Corey Blueitt was cleared of a murder charge Thursday when a Boone County jury found him not guilty of murdering Aaron Badolato.
A dispute over a motorcycle that ended in Badolato’s death in December 2022 resulted instead in a guilty verdict on a single third-degree assault charge.
Blueitt, 45, was found not guilty of first-degree murder, as well as of armed criminal action.
The defendant was accused of killing Badolato during an altercation on Dec. 5, 2022, by shooting him in the chest after the victim intervened in an argument between Blueitt and a former girlfriend.
In testimony during his trial Thursday, Blueitt told the jury he left a residence on Newton Drive after a previous argument with the ex-girlfriend to get dinner. When he returned, Badolato — who was in a relationship with the woman at the time — had arrived and began to attack him.
The prosecution argued that Blueitt was provoked into the fatal shooting by his belief that Badolato had stolen his motorcycle a month earlier.
The defense argued that Blueitt had been threatened and attacked by the victim after Blueitt reported the motorcycle theft to police. One message from the victim pictured a tattoo of a rat tied into a noose and was captioned, “What should happen to rats.”
Blueitt used his time on the witness stand to cite multiple instances of assault between the report and the shooting, including his claim that Badolato tried to hit him with his truck.
In response to the defense claim of self-defense, the prosecution told the jury that Blueitt had enough time between a first misfired shot and the second deadly shot to consider his actions.
It was enough time for Blueitt to establish intent, the prosecution argued, but the jury ultimately sided with the defense in its verdict.
Blueitt’s sentencing on the assault conviction will be held at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 31 in Boone County Circuit Court.
