Terry Blair

Terry Anthony Blair (September 16, 1961 – May 11, 2024) was an American serial killer who was convicted of killing seven women of various ages in Kansas City, Missouri, although investigators believed that there were additional unidentified victims.

Family history Terry Blair was the fourth eldest of ten siblings, and was born to a mother who suffered from mental illness and had only finished the 9th grade. He had two sons and two grandsons.

Many in Blair's family have faced criminal charges, including murder.

Blair's mother, Janice, shot and killed her common-law husband on August 16, 1978. She entered an Alford plea for second degree murder and was sentenced to five years of probation, with a condition that she receive counseling, therapy, and psychiatric treatment.

Six months later, Blair's brother, Walter Blair Jr., allegedly killed 16-year-old Sandy Shannon during a robbery. Walter was charged with capital murder, robbery, and assault, but the case was dropped after witnesses refused to testify. On August 19, 1979, Walter Blair abducted, then shot and killed 21-year-old Katherine Jo Allen. Allen was the alleged victim in a rape case and Walter was paid $6,000 to kill her. He confessed to the murder, but later recanted. Walter was convicted of capital murder, sentenced to death, and executed on July 21, 1993, at the age of 32.

Blair's sister, Warnetta U. Blair, her husband, Noila White III, and another man faced charges for the murder of James L. Bell, whose body was found on September 27, 1980. Bell had been stabbed 30 times. Warnetta agreed to testify against her husband in exchange for charges against her being dropped. However, state law forbids spouses from testifying against each other. In 1984, White III pleaded guilty to second degree murder and received a 12-year sentence. White III would himself be murdered by his son and Blair's nephew, Noila White IV, in 2001. White IV pleaded guilty to second degree murder for killing his father and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

In December 1989, Warnetta killed her boyfriend, Pablo P. Gomez, a drug dealer from Cuba. Gomez's body was found bound and gagged. According to prosecutors, Gomez had threatened to cut off his girlfriend's supply of crack cocaine. Warnetta said she and a male friend did not intend to kill Gomez, and only tied him up so they could take his drugs and money. She and her friend then went to a neighbor's apartment and said they had "messed up Pablo", before smoking crack that night. In August 1990, Warnetta pleaded guilty to second degree murder and received a 10-year sentence. She was released from prison in December 1999.

In December 1999, another of Blair's brothers, Daniel, pleaded guilty to federal drug charges and was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison. He and another man had been dealing crack. Daniel was released from prison on January 19, 2007.

Two other nephews of Blair have faced criminal charges. In 2011, Diamond Blair, who had previously served part of an 18-year sentence for kidnapping, robbery, and forcible sodomy as a teenager, was convicted of federal firearm charges and sentenced to 24 years and five months in prison. In 2013, he was convicted of second degree murder, first degree robbery, and two counts of armed criminal action for killing 22-year-old Montague Kevin Ashline during a robbery in Kansas City on June 24, 2009. Diamond was sentenced to two life terms plus 100 years on those charges. On appeal, his robbery conviction and one of his armed criminal action convictions were overturned, reducing his state sentence to life plus 50 years. However, his other two convictions were upheld.

In December 1991, William Blair, then 16, received a 15-year sentence for first degree robbery. He was released from prison on September 28, 2003. William later faced 88 charges of robbery, assault, and armed criminal action for a series of violent armed robberies at bars and other businesses from December 3, 2003, to January 8, 2004. In some of the robberies, he and three other robbers would fire warning shots, kick, shove, pistol-whip, and threaten to kill employees and customers. On October 7, 2004, William pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first-degree robbery, 19 counts of armed criminal action, one count of attempted robbery, and one count of first degree assault. In exchange for his guilty plea, the other 50 charges were dropped.

Crimes 1982 murder of Angela Monroe In 1982, Terry Blair was found guilty of killing Angela Monroe, the mother of two of Blair's children (and pregnant at the time). According to court records he was angry with Monroe for performing acts of prostitution.

2003–2004 murders Alerted by a strong odor, a neighbor noticed two women's bodies in the garage of an abandoned home and notified police on September 2, 2004. Late in the evening of September 3, an anonymous male caller contacted 911 dispatch to claim responsibility for killing the two victims discovered the day before, and notified police where to find an additional body hidden in an alley a few blocks away from the first two. Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty in exchange for Blair waiving his right to a jury trial, and thus Judge John O'Malley oversaw the bench trial.

Judge O'Malley ruled Blair guilty on March 27, 2008, and he was sentenced to six life sentences with no possibility of parole for these six murders.

Because Blair continued to deny responsibility for the crimes until his death, his motive could not be understood beyond a compulsion to kill prostitutes. Patricia Wilson Butler, 58, died on or before September 2, 2004. Claudette Juniel, 31, died on or before September 4, 2004.

In media Blair's crimes are featured in the episodes "A Serial Killer Calls" and "The Killer Speaks" of the television show The First 48.