James Blue, a wealthy heir and trust fund beneficiary, abandoned his privileged lifestyle when he tragically ended the lives of two young men during a reckless, intoxicated drive in his Bentley shortly after his divorce.
Initially facing murder charges, Blue managed to reach an agreement with prosecutors in April 2022, resulting in a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for two counts of vehicular homicide.
Now, just four years into his sentence, Blue, aged 56, is set to be released next month under Minnesota’s work release program, which has been in place for many years.
Prior to his incarceration, Blue had never held a traditional job, relying entirely on his trust fund, a stock portfolio, and income from 10 rental properties for his financial needs.
Remarkably, Blue is poised to return to his life of leisure, with a parole date scheduled for May 3, 2027, less than a year after his release into the work release program.
The decision to grant Blue early release has sparked outrage among the families of Mack Motzko, 20, and Sam Schuneman, 24, the young men who lost their lives in the devastating crash.
Their parents wrote a scathing joint letter to the Minnesota Department of Corrections in protest, describing how the news traumatized them all over again.
The letter claimed Blue refused to accept responsibility for getting behind the wheel with a 0.2 blood alcohol level and hitting a tree at 100mph, until his sentencing.
Millionaire trust fund dad James Blue, 56, who killed two young men on a drunken joyride in his Bentley
Blue’s 2017 Bentley Silver Spur, which he wrapped around a tree at 100mph on July 24, 2021, after getting behind the wheel with a 0.2 blood alcohol level
‘The severity of the crash did not simply result in death – it resulted in catastrophic mutilation and unfathomable destruction of our boys’ bodies,’ it read.
Schuneman was an organ donor but suffered such horrific injuries that none of his organs were able to be harvested, the letter explained.
Motzko suffered similar injuries to his entire body, but clung to life for six hours following the crash.
‘Early release would not only retraumatize our families, but it would represent a profound failure of accountability,’ the letter read.
Schuneman and Motzko met Blue minutes before their deaths, after they were invited by a mutual friend to a party at his enormous mansion in Orono, a wealthy semi-rural enclave west of Minneapolis, on July 24, 2021.
Blue had been granted a divorce from his ex-wife Amanda Schmidt two weeks earlier, and it was her turn to have their two young children for the weekend.
Witnesses saw him downing shots if liquor and eating marijuana-infused gummies with more found in his pocket after the crash and ‘several crushed-up white pills and five green capsules’.
The boys were at the party with Motzko’s older sister Ella, now 27, who was dating Schuneman and became a key witness in the case against Blue.
Blue’s Minnesota mansion, where he hosted the party at which he met his victims for the first time
Mack Motzko, 20, (left) and Sam Schuneman, 24, were killed in the crash
They were admiring Blue’s high-end car collection, which included a 2008 BMW M6, a 2020 Range Rover Land Rover, and a 2017 Bentley Silver Spur with the personalized license plate ‘J Blue.’
Schuneman was completely sober as he planned to drive home and had an early flight back to Phoenix, where he lived, in the morning. Motzko only had a few drinks and was going to be driven home.
Blue was keen to show off to the young trio, and offered to take them for a ride in the Bentley so they could experience its power and luxury.
‘You guys need to live your life to the fullest because all of a sudden, you blink and you’re 40 one day,’ he told them, according to witnesses.
Ella was less enthusiastic about getting in a car driven by a drunk man, and told Blue it wouldn’t be safe to go for the ride.
‘You’re a smart girl,’ Blue replied.
At first, Blue just took them to the end of his long driveway and back to the house, before setting off on a longer drive.
The winding road had speed limits of 35 to 45mph and was lined with trees and obscured driveways that made riding around late at night treacherous.
Orono Police Department officers arrived at the scene at 11.23pm after 911 calls, and were faced with blood, bodies, and twisted metal.
‘The vehicle was extremely damaged, having uprooted a tree that was still lying on top of it. There were two adult males still inside of the Bentley,’ charging documents explained.
Blue (left) and hiw lawyers arrive at the courthouse in 2022 for sentencing. They cut a deal with prosecutors to serve just seven-and-a-half years on two counts of vehicular homicide
Motzko’s older sister Ella, now 27, and Schuneman who were dating at the time of the accident. Ella was at the party and became a key witness in the case against Blue
Schuneman, police wrote, was ‘obviously deceased’ and Motzko was trapped in the back seat struggling to breathe.
Blue was thrown 10ft from the car, apparently not wearing his seatbelt while driving, and lying badly injured but conscious in some bushes.
‘I’m sorry,’ he repeatedly told officers while admitting he was drunk and was ‘guilty’ of causing the crash, according to charging documents.
The Bentley’s crash data showed Blue hit the brakes 2.5 seconds before impact.
Blue suffered three broken ribs, tears in both shoulders causing one of them to freeze up, a degenerative spinal disk, and a possible traumatic brain injury that caused persistent headaches, according to his plea agreement.
