WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.839 Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence, and is 2 00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:05.639 not intended for all audiences. 3 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:08.519 Listener discretion is advised. 4 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:17.160 Unfortunately, you are right in the middle of all of this, 5 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:20.519 and for to sit here and lie to us to. 6 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:24.079 Begin with, is not helping you at all. 7 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:26.800 This is a friend of yours or was a friend 8 00:00:26.839 --> 00:00:29.120 of yours, and somebody brutally marked I. 9 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:35.439 Know, hello and welcome to season thirteen, episode three hundred 10 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:38.960 and fifty of Sword and Scale, the show that reveals 11 00:00:38.960 --> 00:01:37.079 that the worst monsters are real. Simpsonville, South Carolina, is 12 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:40.840 a small southern town where life moves at an easy pace, 13 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:45.840 Families know their neighbors, church bells still mark the hour, 14 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:50.799 and the peaceful atmosphere feels almost rehearsed. But on the 15 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:55.719 afternoon of October twenty sixth, twenty sixteen, the calumn was broken. 16 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:00.840 Inside a cramped interview room at the Simpsonville Police departm 17 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:04.680 investigator spoke to a young man named Ricky Hargrove. 18 00:02:05.319 --> 00:02:09.039 I want to tell you once you've effectively done, Ricky, 19 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:13.960 is you've inserted yourself into a murder investigation. 20 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:18.919 I mean, what do you think I think you would 21 00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:20.000 do something like that? 22 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:25.159 Take some kind of monster to do something like that 23 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:25.759 or someone. 24 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:29.439 This interview with Ricky was one of the first threats 25 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:33.800 in an investigation that would spend nearly a decade. It 26 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:36.479 was a horrific homicide case that centered around a twenty 27 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:41.520 two year old woman named Katie Blavel. Katie believed she 28 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:44.960 could build a simple life for herself in Simpsonville and 29 00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:47.000 was doing what she could do to make that happen. 30 00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:51.479 Katie was an animal lover, and in twenty sixteen, she 31 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:54.319 was working full time at her local Pet Smart. 32 00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:57.000 I just want to confirm with you she was working 33 00:02:57.080 --> 00:02:59.879 here on Monday, and do you remember what her hours work? 34 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:02.599 You're on Monday was nine am to two pm, nine 35 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:02.960 to two. 36 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:08.919 I don't know exactly what time she left, but I 37 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:10.280 mean it was no later. 38 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:14.599 Than two fifteen, So you were working on Monday, did yes? 39 00:03:15.319 --> 00:03:20.240 How was Katie's demeanor? That na perfectly fine. She was talking. 40 00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:24.240 About picking up her someone named Cheyenne, I don't know 41 00:03:24.280 --> 00:03:27.719 who that is to her, and they were going shopping together. 42 00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:32.360 On October twenty third, twenty sixteen, Katie worked a full 43 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:35.680 time shift at PetSmart. When she clocked out at around 44 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:38.960 two fifteen pm, she confirmed plants to meet up with 45 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:40.639 her younger sister, Cheyenne. 46 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:42.680 But I said, what are you doing? And she said, 47 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:45.599 I'm driving around, Sir. 48 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:47.599 I said, when you take me Kimany to get food 49 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:51.000 and Canny, we'll buy you food. And she said, yeah, 50 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:53.319 I'll be there in an hour. So if you don't 51 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:56.000 know what you're doing right now, is at hour, get 52 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:56.520 here you. 53 00:03:58.120 --> 00:03:59.000 And she said, I don't do. 54 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:01.560 But I kind of just let it go because I 55 00:04:01.639 --> 00:04:03.400 was like, you know, maybe she DoD something she don't 56 00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:06.039 want to tell me about. She's grown, she can do that, 57 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:06.360 you know. 58 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:10.439 And so I fell asleep and I caught her back 59 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:11.879 in like an hour and a half, and she. 60 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:15.319 Didn't answy Katy never showed up to meet her sister 61 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:19.439 that day. When phone calls went unanswered, Cheyenne felt the 62 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:23.959 first wave of panic. She immediately knew that something was 63 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:25.600 very wrong. 