Aussie baseball star found out wife, child and mother-in-law had been murdered by reading FACEBOOK

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Aussie baseball star found out wife, child and mother-in-law had been murdered by reading FACEBOOK

An Australian baseball star learned his wife, child, and mother-in-law had been brutally murdered when checking Facebook on his phone.   

Blake Bivens’ family was allegedly shot dead by his brother-in-law, who had spent the previous month on suicide watch, in his native Danville, Virginia, in 2019. 

The 24-year-old, who played for Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League, shared the heartbreaking experience in a viral social media video. 

Bivens knew something was wrong last September because he had been urgently summoned home from Chattanooga, where he had been playing a road game for the Montgomery Biscuits, a Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.

‘First headline I see is two females and a small child were gone,’ Bivens said on a Facebook Live stream from the River Church in Danville, Virginia. 

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In a video that has gone viral on social media, Bivens shared the heartbreaking experience of learning that his family had been allegedly shot dead by his brother-in-law, who had spent the previous month on suicide watch

(Left) Bivens is pictured with his wife Emily and their boy Cullen. (Right), Emily Bivens, Cullen and Joan Bernard, Bivens’s mother-in-law, are pictured 

Blake Bivens pictured with his son Cullen, who was tragically killed in September 

‘I immediately knew that was them. I found out my family was gone over a Facebook headline. I just immediately began to scream in the middle of the airport.

‘I think the hardest moment for me was when I got home and I walked in my son’s bedroom for the first time and realised I was never going to see him on this Earth again,’ he continued. 

‘That was the worst moment in my life. Nothing ever will come to being, to feeling the way I felt at that moment. Then again, I know I will see him again one day, and it won’t be long.’

Police attempt to corral a naked Matthew Bernard near the scene of a triple homicide

Matthew Bernard, 19, has been charged with three counts of first-degree homicide

Bivens’s brother-in-law Matthew Thomas Bernard, 19, has since been charged with three counts of first-degree homicide for allegedly killing his mother Joan Bernard, 62, his sister and Bivens’s wife Emily, 25, and their 14-month-old son Cullen.

Bernard was allegedly seen running around naked near the scene of the crime and led the police on a brief foot chase before trying to strangle a church worker. 

In September, a judge ordered a psychological evaluation for Bernard, who police say ‘was operating under religious motivation,’ according to the Danville Register & Bee. A hearing will be held next week to determine if he’s competent to stand trial.

Bivens’s 2020 season has been put on hold by the coronavirus, but he did pitch winter ball in Australia following the tragedy.

‘It’s unbelievable how much I can vividly remember from the day,’ he said, explaining how he has relied on his religion during the last few months. 

‘And it’s kind of unbelievable to see how far things have come from that day also.’

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Bivens and wife Emily pictured while he pitched for the Princeton Rays

In January Bivens shared photographs of his late wife on Instagram to mark their anniversary 

Three crosses sit on a hill overlooking a parking lot filled to capacity during funeral services for Emily and Cullen at the Central Boulevard Church of God in Danville, VA on Aug. 31, 2019

Bivens singled out one Bible verse, John 16:33, that he says helped give him strength during the ordeal.

‘And when I read, “Take heart, for I have overcome the world,” it changed, it completely flipped a switch in my heart,’ he said.

‘And from that moment on I knew that this was not going to beat me, this was not going to beat family. I was going to live in victory the rest of my life, and I was going to use this as a testimony to show what he has done for me he can also do for others.

‘That moment for me was one of the biggest moments where I just knew God was with me, and the only thing I knew to do was just laugh in the enemy’s face, because he thought he had won. But all he’s done is awoken a sleeping giant.’

Following the alleged murders, Bivens eventually broke his silence on Instagram: ‘Two days ago my heart was turned to ash. My life as I knew it is destroyed.’

‘The pain my family and I feel is unbearable and cannot be put into words. I shake and tremble at the thought of our future without them.’

Bivens and Emily were married in January 2016 after being high school sweethearts.

The couple welcomed their first child, Cullen, in June 2018. 

Source: Daily Mail australia

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