He claimed to be struggling with PTSD, depression, anxiety and ‘chemical issues,’ and said he was seeing a psychologist but was not prescribed any medication.
The plea agreement noted he ‘was so drunk or so under the influence of drugs or medicine that I did not know what I was doing at certain times of the crime period, but I agree and adopt all of the allegations’.
‘I would give up my life today – to say goodbye to my kids – to bring Sam and Mack back. It’s not fair. They’re 20 and 24 years old, and I took their lives,’ Blue said during his sentencing.
From there, his world quickly unraveled.
Motzko suffered horrific injuries to his entire body, but clung to life for six hours after the crash
Schuneman and Ella, who was also invited along for the joyride, but said it would be unsafe as Blue was drunk
His divorce papers detailed the luxury he enjoyed before wrecking his life along with those of his victims and their families.
Other than his trust fund of unspecified size, Blue owned 10 rental properties worth between $190,000 and $250,000, generating income.
The divorce settlement called for him to give up three of the most expensive homes to Amanda, but the remaining seven would continue to be lucrative.
Blue himself lived in a five-bedroom, seven-bathroom 10,000sq ft mansion with sloping-roofed architecture reminiscent of old-school Pizza Hut restaurants.
He built the property just a year earlier and sold it for $7.6 million in November 2022 while he was already behind bars.
The buyer flipped it for $8.58 million just six months later, before its value plummeted to $6.84 million by the time it was sold again in September 2023.
Blue’s divorce filings listed his other luxury belongings as $435,700 in shares, a 2017 Sea Ray 290 deck boat, and a Rolex Presidential watch with a diamond bezel.
He declared his income as $144,000 a year, but the agreement noted his ‘parents have made cash gifts to him in the past, though said funds are not considered for purposes of calculating child support’.
An aerial view of Blue’s five-bedroom, seven-bathroom 10,000sq ft mansion
Amanda earned about $40,000 a year as a healthcare worker, and agreed in the filing that her salary and rental income from the three properties would make her self-sufficient. She also kept her 2019 Cadillac Escalade ESV.
Blue agreed to pay her $277,000 plus $500 a month in child support for the couple’s daughter, now 14, and son, who turns 10 next week.
He would continue to pay $8,000 a year in childcare fees, and then an additional $800 for the children’s health insurance.
His parents were already paying $7,000 a year in school fees for the eldest child to go to a private Catholic school, which her brother would later also attend.
Blue and his ex-wife were set to split custody equally, having the children on alternate weekends.
The divorce agreement was finalized in September 2021 while Blue was on bail awaiting trial. There is no paperwork showing how his charges and jail sentence affected it.
How much of Blue’s privileged life he has left to return to is unclear, but his victims’ families believe he will land on his feet.
‘He doesn’t need a job. He has a multimillion dollar trust waiting for him when he comes out. He has a support system, with family. That’s what’s tough,’ Schuneman’s father Tom told the Star-Tribune.
Schuneman with his father, Tom, who is furious Blue will be offered work release
Schuneman with his mother, Yvonne, outside of an eatery
The grieving father insisted the work release program was meant for criminals without much support who needed help to reintegrate into society – not men like Blue.
‘This guy never had a job. He was a trust fund guy,’ Tom claimed. ‘To say that there is a need for him to go out and seek employment, well, that’s interesting.’
Had Blue served his entire sentence, he wouldn’t be released until late 2029.
Instead, he automatically serves the last third of his jail term on parole, and the last year of his custodial sentence on work release.
Minnesota’s work release program, which has been around since 1967, allows inmates to live in a secure halfway house and work during the day with drug and alcohol testing.
According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, there were an average of 172 inmates in the program each day during fiscal year 2025.
Tom said his family was already reeling from the plea bargain giving Blue a ‘slap on the wrist’ instead of murder convictions.
‘Now, to hear that has the ability to be further reduced? Are you kidding me? Why even go through the motions?’ he said.
Schuneman and Tom, who said his family was reeling from the plea bargain
Motzko with his parents, Bob and Shelly Motzko, and members of his ice hockey team
Blue’s lawyer, Michael Daub, insisted his client understood the gravity of his crime, but felt like he was being unfairly singled out for criticism.
‘James Blue meets the Minnesota Department of Corrections criteria for work release,’ he said in a statement.
‘It’s not an “early” release. It’s work release. He is not receiving any favorable or special treatment.
‘Work release helps people successfully transition from prison back into the community in a structured way, fully supervised by the department. Inmates with far more grievous offenses are granted work release.’
Daub said Blue told his story to others during rehab for alcoholism and claimed it would save lives by deterring them from making the same mistakes.
‘From the beginning, he’s accepted the responsibility for the profound loss suffered by the family, and the harm that he caused,’ the lawyer said.
‘He’s very aware of the grief experienced by the families, that it’s immeasurable and that the absence of these two young men will be felt by the families forever.’
