AUSTIN COUNTY JURY CONVICTS MAN FOR 1991 MURDER

  

Blas Tierrablanca was convicted of a 29 year old murder last week in an Austin County courtroom.  After a weeklong trial, 66 year old Tierrablanca was found guilty by a jury in Bellville and sentenced to life in prison for the 1991 murder of Brenda Smith.  She was found stabbed to death in a Sealy motel room in May of 1991, and when police identified Tierrablanca as the primary suspect, he had fled to Mexico.  Tierrablanca was located in Mexico and arrested by the FBI and Mexican authorities in 2017.  A year later he was expedited to the Austin County to face murder charges. The 8 man, 4 woman jury deliberated only 33 minutes before convicting Tierrablanca and sentencing him to life in prison.