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Speaker 1: Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence, and is

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not intended for all audiences.

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Speaker 2: Listener discretion is advised.

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Speaker 3: Unfortunately, you are right in the middle of all of this,

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and for to sit here and lie to us to.

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Speaker 4: Begin with, is not helping you at all.

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Speaker 3: This is a friend of yours or was a friend

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of yours, and somebody brutally marked I.

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Speaker 1: Know, hello and welcome to season thirteen, episode three hundred

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and fifty of Sword and Scale, the show that reveals

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that the worst monsters are real. Simpsonville, South Carolina, is

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a small southern town where life moves at an easy pace,

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Families know their neighbors, church bells still mark the hour,

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and the peaceful atmosphere feels almost rehearsed. But on the

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afternoon of October twenty sixth, twenty sixteen, the calumn was broken.

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Inside a cramped interview room at the Simpsonville Police departm

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investigator spoke to a young man named Ricky Hargrove.

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Speaker 5: I want to tell you once you've effectively done, Ricky,

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is you've inserted yourself into a murder investigation.

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Speaker 6: I mean, what do you think I think you would

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do something like that?

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Speaker 7: Take some kind of monster to do something like that

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or someone.

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Speaker 1: This interview with Ricky was one of the first threats

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in an investigation that would spend nearly a decade. It

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was a horrific homicide case that centered around a twenty

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two year old woman named Katie Blavel. Katie believed she

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could build a simple life for herself in Simpsonville and

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was doing what she could do to make that happen.

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Katie was an animal lover, and in twenty sixteen, she

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was working full time at her local Pet Smart.

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Speaker 8: I just want to confirm with you she was working

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here on Monday, and do you remember what her hours work?

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Speaker 9: You're on Monday was nine am to two pm, nine

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to two.

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Speaker 8: I don't know exactly what time she left, but I

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mean it was no later.

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Speaker 9: Than two fifteen, So you were working on Monday, did yes?

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Speaker 4: How was Katie's demeanor? That na perfectly fine. She was talking.

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Speaker 10: About picking up her someone named Cheyenne, I don't know

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who that is to her, and they were going shopping together.

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Speaker 1: On October twenty third, twenty sixteen, Katie worked a full

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time shift at PetSmart. When she clocked out at around

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two fifteen pm, she confirmed plants to meet up with

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her younger sister, Cheyenne.

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Speaker 4: But I said, what are you doing? And she said,

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I'm driving around, Sir.

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Speaker 11: I said, when you take me Kimany to get food

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and Canny, we'll buy you food. And she said, yeah,

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I'll be there in an hour. So if you don't

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know what you're doing right now, is at hour, get

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here you.

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Speaker 6: And she said, I don't do.

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Speaker 4: But I kind of just let it go because I

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was like, you know, maybe she DoD something she don't

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want to tell me about. She's grown, she can do that,

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you know.

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Speaker 11: And so I fell asleep and I caught her back

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in like an hour and a half, and she.

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Speaker 1: Didn't answy Katy never showed up to meet her sister

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that day. When phone calls went unanswered, Cheyenne felt the

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first wave of panic. She immediately knew that something was

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very wrong.

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Speaker 4: Her phone was off.

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Speaker 11: And then that's why I kind of started to worry,

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because I'm like, Katie never released her phone, you know,

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Katy never blows me off.

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Speaker 4: I don't know.

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Speaker 11: Like twelve thirty one o'clock, I called John. He answered,

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it be someon like he's just woken up. And I said,

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I can't find Katie. And I said, I mean to

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know if she's at your house or.

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Speaker 4: If you see your day. Hasn't just tell me, you know?

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Speaker 11: He said, no, I don't talk to her anymore, as

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what he said on the phone.

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Speaker 1: Desperate to find her sister, Cheyenne did the only thing

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she could think of. She reached out to Katie's a

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strange husband, John, what's your wife?

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Speaker 12: Full name Catherine and Wavelt?

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Speaker 6: And are you you familved that she's missing? Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Twenty eight year old John Blovelt was an active duty

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soldier in the United States Army when Katie went missing.

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He was living and working in Simpsonville as a recruiters.

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Speaker 13: Understand, you've been deployed twice, yes, iraq or yeah on

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once the last time I got back.

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Speaker 6: Two thousand and ten.

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Speaker 12: Has recruiting the obviously a lot different than Yeah.

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Speaker 6: That was probably the worst jot of the red Yeah,

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because you know, I joined the army at eighteen to

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fight and ira.

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Speaker 13: Yeah, and then they had me sit behind the desk

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and you couldn't get a different assignment. No, it's one

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of it's like one of the armies, and like mandatory

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assignments you to take it.

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Speaker 6: Or you get out.

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Speaker 1: John and Katie met by chance outside the Army recruiting

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office where he worked. Her job was just a few

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doors down, and one afternoon, during a smoke break, their

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conversations began.

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Speaker 6: So me and her just kind of met and started dating.

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I was staying at her house most days during the week,

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at her dad's house.

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Speaker 13: And then we finally got an apartment in December, and

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you got married, what year twenty fifteen?

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Speaker 1: After they married, it didn't take long for John and

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Katie to realize they weren't as compatible as they'd hoped.

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They barely lived together for two months before the relationship

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fell apart and Katie decided to walk away. She left

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John and the two were officially separated.

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Speaker 12: O Kay of stuff, a y'all.

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Speaker 6: Arguing about.

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Speaker 12: Everything just normal, just normal stuff, people's stuff.

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Speaker 13: And then being a recruiter, I talked to a lot

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of different people, So I had two phones, and I

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talked to a lot of females. And she didn't my chest,

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but was my job as a recruiter. I had to

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talk to everybody. Yeah, and she would like that. So

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then we argue about that.

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Speaker 6: See, you guys weren't very long at all in two months.

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Speaker 1: In October of twenty sixteen, Katie went missing, and naturally,

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her husband was one of the first people police wanted

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to talk to. For the most part, John was open

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and cooperative. He admitted that their marriage had been difficult,

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even horrible at times, but he insisted he'd never laid

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a hand on her or caused her any physical harm.

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Speaker 13: I mean we were the worst couple, you know, we argued,

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but I think it was just bad timing, honestly, because

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she was going through some shit.

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Speaker 6: I was going through some shit and she's left one day.

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It was the last time you actually saw her, I'd

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say probably July, because she moved out in the April.

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Speaker 12: I think have you ever gotten some mad at her?

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That maybe he did something you didn't mean to do?

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Speaker 6: Absolutely not, don't.

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Speaker 1: So told investigators that he hadn't seen Katie for months,

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and he provided a reasonable alibi for the day she

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went missing.

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Speaker 12: Did you work this Monday? What time did you get

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off on Monday?

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Speaker 6: Like two thirties too? I don't know where'd you go

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it for home?

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Speaker 12: Did you stop anywhere on the way home? Was anybody

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home with you?

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Speaker 6: Yeah? My roommates were there.

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Speaker 1: John's roommates backed up his story. They told investigators they

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saw him come home from work that day on the

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day that Katie went missing, though they did lose track

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of him later in the evening when he said he

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was going out for a job. Investigators also spoke with

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people who knew both John and Katie and were familiar

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with their relationship. Many described John the same way, polite, disciplined,

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the picture of an army soldier. For them, the idea

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that he could hurt Katie didn't seem possible at all.

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Speaker 14: Used to buy a lot, but like.

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Speaker 15: He was never like.

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Speaker 16: Violent with her when I lived there, and a lot

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of the time it was like really her that like

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started argument.

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Speaker 17: What do you think the chances are of the John

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lost his school and did something to her.

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Speaker 14: I know he didn't know.

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Speaker 18: I've been around hi when he's drunk, quite straight up

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drunk in it, and he's not angry. You know, they've

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gotten really upset and he just he just comes in

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and just cries, like I mean, I've seen him mad.

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Speaker 4: But you know, he just yells and that's the end

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of it.

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Speaker 1: After looking into John and finding no clear link to

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Katie's disappearance, investigators began to consider other possibilities. They knew

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that after the marriage ended, Katie had started dating again.

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This opened the door to new questions and a different suspect.

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Speaker 19: I don't know when her family stile you.

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Speaker 6: Hopefully she's been up front with you. Machine in dating

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around a lot.

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Speaker 12: Okay, yeah, yeah, we're looking.

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Speaker 6: Into some of that.

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Speaker 1: Investigators learned that Katie had recently reconnected with an ex boyfriend,

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twenty one year old Wayne Roper. This was a bizarre

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relationship that quickly became the focus of their suspicions, and

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through a series of strange, unsettling events, that relationship led

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detectives to another name, the young man you heard at

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the beginning of this episode, Ricky Hargrove.

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Speaker 7: Yesterday, when I was finishing up some assignments in my

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classes online, I got a call from Wayne at around

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one and thirty. Wayne called says, hey, man, can you

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can you come pick me up from work?

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Speaker 1: On the night of October twenty fourth, twenty sixteen, Ricky

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received an unexpected phone call. It was from Katie's ex boyfriend,

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Wayne Roper, who asked for a ride home from the

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Walmart art where he worked. Ricky hesitated, then agreed as

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long as he got a little gas money.

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Speaker 7: When he got out of the got into the car,

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I say, hey, man, what's up with Katie being missing?

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And he said they haven't been able to find her,

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and they pinged her phone in West Virginia or something,

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and then they pinged it again and it was in Simpsonville.

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And he said, Uh, yeah, there was this house that

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we used to hang out at and I've been wanting

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to check that because I think they that.

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Speaker 6: She might be there.

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Speaker 1: When Wayne climbed into the passenger seat, his request pot

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Ricky off guard. He wanted to go to a nearby

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abandoned farmhouse, a place that was rumored to be haunted. Strangely,

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Wayne said he thought Katie might be hiding there.

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Speaker 7: I get out of the car with him, give him

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my lamp, my head lamb, and we walk in there.

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I'm talking about the house being haunted. I don't want

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anything to do with his and I tell him about

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you know, if we do find her. He says, we're

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going to call the cops. And I say, I got

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a bunch of wheat in there, and then I'm not

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expected to find her at all in there. And I

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was just kind of dismissive whenever we go in there.

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We checked all the upstairs rooms, and then when we

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get done checking those, we go downstairs.

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Speaker 1: Reluctantly, Ricky drove Wayne to the abandoned farmhouse and together

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they searched the dark, empty rooms for any sign of Katie.

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After several minutes of searching, and after they made their

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way into the basement, Wayne Roper pulled out his phone

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and dialed nine one one.

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Speaker 19: The pasion of your emergency.

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Speaker 17: I was.

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Speaker 5: In the woods.

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Speaker 19: My friend.

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Speaker 20: Uh, she's been missing for for I think thirty hours now,

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and we went into the woods where we used to

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all hang out at and there's a house there, and

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we went looking for her there, just in case, like

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she might be there staying or something. And we found

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her in the in the bottom part in the basement, covered.

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Speaker 19: Up with pieces of wood. Okay, like was she was?

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She still alive?

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Speaker 20: Mister nervous on She's pale.

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Speaker 19: So she was pale and unresponsive. Yes, are you still

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there with her? No, sir, I walked away. I couldn't.

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Is anybody still there with her? Mister?

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Speaker 1: That night, the body of twenty two year old Katie

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Blavelt was found in the basement of an abandoned farmhouse.

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She'd been covered with planks of rotting wood, and an

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autopsy later revealed she'd been brutally stabbed to death. Simpsonville

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wasn't the kind of place where people normally vanished or

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where murder made the nightly news. When it did, everyone

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knew about it, naturally. Solving Katie's murder became a top

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priority for local investigators, but answers didn't come quickly. Nearly

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a decade would pass before a jury would finally hear

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the case, and even then the truth was anything but certain.

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On October twenty third, twenty sixteen, twenty two year old

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Katie Blavelt was supposed to meet her younger sister after work,

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but by that evening she was missing. The following day,

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investigators began piecing together what little they knew, a troubled

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marriage with an army recruiter, a recent separation. At a

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late night drive to an abandoned farmhouse, that's where two

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young men, Wayne Roper and Ricky Hargrove claimed to have

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made a discovery they'd never forget. It was Wayne, who

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happened to be Katie's ex boyfriend, who reached for his

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phone and dialed nine one one.

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Speaker 20: I was worried about my friends Kady, and she would

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have missed it. She's been missing for a while now.

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And who came in this house that we used to

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hanging all an elegance?

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Speaker 10: And what's more, what's wrong with her?

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Speaker 21: Sir?

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Speaker 15: We fold her in himself?

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Speaker 20: La, you found her what we fell? We found my

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friend Katie border did in?

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Speaker 11: Okay?

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Speaker 20: Okay?

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Speaker 1: In other words, she's dead in that?

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Speaker 11: Are you saying she's dead in the house?

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Speaker 17: Now?

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Speaker 5: Now you're sure she's dead.

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Speaker 17: She's not breathing, is she cold?

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Speaker 6: She's very real?

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Speaker 20: And there was no response.

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Speaker 22: There's no response? Okay, sir?

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Speaker 19: And what's your name?

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Speaker 20: Wayne's profra.

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Speaker 1: After Wayne made this call, officers quickly arrived at the scene,

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and the search for Katie Blauvelt came to an end.

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Her body was found in the basement of the abandoned farmhouse,

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stuffed into a narrow cement opening and covered with planks

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of rotting wood. An autopsy later revealed the cause of death.

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She'd been stabbed multiple times, including twice in the neck.

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A fragment of the knife used to kill her was

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still lodged in her throat. Investigators later concluded that the

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murder had taken place somewhere else, likely nearby, perhaps in

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the driveway, and that Katie's body had been dragged into

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the basement in a hurried attempt to hide the crime.