64 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:27.120 Her phone was off. 65 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:28.680 And then that's why I kind of started to worry, 66 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:30.439 because I'm like, Katie never released her phone, you know, 67 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:31.879 Katy never blows me off. 68 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:34.120 I don't know. 69 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:38.160 Like twelve thirty one o'clock, I called John. He answered, 70 00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:41.800 it be someon like he's just woken up. And I said, 71 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:45.199 I can't find Katie. And I said, I mean to 72 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:46.360 know if she's at your house or. 73 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:48.639 If you see your day. Hasn't just tell me, you know? 74 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:51.879 He said, no, I don't talk to her anymore, as 75 00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:53.000 what he said on the phone. 76 00:04:53.879 --> 00:04:57.199 Desperate to find her sister, Cheyenne did the only thing 77 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:00.079 she could think of. She reached out to Katie's a 78 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:02.800 strange husband, John, what's your wife? 79 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:06.319 Full name Catherine and Wavelt? 80 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:12.439 And are you you familved that she's missing? Yeah. 81 00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:17.079 Twenty eight year old John Blovelt was an active duty 82 00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:20.600 soldier in the United States Army when Katie went missing. 83 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:24.040 He was living and working in Simpsonville as a recruiters. 84 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:29.519 Understand, you've been deployed twice, yes, iraq or yeah on 85 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:31.040 once the last time I got back. 86 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:33.680 Two thousand and ten. 87 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:38.959 Has recruiting the obviously a lot different than Yeah. 88 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:42.279 That was probably the worst jot of the red Yeah, 89 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:44.079 because you know, I joined the army at eighteen to 90 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:45.240 fight and ira. 91 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:49.399 Yeah, and then they had me sit behind the desk 92 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:54.759 and you couldn't get a different assignment. No, it's one 93 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:57.600 of it's like one of the armies, and like mandatory 94 00:05:57.639 --> 00:05:58.639 assignments you to take it. 95 00:05:58.680 --> 00:05:59.160 Or you get out. 96 00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:03.639 John and Katie met by chance outside the Army recruiting 97 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:06.720 office where he worked. Her job was just a few 98 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:10.120 doors down, and one afternoon, during a smoke break, their 99 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:11.480 conversations began. 100 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:14.480 So me and her just kind of met and started dating. 101 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:17.920 I was staying at her house most days during the week, 102 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:18.920 at her dad's house. 103 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:23.319 And then we finally got an apartment in December, and 104 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:26.160 you got married, what year twenty fifteen? 105 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:29.399 After they married, it didn't take long for John and 106 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:32.480 Katie to realize they weren't as compatible as they'd hoped. 107 00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:36.040 They barely lived together for two months before the relationship 108 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:40.639 fell apart and Katie decided to walk away. She left 109 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:43.240 John and the two were officially separated. 110 00:06:43.800 --> 00:06:44.839 O Kay of stuff, a y'all. 111 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:45.600 Arguing about. 112 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:50.279 Everything just normal, just normal stuff, people's stuff. 113 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:53.240 And then being a recruiter, I talked to a lot 114 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:56.000 of different people, So I had two phones, and I 115 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:58.319 talked to a lot of females. And she didn't my chest, 116 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:01.680 but was my job as a recruiter. I had to 117 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:04.279 talk to everybody. Yeah, and she would like that. So 118 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:05.279 then we argue about that. 119 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:08.839 See, you guys weren't very long at all in two months. 120 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:13.639 In October of twenty sixteen, Katie went missing, and naturally, 121 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:16.519 her husband was one of the first people police wanted 122 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:19.759 to talk to. For the most part, John was open 123 00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:23.279 and cooperative. He admitted that their marriage had been difficult, 124 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:28.199 even horrible at times, but he insisted he'd never laid 125 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:31.040 a hand on her or caused her any physical harm. 126 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:34.480 I mean we were the worst couple, you know, we argued, 127 00:07:35.480 --> 00:07:38.879 but I think it was just bad timing, honestly, because 128 00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:39.959 she was going through some shit. 129 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:44.720 I was going through some shit and she's left one day. 130 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:48.120 It was the last time you actually saw her, I'd 131 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:52.199 say probably July, because she moved out in the April. 