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade on one side used to cut and split wood, and a hammerhead on the other side ...

. Blinston then ran into the forest, but was caught shortly after. The owner of the motorhome was a 50-year-old man who allowed Blinston to stay at the home overnight. After the man went to sleep, he woke up to Blinston attacking him with a knife. Despite being stabbed in the throat, the man was able fight off Blinston and lock him out. After Blinston walked away from the motorhome to retrieve a hatchet, he returned and tried to break into the house again. The man was seriously injured, but survived.

Trial

Blinston was charged with three counts of first-degree

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

, two counts of

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seve ...

, and

resisting arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be Interroga ...

, to which he pleaded not guilty. Blinston's

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

started on May 2, 2022. Hundreds of pieces of evidence in the forms of photographs, diagrams, phone data, business records, and

surveillance video Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal ...

s, were presented to the jury. Additionally, 35 witnesses

testified Testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. Law In the law, testimony ...

against Blinston. Ryan Blinston himself did not testify. Blinston was found guilty on all charges on August 4, 2022, and received three life sentences without the possibility of parole. Blinston was imprisoned in the

North Kern State Prison North Kern State Prison (NKSP) is a medium-security prison located in Delano, Kern County, California. Opened in April 1993, this state prison has a design capacity of 2,694 incarcerated people. North Kern serves as a reception center for incomi ...

, but is now currently imprisoned in the

References

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