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Now that Katie had been found and the case had

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shifted from a missing person to a homicide investigation, detectives

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turned their attention to the man who claimed to have

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discovered her body, Katie's ex boyfriend, Wayne Roper.

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Speaker 6: Jemmy, how did you meet Kate? I'm going to school

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with her, Chris.

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Speaker 2: Class.

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Speaker 6: Y'all the same age. She's two twenty one.

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Speaker 15: She's a few months older man, But y'all were inside.

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Speaker 6: Gray she's a year buy okay, and the classes together.

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Y'all mate the.

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Speaker 15: Bus together, and we also had the same watch a

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first met her of her friends at first.

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Speaker 23: And then we dated for.

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Speaker 6: Like a month or so.

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Speaker 1: Wayne explained that his relationship with Katie had been a

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brief high school Flint, and then after they broke up,

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the two remained friends. Years later, after Katie married army

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recruiter John Blauvelt, Wayne ended up moving into their home.

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In a strange twist, he had become a housemate to

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his ex girlfriend and her new husband.

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Speaker 12: John offered me.

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Speaker 6: To move in within a roommate, so you lived with

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her and her husband.

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Speaker 16: Yeah, it's weird.

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Speaker 6: Did he know that when you moved in? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: According to Wayne, John was aware of his past relationship

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with Katie and never seemed to be bothered by it.

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In fact, after a night of heavy drinking, Wayne claimed

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he was invited into their bedroom.

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Speaker 5: When you were living with John A kat how often

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we all been intimate with each other?

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Speaker 19: It was the long ones.

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Speaker 6: And John was there or not there?

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Speaker 1: It was and you know it.

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Speaker 6: How did you not know it?

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Speaker 12: I hate it was looking through something. And after that,

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like he just changed.

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Speaker 6: And how did that come about? I only drinking, he

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was drunking. You know, that's the right idea.

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Speaker 24: I can see where that might call some friction. But

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you continued to live there. Yeah, I mean he didn't

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say anything verbally to me, you know, and I just

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thought everything was gonna be okay.

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Speaker 15: Then they started having arguments because of me, because she

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told me that he was jealous of me.

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Speaker 12: Their arguments are eating worse.

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Speaker 1: Wayne described how John and Katie's marriage had fallen apart,

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marked by constant fighting and tension in the house. Eventually,

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Katie moved out, and a few months later Wayne did

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as well. Then, after Katie went missing, Wayne claimed he

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had just decided on a whim to go look for

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her at the old abandoned farmhouse where her body was found.

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Speaker 6: Tell me about the band in the house. I didn't

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you know about it. We used to go there and

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drink all the time. But I didn't get off of

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work until eleven.

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Speaker 15: Now called called Ricky and see if you give me

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a ride, And yeah, I was almost home from work,

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and I asked him if he would undertake me together

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the band house to look. I used a flashlight to

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go in there, and I was looking at the fire

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flash flight. It was a headline, okay, And I was

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looking on the ground for any footprints or trash or anything.

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Speaker 1: Wayne said he went to the abandoned farmhouse in the

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middle of the night to look for Katie, which was

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something investigators immediately found unusual and highly suspicious.

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Speaker 12: Then we went down to the basement.

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Speaker 15: I looked at her in that conquered thing, and I

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seen her jacket looks.

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Speaker 6: At the I see her, Hey, you know it was her.

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Speaker 15: She was missing, Like it's the first thing that thought

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in my head. Am sure that we ran out of there,

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and then once I got to the to the road.

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Speaker 14: I called on.

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Speaker 1: Investigators also spoke with the young man who had driven

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Wayne to the farmhouse, Ricky Hargrove. His account of that

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night largely matched Wayne's version of events.

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Speaker 7: And then he looks down and he said that I

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think he said there she is, Oh my god. And

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then I looked playing stattered. I said, oh my god.

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I turned around and hears him say Katie, like trying

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to wake her up or something, and I'm like, dude,

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I think she's dead. I'm kind of going up the

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steps by then, and he comes up behind me when

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they's pulling out his phone, calling IDEM.

375
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Speaker 1: Naturally, investigators were puzzled by this story. Something about it

376
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,319
just didn't add up. It was strange enough that these

377
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two guys had randomly decided to search for Katie in

378
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the middle of the night, but even stranger was the

379
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first place they looked they found her body. Detectives knew

380
00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:29,759
something wasn't right. One of them, or maybe both, had

381
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to be lying.

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Speaker 6: Why didn't you call the place? They already put out

383
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a report and I'm talking about all.

384
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Speaker 5: This conversation about the abandoned house. I'm just curious, why

385
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didn't you refer it and say, hey, look i'm.

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Speaker 6: Holding over there, and look, I didn't think of it.

387
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Speaker 4: I didn't.

388
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Speaker 6: That's kind of odd.

389
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Speaker 19: It's just like.

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Speaker 6: I just didn't expect anything to be there.

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Speaker 5: You did a call and said, hey, I don't know

392
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if he's any truth to the is, but I've heard

393
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,119
people talking and there's.

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Speaker 6: No man in the house down here, and you all

395
00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:11,599
may want to check that.

396
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Speaker 12: That makes sense to me.

397
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Speaker 5: Putting on a headlamp while a miner ain't going to

398
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bed there at midnight don't make no sense to me.

399
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Speaker 1: Another detail that bothered investigators was that Katie's car wasn't

400
00:23:27,839 --> 00:23:31,359
at the scene. It had actually been found the day before,

401
00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,839
abandoned in a parking lot several miles from the farmhouse,

402
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:39,319
with its license plates removed. So when Wayne and Ricky

403
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,160
showed up at that old house, investigators had to wonder

404
00:23:43,039 --> 00:23:46,799
why go inside at all? If Katie's car wasn't there,

405
00:23:47,759 --> 00:23:49,839
what made them think she would be?

406
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Speaker 6: Did you think she was dead?

407
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Speaker 17: No?

408
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Speaker 5: I didn't, okay, because there's no cars there, so one

409
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of the odds if she's really there, that she would

410
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be Okay, I just I.

411
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Speaker 6: Mean, help me understand. I mean, I don't know. I'm trying.

412
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:08,039
I'm trying to get it.

413
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Speaker 5: Because you drive up there because you're you're kind of

414
00:24:11,319 --> 00:24:15,680
worried about her. When you get there, there's no cars, right,

415
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So what's the probability that she's really there?

416
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Speaker 6: How was she had gotten there? You know what I'm saying,

417
00:24:25,039 --> 00:24:27,480
this is just you know she was dead.

418
00:24:29,839 --> 00:24:33,880
Speaker 1: Detectives pressed Wayne with simple questions, one that should have

419
00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,480
been easy to answer, but instead of explanations, they got

420
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shoulder shrugs and a string of I don't know.

421
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Speaker 6: It's really hard for me.

422
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Speaker 5: To get through my brain that you got hundreds of

423
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ball for phil officers looking for this little girl that.

424
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Speaker 6: You said was a friend of yours.

425
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Speaker 5: We're peening phone, we're subpoenaing records, we're trying to find

426
00:24:59,799 --> 00:25:02,519
this squirrel because people that love her are trying to

427
00:25:02,559 --> 00:25:04,720
find her, and yet you.

428
00:25:06,279 --> 00:25:11,079
Speaker 6: And other guy in there, the first place they look,

429
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:14,640
they find her. What are the odds of that?

430
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Speaker 21: What do you mean?

431
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:21,920
Speaker 6: I think they's a sail of men. You had a

432
00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:23,000
bunch of options.

433
00:25:23,079 --> 00:25:28,640
Speaker 5: Yeah, but if you really cared about her, why didn't

434
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:30,119
you tell somebody.

435
00:25:31,559 --> 00:25:35,200
Speaker 6: Why didn't you get somebody else in it? Why would

436
00:25:35,279 --> 00:25:39,119
you think the best idea is for you to walk

437
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:43,720
into what turns out today her final resting.

438
00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:47,160
Speaker 5: Place where somebody murdered her and dumped her down there

439
00:25:47,319 --> 00:25:48,359
like a piece of trash.

440
00:25:49,839 --> 00:25:52,599
Speaker 6: Why do you think the best solution for you and

441
00:25:52,799 --> 00:25:53,680
Richie is.

442
00:25:53,759 --> 00:25:56,640
Speaker 5: To go up there and put your DNA all over

443
00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:58,160
a murder crime, saying why.

444
00:25:59,079 --> 00:26:01,440
Speaker 12: I just I didn't think about that.

445
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,640
Speaker 1: Listening to this interview, it's not difficult to figure out

446
00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:09,880
what investigators were thinking. They clearly believe that Wayne already

447
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,920
knew what had happened to Katie, He probably knew where

448
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,680
her body was, and this so called discovery had been

449
00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:19,079
completely staged.

450
00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:23,799
Speaker 5: And we need to decide whether we're going to continue

451
00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:29,920
to risk being accessory before after the factual murder, helping

452
00:26:30,039 --> 00:26:34,400
dispose of a body after it was already dead, or

453
00:26:34,519 --> 00:26:37,000
play stupid and ended.

454
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Speaker 6: Up getting charged with all of it.

455
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Speaker 14: Yeah, I'll be good right now.

456
00:26:40,319 --> 00:26:43,160
Speaker 5: We can't put your hand being the one that killed

457
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,839
that girl, but you finding her there, that's way too

458
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:51,240
big of a quiescence for me, Powell, So I'm not

459
00:26:51,279 --> 00:26:54,000
opposed to him. For anybody has made him say, Wayne,

460
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but I can't help you if you don't.

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00:26:56,599 --> 00:26:57,440
Speaker 6: Tell me the truth.

462
00:26:57,720 --> 00:26:58,640
Speaker 14: You're telling me the truth.

463
00:26:59,839 --> 00:27:02,319
Speaker 6: You're telling me part of the truth. I'm telling you

464
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,680
the full truth. I've told you of it.

465
00:27:05,799 --> 00:27:05,920
Speaker 16: Then.

466
00:27:07,839 --> 00:27:10,240
Speaker 6: Yeah, I told us everything in that Wayne, But it's

467
00:27:10,319 --> 00:27:11,640
time for you to do that, okay.

468
00:27:13,039 --> 00:27:16,759
Speaker 1: Investigators kept pressing Wayne for what they believed was the truth,

469
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,119
but no matter how hard they pushed, he stood by

470
00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,920
his story that he'd simply found Kittie's body and he

471
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:26,680
had nothing to do with her death or how she

472
00:27:26,799 --> 00:27:27,920
ended up in the farmhouse.

473
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:35,559
Speaker 25: No, you took that your poor unsuspecting friend right down

474
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:38,160
the crowd stay because you knew exactly where she was,

475
00:27:38,839 --> 00:27:41,039
and you couldn't send that that she was gonna be

476
00:27:41,079 --> 00:27:42,640
there and might not be found.

477
00:27:43,079 --> 00:27:45,960
Speaker 6: That's what I think happened. You took that boy in

478
00:27:46,079 --> 00:27:47,920
there so you could find her body.

479
00:27:48,599 --> 00:27:49,200
Speaker 14: No one didn't.

480
00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:53,799
Speaker 6: I'm telling you the full truth. I've told you everything

481
00:27:53,839 --> 00:27:54,480
that I can think of.

482
00:27:55,519 --> 00:27:59,119
Speaker 12: What kind of hand did you have in putting her

483
00:27:59,200 --> 00:27:59,720
body there?

484
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:04,160
Speaker 6: None at all? None, whatever, none, whatsoever.

485
00:28:05,519 --> 00:28:08,799
Speaker 1: Despite the investigator's efforts, Wayne stuck to his story and

486
00:28:09,599 --> 00:28:13,799
to his claim of innocence. After several hours of questioning.

487
00:28:13,839 --> 00:28:16,920
Both he and Ricky Hargrove were released and sent home.

488
00:28:18,039 --> 00:28:22,480
From there, the focus shifted to the farmhouse itself. Detectives

489
00:28:22,519 --> 00:28:25,640
began narrowing down their list of suspects by looking for

490
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,319
anyone who not only knew about Katie but was familiar

491
00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,799
with the property. They soon learned the house had a reputation.

492
00:28:34,839 --> 00:28:38,119
It was a popular hangout spot for local teenagers looking

493
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:39,599
to drink or get high.

494
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:44,160
Speaker 26: Because the abandoned house that she was found in, like

495
00:28:44,279 --> 00:28:46,960
it was released in the news, was a high school

496
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,920
hangout for us. We'd go over there and chill sometimes.

497
00:28:50,119 --> 00:28:53,920
But uh, the only people that really knew about the

498
00:28:54,000 --> 00:29:00,319
house was the immediate group, which was me, Cameron, Wayne,

499
00:29:00,319 --> 00:29:05,759
who found Katie, Cyane, Ali, Nick, and John.

500
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,519
Speaker 1: When detectives reviewed the names of people connected to the farmhouse,

501
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:16,839
one caught their attention. John Blavel, Katie's husband. He was

502
00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:21,359
thirty and an army recruiter. So what was he doing

503
00:29:21,799 --> 00:29:24,759
hanging around a known teenage party hotspot?

504
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:27,119
Speaker 12: Are you familiar with this abandoned house?

505
00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,319
Speaker 6: Yeah, okay, that's the spot.

506
00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,480
Speaker 12: That's like, what's the stuf hangout spot? I've been there

507
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,240
a couple of times. So when was the last time

508
00:29:36,279 --> 00:29:41,559
you were there, like a week ago, a month ago,

509
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:42,519
spend months.

510
00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:46,799
Speaker 1: When asked, John admitted he was familiar with the farmhouse.

