A link between the Facebook profiles of an accused child killer and a man suspected of unlawfully spreading HIV implies the two may be brothers.
Joseph Frank Blackmon, the Bentonville man arrested last month in an HIV crime case, lists on his Facebook page a Joe Blackmon of Bakersfield, Calif., as his father.
Meanwhile, on his own Facebook page, the Joe Blackmon in California lists Jersey Bridgeman's accused killer, Zachary Holly, as his son.
Implications from the Facebook references that the two are brothers could not be immediately confirmed.
The 48-year-old Joe Blackmon is also listed as a sex offender in Bakersfield, Calif., the same city Joseph Blackmon and Holly list as their hometown on Facebook. Joe Blackmon's name also appeared on the utility bill at the Bentonville house where Holly was arrested last year in the Bridgeman murder investigation, records show.
Holly and Joseph Blackmon remain in the Benton County Jail following their arrests. Holly faces charges of rape and capital murder of six-year-old Jersey Bridgeman, a Bentonville girl found dead in an abandoned house near her home last November. He is being held without bond and has a trial set for April.
Blackmon was arrested Oct. 9, but remains in jail on $40,000 bond, according to the Benton County Sheriff's Office. He faces charges of exposing another person to human immunodeficiency virus, public sexual indecency, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Police said Blackmon was caught having sex with another man in a Cave Springs cul-de-sac, after which it was allegedly revealed Blackmon has HIV and did not tell his sexual partner. An officer also found methamphetamine on Blackmon during the incident, police said.
Police said a Cave Springs officer caught Blackmon and another man likely engaging in sex acts in a parked car in a local cul-de-sac. After talking with the officer, Blackmon pulled methamphetamine out of his sock and gave it to the officer, while telling him his sexual partner did not know he was HIV-positive, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Benton County Circuit Court.
Blackmon allegedly told police he and the other man had sex in the vehicle and that they were in a relationship. The suspect said he found out he was HIV-positive last year from the California Health Department in Bakersfield, Calif.
Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of Jersey's Bridgeman's death.
The Bentonville girl, who was found killed Nov. 20, 2012, died of asphyxiation, according to an affidavit of probable cause released by authorities.
Jersey lived at 608 S.E. A St. with her mother, who called the police early in the morning Nov. 20 to report her daughter was missing. Officers found Jersey’s body fewer than 15 minutes later, in a nearby vacant house at 704 S.E. A St.
The probable cause affidavit states Holly and his wife babysat Jersey the night of her death while DesaRae Bridgeman and Bridgeman’s boyfriend were working at a nearby convenience store. Holly later carried Jersey back to her house shortly after DesaRae Bridgeman returned around 11 p.m.. He told police he had nothing to do with Jersey’s death, according to the report.
A swab test on Jersey’s body showed traces of sperm, according to the affidavit. Holly consented to cheek swabs for DNA comparison. He also gave authorities clothes he had worn since going to bed the night of Jersey’s death, the report states.
DesaRae Bridgeman called police at about 6:45 a.m. to report her daughter missing. Jersey and her younger sister shared a bed, but Jersey was nowhere to be seen, the report states. Police estimated her death to have been between midnight and 6:45 a.m.
While on the phone with police, Bridgeman became so upset that she had to hand the phone off to Holly’s wife.
While searching for Jersey, an officer noticed the back door to 704 S.E. A St. was open. Jersey’s body was found minutes later inside the vacant house.