Man accused of killing wife in 1997 dies in hospital

IOWA CITY - John Bloomfield, accused of killing his wife 17 years ago, has died.

Iowa City Attorney Leon Spies said his client died Thursday at Fairview Riverside Hospital in Minneapolis. Bloomfield, 73, was scheduled to stand trial Jan. 27 for the first-degree murder of Frances Bloomfield, though Spies recently had sought to have the case dismissed.

With Bloomfield's death, the case will be thrown out, but the question of his innocence never will be answered.

In an interview Monday, Spies said his client's death before having an opportunity to go to trial means there will forever be an asterisk next to his name.

'He was determined to prove his innocence,” Spies said Monday.

The Iowa City Police Department referred questions to the Johnson County Attorney's Office. Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness was out of the office Monday and did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

Bloomfield, a former University of Iowa researcher, was arrested in St. Paul., Minn. on a charge of first-degree murder last November, more than 16 years after his wife was found dead in Illinois. John Bloomfield reported his wife missing on Sept. 22, 1997. Her body - bound with pantyhose and wrapped in plastic and duct tape - was found three days later in Winnebago County, Ill.

Authorities believe Frances Bloomfield had been strangled in her Iowa City home. Court documents released in 1997 revealed investigators who responded to the residence found blood stains in two bedrooms on the second floor of the home, as well as a mark that indicated Bloomfield was dragged through the hallway.

A blood stain also was found on the wall at the bottom of the stairs between the first and second floors, and two stains were located on the garage floor.

Bloomfield maintained his innocence in his wife's death and told authorities he was in the Chicago area, returning from a business trip at the time of his wife's death. According to a notice of alibi filed last week along with the motion to dismiss, Spies planned to present evidence that at the time of the crime Bloomfield was in Detroit, the Chicago area, Albuquerque and Dallas/Fort Worth.

Bloomfield was extradited to Johnson County following his arrest. In February, Spies said his client was suffering from a variety of ailments, most notably metastatic prostate cancer, which has spread to Bloomfield's ribs, vertebrae and lymph nodes. He also suffered from diabetes, carpal tunnel syndrome, a sleep disorder, fatigue and other afflictions.

A judge allowed Bloomfield to return to St. Paul on house arrest so he could continue to receive medical care.

In a news release, Spies described Bloomfield as a 'gifted researcher, avid reader, notable film historian and - above all - a gentle man.”

'He was encouraged by the confidence of loyal friends and family members who believed - as did he - that in the end it would be shown that he was not responsible for the death of his late wife,” Spies said in the release.

Two days before Bloomfield's death, Spies sought to have the case against his client dismissed on several grounds, including that his health prevented him from assisting in his defense. He also argued that a two-year delay between when the criminal investigation was allegedly completed and when his client was charged - with the prosecution and law enforcement aware of his client's failing health - amounts to a violation of his due process rights.

'There was no question - from my perspective - investigators knew of his frail health and serious illness,” Spies said Monday. 'It wasn't going to get any better.”