511
00:29:47,559 --> 00:29:51,400
He'd partied there before with some local teenagers, but he

512
00:29:51,519 --> 00:29:54,799
claimed he hadn't been there in months. Even if that

513
00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:58,799
was true, investigators couldn't ignore how strange it was for

514
00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:03,480
a nearly thirty year old army recruiter to be socializing

515
00:30:03,599 --> 00:30:07,839
with high school students. As they dug deeper, they learned

516
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:11,359
that John's job often brought him into contact with juniors

517
00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:15,000
and seniors, and that drinking with them had apparently become

518
00:30:15,079 --> 00:30:18,559
part of his routine. Many of those students said they

519
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:22,440
admired him, and why wouldn't they. It was a good

520
00:30:22,519 --> 00:30:25,680
looking soldier with a confident smile in a uniform that

521
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,519
commanded respect. On the surface, he looked like a man

522
00:30:29,599 --> 00:30:33,960
who had his life in order, disciplined, trustworthy, the kind

523
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,039
of person parents might even encourage their kids to follow.

524
00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:45,119
But beneath that polished exterior, investigators were hearing something very different.

525
00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:50,759
According to several of those same teenagers, it wasn't unusual

526
00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:54,240
for John to invite potential recruits back to his house,

527
00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,319
where he'd let them drink and get high.

528
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:02,559
Speaker 26: He was doing recruitment thing and I guess he wasn't

529
00:31:02,559 --> 00:31:06,119
meeting his quota, so she had. He had told her

530
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:10,960
to invite some friends over to smoke and then he

531
00:31:11,039 --> 00:31:15,079
would do the recruitment stuff then and then that's how

532
00:31:15,119 --> 00:31:15,680
we met him.

533
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:17,279
Speaker 6: So it was a pretty such study.

534
00:31:17,359 --> 00:31:21,680
Speaker 15: That's a hangout or if I had your rights back

535
00:31:21,759 --> 00:31:25,119
then to hang out drugs, drink alcohol.

536
00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:31,079
Speaker 1: As investigators spoke with these teenagers, they began to get

537
00:31:31,119 --> 00:31:35,319
a clearer picture of John and Katie's relationship. What they

538
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:39,400
learned didn't quite match the simple and amicable separation story

539
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:41,920
John had been telling during the.

540
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:44,400
Speaker 23: Time that you were around when they were together, did

541
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:46,400
you ever see any violence between the two of the

542
00:31:46,599 --> 00:31:47,640
many arguing.

543
00:31:48,519 --> 00:31:53,759
Speaker 26: Yes, yes, there was frequent. They were always fighting about

544
00:31:53,799 --> 00:31:58,559
something and then John would always be yelling and screaming

545
00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,799
at her, and then they would go in their room

546
00:32:01,839 --> 00:32:03,960
and locked the dole in this fight. And we wouldn't

547
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:06,799
see any of it like visually, but there was a

548
00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:07,720
we could always hear it.

549
00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:13,079
Speaker 1: Investigators eventually discovered that before her death, Katie had filed

550
00:32:13,119 --> 00:32:16,559
a police report with a different department than the one

551
00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:21,000
handling her murder case. In that report, she stated that

552
00:32:21,319 --> 00:32:23,920
John had threatened to kill her and her entire family.

553
00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:27,559
Speaker 27: Katie filed a criminal domestic violence report with Fountain In

554
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,839
Police in January, and in the report, she detailed a

555
00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:33,440
fight that she had had with her husband a month earlier,

556
00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:37,279
where he threatened her several times at home with a revolver,

557
00:32:37,799 --> 00:32:40,279
threatening to kill her if she would not open or

558
00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:43,400
unlock her phone. The report went on to say that

559
00:32:43,559 --> 00:32:47,279
John Blofeld grabbed his shotgun, both sets of keys, and

560
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:50,319
left the house, saying he was going to kill everybody

561
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:50,960
she knows.

562
00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:54,359
Speaker 1: Following this incident, Katie made up her mind to leave John.

563
00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:57,640
She went to the police and reported what had happened.

564
00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:01,480
Within days, officers were at the door to arrest him.

565
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:05,039
Speaker 13: She's left one day, it was like a Tuesday, and

566
00:33:05,079 --> 00:33:08,599
then she came back Friday with the entire Fountain police barman,

567
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:10,400
and it was a pretty big scene.

568
00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:11,720
Speaker 6: Were our thing.

569
00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:15,480
Speaker 1: When police arrived at John's door, he was drinking and

570
00:33:15,599 --> 00:33:17,759
getting high with high school students.

571
00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:21,240
Speaker 26: And then the night that it happened, when the cops

572
00:33:21,279 --> 00:33:24,960
showed up, he was I'm not sure what he was on,

573
00:33:25,839 --> 00:33:28,640
but he was running around the house waving guns saying

574
00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:30,319
that he wasn't gonna let the cops in and that

575
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:34,799
he would rather like use the gun before he let

576
00:33:34,839 --> 00:33:35,079
them in.

577
00:33:36,039 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 6: So is this the night he got arrested? Yes, Okay.

578
00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:43,559
Speaker 1: Strangely, when officers arrested John, it wasn't for threatening Katie

579
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,440
with a gun, even though she'd file the report saying

580
00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:49,960
he had. Instead, he was charged with contributing to the

581
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:54,480
delinquency of a minor for drinking and using drugs with teenagers.

582
00:33:55,519 --> 00:33:58,240
After the arrest, the Army was notified and John's recruiting

583
00:33:58,319 --> 00:34:00,720
duties were suspended pending investigation.

584
00:34:01,559 --> 00:34:05,279
Speaker 13: Because of the civil investigation, online recruiting newies have been suspended.

585
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:08,679
Speaker 6: So I've literally been sitting here since about March.

586
00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:12,960
Speaker 12: During the day, just off his touchstone, playing on the phone.

587
00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:17,599
Speaker 1: John knew that the Army's investigation was mostly a formality.

588
00:34:18,559 --> 00:34:22,159
He knew what the outcome would be. He'd be found

589
00:34:22,159 --> 00:34:26,440
guilty and discharged, ending a ten year military career with

590
00:34:26,599 --> 00:34:31,079
a dishonorable record after a decade of service, He'd essentially

591
00:34:31,159 --> 00:34:36,000
destroyed everything he'd built. But instead of any self reflection,

592
00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:40,239
instead of admitting that giving alcohol and drugs to teenagers

593
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:43,920
might have been a bad idea. John looked for someone

594
00:34:44,079 --> 00:34:47,920
to blame. All of his anger landed squarely on as

595
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:52,559
soon to be ex wife Katie Blovel, And I.

596
00:34:52,559 --> 00:34:54,039
Speaker 4: Do you think kind of went back for a little while.

597
00:34:54,039 --> 00:34:58,679
He looks like that he's losing his job. He just

598
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:04,840
blames it all. And I don't know if this matters.

599
00:35:04,639 --> 00:35:08,079
Speaker 11: Or not, but I know he hasn't gone a fifty

600
00:35:08,119 --> 00:35:10,119
thousand dollars life insurance policy aren't here.

601
00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:13,920
Speaker 1: As John waited for the army to discharge him, his

602
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:18,519
behavior didn't change. He continued drinking with the high school students,

603
00:35:18,559 --> 00:35:21,559
and according to several of them, he often talked about

604
00:35:21,639 --> 00:35:25,559
Katie's life insurance policy and his desire to see her dead.

605
00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:28,039
Speaker 2: I was over there one day with a bunch of

606
00:35:28,519 --> 00:35:33,760
friends and, like John, like he plotted out ways to

607
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:36,800
like kill her, but it was joking.

608
00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:43,280
Speaker 1: Incredibly, John also offered a sixteen year old girl fifty

609
00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:48,119
thousand dollars to help him build a false alibi. He

610
00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:51,280
planned to have this teenager drive his car and take

611
00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:54,840
his phone to Charleston so it would appear he'd left town,

612
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:59,400
when in reality he'd still be in Simpsonville killing Katie.

613
00:36:00,039 --> 00:36:03,519
Speaker 4: And he was like, do you want to go to Charleston,

614
00:36:03,639 --> 00:36:06,320
and I was like, he doesn't longer tells me?

615
00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:07,440
Speaker 28: Yeah, me to what?

616
00:36:08,159 --> 00:36:08,960
Speaker 12: And he's as long as he.

617
00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:10,440
Speaker 4: Was take my car on the phone. And I was

618
00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:12,519
like me, you and cy in and he was like no, no,

619
00:36:12,639 --> 00:36:13,039
just dude.

620
00:36:13,599 --> 00:36:17,400
Speaker 9: I realized a why and he was like, I can't

621
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:19,800
really tell you and he was like no, I didn't

622
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:20,320
want to tell me.

623
00:36:21,039 --> 00:36:23,519
Speaker 4: And I was like, well, why, I know, why do you?

624
00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:25,679
He like, hit my car, I'm going my credit card,

625
00:36:25,719 --> 00:36:26,559
that's what you wanted to do.

626
00:36:27,199 --> 00:36:29,159
Speaker 11: And he was drunk and he was like, I'm getting

627
00:36:29,159 --> 00:36:31,880
feel okay, he was gonna get I left the tanking

628
00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:34,239
his credit card in his phone to Charleston.

629
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,079
Speaker 4: Well, he asked why and he said so it look

630
00:36:38,199 --> 00:36:42,159
like I was in ust. And he asked him what

631
00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:44,239
he was gonna do what she wasn't Charleston.

632
00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:46,599
Speaker 21: He said he was.

633
00:36:46,639 --> 00:36:50,079
Speaker 10: Gonna kill Katie and he would give her fifteen thousand dollars,

634
00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:55,559
which is the exact amount of life and transposing naturally.

635
00:36:55,599 --> 00:36:59,559
Speaker 1: After hearing these things about John, investigators confronted him with

636
00:36:59,639 --> 00:37:03,119
the act accusations. John denied it all.

637
00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:08,000
Speaker 12: Have you ever and probably jokingly, I would assume, made

638
00:37:08,039 --> 00:37:08,760
a statement.

639
00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:11,199
Speaker 17: To any of your friends about wanting.

640
00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:12,000
Speaker 6: To kill Katie.

641
00:37:13,599 --> 00:37:16,360
Speaker 12: Ever said you know, well if Katie dies, you know

642
00:37:16,559 --> 00:37:18,960
we'll get some money or want money to do anything with.

643
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:23,159
Speaker 23: Have you ever gone up to any friends and said, hey,

644
00:37:24,119 --> 00:37:27,199
would you do me a favor and take my car,

645
00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:31,039
take my keys, my debit card, my phone, go away

646
00:37:31,079 --> 00:37:34,400
for the weekend to Charleston, say, and that'll make it

647
00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:36,280
look like I'm out of town so I can kill Katie.

648
00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:40,280
Speaker 12: No, so, somebody who told us that they're making that up?

649
00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:41,400
Speaker 6: I believe so. Yeah.

650
00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:45,760
Speaker 1: After being confronted with the accusations, John pointed the finger

651
00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:49,239
at Katie's family, claiming they were spreading lies about him.

652
00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:53,440
In his version of events, he was the real victim

653
00:37:54,119 --> 00:37:56,800
and just as hurt as everyone else who loved Katie.

654
00:37:57,559 --> 00:37:59,760
Speaker 13: That's the same type of shit that from out her

655
00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:03,320
found now for the last fucking two weeks, and I'm

656
00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:05,320
getting kind of sick of it because I don't feel

657
00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:09,280
safe in my house anymore. Fucking dirt bag ass family,

658
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:12,920
Well you gotta understand right now, they're going through a

659
00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:15,079
lot too, trying to understand. But I'm going through the

660
00:38:15,159 --> 00:38:16,119
same fucking shit.

661
00:38:17,239 --> 00:38:20,519
Speaker 6: I lost a friend. Maybe not the best life, but

662
00:38:20,559 --> 00:38:21,639
I lost the fucking friend.

663
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:26,360
Speaker 1: There was another crucial element in this investigation, one that

664
00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:31,159
would eventually give investigators their best shot at justice for Katie.

665
00:38:32,159 --> 00:38:35,880
It's entered around a teenage girl named Hannah Thompsons.

666
00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:38,840
Speaker 17: A sort of hand I tell me about her, hear

667
00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:39,760
and John like a couple.

668
00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:43,280
Speaker 4: And John I've been.

669
00:38:44,679 --> 00:38:46,800
Speaker 12: Sorting together, I guess for like.

670
00:38:48,559 --> 00:38:49,480
Speaker 4: Seven eight months.

671
00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:55,079
Speaker 6: Seven months so pretty much since he and Katie stood up.

672
00:38:56,199 --> 00:38:58,800
Speaker 1: While John and Katie were still living together, John began

673
00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:03,320
sleeping with seventeen year old Hannah Thompson, and after Katie

674
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:08,480
moved out, Hannah became John's living girlfriend. Once investigators learned

675
00:39:08,519 --> 00:39:11,880
about Hannah and her connection to John, they were of

676
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:13,559
course eager to speak with her.

677
00:39:14,199 --> 00:39:18,719
Speaker 12: When was the last time you saw Katie, like a

678
00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:21,599
few months ago, what was her feelings shorts for?

679
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:25,360
Speaker 8: I mean, I always like, I've always seen her as

680
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:28,039
like a friend, because like you know, she always told

681
00:39:28,079 --> 00:39:29,960
me that she's like here for me if.

682
00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:30,880
Speaker 4: I are need day thing.

683
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:35,039
Speaker 17: So it's a very saying you were good turns slither.

684
00:39:35,159 --> 00:39:36,079
Speaker 12: Once she was killed.