132 00:07:52.279 --> 00:07:54.639 I think have you ever gotten some mad at her? 133 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:57.079 That maybe he did something you didn't mean to do? 134 00:07:57.720 --> 00:07:59.839 Absolutely not, don't. 135 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:02.600 So told investigators that he hadn't seen Katie for months, 136 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:06.160 and he provided a reasonable alibi for the day she 137 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:06.800 went missing. 138 00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:10.560 Did you work this Monday? What time did you get 139 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:11.040 off on Monday? 140 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:15.839 Like two thirties too? I don't know where'd you go 141 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:16.920 it for home? 142 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:21.839 Did you stop anywhere on the way home? Was anybody 143 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:22.279 home with you? 144 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:25.720 Yeah? My roommates were there. 145 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:30.879 John's roommates backed up his story. They told investigators they 146 00:08:30.920 --> 00:08:33.399 saw him come home from work that day on the 147 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:37.000 day that Katie went missing, though they did lose track 148 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:39.320 of him later in the evening when he said he 149 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:42.840 was going out for a job. Investigators also spoke with 150 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:46.440 people who knew both John and Katie and were familiar 151 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:52.759 with their relationship. Many described John the same way, polite, disciplined, 152 00:08:53.159 --> 00:08:57.120 the picture of an army soldier. For them, the idea 153 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:00.399 that he could hurt Katie didn't seem possible at all. 154 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:03.720 Used to buy a lot, but like. 155 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:06.080 He was never like. 156 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:10.600 Violent with her when I lived there, and a lot 157 00:09:10.679 --> 00:09:14.039 of the time it was like really her that like 158 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:16.200 started argument. 159 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:18.600 What do you think the chances are of the John 160 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:20.360 lost his school and did something to her. 161 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:21.600 I know he didn't know. 162 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:24.360 I've been around hi when he's drunk, quite straight up 163 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:27.919 drunk in it, and he's not angry. You know, they've 164 00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:30.279 gotten really upset and he just he just comes in 165 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:34.600 and just cries, like I mean, I've seen him mad. 166 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:37.240 But you know, he just yells and that's the end 167 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:37.399 of it. 168 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:41.080 After looking into John and finding no clear link to 169 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:47.559 Katie's disappearance, investigators began to consider other possibilities. They knew 170 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:50.879 that after the marriage ended, Katie had started dating again. 171 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:55.639 This opened the door to new questions and a different suspect. 172 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:57.679 I don't know when her family stile you. 173 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:00.679 Hopefully she's been up front with you. Machine in dating 174 00:10:00.679 --> 00:10:01.279 around a lot. 175 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:04.360 Okay, yeah, yeah, we're looking. 176 00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:04.639 Into some of that. 177 00:10:06.519 --> 00:10:10.120 Investigators learned that Katie had recently reconnected with an ex boyfriend, 178 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:14.600 twenty one year old Wayne Roper. This was a bizarre 179 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:18.960 relationship that quickly became the focus of their suspicions, and 180 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:24.200 through a series of strange, unsettling events, that relationship led 181 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:27.879 detectives to another name, the young man you heard at 182 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:30.320 the beginning of this episode, Ricky Hargrove. 183 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:35.559 Yesterday, when I was finishing up some assignments in my 184 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:40.840 classes online, I got a call from Wayne at around 185 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:45.519 one and thirty. Wayne called says, hey, man, can you 186 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:47.879 can you come pick me up from work? 187 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:52.480 On the night of October twenty fourth, twenty sixteen, Ricky 188 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:56.840 received an unexpected phone call. It was from Katie's ex boyfriend, 189 00:10:56.879 --> 00:10:59.559 Wayne Roper, who asked for a ride home from the 190 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:05.200 Walmart art where he worked. Ricky hesitated, then agreed as 191 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:07.000 long as he got a little gas money. 192 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:09.799 When he got out of the got into the car, 193 00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:14.840 I say, hey, man, what's up with Katie being missing? 194 00:11:15.799 --> 00:11:18.679 And he said they haven't been able to find her, 195 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.759 and they pinged her phone in West Virginia or something, 196 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:24.960 and then they pinged it again and it was in Simpsonville. 