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In accepting the plea, he avoided the death penalty and likely will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Police arrested Grimsinger Aug. 10, 2006, for the March 14, 2006, strangling death of Sally Blackwell, a 53-year-old Victoria Child Protective Services worker.
By pleading guilty this morning to felony kidnapping and felony murder, he sidesteps capital murder and aggravated sexual assault charges. Grimsinger was also charged with robbery, burglary and kidnapping.
By agreeing to the plea deal, he also sidesteps a jury trial and the possibility of facing the death penalty, which District Attorney Stephen Tyler said he’d seek.
"I did it, Dad," Grimsinger was taped as saying in a jailhouse conversation with his father, Michael, who was Blackwell's boyfriend at the time of her death. Attorneys discussed the tape during this morning's hearing.
Jeffrey Grimsinger, dressed in yellow prison attire, entered the courtroom at 9:15 a.m. Grimsinger listened to District Judge Skipper Koetter as he explained the details of the plea agreement. Tyler and defense attorney Elliott Costas flanked him. Koetter occasionally asked questions of all three men. Grimsinger began signing documents, at one point Costas placed his hand gently on Grimsinger's back and spoke to him.
Grimsinger, 23 at the time of his arrest, faces a life sentence for felony murder, and another 20 years in prison for felony kidnapping, Costas said. The felony murder and felony kidnapping charges will run consecutively, Costas said.
Asked by the judge why he killed Blackwell, Grimsinger answered, "I don't know."
Facts of the case and the risks each side faced in proceeding to trial helped the deal progress, Costas said, declining to offer details about those facts.
Attorneys negotiated the plea deal for weeks, and more intensely in recent days, Costas said. “This is a fair resolution to a very tragic matter. And the defense hopes that both the Grimsinger and Blackwell families can find peace.”
“The community can rest assured that both the state and defense have exercised their professional judgment and personal concerns for the families in reaching this accommodation,” Costas said.
Tyler was not immediately available for comment, but he has said that capital murder cases are costly to prosecute and juries are sometimes unpredictable – two factors the DA may have considered when negotiating this deal.
Blackwell was reported missing on March 14, 2006, after she failed to arrive for work at her part-time counseling job. Her body was found the next day in a pasture on Hanselman Road in rural Victoria County, about 10 feet from the roadway, according to Advocate file stories.
In all three counts in the original indictment, a rope was identified as the weapon that killed Blackwell. As for Grimsinger, “I can’t tell you what’s going through his mind,” Costas said. “Profound remorse.” Grimsinger could be eligible for parole in as early as 40 years, the defense attorney said.
“I feel very badly for both families. And I hope both families can find peace,” Costas said. “I’m relieved that I have been able to reach an accommodation with the state that spares my client’s life, in view of the fact he was facing the death penalty.”
District Judge Skipper Koetter called for a break in the plea agreement proceedings after about 30 minutes.
Victoria County Sheriff Sheriff T. Michael O'Connor stomped through the hallway outside the 24th District Courtroom. "It would have been nice to have been told this was going on," said the sheriff, obviously displeased. "We just went through a whole session on trust. It's all about professional courtesy."
After the break, Grimsinger sat on the witness stand and hung his head as members of Blackwell's family read impact statements on how her death has affected them.
Blackwell’s daughter, Amanda Taulbee of Austin, shared an emotional victim impact statement while Jeffrey Grimsinger bowed his head from the witness stand.
Every time Taulbee sees a middle-age woman taking an older mother shopping, “I am frozen in sadness,” the daughter said, fighting tears.
For more than the last year, Taulbee has struggled to sleep and to cope, she said.
She remembers her mother telling her as a child: “Night. Night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”
She also remembers her mother telling her, “I just don’t think Jeff likes me anymore, and I just don’t know why.”
Minutes before, Grimsinger said he didn’t know why he killed Blackwell, but that he was remorseful.
One of Blackwell’s older sisters said, “What happened at the end of Sally’s life was only a brief part of it.”
She said Blackwell, a former Victoria Child Protective Services worker, was her “precious little sister,” a strong woman she turned to in times of need.
Gabe Semenza is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6519 or gsemenza@vicad.com.
This story will be updated throughout the day at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com. Check back for live photos and video. For complete coverage, also see Saturday’s print edition.