An Oregon man faces a 20-year prison sentence after he admitted this week to killing a Griffith steelworker in the man’s apartment in November 1981, court filings show.
Gregory C. Thurson, 66, of Eugene, Oregon, pleaded guilty Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter, a Class A felony. Under Indiana law at the time, he would serve 50% of the sentence with good behavior.
If Lake Superior Judge Gina Jones accepts the plea deal, his sentencing hearing is July 16.
The victim, John Blaylock, Sr., 51, was found beaten to death at the Mansards apartments.
The case was built by forensic genetic genealogy — the same science that traced DNA family trees to find the Golden State Killer in California or solve the Yogurt Shop Murders in Austin, Texas.
The lead investigator, Griffith Police Detective John Mowery Jr., interviewed witnesses and surviving detectives, including his own father, retired Det. John Mowery Sr., who worked on the case decades earlier.
Police believe Blaylock died sometime between Nov. 1 and 3, 1981.
The affidavit appears to suggest Blaylock was seen that night with Thurson, then 21, at a local bar, before they went to his apartment.
The blood was sent to the Indiana State Police for lab testing. There was no match in the national DNA database for offenders, but three brothers came back as potential contributors on an October 2022 DNA hit from a blood drop on Blaylock’s bathroom sink.
Using that science, Parabon NanoLabs, based in Reston, Virginia, said it could preliminarily point to potential suspects as Theodore Thurson, Gregory Thurson, or a third brother named as “E.G., Jr.” in court documents.
However, when the Indiana State Police did a side-by-side comparison, it concluded it was highly likely — or 520,000 times more likely — that whoever had the DNA from the blood drop was a direct sibling of Theodore Thurson. After the other men were excluded, that left Gregory Thurson.
Griffith Detective John Mowery Jr. wrote he picked up the cold case in 2018.
Griffith Police responded just before 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1981, to the 1000 block of River Road, Detective Stephen Markovich wrote back then.
Blaylock’s two co-workers went over to his place when he hadn’t shown up for his shift at Inland Steel the prior day. His Sunday newspaper was still outside.
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A Mansards apartments employee went inside. A bathroom light was left on.
He found Blaylock face down in a pool of blood on the bedroom floor. Blaylock had a pair of cut-off jean shorts over his head. He was in a white T-shirt and nude from the waist down.
Cops found clothes thrown around, including two new “velour sweaters” with tags attached from Zayre — a now-defunct retail chain on Cline Avenue and Ridge Road.
There were no signs of forced entry. The door had been locked. Griffith Police Lt. William Wendell said Blaylock was asleep when he died, according to a Nov. 6, 1981, newspaper report. He believed he may have been beaten with a hurricane oil lamp and possibly knew the killer, since a key was found by his body. Blaylock’s wallet was “empty” and the apartment was “ransacked,” it said.
Pathologist Dr. Alexander Custodio ruled his death a homicide from a skull fracture due to blunt force (trauma). He also had bruises, cuts and brain hemorrhages from the injuries.
His family, including two adult sons, and co-workers steered cops in 1981 to John’s Place, 1613 N. Cline Avenue. Blaylock was a regular, they said. The longtime bar is still in business today.
A female bartender told Weddell on Nov. 4, 1981, that she saw Blaylock, i.e. “Little Johnny,” at the bar with a “younger” man she didn’t recognize. He was 5’8’’ to 5’10,’’ medium build, 20-23 with “straggly,” “dirty blonde” hair and dark eyes, the affidavit states.
Post-Tribune archives contributed; [email protected].