685
00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:40,239
Speaker 9: We had a good relationship, like we were a little

686
00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:40,840
kind of close.

687
00:39:41,519 --> 00:39:45,400
Speaker 17: John never make any mention of life insurance policy.

688
00:39:45,079 --> 00:39:47,159
Speaker 19: In her I don't know.

689
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:51,320
Speaker 12: He never talked to me about it, has ever joked

690
00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:52,880
around about things to be better.

691
00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:57,639
Speaker 17: If she's dead, I should kill her he joked about that. Yes.

692
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:03,320
Speaker 1: Within moments of speaking with Hannah, investigators were fairly certain

693
00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:06,559
of one thing. She was trying to cover for John.

694
00:40:07,639 --> 00:40:11,239
In other words, she was lying to protect him, which

695
00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:13,880
was an extremely dumb thing to do.

696
00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:18,639
Speaker 17: We've been working the space steady since she disappeared, so

697
00:40:18,679 --> 00:40:20,280
there's a lot of these things that we know the answers.

698
00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:24,400
I can tell you already you're lying to me. Okay,

699
00:40:26,079 --> 00:40:27,880
you do not want to get wrapped up and catch

700
00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:31,039
the murder charge. You're seventeen years old. You know your

701
00:40:31,199 --> 00:40:34,599
entire life, and you may love John, and you may

702
00:40:34,679 --> 00:40:36,519
think you two him to get married and walk down

703
00:40:36,599 --> 00:40:37,360
yellow brick Road.

704
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:39,599
Speaker 6: Okay, but no man and.

705
00:40:39,639 --> 00:40:40,960
Speaker 17: No woman is worth going to prison.

706
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:47,440
Speaker 1: Investigators gave Hannah the typical pep talk about honesty, consequences,

707
00:40:47,559 --> 00:40:50,559
and the importance of coming clean, but none of it

708
00:40:51,039 --> 00:40:51,800
seemed to sink in.

709
00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:55,639
Speaker 6: When you told me earlier that you and John aren't

710
00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:57,199
an item, that was a lot right.

711
00:40:58,079 --> 00:40:58,679
Speaker 21: No, they're not.

712
00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:00,960
Speaker 4: Really a leagal loss.

713
00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:03,239
Speaker 6: So who are you doing.

714
00:41:03,719 --> 00:41:04,840
Speaker 9: I'm not dating anybody.

715
00:41:05,159 --> 00:41:05,960
Speaker 6: But if you look at your.

716
00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:09,880
Speaker 13: Facebook, sass, you just posted on Sunday that we're currently

717
00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:13,280
in the most amazing relationship ever something along those lines.

718
00:41:14,079 --> 00:41:17,320
Speaker 6: So who was that relationship with on Sunday it was, I.

719
00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:20,000
Speaker 9: Mean, it was with John, But we're not like in

720
00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:21,000
a relationship.

721
00:41:21,239 --> 00:41:22,800
Speaker 14: We're not dating.

722
00:41:23,039 --> 00:41:25,159
Speaker 4: I just have a good relationship with him.

723
00:41:26,639 --> 00:41:30,079
Speaker 1: Well, Hannah denied being in a romantic relationship with John.

724
00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:34,840
Investigators only turned up the pressure. They were clearly convinced

725
00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:37,400
that she knew a lot more than she was saying.

726
00:41:38,159 --> 00:41:45,280
Speaker 10: Well, after me and John started like getting together, Katy

727
00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:46,400
started not liking me.

728
00:41:46,639 --> 00:41:48,400
Speaker 4: And I'm going to say it right now, I'm like,

729
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:53,000
she was not nice sometimes, but she did.

730
00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:54,320
Speaker 9: Not deserve that.

731
00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:59,000
Speaker 8: What she deserves right now is for us to figure

732
00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:03,960
out who did this. Oh I know, I know, And

733
00:42:04,079 --> 00:42:08,639
at this point nobody needs to cover for anybody. If

734
00:42:08,679 --> 00:42:11,440
you know something and you're trying to cover up for it,

735
00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:13,599
you're going to go down with the rest of them.

736
00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:16,039
You're going to go down with the person.

737
00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:16,800
Speaker 9: Who did this to her.

738
00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:20,000
Speaker 10: I don't know anything about you, do.

739
00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:25,480
Speaker 6: We will do you do? We know more than anything

740
00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:28,159
which is evident.

741
00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:30,079
Speaker 12: I don't.

742
00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:34,880
Speaker 3: Got it because you know who else can't talk right now?

743
00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:35,440
Speaker 4: It is Katie.

744
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:38,320
Speaker 6: She's ever talk again.

745
00:42:39,519 --> 00:42:43,639
Speaker 1: Investigators kept pressing Hannah, but they went too far. The

746
00:42:43,719 --> 00:42:47,119
moment they showed her the photos of Katie's body, the

747
00:42:47,199 --> 00:42:48,239
interview fell apart.

748
00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:50,000
Speaker 6: What do you think about.

749
00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:52,280
Speaker 17: Somebody that would sad girl in the neck to the

750
00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:53,880
point where the knife went all the way through to

751
00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:56,679
the other side, and then stick her body like a

752
00:42:56,679 --> 00:42:59,039
piece of trash in the basement of an A band

753
00:42:59,199 --> 00:43:00,880
has to sit there for a day and a half

754
00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:02,400
before somebody finds her.

755
00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:04,960
Speaker 12: Let's go right here.

756
00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:05,760
Speaker 11: I want to look at her.

757
00:43:08,639 --> 00:43:10,000
Speaker 4: I don't want to do this anymore.

758
00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:12,119
Speaker 17: I don't want to do what.

759
00:43:12,159 --> 00:43:13,840
Speaker 3: I don't want to us find out who Kilbert.

760
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:15,440
Speaker 6: I'll go w Is tell the truth.

761
00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:16,440
Speaker 17: It will be.

762
00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:22,840
Speaker 6: You gotta tell you something To tell the truth.

763
00:43:23,039 --> 00:43:24,079
Speaker 17: You don't have to try.

764
00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:26,239
Speaker 6: It just flows. It just comes out.

765
00:43:27,519 --> 00:43:31,119
Speaker 4: Please leave, Hannah. This is a friend of yours and

766
00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:35,400
I'm trying to do I don't listening. You listen to

767
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:36,320
me for just a second.

768
00:43:37,199 --> 00:43:39,079
Speaker 3: This is a friend of yours, or was a friend

769
00:43:39,079 --> 00:43:44,519
of verse, and somebody brutally marked Okay, Unfortunately you are

770
00:43:44,679 --> 00:43:47,840
right in the middle of all of this, and for

771
00:43:48,119 --> 00:43:49,679
to sit here and lie to us to.

772
00:43:49,719 --> 00:43:53,280
Speaker 4: Begin with, is not helping you at all.

773
00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:57,599
Speaker 1: Before long had abruptly stood up walked out of the room,

774
00:43:57,679 --> 00:44:00,280
and the investigators had no choice but to let or go.

775
00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:04,760
Around the same time, their interview with John ended as well,

776
00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:08,559
after he refused a light detector test and said he'd

777
00:44:08,599 --> 00:44:09,679
be contacting a lawyer.

778
00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:11,800
Speaker 12: I'm just gonna ask you to be a point blank.

779
00:44:12,079 --> 00:44:13,079
Did you cop Kate?

780
00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:13,360
Speaker 29: No?

781
00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:15,280
Speaker 12: Do you have it killed her?

782
00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:15,519
Speaker 17: No?

783
00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:18,519
Speaker 12: Would you be willing to take pographs? So we can

784
00:44:18,519 --> 00:44:20,239
go ahead and do that with you and eliminate you and.

785
00:44:20,239 --> 00:44:22,719
Speaker 4: Start looking about that first.

786
00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:24,920
Speaker 6: Okay, see what he says, because I don't know about

787
00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:25,360
that at all.

788
00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:28,840
Speaker 1: By this point, investigators had gathered a good amount of

789
00:44:28,880 --> 00:44:33,199
evidence against John. Several interviews with friends and acquaintances painted

790
00:44:33,239 --> 00:44:37,719
the disturbing picture of John repeatedly talking about killing Katie

791
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:41,920
and hiding your body. One witness said that John even

792
00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:45,159
offered them money to help him create a false alibi.

793
00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:50,039
Investigators also knew John had a documented history of domestic

794
00:44:50,159 --> 00:44:53,920
violence towards Katie and that he was the sole beneficiary

795
00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:58,559
of her life insurance policy. Also, cell phone records placed

796
00:44:58,639 --> 00:45:01,159
John's phone near the park a lot where Katie's car

797
00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:04,639
was abandoned at the exact time it was left there.

798
00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:08,960
Despite all of this, investigators decided to hold off on

799
00:45:09,159 --> 00:45:14,559
arresting John, wanting more time to strengthen their case. They

800
00:45:14,639 --> 00:45:18,400
let John walk out of the interview room. This was

801
00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:22,159
a decision that would turn out to be a very

802
00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:23,039
big mistake.

803
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:27,440
Speaker 27: Hannah Thompson's mother reported her missing yesterday to the fountain

804
00:45:27,559 --> 00:45:30,920
In Police department. The report states that the teen was

805
00:45:31,039 --> 00:45:34,480
last seen on October thirtieth. Hannah's mother told police that

806
00:45:34,559 --> 00:45:36,960
her daughter is believed to be with John Blofeld, the

807
00:45:37,079 --> 00:45:41,639
known homicide suspect. Investigators told Hannah's mom that Hannah's bank

808
00:45:41,679 --> 00:45:45,400
account has been left untouched since her last paycheck.

809
00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:49,119
Speaker 1: In November of twenty sixteen, When investigators went looking for

810
00:45:49,280 --> 00:45:54,880
John and Hannah again, both of them were gone, no note,

811
00:45:55,360 --> 00:46:02,400
no warning, no trace. They had simply vanished. Their phones

812
00:46:02,440 --> 00:46:06,840
were dead, their car missing, and every lead hit a

813
00:46:06,960 --> 00:46:11,599
dead end. Overnight, the prime suspect of his teenage girlfriend

814
00:46:11,719 --> 00:46:16,119
had disappeared into the wind, leaving behind a grieving family

815
00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:21,199
in an open murder case. For the next six long years,

816
00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:25,719
the investigation into Katie's death would remain frozen in place,

817
00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:33,079
just waiting for the day that John Blauvelt finally resurfaced.

818
00:47:06,159 --> 00:47:10,440
In November of twenty sixteen, the investigation into Katie Blovelt's

819
00:47:10,519 --> 00:47:15,239
murder took a shocking turn. Her estranged husband, the prime suspect,

820
00:47:15,519 --> 00:47:20,360
army recruiter John Blovelt, had disappeared. It fled town with

821
00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:24,239
his teenage girlfriend, Hannah Thompson, and nobody seemed to know

822
00:47:24,559 --> 00:47:26,239
where they might have gone well.

823
00:47:26,280 --> 00:47:28,840
Speaker 27: Twenty eight year old John Blofeld is charged with murder

824
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:31,440
in the death of his wife, Catherine, who went by Katie.

825
00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:34,719
Katie's body was found in an abandoned house in Simpsonville

826
00:47:34,960 --> 00:47:38,440
back on October twenty sixth. Investigators say she was killed

827
00:47:38,480 --> 00:47:41,559
with a knife two days earlier. Her husband was last

828
00:47:41,599 --> 00:47:44,960
seen on November fifteenth in New Mexico and remains on

829
00:47:45,159 --> 00:47:48,480
the run Simpsonville police. The investigators believe that he's with

830
00:47:48,599 --> 00:47:50,199
his seventeen year old girlfriend.

831
00:47:51,280 --> 00:47:55,280
Speaker 1: After John and Hannah fled, police spent weeks chasing scattered

832
00:47:55,320 --> 00:47:59,039
tips across state lines, but nothing brought them any closer

833
00:47:59,079 --> 00:48:02,239
to finding the couple or even knowing where they might

834
00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:05,679
be hiding. For Katie's mom and the rest of her family,

835
00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:08,679
this was a crushing setback because.

836
00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:11,000
Speaker 30: Losing your child, I mean, losing a member of the

837
00:48:11,039 --> 00:48:15,280
family's hard, but losing your child is just unbearable. And

838
00:48:15,400 --> 00:48:17,719
then in the beginning, we had hopes that we knew

839
00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:19,559
John did it. We just you know, hearts you knew

840
00:48:19,599 --> 00:48:23,239
John did it, but police have to go through their

841
00:48:23,239 --> 00:48:26,880
steps before they can serve once and get him. And

842
00:48:27,039 --> 00:48:28,000
waiting was hard.

843
00:48:28,159 --> 00:48:30,199
Speaker 1: But we thought, you know, we know where they got

844
00:48:30,280 --> 00:48:30,920
him to get him.

845
00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:34,320
Speaker 30: But then when he ran our hearts sunk.

846
00:48:34,639 --> 00:48:35,679
Speaker 11: Like now what.

847
00:48:37,039 --> 00:48:41,119
Speaker 1: Weeks turned into months and there were still no credible

848
00:48:41,199 --> 00:48:45,760
signs of John or Hannah. Then, just when it seemed

849
00:48:45,840 --> 00:48:49,280
like all hope was lost, Hannah Thompson walked into a

850
00:48:49,360 --> 00:48:51,559
police station and turned herself in.

851
00:48:52,719 --> 00:48:54,760
Speaker 22: Obviously, we brought you in here today because we wanted

852
00:48:54,800 --> 00:48:57,400
to talk to you about the trade of about everything

853
00:48:57,440 --> 00:48:59,360
that's been going on with you. That let me tell

854
00:48:59,360 --> 00:49:01,360
you that we are very glad that you're back and

855
00:49:01,480 --> 00:49:03,679
that you're safe, and that's nothing bad.