197 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:29.399 And he said, Uh, yeah, there was this house that 198 00:11:29.559 --> 00:11:32.840 we used to hang out at and I've been wanting 199 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:35.320 to check that because I think they that. 200 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:36.440 She might be there. 201 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:40.799 When Wayne climbed into the passenger seat, his request pot 202 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:44.840 Ricky off guard. He wanted to go to a nearby 203 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:49.919 abandoned farmhouse, a place that was rumored to be haunted. Strangely, 204 00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:53.440 Wayne said he thought Katie might be hiding there. 205 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:56.720 I get out of the car with him, give him 206 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:01.320 my lamp, my head lamb, and we walk in there. 207 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:05.799 I'm talking about the house being haunted. I don't want 208 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:09.000 anything to do with his and I tell him about 209 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:13.960 you know, if we do find her. He says, we're 210 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.360 going to call the cops. And I say, I got 211 00:12:17.399 --> 00:12:20.960 a bunch of wheat in there, and then I'm not 212 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:23.279 expected to find her at all in there. And I 213 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:27.559 was just kind of dismissive whenever we go in there. 214 00:12:27.639 --> 00:12:32.000 We checked all the upstairs rooms, and then when we 215 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:34.440 get done checking those, we go downstairs. 216 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:40.159 Reluctantly, Ricky drove Wayne to the abandoned farmhouse and together 217 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:43.559 they searched the dark, empty rooms for any sign of Katie. 218 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:47.600 After several minutes of searching, and after they made their 219 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:51.360 way into the basement, Wayne Roper pulled out his phone 220 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:52.960 and dialed nine one one. 221 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:56.200 The pasion of your emergency. 222 00:12:58.000 --> 00:12:58.799 I was. 223 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:01.840 In the woods. 224 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:03.759 My friend. 225 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:08.480 Uh, she's been missing for for I think thirty hours now, 226 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:12.799 and we went into the woods where we used to 227 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:16.879 all hang out at and there's a house there, and 228 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:19.799 we went looking for her there, just in case, like 229 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:23.840 she might be there staying or something. And we found 230 00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:28.039 her in the in the bottom part in the basement, covered. 231 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:32.200 Up with pieces of wood. Okay, like was she was? 232 00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:33.039 She still alive? 233 00:13:33.879 --> 00:13:36.960 Mister nervous on She's pale. 234 00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:40.799 So she was pale and unresponsive. Yes, are you still 235 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:44.639 there with her? No, sir, I walked away. I couldn't. 236 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:48.240 Is anybody still there with her? Mister? 237 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:52.519 That night, the body of twenty two year old Katie 238 00:13:52.679 --> 00:13:56.240 Blavelt was found in the basement of an abandoned farmhouse. 239 00:13:57.279 --> 00:14:00.600 She'd been covered with planks of rotting wood, and an 240 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:05.720 autopsy later revealed she'd been brutally stabbed to death. Simpsonville 241 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:10.000 wasn't the kind of place where people normally vanished or 242 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:13.759 where murder made the nightly news. When it did, everyone 243 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:18.240 knew about it, naturally. Solving Katie's murder became a top 244 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:23.799 priority for local investigators, but answers didn't come quickly. Nearly 245 00:14:23.879 --> 00:14:27.720 a decade would pass before a jury would finally hear 246 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:34.200 the case, and even then the truth was anything but certain. 247 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:07.039 On October twenty third, twenty sixteen, twenty two year old 248 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:10.559 Katie Blavelt was supposed to meet her younger sister after work, 249 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:15.039 but by that evening she was missing. The following day, 250 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:19.159 investigators began piecing together what little they knew, a troubled 251 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:23.559 marriage with an army recruiter, a recent separation. At a 252 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:27.559 late night drive to an abandoned farmhouse, that's where two 253 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:31.799 young men, Wayne Roper and Ricky Hargrove claimed to have 254 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:36.600 made a discovery they'd never forget. It was Wayne, who 255 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:40.399 happened to be Katie's ex boyfriend, who reached for his 256 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:41.840 phone and dialed nine one one. 257 00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:46.600 I was worried about my friends Kady, and she would 258 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:49.440 have missed it. She's been missing for a while now. 259 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:53.240 And who came in this house that we used to 260 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:54.480 hanging all an elegance? 