GARNETT – A 45-year-old Garnett is being held in the Allen County Jail on a $3 million bond in connection with a triple murder in Missouri. Robert “Robbie” Blurton was arrested shortly after midnight Saturday morning by a special team that included Garnett and Anderson County officers, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Coffey County SWAT team, Anderson County EMS, the Garnett Fire Department and city electrical workers, said Police Chief John Leinweber. Missouri officers from the Rural Major Case Squad came to Garnett Saturday to seek the arrest of Blurton, who was wanted in connection with the June 9 murders of Donnie and Sharon Leutjen, 64 and 61, and their 15-year-old granddaughter Taron Leutjen in Cole Camp in central Missouri, Leinweber said. The arrest occurred without incident, he said. Blurton’s girlfriend and her daughter were also in the house, he said. Missouri Highway Patrol said Blurton was a nephew of the Leutjens. The patrol says robbery may have been a motive in the murders. Donnie Leutjens was a well-known collector of Civil War and Indian artifacts, he said. The Anderson County Review reported that Blurton has served time for a drug violation and forgery.
