Police seek man in viral 1984 video

Prince William County police are searching for the beating victim in a 25-year-old video that recently surfaced and went viral.

The probe into the 1984 video of a severe beating at a Dumfries karate dojo hasn’t led to the identity of the man seen bleeding and unconscious. But it has uncovered at least one other victim, detectives said.

That man recently told police that members of the karate school invited him to the dojo in the late 1980s to display his fighting style. The next thing the man remembered was waking up in the back of an ambulance on its way to the hospital, he told detectives.

Police said it is also possible that someone witnessed a student chase the victim through the parking lot of the dojo, which was located in the Dumfries Shopping Center on U.S. 1.

For weeks now, police have been searching for another victim who was beaten at the dojo in December 1984.

That beating was videotaped, and it recently surfaced on YouTube and has since gone viral. The brutality of the beating caused many to speculate that the victim was killed.

Police originally said that wasn’t the case. Now they aren’t so sure, Prince William police Maj. Ray Colgan said.

In the video, the victim tells Bobby Joe Blythe, identified online as the school’s owner, that Jesus taught him how to be a black belt martial artist. Blythe then invited him to display his skills on one of the students.

On tape, the victim tells the student that he is “not a fighter” and that he will not touch his opponent. But the student attacks the victim, and a brief fight ensues.

Eventually the student knocks the victim to the floor and beats him until he is bloody. The unconscious victim is then shown being dragged out of the dojo’s back door.

Blythe can then be heard on the tape giving the time and date the assault occurred.

“It is evident from the tape that the guy has some type of karate or judo experience,” said Prince William police Detective Paul J. Masterson. “He holds his own pretty well for at least a few minutes. He may have gotten that from the military. He may have been stationed at Quantico.”

Many who have posted to the Internet about the assault believe the victim was left for dead in a Dumpster behind the dojo. Prince William police Detective T.R. Troutner said he believes the man could still be alive today.

He has examined information on unidentified bodies that appeared in local coroner’s offices during that time period, but his searches have yielded nothing new.

“We have checked with the medical examiner’s office here in the county, as well as offices between D.C. and Richmond and nothing has turned up,” Troutner said.

If the victim died from complications from his injuries weeks, months or even years later, Troutner admits that fact would be hard to track.

Investigators have also encountered problems recovering spotty records kept years ago.

“There was no computerized records database back then. Many reports were handwritten and some of them, because they are so old, have been destroyed as part of general record-keeping policies,” said county police Sgt. Mike Fernald.

Masterson also said there is no statute of limitations on felony assault charges. If identified, the attacker in the video could be charged with malicious wounding or aggravated assault.

The investigators credit the Internet with bringing the case to light.

In 1985, NBC’s “Today Show” came to the Dumfries dojo and interviewed Blythe. The story, now on YouTube, centered on how he was training women to become corporate bodyguards.

In another video shot around the same time, Blythe talks about what he expects from his black belt students. The same man who assaulted the victim in the video appears to be standing next to him.

“Show your power and enjoy yourself … don’t beg for a thing … demand it or take it … we can do anything we want in this [expletive] dojo. If they come through that door, it’s open season … it’s my school … I do what I want in my home, I do what I want in my place of business,” said Blythe.

In the same speech, he also told the students that others avoid his school because of his unconventional methods. Police are investigating Blythe, who they believe is now living in California.

However, they can’t be certain of the identity of the man in the video seen assaulting the victim.

Others can be seen and heard in the room as the man is assaulted and dragged across the floor.

Police say they need to find out the identity of that victim, and to hear from anyone else who may have witnessed beatings at the dojo.

“Who knew this would surface 25 years later and they would do this to more than one person?” Colgan asked.

Anyone with information is asked to call Prince William Crime Solvers at 703-670-3700.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.