856
00:49:03,519 --> 00:49:04,039
Speaker 14: Happened to you.

857
00:49:05,599 --> 00:49:10,679
Speaker 1: After Hannah returned to Simpsonville, investigators wasted no time to

858
00:49:10,760 --> 00:49:14,039
find John. They needed to know what they'd been doing

859
00:49:14,199 --> 00:49:15,000
while they were gone.

860
00:49:15,840 --> 00:49:17,039
Speaker 14: Well, where did you go first?

861
00:49:17,480 --> 00:49:21,280
Speaker 31: When you guys first left from the Simpsonville Fountain area?

862
00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:28,920
Speaker 14: Where'd you guys go? We went to Startenberg first because John.

863
00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:31,159
Speaker 16: Had a friend that he worked with that said that

864
00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:32,119
we could park.

865
00:49:32,880 --> 00:49:36,159
Speaker 14: The car in his yard to sleep there, and so

866
00:49:36,360 --> 00:49:38,679
we did that for a few days, and then.

867
00:49:40,239 --> 00:49:43,559
Speaker 16: He drove like for two days straight, like not sleeping

868
00:49:43,679 --> 00:49:51,119
or anything like, through Georgia and then oh, then he drew.

869
00:49:51,159 --> 00:49:53,559
Speaker 14: He basically drove all the way to Texas, where we're

870
00:49:53,599 --> 00:49:54,280
going to sleep.

871
00:49:55,320 --> 00:49:57,880
Speaker 1: According to Hannah, she and John hit the road and

872
00:49:58,480 --> 00:50:03,000
never looked back. They drove through several states, living like fugitives,

873
00:50:03,079 --> 00:50:06,760
mostly sleeping in their car, always on the move, and

874
00:50:06,840 --> 00:50:08,440
always looking over their shoulder.

875
00:50:09,320 --> 00:50:12,599
Speaker 14: What was the game plan when you guys left? I

876
00:50:12,679 --> 00:50:16,679
don't think we really had one, Like I guess both

877
00:50:16,719 --> 00:50:19,280
of us just kind of panicked, and he decided that

878
00:50:19,400 --> 00:50:22,480
he wanted to leave, like the stay and.

879
00:50:24,960 --> 00:50:26,719
Speaker 4: He told me that we were going to leave, and

880
00:50:26,800 --> 00:50:28,920
I was like, Okay, what.

881
00:50:29,119 --> 00:50:33,199
Speaker 14: Was the reason for panicking? I think that was like

882
00:50:33,320 --> 00:50:37,079
around the time that like you and like the other

883
00:50:37,159 --> 00:50:40,360
investors had been like texting me and he wouldn't let

884
00:50:40,400 --> 00:50:41,599
me reply or anything.

885
00:50:42,840 --> 00:50:46,920
Speaker 1: Hannah told investigators that John had simply panicked. He knew

886
00:50:46,960 --> 00:50:49,119
it was only a matter of time before he was arrested,

887
00:50:49,239 --> 00:50:53,360
so he ran. As for Hannah, she claimed she'd only

888
00:50:53,480 --> 00:50:56,679
left with John because he'd convinced her that she had

889
00:50:56,719 --> 00:50:57,559
no other options.

890
00:50:58,519 --> 00:51:00,840
Speaker 32: He just kept telling me that if I talked to anybody,

891
00:51:01,079 --> 00:51:03,400
that I was going to jail. When I went back home,

892
00:51:03,519 --> 00:51:05,199
I was going to jail. I left him, I was

893
00:51:05,280 --> 00:51:08,039
going to jail. Like he just kept saying that, like

894
00:51:08,079 --> 00:51:11,719
pretty much every day. He made me believe that, like

895
00:51:12,400 --> 00:51:14,599
he knew what was best for me, and he.

896
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:18,840
Speaker 1: Like keeping me saved, like and I explained that. After

897
00:51:19,079 --> 00:51:21,320
several weeks on the run, the couple made it all

898
00:51:21,360 --> 00:51:25,599
the way to Oregon. That's where John's paranoia began to

899
00:51:25,679 --> 00:51:29,719
take over. It was unraveling more and more each day

900
00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:34,880
and panicking over the smallest things. Then one afternoon at McDonald's,

901
00:51:35,559 --> 00:51:37,360
his anxiety finally got the better of him.

902
00:51:38,119 --> 00:51:43,320
Speaker 14: He stopped doing in McDonald's. And he's gonna use like

903
00:51:43,559 --> 00:51:44,159
Wi Fi.

904
00:51:44,400 --> 00:51:46,559
Speaker 32: Because that's usually when we would go, like start with

905
00:51:46,719 --> 00:51:48,440
to McDonald's to get the whig fire.

906
00:51:49,239 --> 00:51:51,920
Speaker 14: And he like went to go finding tables, and I

907
00:51:52,039 --> 00:51:54,800
went to the bathroom, and then when I came out,

908
00:51:55,559 --> 00:51:58,679
he was like he like packed everything up like really

909
00:51:58,800 --> 00:52:03,000
fast and like go like right now. And I'm like

910
00:52:03,079 --> 00:52:05,800
asking him why, and he just wasn't like talking to me.

911
00:52:06,039 --> 00:52:07,400
Speaker 19: He was just like we just got to go.

912
00:52:08,239 --> 00:52:11,480
Speaker 14: And we got in the car and he like he

913
00:52:11,639 --> 00:52:14,119
just kind of like threw the lapstop like on my

914
00:52:14,320 --> 00:52:18,519
lap and like basically for it out of McDonald's. And

915
00:52:18,840 --> 00:52:21,440
I had asked him, like what's going on, Like what's wrong.

916
00:52:21,599 --> 00:52:24,199
He's like I can't talk right now, and he's like

917
00:52:24,239 --> 00:52:25,119
I'm trying to focus.

918
00:52:26,239 --> 00:52:30,039
Speaker 1: Don had seemingly snapped. It began driving like a madman,

919
00:52:30,119 --> 00:52:34,960
weaving through the winding roads of Eugene, Oregon, pushing deeper

920
00:52:35,000 --> 00:52:38,559
into the mountains as his paranoia took over me like

921
00:52:38,639 --> 00:52:40,400
you can drove up into.

922
00:52:40,119 --> 00:52:41,400
Speaker 14: The mountains and he like.

923
00:52:43,000 --> 00:52:46,400
Speaker 16: Freaking out, like just being really like heaptic and like

924
00:52:47,440 --> 00:52:50,840
in his own hand and you know, just panicking.

925
00:52:52,039 --> 00:52:53,960
Speaker 14: I kept asking him one he just kept telling me

926
00:52:54,039 --> 00:52:56,320
to be quiet and not talk to him and stuff

927
00:52:56,360 --> 00:52:58,639
like that, and then he just got the car like

928
00:52:58,800 --> 00:53:03,960
stuck in and like intrigues like in the mountains, and.

929
00:53:05,599 --> 00:53:07,119
Speaker 11: I was like why did you do that?

930
00:53:07,360 --> 00:53:10,159
Speaker 14: Like what are you doing with how are we going

931
00:53:10,239 --> 00:53:11,960
to get it back out? And he was like, well

932
00:53:11,960 --> 00:53:14,400
figure it out, and he said that we would hike.

933
00:53:15,199 --> 00:53:17,000
He had to hike more off the mountain.

934
00:53:17,039 --> 00:53:22,840
Speaker 1: Basically, John's paranoia had made a very bad situation even worse.

935
00:53:23,840 --> 00:53:26,199
The couple was already on the run for murder, and

936
00:53:26,320 --> 00:53:29,519
now John and managed to get their car stuck deep

937
00:53:29,679 --> 00:53:32,480
in the wilderness. There was no way to get it

938
00:53:32,519 --> 00:53:35,519
out without drawing attention, which meant they just lost their

939
00:53:35,559 --> 00:53:39,320
only means of transportation. Hanna said this was the moment

940
00:53:39,400 --> 00:53:42,599
it finally hit her. Something inside her seventeen year old

941
00:53:42,719 --> 00:53:46,719
brain finally clicked. She was trapped in the middle of

942
00:53:46,800 --> 00:53:49,559
nowhere with a man who was losing his grip, and

943
00:53:49,679 --> 00:53:52,159
for the first time she realized that her life was

944
00:53:52,280 --> 00:53:54,199
in real danger.

945
00:53:54,920 --> 00:53:56,840
Speaker 10: I feel like when he got the car, he was

946
00:53:56,920 --> 00:54:01,440
trying to kill new or both huge, just driving like

947
00:54:02,119 --> 00:54:06,480
into trees, like full of speed, just like so fast.

948
00:54:06,400 --> 00:54:11,480
Speaker 9: And we were hitting stuff that I really I got scared,

949
00:54:11,519 --> 00:54:11,920
like at that.

950
00:54:12,039 --> 00:54:14,280
Speaker 12: Point that like I was going to die.

951
00:54:15,400 --> 00:54:17,760
Speaker 1: That night, John and Hannah spent what would be their

952
00:54:17,840 --> 00:54:21,719
final night in the car. John talked about ending at

953
00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:25,840
all a double suicide, he said might be their only

954
00:54:25,920 --> 00:54:29,400
way out. The next morning, as they made their way

955
00:54:29,440 --> 00:54:34,000
off the mountain, he confessed something that was just as terrifying.

956
00:54:34,760 --> 00:54:37,039
Speaker 29: That night, I remember if I went to bed, he

957
00:54:37,159 --> 00:54:42,079
told me he was like, I'm thinking about letting.

958
00:54:42,119 --> 00:54:46,440
Speaker 9: The car run all night so that we both die

959
00:54:46,519 --> 00:54:47,119
in our sleep.

960
00:54:48,039 --> 00:54:50,679
Speaker 4: And then the next morning he had taken a gun.

961
00:54:50,559 --> 00:54:54,639
Speaker 29: With him, like when we left, and he the next

962
00:54:54,679 --> 00:54:58,239
morning he said he really thought about shooting me in

963
00:54:58,400 --> 00:54:59,840
my sleeping and shooting himself.

964
00:55:01,119 --> 00:55:03,400
Speaker 1: After weeks of living on the road and dealing with

965
00:55:03,559 --> 00:55:10,159
John's spiraling, unpredictable behavior, Hannah finally broke. She wanted out,

966
00:55:11,000 --> 00:55:13,800
she wanted to live, and she wanted to go home.

967
00:55:14,840 --> 00:55:17,280
Speaker 14: And I was just at that point, I was kind.

968
00:55:17,119 --> 00:55:17,360
Speaker 5: Of like.

969
00:55:18,880 --> 00:55:22,480
Speaker 14: Not really having it, and I was crying, and I

970
00:55:22,639 --> 00:55:26,440
was like I can't do this anymore, Like I need

971
00:55:26,519 --> 00:55:27,519
to go home, like.

972
00:55:29,239 --> 00:55:31,639
Speaker 16: And he and he just started crying and he was

973
00:55:31,840 --> 00:55:35,079
like saying, I don't worry to fix Andaly fixed it.

974
00:55:35,199 --> 00:55:38,719
He I'll find it somewhere. He started like yelling.

975
00:55:38,480 --> 00:55:40,559
Speaker 28: At me and calling me names and saying that if

976
00:55:40,599 --> 00:55:42,480
I left, he was gonna kill himself.

977
00:55:44,079 --> 00:55:46,360
Speaker 14: He like ran on me from me, like he ran

978
00:55:46,440 --> 00:55:50,519
away from me, just like screaming, and then he came.

979
00:55:50,440 --> 00:55:53,960
Speaker 32: Back and he was just like and was panicking against

980
00:55:54,119 --> 00:55:56,960
like he was like saying that he did all that

981
00:55:57,079 --> 00:55:59,039
stuff for me, like and all.

982
00:55:59,000 --> 00:56:03,760
Speaker 28: This stuff kill king, Like he was like, I did

983
00:56:03,800 --> 00:56:06,920
that for you, and like all that kind of stuff,

984
00:56:07,079 --> 00:56:09,320
like trying to make me feel like it was my fault.

985
00:56:09,280 --> 00:56:09,360
Speaker 33: Like.

986
00:56:11,239 --> 00:56:12,880
Speaker 4: And he kept telling me that like.

987
00:56:14,519 --> 00:56:17,760
Speaker 14: If I went home, like I wanted to get to

988
00:56:17,800 --> 00:56:20,000
see my parents, because I would just go straight to jail.

989
00:56:21,519 --> 00:56:23,880
Speaker 9: He was just trying to make me feel really guilty,

990
00:56:25,400 --> 00:56:27,599
and like he told me that like he was the only.

991
00:56:27,559 --> 00:56:30,639
Speaker 14: Person that I could ever trust in the world. He

992
00:56:30,760 --> 00:56:33,119
basically told me I didn't have anybody else with him.

993
00:56:34,239 --> 00:56:37,519
Speaker 1: And I told investigators that John had manipulated her into

994
00:56:37,760 --> 00:56:41,440
staying with him, convinced her she didn't have a choice.

995
00:56:42,599 --> 00:56:47,039
But then one day John was simply gone.

996
00:56:47,880 --> 00:56:50,519
Speaker 14: Then like one morning, like.

997
00:56:51,119 --> 00:56:56,800
Speaker 16: He had gotten up, he was like, I'll be right back,

998
00:56:56,960 --> 00:57:00,400
like I'm going to get into the bathroom. I was like, okay,

999
00:57:00,559 --> 00:57:06,239
I'd come half sleep. She just cried up in love

1000
00:57:06,800 --> 00:57:11,039
and then I went back to sleep, and one had

1001
00:57:11,119 --> 00:57:14,920
woken up. He used a moment back, and I was

1002
00:57:15,079 --> 00:57:19,199
just like, I'm not just gonna like sit here.

