By Ashley McLeod, staff writer
Dec 18, 2015, 16:14
COLONIAL HEIGHTS — After five years and countless days in court, the family of Evelyn and Joseph Bland Sr. finally received justice last Friday, when the man on trial for the 2011 slaying of the couple earned two life sentences.
Matthew Franklin Brady, 31, was sentenced in Colonial Heights Circuit Court after pleading guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of robbery. After six hours in court, Judge Alan Sharrett sentenced Brady above state guidelines, with two life terms for the murders of the elderly couple, as well as a 25-year sentence for each robbery charge.
“This is simply the most horrific, violent case this judge has ever had,” said Sharrett. “The savageness and brutality of these murders is shocking.”
On Jan. 21, 2011, the Blands were supposed to travel to Lancaster to visit with their daughter and her family. After waiting for hours and not being able to contact her parents, their daughter called her brother and his wife to see if the two could check on the couple.
Joseph Bland Jr. and his wife arrived at his parents’ house, where the victims’ car was not present. Upon entering the house, the couple found the alarm to be disabled, and then found the body of Mrs. Bland in a pool of blood. Police found Mr. Bland’s body after arriving at the scene.
That morning, around 9 a.m. the Blands were preparing to leave to visit their family in Lancaster. The couple went inside to retrieve Evelyn’s purse, and that’s when Brady entered the home. Joseph Bland Sr., 84, and his wife Evelyn, 80, were bludgeoned to death and died from blunt force trauma. Mrs. Bland was hit three times, and Mr. Bland at least 17 times.
Within a week of the crime, Colonial Heights police were able to identify that Brady was involved in the murders, and he was arrested.
A few items were stolen from a safe at the Bland residence, including an earring of Evelyn’s and a cash sum of $1,400. During the investigation, police obtained search warrants for Brady’s residence, where the earring was found, as well as most of the money, which had splatters of the Blands’ blood on it. A T-shirt was also kept by Brady’s former wife that was found to have bloodstains from the Blands as well.
At the time of the incident, Brady lived across the street from the elderly couple and spoke to them on many occasions. Chesterfield Commonwealth Attorney William Davenport, who helped prosecute Brady, stated in court that Brady knew the couples’ routine.
“He knew they had an alarm and safe inside. He knew they were going to Lancaster,” said Davenport.
At the time, Brady was unemployed, had a drug problem, no money, and was on the outs with his wife. Brady was previously a welder, and according to statements in court, had money problems often.
Prominent capital-murder prosecutor Warren B. Von Schuch assisted the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office in the case. According to the Von Schuch, seven blows received by Joseph Bland were with such force that they caused his brain to be forced onto his brain stem and that Bland was probably already dead for half of the blows in the attack. Evelyn had two blows to the head of the same capacity as Joseph, showing the extreme, aggressive nature of the attack.
Brady’s defense team argued that although Bland was present at the crime, there were others involved that were the true perpetrators. Through a thorough police investigation, no evidence was found for this claim to be true.
During the sentencing hearing, several witnesses were called by both sides, including members of both the Bland and Brady family.
Ronnie Roberts, a neighbor of the Blands, was brought to testify at the hearing. Roberts said the Blands were well respected and well-liked in the community. When asked by prosecutors how their deaths had impacted the neighborhood, Roberts said that the neighbors, most of which are older, were scared, and that even now, years after the incident, they still are.
Joseph Bland Jr., the son of the victims, told the courtroom that since finding the bodies of his parents, his family has been in counseling to deal with the deaths. Bland Jr. described the couple as the matriarch and patriarch of the family.
“They were always loving, caring, supportive, and always there for you,” said Bland. “It’s not a day goes by you don’t think of them. Another holiday has come and they missed it.”
The prosecuting team presented 10 victim impact statements to the court, saying that the number was small compared to how many they could have acquired.
Lisa Bland Pittman, daughter of the Blands, told the court of how respected her parents were in the community. Evelyn worked as a deputy sheriff in Petersburg before retiring.
“Everyone came to Mrs. Evelyn in the court system. All people, whether they were inmates, inmates’ children … she knew that it could be anyone’s family. It could be our family, and she treated them that way,” said Pittman.
Brady’s mother and grandmother took the stand to testify at the hearing, describing him as a loving, caring father, who had just made bad decisions to try and fix his family’s problems.
A childhood friend of Brady’s testified as well, and told the court of multiple incidents he had experienced where Brady was abused by his stepfather.
Dr. Eileen Ryan, a forensic psychiatrist and board-certified in child and adolescent psychiatry met with Brady five times since 2012, for a total of 20 hours. In a 38-page report submitted to the court, Ryan examined her time with Brady. Ryan said that the defendant suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, a result of both seeing his mother abused and being abused by his stepfather.
Ryan also said that Brady suffered from anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which from his childhood he was not treated for. Ryan also said that Brady has a family history of substance abuse, mental illness, suicides, depression and anxiety. His biological father, who passed away when Brady was three and a half, was an alcoholic and also had a history of learning disorders.
Ryan claimed that because of the lack of consistency in his childhood and behavior by his stepfathers, Brady was left damaged both emotionally and physically. Ryan said during the crime, Brady was disassociated with what was going on around him. Brady was disconnected from the reality of what was happening due to his history.
Since being incarcerated, Brady has been on medication to help with his conditions, which Ryan said she could notice a change in him.
Before sentencing occurred, Brady’s defense recommended that because of his mental state at the time of the incident, and lack of proper medical care, that Brady was not fully aware of the nature of his crime while committing it.
Sentencing guidelines set forth by the state suggest a term of 30 years and five months as a minimum and 50 years and eight months as a maximum sentence. Brady’s defense team asked the judge for a sentence somewhere in the middle of this.
Judge Sharrett explained in his sentence report that although Brady suffers mentally from events in his childhood, that it should not excuse his actions on that January day.
“While it may explain conduct, it cannot excuse it,” said Sharrett.
When given the opportunity to speak to the court, Brady stood in silence.
Sharrett explained that while the sentencing guidelines are provided for good reason, they are not always correct. The guidelines do not consider the nature of victims, the site of the incident, or the nature of the crimes.
The Blands were an elderly couple, attacked in their home with no reason or provocation, and the degree and intensity of the attack were unwarranted. Sharrett described the attacks as brutal and shocking before sentencing Brady to two life terms for the murders.
“The Commonwealth Attorney’s Office for the City of Colonial Heights would like to thank the Bland family for the patience and perseverance throughout this trial process.
Over the last five years, the Bland family attended every hearing and trial involving this case,” said Colonial Heights Commonwealth Attorney William Bray in a press release on Friday.
“The Commonwealth Attorney’s Office for the City of Colonial Heights is grateful that justice has been done at last for the citizens of Colonial Heights and the Bland family.”
