What to Watch Thursday: Dateline updates the case of a murdered Illinois nurse
Sign up for the Happiness is a Warm TV newsletter here.
Here’s what’s on TV tonight.
Dateline: Ghost Rider (10 p.m., NBC)
This week’s Thursday episode of “Dateline” looks at the murder of Becky Bliefnick, a nurse and mother of three found fatally shot inside her Quincy, Illinois, home earlier this year. Her father found her body on the floor of her bathroom and called 911. Her three sons were staying with their father, Tim Bliefnick, who lived nearby.
Becky’s family immediately suspected Tim, because the two were going through a contentious divorce, reported CBS News, and because Becky had previously texted her sister that if anything ever happened to her, “please make sure the number one person of interest is Tim, as that is who would do something to me.”
Police examined surveillance footage captured by cameras on neighbors’ homes and Tim Bliefnick, a former “Family Feud” contestant, became a person of interest. An arrest was made and a trial, resulting in a conviction, took place in the spring.
“Dateline” correspondent Dennis Murphy interviews Quincy police chief Adam Yates and assistant states attorneys Josh Jones and Laura Keck. He also talks to Becky’s sister, Sarah Reilly, and others.
Black Cake (Hulu)
This new series, based on the bestselling book by Charmaine Wilkerson, is a family drama/murder mystery set in Jamaica, Italy, Scotland, England and Southern California.
The story spans decades. From Hulu: “In the late 1960s, a runaway bride named Covey disappears into the surf off the coast of Jamaica and is feared drowned or a fugitive on the run for her husband’s murder. In present day California, a widow named Eleanor Bennett, loses her battle with cancer, leaving her two estranged children, Byron and Benny, a flash drive that holds previously untold stories of her journey from the Caribbean to America. These stories, narrated by Eleanor, shock her children and challenge everything they thought they knew about their family’s origin.”
The series stars Mia Isaac, Adrienne Warren, Chipo Chung, Ashley Thomas, Lashay Anderson, Faith Alabi and Glynn Turman, as well as recurring guest stars Ahmed Eljah, Simon Wan, and Sonita Henry.
Some programming descriptions are provided by networks.