1003
00:57:19,280 --> 00:57:21,400
Speaker 14: Like and by then I was having to use the

1004
00:57:21,440 --> 00:57:22,719
bap and choo, So I got up.

1005
00:57:24,159 --> 00:57:24,960
Speaker 16: I went to.

1006
00:57:26,800 --> 00:57:27,840
Speaker 12: Try and find the.

1007
00:57:27,960 --> 00:57:31,719
Speaker 1: Library, and I said. She made her way to a

1008
00:57:31,840 --> 00:57:35,960
nearby library, logged into a public computer, and sent a

1009
00:57:36,039 --> 00:57:40,119
few messages through her social media. A friend responded, offering

1010
00:57:40,199 --> 00:57:42,440
to come get her and take her home to Simpsonville.

1011
00:57:43,239 --> 00:57:46,559
She accepted and said that from that moment on, John

1012
00:57:46,639 --> 00:57:49,079
Blauvelt was gone from her life.

1013
00:57:49,800 --> 00:57:50,760
Speaker 14: By the time I had.

1014
00:57:50,679 --> 00:57:53,800
Speaker 16: Gotten back on a computer, everybody like responded to me.

1015
00:57:54,760 --> 00:57:57,079
And that's when like Angie came to hit me up

1016
00:57:57,559 --> 00:58:00,800
like they had like a range, shit can pick me up?

1017
00:58:02,280 --> 00:58:03,400
Speaker 4: Did you ever see Johnian?

1018
00:58:05,760 --> 00:58:09,119
Speaker 1: During this interview, it became clear that Hannah had switched sides.

1019
00:58:10,079 --> 00:58:13,880
She now recognized that John was dangerous and manipulative, and

1020
00:58:14,000 --> 00:58:17,639
investigators appeared to believe her story. At least that's the

1021
00:58:17,679 --> 00:58:18,719
impression that gave her.

1022
00:58:19,360 --> 00:58:21,280
Speaker 14: Do you understand now what he was trying to do?

1023
00:58:21,400 --> 00:58:29,679
Is ability trying to like man just think he would

1024
00:58:29,760 --> 00:58:32,719
be alot so that I wouldn't tell anybody anything.

1025
00:58:34,719 --> 00:58:37,000
Speaker 31: Nail like he was looking out for his best interest

1026
00:58:37,119 --> 00:58:39,400
the whole time, and it really.

1027
00:58:39,280 --> 00:58:44,400
Speaker 34: Had nothing to do with the visions, because like, I've

1028
00:58:44,480 --> 00:58:47,079
never trusted somebody that much before.

1029
00:58:48,800 --> 00:58:53,039
Speaker 1: With Hannah now seemingly on their side, investigators shifted focus.

1030
00:58:53,800 --> 00:58:57,320
They pressed for details about Katie's murder. They wanted to

1031
00:58:57,440 --> 00:59:02,400
know what Hannah knew, how she ben and anything John

1032
00:59:02,800 --> 00:59:03,440
might have told her.

1033
00:59:04,119 --> 00:59:06,079
Speaker 14: The last time you want to work with him was

1034
00:59:06,119 --> 00:59:09,039
that that Monday. That was the last time you would

1035
00:59:09,039 --> 00:59:09,559
to work with him.

1036
00:59:11,440 --> 00:59:14,880
Speaker 31: So he was driving you in, passing her seat with joy, Yeah,

1037
00:59:15,719 --> 00:59:17,199
and you want up to work with him at I.

1038
00:59:19,119 --> 00:59:19,880
Speaker 11: Did you sit in the car?

1039
00:59:20,000 --> 00:59:20,960
Speaker 14: Did he go walk around?

1040
00:59:21,079 --> 00:59:21,599
Speaker 9: What did you do?

1041
00:59:22,119 --> 00:59:25,719
Speaker 14: I sat in the car, and I remember him telling

1042
00:59:25,760 --> 00:59:28,519
me he needed me to drop.

1043
00:59:28,400 --> 00:59:31,639
Speaker 16: Him off on wood He throw and so I turned

1044
00:59:31,760 --> 00:59:35,039
and you were in a parking lot and she got

1045
00:59:35,119 --> 00:59:35,679
out of the car.

1046
00:59:36,880 --> 00:59:41,159
Speaker 14: He started walking, and I didn't think to ask him

1047
00:59:41,159 --> 00:59:44,000
what you been doing, like because at this point we've.

1048
00:59:43,800 --> 00:59:46,880
Speaker 16: Been dating for kind of like a while, and it

1049
00:59:47,039 --> 00:59:51,119
was just not something that I usually do, like ask

1050
00:59:51,199 --> 00:59:52,920
him what he's doing, or like why did.

1051
00:59:52,800 --> 00:59:53,599
Speaker 14: He seeing something?

1052
00:59:55,400 --> 00:59:55,559
Speaker 15: Had?

1053
00:59:55,599 --> 00:59:58,199
Speaker 1: I told investigators she had nothing to do with planning

1054
00:59:58,320 --> 01:00:01,719
Katie's murder, and claimed shouldn't even know what John was

1055
01:00:01,840 --> 01:00:05,480
up to. According to her, on the day of the murder,

1056
01:00:05,599 --> 01:00:08,360
she simply gave John a ride to a remote parking

1057
01:00:08,440 --> 01:00:12,719
lot and dropped him off without asking any questions. Investigators

1058
01:00:12,800 --> 01:00:16,360
later concluded that John had likely lured Katie to the

1059
01:00:16,440 --> 01:00:20,440
abandoned house where she was killed. Phone records showed that

1060
01:00:20,599 --> 01:00:24,880
despite their separation and despite the restraining order, the two

1061
01:00:24,960 --> 01:00:29,000
were still in contact. It seemed that Katie, ever hopeful,

1062
01:00:29,719 --> 01:00:33,320
wanted to believe their marriage could still be saved. John

1063
01:00:33,440 --> 01:00:38,159
used that hope to his advantage and ultimately to lure

1064
01:00:38,280 --> 01:00:39,800
her to her death.

1065
01:00:40,679 --> 01:00:42,679
Speaker 14: What was his relationship with Katie?

1066
01:00:43,079 --> 01:00:45,559
Speaker 34: Did he still communicate with her to your knowledge? Or

1067
01:00:46,639 --> 01:00:49,000
every time they talked, she'd call from a private number

1068
01:00:50,880 --> 01:00:54,360
and they would only use like texting apps to talk.

1069
01:00:54,199 --> 01:00:57,199
Speaker 16: To each other because they hadn't her straining order, I guess,

1070
01:00:58,519 --> 01:01:01,760
and so they were like kind of thing around talking

1071
01:01:01,840 --> 01:01:02,360
to each other.

1072
01:01:03,880 --> 01:01:06,639
Speaker 1: And I also claimed that John later described the murder

1073
01:01:06,840 --> 01:01:10,079
to her. He told her that when he stabbed Katie,

1074
01:01:10,480 --> 01:01:13,280
the knife broke off in her neck, and as she

1075
01:01:13,519 --> 01:01:16,440
bled to death, Katie begged him to let her go.

1076
01:01:17,239 --> 01:01:19,519
Speaker 9: At some point they were like on the trail leading

1077
01:01:19,639 --> 01:01:22,039
up to the abandoned house. He told me that's where

1078
01:01:22,239 --> 01:01:24,599
they went. He took her there.

1079
01:01:25,719 --> 01:01:28,000
Speaker 4: He says that they were talking for a little bit.

1080
01:01:28,159 --> 01:01:31,760
Speaker 29: He doesn't say like exactly the conversation they were talking,

1081
01:01:32,719 --> 01:01:33,719
and then he just did it.

1082
01:01:35,079 --> 01:01:40,199
Speaker 9: And he said that he stabbed her in her neck

1083
01:01:40,400 --> 01:01:43,480
and that there was a lot of blood, and she

1084
01:01:43,760 --> 01:01:47,800
told him that if she lets her go, she won't say.

1085
01:01:47,760 --> 01:01:49,079
Speaker 4: Anything to anybody.

1086
01:01:50,440 --> 01:01:54,480
Speaker 1: Investigators believe that after Katie bled to death, John dragged

1087
01:01:54,519 --> 01:01:57,159
her body into the basement of the abandoned house and

1088
01:01:57,519 --> 01:02:00,760
covered her with planks of wood. Then he went home,

1089
01:02:01,639 --> 01:02:05,000
met back up with Hannah, and once again asked for

1090
01:02:05,159 --> 01:02:05,599
her help.

1091
01:02:06,159 --> 01:02:07,440
Speaker 4: So I went back home.

1092
01:02:08,000 --> 01:02:10,480
Speaker 14: John was outside, like, I didn't even go inside the house.

1093
01:02:11,159 --> 01:02:15,440
He was outside and he was like and he used

1094
01:02:15,519 --> 01:02:19,639
to follow me in spout car somewhere, and I was like, okay,

1095
01:02:21,000 --> 01:02:23,400
And he had this bag.

1096
01:02:24,840 --> 01:02:28,760
Speaker 1: John loaded what investigators believed was a trash bag full

1097
01:02:28,800 --> 01:02:32,159
of his bloody clothes in Hannah's car. Then he told

1098
01:02:32,199 --> 01:02:34,639
her to follow him as he drove Katie's vehicle to

1099
01:02:34,719 --> 01:02:35,840
an empty parking lot.

1100
01:02:36,599 --> 01:02:40,119
Speaker 16: And I followed him and he.

1101
01:02:40,280 --> 01:02:41,199
Speaker 5: Just throve like.

1102
01:02:42,800 --> 01:02:45,199
Speaker 14: For a long time because he didn't get on the

1103
01:02:45,280 --> 01:02:45,920
highway at all.

1104
01:02:47,360 --> 01:02:51,679
Speaker 1: John parked Katie's car, removed the license plates, and climbed

1105
01:02:51,679 --> 01:02:56,000
into Hannah's vehicle. The two then headed back home, but

1106
01:02:56,159 --> 01:02:58,920
not before stopping at a couple of dumpsters, where John

1107
01:02:59,000 --> 01:03:02,280
disposed of the place, the bag of bloody clothes, and

1108
01:03:02,639 --> 01:03:04,719
anything else that might tie him to the crime.

1109
01:03:05,440 --> 01:03:07,840
Speaker 8: When he threw the clothes away or at the bags away,

1110
01:03:07,920 --> 01:03:09,639
did you know at that point in time what was

1111
01:03:09,679 --> 01:03:10,760
in the bagh?

1112
01:03:11,159 --> 01:03:11,519
Speaker 4: Okay?

1113
01:03:12,440 --> 01:03:13,159
Speaker 14: Then what happened?

1114
01:03:14,000 --> 01:03:14,639
Speaker 9: Did you go home?

1115
01:03:16,039 --> 01:03:18,920
Speaker 1: Hannah claimed that as she drove John around that day,

1116
01:03:19,039 --> 01:03:23,280
she had no idea she was essentially acting as his accomplice.

1117
01:03:24,199 --> 01:03:27,119
She said she didn't even know Katie was dead until

1118
01:03:27,239 --> 01:03:30,119
days later, after the body was found and after the

1119
01:03:30,199 --> 01:03:31,400
story hit the media.

1120
01:03:32,119 --> 01:03:34,199
Speaker 14: When I woke up in the morning, my mom had

1121
01:03:34,280 --> 01:03:39,079
like sent me like the news story that like a

1122
01:03:39,199 --> 01:03:42,599
body was found in the mint house, and I was

1123
01:03:42,719 --> 01:03:46,599
just like I immediately got like home chilled, and.

1124
01:03:46,679 --> 01:03:50,400
Speaker 16: I was like, oh my gosh, what is going on?

1125
01:03:50,679 --> 01:03:52,440
Speaker 14: Like I used to do that all the time.

1126
01:03:53,599 --> 01:03:54,599
Speaker 4: It was really scary.

1127
01:03:54,880 --> 01:03:58,440
Speaker 14: And I immediately moved him up and I showed him.

1128
01:03:59,639 --> 01:04:02,840
Speaker 1: Hannah said that once she learned about Katie's murder, the

1129
01:04:02,960 --> 01:04:07,480
truth slowly began to sink in. At first, John denied

1130
01:04:07,679 --> 01:04:10,639
having anything to do with it, but deep down she

1131
01:04:10,760 --> 01:04:15,039
knew he was lying. Eventually, he admitted to what he'd done,

1132
01:04:15,840 --> 01:04:19,639
though he rarely talked about the details, and whenever Hannah

1133
01:04:19,719 --> 01:04:22,079
tried to ask him, he'd turned it back on her,

1134
01:04:22,480 --> 01:04:24,719
making her feel guilty for even bringing it up.

1135
01:04:25,400 --> 01:04:29,000
Speaker 35: It was just so crazy because like I didn't know

1136
01:04:29,400 --> 01:04:34,159
what to think, and he had told me, like the

1137
01:04:34,239 --> 01:04:37,880
poo' even want to talk to you, like you to

1138
01:04:38,039 --> 01:04:38,800
lie in the road.

1139
01:04:39,239 --> 01:04:42,079
Speaker 14: You're gonna go to jail, like you know, you get

1140
01:04:42,119 --> 01:04:45,320
to see him, mom, Like like the way that I felt,

1141
01:04:45,480 --> 01:04:48,639
it felt like I did it. You knew, Like why

1142
01:04:48,639 --> 01:04:49,719
didn't he fell about it?