261 00:15:55.519 --> 00:16:02.799 And what's more, what's wrong with her? 262 00:16:02.840 --> 00:16:03.039 Sir? 263 00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:07.799 We fold her in himself? 264 00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:14.279 La, you found her what we fell? We found my 265 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:17.120 friend Katie border did in? 266 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:18.279 Okay? 267 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:19.159 Okay? 268 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:20.559 In other words, she's dead in that? 269 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:22.480 Are you saying she's dead in the house? 270 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:23.639 Now? 271 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:26.159 Now you're sure she's dead. 272 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:30.159 She's not breathing, is she cold? 273 00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:32.120 She's very real? 274 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:34.279 And there was no response. 275 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:37.559 There's no response? Okay, sir? 276 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:38.519 And what's your name? 277 00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:39.799 Wayne's profra. 278 00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:44.600 After Wayne made this call, officers quickly arrived at the scene, 279 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:47.919 and the search for Katie Blauvelt came to an end. 280 00:16:48.919 --> 00:16:52.080 Her body was found in the basement of the abandoned farmhouse, 281 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:56.399 stuffed into a narrow cement opening and covered with planks 282 00:16:56.440 --> 00:17:01.200 of rotting wood. An autopsy later revealed the cause of death. 283 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:05.599 She'd been stabbed multiple times, including twice in the neck. 284 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.240 A fragment of the knife used to kill her was 285 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:13.480 still lodged in her throat. Investigators later concluded that the 286 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:17.839 murder had taken place somewhere else, likely nearby, perhaps in 287 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:20.960 the driveway, and that Katie's body had been dragged into 288 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:24.000 the basement in a hurried attempt to hide the crime. 289 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:27.000 Now that Katie had been found and the case had 290 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:31.680 shifted from a missing person to a homicide investigation, detectives 291 00:17:31.720 --> 00:17:34.240 turned their attention to the man who claimed to have 292 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:38.640 discovered her body, Katie's ex boyfriend, Wayne Roper. 293 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:43.000 Jemmy, how did you meet Kate? I'm going to school 294 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:44.400 with her, Chris. 295 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:46.480 Class. 296 00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:50.440 Y'all the same age. She's two twenty one. 297 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:53.599 She's a few months older man, But y'all were inside. 298 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:58.279 Gray she's a year buy okay, and the classes together. 299 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:00.200 Y'all mate the. 300 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:04.519 Bus together, and we also had the same watch a 301 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:06.400 first met her of her friends at first. 302 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:07.920 And then we dated for. 303 00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:10.279 Like a month or so. 304 00:18:11.720 --> 00:18:14.440 Wayne explained that his relationship with Katie had been a 305 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:17.960 brief high school Flint, and then after they broke up, 306 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:22.079 the two remained friends. Years later, after Katie married army 307 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:25.920 recruiter John Blauvelt, Wayne ended up moving into their home. 308 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:29.519 In a strange twist, he had become a housemate to 309 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:31.839 his ex girlfriend and her new husband. 310 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:33.240 John offered me. 311 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:37.000 To move in within a roommate, so you lived with 312 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:37.880 her and her husband. 313 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:40.359 Yeah, it's weird. 314 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:43.759 Did he know that when you moved in? Yeah? 315 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:48.160 According to Wayne, John was aware of his past relationship 316 00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:51.000 with Katie and never seemed to be bothered by it. 317 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:54.720 In fact, after a night of heavy drinking, Wayne claimed 318 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:56.640 he was invited into their bedroom. 319 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:00.400 When you were living with John A kat how often 320 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:02.519 we all been intimate with each other? 321 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:04.440 It was the long ones. 322 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:07.319 And John was there or not there? 323 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:09.400 It was and you know it. 324 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:11.279 How did you not know it? 325 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:16.319 I hate it was looking through something. And after that, 326 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:19.279 like he just changed. 