TV Producer Jailed In Murder Of Disabled Sister

LOS ANGELES, CA (WJZ) —A TV producer arrested in Baltimore last month, after she was accused of murdering her disabled sister, appeared in a Los Angeles court Monday to face murder charges.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, a two-year investigation revealed Jill Blackstone drugged her disabled sister, Wendy Blackstone, and placed her and three dogs in the garage of their North Hollywood home. She staged it to look like a suicide.

Authorities believe the 55-year-old former Jerry Springer and reality court TV producer may have killed her sister to free herself from the financial burden related to her care.

According to Studio City Patch, an arraignment scheduled for Blackstone was postponed until Thursday and the producer was ordered to return to court. She's being held on more than a $2 million bail. She was booked into jail in Van Nuys Friday night.

A warrant for Jill Blackstone's arrest on murder and animal cruelty charges was issued last month.

According to the Los Angeles Times, police tracked Blackstone to a home in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Police later found that Jill Blackstone was at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Her attorney told detectives that she had checked herself in due to a medical condition.

On the Los Angeles coroner's office website, Wendy Blackstone's manner of death is listed as "undetermined," but it said she died of the "combined effects of inhalation of combustion and alprazolam" — better known as Xanax.

The L.A. Times reported that Wendy Blackstone, who was blind and required hearing aides, was also found with a suicide note in her hand that was written by Jill Blackstone.

Several end-of-life instructions and orders not to resuscitate were found near Wendy Blackstone, but none were signed by her, according to the L.A. Times.

Jill Blackstone was initially arrested back in 2015 after her sister's death, but was later released.

Our sister station, CBS Los Angeles, spoke to police at the time.

"She was arrested for murder at that time based on the evidence that we had, and it was submitted to the district attorney's office and at this time they chose not to file," an official said.

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