1143
01:04:49,840 --> 01:04:50,360
Speaker 11: He killed her?

1144
01:04:51,320 --> 01:04:55,599
Speaker 14: She never like came out and said I killed her,

1145
01:04:55,840 --> 01:04:56,199
but like.

1146
01:04:57,760 --> 01:04:59,239
Speaker 4: But he knew when you're good that he did it.

1147
01:04:59,559 --> 01:05:02,000
Speaker 9: Yeah, did you Jim?

1148
01:05:02,079 --> 01:05:06,760
Speaker 31: Hey, John's joking, he said, he's just he would just

1149
01:05:06,840 --> 01:05:10,480
brushing off like he like you.

1150
01:05:10,760 --> 01:05:13,079
Speaker 14: Want to talk about that right now? Like kind of

1151
01:05:13,280 --> 01:05:16,199
you show them the one to know for asking it.

1152
01:05:17,519 --> 01:05:22,079
Speaker 1: Considering Hannah's relationship with John, that she was sleeping with him,

1153
01:05:22,360 --> 01:05:26,000
running with him, and protecting him. It would be easy

1154
01:05:26,400 --> 01:05:33,159
to doubt her story, but honestly I don't. John completely

1155
01:05:33,280 --> 01:05:36,760
played her for his own benefit, and I do believe

1156
01:05:36,800 --> 01:05:39,599
that he turned her into an accomplice without her even

1157
01:05:39,679 --> 01:05:44,119
realizing it. Doesn't even by the way the investigators treated Hannah,

1158
01:05:44,920 --> 01:05:47,199
I don't think they doubted her story either.

1159
01:05:47,960 --> 01:05:50,679
Speaker 14: I'm not saying that you knew what he was about

1160
01:05:50,719 --> 01:05:52,639
to do, Annah, Okay, And.

1161
01:05:52,960 --> 01:05:55,159
Speaker 31: Quite honestly, I don't think that you had a hand

1162
01:05:55,280 --> 01:05:55,880
in it at all.

1163
01:05:58,000 --> 01:06:07,840
Speaker 35: Anybody who thinks that like I would do there.

1164
01:06:08,760 --> 01:06:09,719
Speaker 14: Here's what I think.

1165
01:06:10,440 --> 01:06:10,760
Speaker 12: Okay.

1166
01:06:11,639 --> 01:06:13,480
Speaker 14: One, I know he took advantage of you.

1167
01:06:14,280 --> 01:06:15,159
Speaker 17: He trusted you.

1168
01:06:16,039 --> 01:06:21,679
Speaker 31: And he lured you in, promised you whatever, told you whatever,

1169
01:06:22,320 --> 01:06:27,199
and then made you do stuff that in the long.

1170
01:06:27,079 --> 01:06:30,280
Speaker 1: Run was good to save him and his return to

1171
01:06:30,320 --> 01:06:34,440
Simpsonville was a good thing for several reasons. For one,

1172
01:06:34,760 --> 01:06:37,079
she was safe and no longer on the run with

1173
01:06:37,159 --> 01:06:41,760
a killer, and it also gave investigators another potential witness

1174
01:06:41,920 --> 01:06:45,360
that could testify against John when his case went to

1175
01:06:45,480 --> 01:06:49,320
try But that would only matter if they could actually

1176
01:06:49,440 --> 01:06:51,280
find him and catch him.

1177
01:06:51,880 --> 01:06:55,400
Speaker 9: We're still nothing for John while he's out there.

1178
01:06:55,519 --> 01:06:56,320
Speaker 32: There's no telling him what.

1179
01:06:56,360 --> 01:06:56,880
Speaker 14: He's going to do.

1180
01:06:58,360 --> 01:07:00,679
Speaker 31: Did he ever talk about going in my Togo or

1181
01:07:00,840 --> 01:07:02,519
Canada or flying anywhere?

1182
01:07:03,400 --> 01:07:07,239
Speaker 14: Loo first where she talked about going to Mexico.

1183
01:07:08,880 --> 01:07:12,800
Speaker 1: Unfortunately, when it came to John's whereabouts, Hannah didn't have

1184
01:07:12,960 --> 01:07:16,880
much to offer. As far as anyone knew, John might

1185
01:07:16,960 --> 01:07:19,559
not have even been in the country anymore, and the

1186
01:07:19,639 --> 01:07:25,360
investigation into Katie Blauvelt's murder remained open and unresolved for years.

1187
01:07:26,159 --> 01:07:28,880
Speaker 36: This week marks three years since twenty two year old

1188
01:07:28,960 --> 01:07:30,880
Katie Blauvelt was.

1189
01:07:30,920 --> 01:07:32,559
Speaker 6: Brutally murdered in Simpsonville.

1190
01:07:32,840 --> 01:07:36,559
Speaker 36: Police say her estranged husband, John is a suspect in

1191
01:07:36,679 --> 01:07:39,519
her murder, but Simpsonville Police say he's been on the

1192
01:07:39,639 --> 01:07:43,519
run since they found her body in a cellar of

1193
01:07:43,599 --> 01:07:44,599
an abandoned home.

1194
01:07:45,440 --> 01:07:45,599
Speaker 6: Now.

1195
01:07:45,719 --> 01:07:47,800
Speaker 36: He was last seen on the West Coast back in

1196
01:07:47,920 --> 01:07:50,679
twenty sixteen and not been seen since.

1197
01:07:51,880 --> 01:07:54,960
Speaker 1: By twenty twenty one, investigators had renewed their efforts to

1198
01:07:55,039 --> 01:07:58,880
find John. Part of that effort meant bringing Hannah Thompson,

1199
01:07:59,440 --> 01:08:03,119
now twenty two years old, back into the interview room.

1200
01:08:03,840 --> 01:08:04,800
Speaker 4: John is not a good.

1201
01:08:04,639 --> 01:08:09,480
Speaker 9: Person, obviously, and we were trying desperately to find him, Okay,

1202
01:08:10,480 --> 01:08:12,920
but we're still looking for and he needs to be

1203
01:08:13,280 --> 01:08:14,679
responsible for what he's done.

1204
01:08:15,360 --> 01:08:15,639
Speaker 4: Okay.

1205
01:08:17,159 --> 01:08:20,479
Speaker 1: During this follow up interview, hadn't made a disturbing admission.

1206
01:08:21,560 --> 01:08:26,319
She told investigators that she'd remained in regular contact with

1207
01:08:26,520 --> 01:08:31,000
John for years after returning to Simpsonville in twenty sixteen.

1208
01:08:31,760 --> 01:08:33,079
Speaker 9: And how are you guys communicating?

1209
01:08:34,119 --> 01:08:39,520
Speaker 29: But to began communicating on Facebook Messenger, and then after

1210
01:08:39,640 --> 01:08:42,439
that we were talking on Snapchat. Like at first we

1211
01:08:42,520 --> 01:08:45,840
were talking every single day, multiple time, like for hours

1212
01:08:45,960 --> 01:08:49,840
a day. I was the one that stopped communication with him,

1213
01:08:50,479 --> 01:08:53,199
and I had just decided to do it.

1214
01:08:53,319 --> 01:08:56,800
Speaker 21: I didn't tell him like I'm not going to talk

1215
01:08:56,840 --> 01:09:00,279
to you anymore, I don't think, And so I think

1216
01:09:00,279 --> 01:09:05,199
the conversation was pretty like no substance to really just

1217
01:09:05,359 --> 01:09:07,760
maybe like hey, how are you? Where was he?

1218
01:09:08,039 --> 01:09:08,199
Speaker 19: Then?

1219
01:09:09,239 --> 01:09:15,600
Speaker 9: I know that he was living with somebody who you

1220
01:09:15,840 --> 01:09:20,279
girl that he said that they were dating. She had

1221
01:09:20,359 --> 01:09:21,560
her own house.

1222
01:09:21,600 --> 01:09:24,159
Speaker 4: I think I think it was an apartment. But he

1223
01:09:24,359 --> 01:09:27,199
also did like meet her parents and like they had

1224
01:09:27,319 --> 01:09:28,760
gone to her.

1225
01:09:28,800 --> 01:09:31,479
Speaker 9: Parents' house stuff like that too.

1226
01:09:31,800 --> 01:09:33,239
Speaker 14: So what's the girls?

1227
01:09:34,159 --> 01:09:36,359
Speaker 4: I don't know where was that at?

1228
01:09:37,760 --> 01:09:41,279
Speaker 9: I don't really know. Whenever I would ask him like

1229
01:09:41,399 --> 01:09:44,039
where he was, he would not tell me. He'd say like,

1230
01:09:44,119 --> 01:09:45,199
I'm not telling you that, or.

1231
01:09:45,560 --> 01:09:46,319
Speaker 12: I can't tell you that.

1232
01:09:47,520 --> 01:09:51,239
Speaker 1: Unfortunately, by the time Hannah made this admission, it had

1233
01:09:51,279 --> 01:09:54,760
been nearly a year since she'd last heard from John.

1234
01:09:55,800 --> 01:10:00,279
Even so, the information helped investigators narrow their search. In

1235
01:10:00,399 --> 01:10:04,680
twenty twenty two, about six years after Katie's murder, John

1236
01:10:04,800 --> 01:10:06,840
Blavelt was finally.

1237
01:10:06,600 --> 01:10:10,279
Speaker 37: Found tonight, an Upstain man on the run since twenty

1238
01:10:10,399 --> 01:10:14,880
sixteen who investigators say killed his estranged wife, is now

1239
01:10:14,920 --> 01:10:19,000
in custody. The victims family just confirmed to us John

1240
01:10:19,159 --> 01:10:24,279
Blovelt was arrested in Jackson County, Oregon. Online record show

1241
01:10:24,479 --> 01:10:27,680
he's been booked into that local detention center today.

1242
01:10:28,560 --> 01:10:31,840
Speaker 1: After his arrest, John made several jail house calls to

1243
01:10:31,960 --> 01:10:36,199
friends and family. The recordings gave investigators a glimpse into

1244
01:10:36,279 --> 01:10:39,760
his state of mind, as well as the events that

1245
01:10:39,920 --> 01:10:41,079
led him to go on the run.

1246
01:10:41,800 --> 01:10:43,199
Speaker 33: Oh you're not even in prison yet.

1247
01:10:43,680 --> 01:10:45,600
Speaker 19: No, I still got to go to trial and everything.

1248
01:10:46,079 --> 01:10:47,439
I'm going to be in his jail for two to

1249
01:10:47,520 --> 01:10:47,960
three years.

1250
01:10:49,319 --> 01:10:53,119
Speaker 5: Oh no, I think you are in prison.

1251
01:10:53,920 --> 01:10:57,720
Speaker 19: Oh okay, that's why I need a lawyer. I got.

1252
01:10:58,039 --> 01:11:01,560
I signed up for public defender. But you know they're

1253
01:11:01,640 --> 01:11:03,439
like fresh out of college. They don't give a shit

1254
01:11:03,479 --> 01:11:06,279
what happens. They just need to do their car. So

1255
01:11:07,640 --> 01:11:11,600
but I could get a real attorney, but we'll see,

1256
01:11:11,600 --> 01:11:14,159
I'm going to be in this jail for years. You know,

1257
01:11:14,239 --> 01:11:15,800
they're not going to give me a pond because they

1258
01:11:15,880 --> 01:11:18,000
know I'll run, because I just ran for six years.

1259
01:11:19,359 --> 01:11:22,880
The day I ran, I wasn't staying at my house anymore,

1260
01:11:24,119 --> 01:11:26,600
and I was on my way home from work or

1261
01:11:26,640 --> 01:11:30,560
something from somewhere because I just like to stop buying

1262
01:11:30,800 --> 01:11:34,000
and check on my dog. And I saw the police

1263
01:11:34,039 --> 01:11:37,720
at my house knocking on my door, so I said, okay,

1264
01:11:37,760 --> 01:11:40,359
I'm leaving, and then I left, and you know, almost

1265
01:11:40,399 --> 01:11:41,960
almost for a while. And then I was working for

1266
01:11:42,039 --> 01:11:44,800
a while and I met a girl and I lived

1267
01:11:44,840 --> 01:11:47,960
with her for like four years, and then one morning

1268
01:11:48,079 --> 01:11:52,079
the US Marshals came. I was out in front tending

1269
01:11:52,119 --> 01:11:54,800
to my vegetable garden and the US Marshalls just pulled

1270
01:11:54,880 --> 01:11:57,479
up in the driveway. But that night I got the

1271
01:11:57,520 --> 01:11:59,680
best sleep that I've had in six years. So I

1272
01:11:59,720 --> 01:12:02,880
guess as a positives too, yeah, I.

1273
01:12:04,520 --> 01:12:04,560
Speaker 9: Was.

1274
01:12:04,600 --> 01:12:07,479
Speaker 19: I've been anxious, you know, I've had that anxiety depression

1275
01:12:07,520 --> 01:12:10,239
the whole time. But I'm actually feeling really good now,

1276
01:12:10,359 --> 01:12:11,000
I'm at peace.

1277
01:12:12,279 --> 01:12:14,760
Speaker 1: During these calls, John said more than once that he

1278
01:12:14,920 --> 01:12:19,079
was relieved to be caught, happy even that he no

1279
01:12:19,199 --> 01:12:22,359
longer had to live his life constantly looking over his shoulder.