327 00:19:20.359 --> 00:19:25.160 And how did that come about? I only drinking, he 328 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:26.759 was drunking. You know, that's the right idea. 329 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:30.240 I can see where that might call some friction. But 330 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:33.359 you continued to live there. Yeah, I mean he didn't 331 00:19:34.359 --> 00:19:38.440 say anything verbally to me, you know, and I just 332 00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:39.759 thought everything was gonna be okay. 333 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:47.200 Then they started having arguments because of me, because she 334 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:49.279 told me that he was jealous of me. 335 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:52.359 Their arguments are eating worse. 336 00:19:53.480 --> 00:19:56.640 Wayne described how John and Katie's marriage had fallen apart, 337 00:19:57.160 --> 00:20:01.359 marked by constant fighting and tension in the house. Eventually, 338 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:04.640 Katie moved out, and a few months later Wayne did 339 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:08.839 as well. Then, after Katie went missing, Wayne claimed he 340 00:20:09.079 --> 00:20:11.880 had just decided on a whim to go look for 341 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:15.880 her at the old abandoned farmhouse where her body was found. 342 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:18.119 Tell me about the band in the house. I didn't 343 00:20:18.119 --> 00:20:20.799 you know about it. We used to go there and 344 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:23.680 drink all the time. But I didn't get off of 345 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:25.599 work until eleven. 346 00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:29.160 Now called called Ricky and see if you give me 347 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:32.440 a ride, And yeah, I was almost home from work, 348 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:35.240 and I asked him if he would undertake me together 349 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:39.960 the band house to look. I used a flashlight to 350 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:41.680 go in there, and I was looking at the fire 351 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:44.759 flash flight. It was a headline, okay, And I was 352 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:49.680 looking on the ground for any footprints or trash or anything. 353 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:52.839 Wayne said he went to the abandoned farmhouse in the 354 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:55.400 middle of the night to look for Katie, which was 355 00:20:55.480 --> 00:21:01.200 something investigators immediately found unusual and highly suspicious. 356 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:03.240 Then we went down to the basement. 357 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:08.759 I looked at her in that conquered thing, and I 358 00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:11.480 seen her jacket looks. 359 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:16.640 At the I see her, Hey, you know it was her. 360 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:19.960 She was missing, Like it's the first thing that thought 361 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:23.640 in my head. Am sure that we ran out of there, 362 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:26.839 and then once I got to the to the road. 363 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:27.200 I called on. 364 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:31.559 Investigators also spoke with the young man who had driven 365 00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:36.599 Wayne to the farmhouse, Ricky Hargrove. His account of that 366 00:21:36.839 --> 00:21:39.359 night largely matched Wayne's version of events. 367 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:42.759 And then he looks down and he said that I 368 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:45.039 think he said there she is, Oh my god. And 369 00:21:45.160 --> 00:21:48.200 then I looked playing stattered. I said, oh my god. 370 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:54.079 I turned around and hears him say Katie, like trying 371 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:55.960 to wake her up or something, and I'm like, dude, 372 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:58.359 I think she's dead. I'm kind of going up the 373 00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:02.000 steps by then, and he comes up behind me when 374 00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:04.640 they's pulling out his phone, calling IDEM. 375 00:22:06.039 --> 00:22:11.000 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 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:16.839 two guys had randomly decided to search for Katie in 378 00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:19.759 the middle of the night, but even stranger was the 379 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:24.160 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 00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:30.559 to be lying. 382 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:37.000 Why didn't you call the place? They already put out 383 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:40.039 a report and I'm talking about all. 384 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.240 This conversation about the abandoned house. I'm just curious, why 385 00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:46.759 didn't you refer it and say, hey, look i'm. 386 00:22:46.839 --> 00:22:48.759 Holding over there, and look, I didn't think of it. 387 00:22:49.880 --> 00:22:50.240 I didn't. 388 00:22:51.559 --> 00:22:52.279 That's kind of odd. 389 00:22:54.680 --> 00:22:55.759 It's just like. 390 00:22:57.599 --> 00:22:59.640 I just didn't expect anything to be there. 391 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:03.880 You did a call and said, hey, I don't know 392 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:05.680 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. 394 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:10.640 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 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:13.640 That makes sense to me. 397 00:23:14.279 --> 00:23:18.079 Putting on a headlamp while a miner ain't going to 398 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:22.119 bed there at midnight don't make no sense to me. 399 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:27.839 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