1280
01:12:23,399 --> 01:12:25,840
Speaker 19: I was on the run for six years, man, I was,

1281
01:12:25,960 --> 01:12:28,000
and I was used to the pace. Every night. I

1282
01:12:28,039 --> 01:12:31,199
would pace in the living room until like three thirty

1283
01:12:31,239 --> 01:12:33,680
four o'clock in the morning, fully dressed like ready to run,

1284
01:12:34,479 --> 01:12:37,319
you know what I mean. It was like when I

1285
01:12:37,439 --> 01:12:40,960
seen the Marshals like pull into the driveway, like ten dudes,

1286
01:12:41,039 --> 01:12:45,399
guns out and I just swear, dude, I smiled. I

1287
01:12:45,560 --> 01:12:47,680
was like, I was like, I can't believe it's over.

1288
01:12:48,920 --> 01:12:50,319
I got in the I got in the truck and

1289
01:12:50,399 --> 01:12:52,520
the Marshal was like six years a long run, man,

1290
01:12:52,560 --> 01:12:55,319
and I was like, oh, I'm glad you finally found me.

1291
01:12:56,199 --> 01:12:57,159
I was like, it was a nightmare.

1292
01:12:58,359 --> 01:13:02,159
Speaker 1: What's most disturbing about these calls is what John didn't say.

1293
01:13:03,000 --> 01:13:06,560
Not once did he mention Katie, her family or show

1294
01:13:06,640 --> 01:13:11,000
a single hint of remorse. Like a textbook narcissist, every

1295
01:13:11,119 --> 01:13:15,960
word was about himself and the supposed peace he'd finally found.

1296
01:13:17,079 --> 01:13:21,079
Speaker 9: Even after the.

1297
01:13:21,199 --> 01:13:26,399
Speaker 14: Fact, Why do you say that she never cried about her.

1298
01:13:30,399 --> 01:13:30,960
Speaker 4: I feel like.

1299
01:13:34,079 --> 01:13:37,159
Speaker 14: I'm not get at me I crying about it.

1300
01:13:38,640 --> 01:13:41,800
Speaker 1: In later phone calls, John shared more about the six

1301
01:13:41,960 --> 01:13:45,560
years he'd spent on the run. He described how he'd

1302
01:13:45,680 --> 01:13:49,520
managed to weasel his way into another woman's life, lying

1303
01:13:49,560 --> 01:13:52,840
about his name, his past, and who he really was.

1304
01:13:53,560 --> 01:13:56,960
Speaker 19: Then I met that girl, been real good. I maintain

1305
01:13:57,000 --> 01:14:02,239
her budget on diet, turned her life around. We bought

1306
01:14:02,239 --> 01:14:06,079
a house together in September. I said three years to say.

1307
01:14:05,920 --> 01:14:06,239
Speaker 21: Look poor.

1308
01:14:06,359 --> 01:14:09,319
Speaker 19: We bought a house all in her name. And then

1309
01:14:10,359 --> 01:14:14,840
I got arrested. The US marshals tracked me down and

1310
01:14:15,880 --> 01:14:19,159
I called her like a week later from jail, and

1311
01:14:19,319 --> 01:14:22,840
she was like, fuck you, you ruin my life. I'm like, okay,

1312
01:14:24,000 --> 01:14:26,479
you didn't know about anything. I guess no, hell no,

1313
01:14:26,720 --> 01:14:30,439
I didn't. I had a fake name. I was going

1314
01:14:30,520 --> 01:14:33,920
by Ben. I like that name too. We had a

1315
01:14:33,960 --> 01:14:35,239
good time. We had a good life. Man. We had

1316
01:14:35,239 --> 01:14:38,439
a house, We had a dog, do three cats. I

1317
01:14:38,520 --> 01:14:40,119
didn't work for two years. I worked for the first

1318
01:14:40,159 --> 01:14:42,840
two years we were together. I was a landscaper, small

1319
01:14:42,920 --> 01:14:46,279
and lawns, building fences and stuff like that. Right, and

1320
01:14:46,399 --> 01:14:50,760
then that guy retired. He retired, so and I was

1321
01:14:50,800 --> 01:14:53,000
out of a job. And she was like, well, you

1322
01:14:53,039 --> 01:14:55,319
can just stay at home, just piece the house clean,

1323
01:14:55,880 --> 01:14:57,520
take care of the dog. And I was like all right.

1324
01:14:58,560 --> 01:15:02,960
Speaker 1: Once again, this narcis seemed either blissfully unaware or simply

1325
01:15:03,039 --> 01:15:07,199
incapable of understanding that by dating this woman, living with

1326
01:15:07,279 --> 01:15:10,840
her for years, and hiding his past, he'd made her

1327
01:15:10,920 --> 01:15:14,720
a victim as well. So he's being arrested on charges

1328
01:15:14,720 --> 01:15:16,279
out of South Carolina for murder?

1329
01:15:17,079 --> 01:15:25,279
Speaker 4: Are you serious? Year? He would do random on jobs.

1330
01:15:25,439 --> 01:15:27,279
He was basically here watching my.

1331
01:15:27,359 --> 01:15:29,680
Speaker 33: Cat, so my dog all the time.

1332
01:15:30,520 --> 01:15:34,800
Speaker 1: When John's girlfriend learned the truth, she was devastated, And

1333
01:15:35,079 --> 01:15:39,479
who wouldn't be imagine living with someone for nearly six years,

1334
01:15:39,760 --> 01:15:42,720
loving them, trusting them, only to find out they were

1335
01:15:42,880 --> 01:15:47,319
wanted in another state for murder, that the name and

1336
01:15:47,439 --> 01:15:52,000
the backstory they'd given you were complete lies. The man

1337
01:15:52,159 --> 01:15:54,800
she thought she knew had been living a double life.

1338
01:15:55,800 --> 01:15:57,920
But this woman wasn't the only one to face the

1339
01:15:58,039 --> 01:16:02,000
fallout with John Bars. It was finally time for Hannah

1340
01:16:02,000 --> 01:16:03,800
Thompson to face justice as well.

1341
01:16:04,520 --> 01:16:07,960
Speaker 38: There is also a second suspect in Katie's death. Hannah

1342
01:16:08,000 --> 01:16:11,840
Thompson was John Blauvelt's teenage girlfriend who fled the state

1343
01:16:11,920 --> 01:16:14,840
with him. She is now twenty five in charge with

1344
01:16:14,960 --> 01:16:18,279
obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact.

1345
01:16:19,199 --> 01:16:22,960
Speaker 1: Despite the charges against her, Hannah agreed to testify against

1346
01:16:23,079 --> 01:16:27,800
John at his trial without any promise of leniency from prosecutors.

1347
01:16:28,760 --> 01:16:32,640
Unlike John, Hannah's remorse seemed genuine, and as the star

1348
01:16:32,760 --> 01:16:36,319
witness for the state, she helped ensure that John Blauvelt

1349
01:16:36,520 --> 01:16:39,560
received the prison sentence that he deserved.

1350
01:16:40,199 --> 01:16:44,680
Speaker 33: On Friday, a jury found John Tufton Blavelt guilty of

1351
01:16:44,880 --> 01:16:49,600
murdering his estranged wife in twenty sixteen. Blavelt, the former

1352
01:16:49,840 --> 01:16:54,119
US Army recruiter out of Greenville, now a convicted killer,

1353
01:16:54,439 --> 01:16:58,119
was sentenced by the judge to life without the possibility

1354
01:16:58,319 --> 01:16:59,119
of parole.

1355
01:17:00,439 --> 01:17:03,479
Speaker 1: As for Hannah, she pleaded guilty to her charges and

1356
01:17:03,560 --> 01:17:07,479
received probation for helping John flee after the murder. Her

1357
01:17:07,560 --> 01:17:11,840
reduced sentence reflected both her cooperation with investigators and the

1358
01:17:11,960 --> 01:17:15,239
fact she was only seventeen when she ran away with them.

1359
01:17:16,159 --> 01:17:18,760
There's no question that Hannah was also a victim in

1360
01:17:18,800 --> 01:17:24,079
this case. John clearly manipulated her, but one thing about

1361
01:17:24,159 --> 01:17:28,960
her lenient punishment still feels hard to accept. After returning

1362
01:17:29,000 --> 01:17:31,960
to Simpsonville in twenty sixteen, Hannah stayed in contact with

1363
01:17:32,159 --> 01:17:36,840
John for years, and she didn't tell investigators about this

1364
01:17:37,039 --> 01:17:42,000
until twenty twenty one. She said nothing knowing that Katie's

1365
01:17:42,039 --> 01:17:45,760
family was still suffering. She said nothing knowing that a

1366
01:17:46,000 --> 01:17:49,079
killder was still out there. It could strike again at

1367
01:17:49,319 --> 01:17:53,159
any time. Maybe a more fitting punishment would have been

1368
01:17:53,199 --> 01:17:56,560
a prison sentence that matched the years she kept this secret.

1369
01:17:57,600 --> 01:18:00,920
But that's just my opinion. What do I know, I'm

1370
01:18:00,920 --> 01:18:05,239
a podcaster. In the end, what matters most is that

1371
01:18:05,399 --> 01:18:09,439
Katie's family finally got some measure of justice and hopefully

1372
01:18:09,479 --> 01:18:11,960
a bit of peace. And knowing that John Blovelt will

1373
01:18:12,000 --> 01:18:15,920
spend the rest of his life behind bars, that's one

1374
01:18:15,960 --> 01:18:17,279
thing that we should know about Katie.

1375
01:18:18,800 --> 01:18:20,560
Speaker 30: One of the things I had was something about her

1376
01:18:20,640 --> 01:18:23,760
laugh and her big eyes and her smile, and she

1377
01:18:24,000 --> 01:18:27,239
just had a true heart. And her name is Katie,

1378
01:18:27,279 --> 01:18:30,279
but her name is Catherine, and it meant innocent.

1379
01:18:29,960 --> 01:18:32,159
Speaker 19: And pure, and that's what she was.

1380
01:18:32,520 --> 01:18:36,520
Speaker 1: And we lost that the murder of Katie Blovelt wasn't

1381
01:18:36,600 --> 01:18:40,039
a crime of passion or a moment of rage. It

1382
01:18:40,199 --> 01:18:43,439
was the calculated act of a man who understood appearances,

1383
01:18:44,319 --> 01:18:46,880
how to weaponize them, and how to hide behind them.

1384
01:18:47,920 --> 01:18:51,760
As a soldier, a recruiter, and a husband, John Blovelt

1385
01:18:51,840 --> 01:18:54,840
knew exactly how to make people believe he was something

1386
01:18:55,039 --> 01:19:01,399
worth trusting. But beneath that uniform an easy smile, was

1387
01:19:01,439 --> 01:19:07,159
a manipulator who saw others as tools to use, to control,

1388
01:19:07,439 --> 01:19:12,279
to discard. He fold his wife, his girlfriend, his community,

1389
01:19:12,359 --> 01:19:15,840
and for a time, even the system meant to hold

1390
01:19:15,880 --> 01:19:20,159
him accountable. In the end, John's greatest deception wasn't how

1391
01:19:20,199 --> 01:19:24,880
he escaped justice. It was how long he convinced everyone

1392
01:19:25,600 --> 01:19:28,920
that he was one of the good guys. If nothing else,

1393
01:19:29,119 --> 01:19:33,560
Katie's murder is a reminder that trust should never be automatic,

1394
01:19:34,600 --> 01:19:38,000
because anyone can wear a uniform that hides their deception,

1395
01:19:39,079 --> 01:19:53,840
and sometimes that person wearing it is a monster. We

1396
01:19:53,960 --> 01:19:56,159
hope you enjoyed that episode, like we hope you enjoy

1397
01:19:56,319 --> 01:20:00,000
all episodes of Certain Scale, which are available on our website,

1398
01:20:00,039 --> 01:20:05,039
swordscale dot com. If you do enjoy that sort of content,

1399
01:20:05,880 --> 01:20:09,119
get on over there. Maybe download our app as well.

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TV OFFERINGE features hour long episodes, each dedicated to a

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01:20:27,720 --> 01:20:32,520
particularly gruesome case, and it's filmed in a very uh,

1405
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how would I say, maybe David Fincher like style.

1406
01:20:38,159 --> 01:20:38,800
Speaker 6: If that helps.

1407
01:20:39,680 --> 01:20:44,119
Speaker 1: It's very moody, it's very esthetically pleasing. I don't know

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01:20:44,199 --> 01:20:46,840
how to really break it down for you, but we

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spend a lot of time getting it right and making

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sure that it's the best goddamn true crime show you

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can find anywhere on TV or podcasts or anywhere. So

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definitely go take a look see if you like it.

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It's right there for you. All twenty six episodes, plus

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we got one coming every month of the rest of

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the year, so make sure to check it out. Why

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you can't because it seems like true crime isn't really

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in vogue these days. A lot of people aren't that

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interested anymore. So it's you, yes, you keeping the lights on,

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making sure that we continue offering this show for you

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every week. So one way to make sure that happens

1421
01:21:36,560 --> 01:21:40,119
is to support us. This is my long beg. I

1422
01:21:40,359 --> 01:21:41,720
only do this once a year. I do a long

1423
01:21:41,800 --> 01:21:46,720
beg it's part of it's part of my routine before

1424
01:21:46,760 --> 01:21:52,760
I go back to my natural habitat. But yeah, I'm

1425
01:21:52,800 --> 01:21:56,560
running out of things to say here, so yeah, just

1426
01:21:56,680 --> 01:22:00,640
buy it or something. I don't know or don't I

1427
01:22:00,720 --> 01:22:04,239
guess it's a free market. Speaking up probably shouldn't have

1428
01:22:04,239 --> 01:22:10,079
alienated all of you woke people. Sorry about that. Oh well,

1429
01:22:10,720 --> 01:22:15,960
I guess I made my bed. For those of you

1430
01:22:16,319 --> 01:22:19,960
still left, I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful rest

1431
01:22:20,039 --> 01:22:24,279
of your week, and I don't know, stay sick.