Episode 350

In 2016, 22-year-old Cati Blauvelt was found stabbed to death in the basement of an abandoned house. The search for her killer would uncover a story of control, deception, and betrayal — and reveal how one man turned trust into a weapon. Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Mike Boudet?

  Buy smart, drive for less and trade for more. That's Toyota Fortability. And it all starts with a great deal on a truck from your local Toyota dealer. Make a smart buy on the off-road-ready Tacoma or half-ton Tundra, two of Toyota's most capable and long-lasting trucks. Built with the strength for the tough jobs, the tech to power your next big adventures, and the rugged style for everything in between. Or discover Toyota's off-road lineup, including the iconic 4Runner and Land Cruiser, designed to go beyond the everyday. And with Toyota's proven reputation for quality and reliability, plus available hybrid power

• 0:43Mike Boudet?

  on many models, you can get more for every mile and drive for less along the way. And long after you leave a lot, your Toyota keeps delivering with great resale value. So you can trade in for more when you're ready for your next Toyota. From a great deal today to a great value tomorrow, a Toyota is right for you. Shop toyota.com for deals and details, or stop by your local Toyota dealer today. Toyota, let's go places.

• 1:14Speaker 01

  ChatGPT for teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options, like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.comPARENTS to learn more.

• 1:42Speaker 02

  Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence, and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

• 1:56Speaker 03

  Unfortunately, you're right in the middle of all of this. And for it to sit here and lie to us to begin with is not helping you at all. This is a friend of yours or was a friend of yours and somebody brutally murdered by a tiger.

• 2:14Mike Boudet?

  Hello and welcome to season 13, episode 350 of Sword and Scale. A show that reveals that the worst monsters are real.

• 3:03Mike Boudet?

  Buy smart, drive for less, and trade for more. That's Toyota affordability. And it all starts with a great deal on a truck from your local Toyota dealer. Make a smart buy on the off-road-ready Tacoma or half-ton Tundra, two of Toyota's most capable and long-lasting trucks. Built with the strength for the tough jobs, the tech to power your next big adventures, and the rugged style for everything in between. Or discover Toyota's off-road lineup, including the iconic 4Runner and Land Cruiser, designed to go beyond the everyday. And with Toyota's proven reputation for quality and reliability, plus available hybrid power

• 3:47Mike Boudet?

  on many models, you can get more for every mile and drive for less along the way. And long after you leave a lot, your Toyota keeps delivering with great resale value. So you can trade in for more when you're ready for your next Toyota. From a great deal today to a great value tomorrow, a Toyota is right for you. Shoptoyota.com for deals and details, or stop by your local Toyota dealer today. Toyota. Let's go places.

• 4:31Mike Boudet?

  Simpsonville, South Carolina is a small southern town where life moves at an easy pace. Families know their neighbors, church bells still mark the hour, and the peaceful atmosphere feels almost rehearsed. But on the afternoon of October 26, 2016, the calm was broken. Inside a cramped interview room at the Simpsonville Police Department, investigators spoke to a young man named Ricky Hargrove.

• 5:00Speaker 04

  I will tell you what you've effectively done, Ricky, is you've inserted yourself into a murder investigation. I mean, what do you think?

• 5:13Speaker 05

  I think who would do something like that? It takes some kind of monster to do something like that to someone.

• 5:22Mike Boudet?

  This interview with Ricky was one of the first threads in an investigation that would span nearly a decade. It was a horrific homicide case that centered around a 22-year-old woman named Katie Blavel. Katie believed she could build a simple life for herself in Simpsonville and was doing what she could do to make that happen. Katie was an animal lover, and in 2016, she was working full-time at her local pet smart.

• 5:51Speaker 03

  I just want to confirm with you, she was working here on Monday? And do you remember what her hours were here on Monday?

• 5:56Speaker 06

  She was 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

• 5:58Speaker 03

  9:00 to 2:00?

• 5:59Speaker 06

  Mm-hmm. I don't know exactly what time she left, but I mean, it was no later than 2:15.

• 6:07Speaker 03

  Okay. So you were working on Monday, didn't?

• 6:10Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 6:11Speaker 03

  How was Katie's demeanor that day?

• 6:14Speaker 06

  Perfectly fine. She was talking about picking up her someone named Cheyenne, I don't know who that is to her, and they were going shopping together.

• 6:24Mike Boudet?

  On October 23, 2016, Katie worked a full-time shift at Petsmart. When she clocked out at around 2:15 p.m., she confirmed plans to meet up with her younger sister, Cheyenne.

• 6:36Speaker 03

  And I said, "What are you doing?" And she said, "I'm driving around."

• 6:41Speaker 03

  I asked her, I said, will you take me, come on in to get food? And you want to buy you food? And she said, yeah, I'll be there in an hour. And I said, well, if you don't know what you're doing right now, I said, why is it gonna take you an hour to get here? You know? And she said, I don't know. But I kind of just let it go because I was like, you know, maybe she's doing something she don't want to tell me about. She's grown, she can do that, you know?

• 7:04Speaker 03

  And so I fell asleep and I got her back in like an hour and a half and she didn't answer.

• 7:10Mike Boudet?

  Katie never showed up to meet her sister that day. When phone calls went unanswered, Cheyenne felt the first wave of panic. She immediately knew that something was very wrong.

• 7:22Speaker 03

  Her phone was off and then that's when I kind of started to worry because I'm like, Katie never leaves her phone off, you know? Katie never blows me off.

• 7:30Speaker 03

  And around like twelve thirty, one o'clock, I called John. And he answered and he sounded like he's just woken up. And I said, I can't find Katie. And I said, I need to know if she's at your house or if you see me, I said, just tell me. You know, and he said, no. I said, I don't, I don't talk to her anymore, so he sat on the phone.

• 7:50Mike Boudet?

  Desperate to find her sister, Cheyenne did the only thing she could think of. She reached out to Katie's estranged husband, John. What's your wife's full name?

• 7:59Speaker 05

  Catherine Anne Blaveld.

• 8:03Mike Boudet?

  And are you, you familiar that she's missing?

• 8:09Mike Boudet?

  Twenty-eight-year-old John Blaveld was an active-duty soldier in the United States Army. When Katie went missing, he was living and working in Simpsonville as a recruiter.

• 8:20Speaker 05

  So I understand you've been deployed twice? Yes. Uh, Iraq or? Yeah. When was, when was the last time you got back? Two thousand and ten. How's recruiting then? Obviously a lot different than being deployed. Yeah, that was probably the worst shot I've ever had. Really? Mm-hmm. Yeah, because you know, I joined the army at eighteen to fight Iraq. Shoot guns. Shoot big guns, yeah. And then they had me sit behind a desk and. You couldn't get to their assignment, right? Uh, no, it's one of the, it's. Like one of the army's like mandatory assignments for you to take it or you get out.

• 8:56Mike Boudet?

  John and Katie met by chance outside the army recruiting office where he worked. Her job was just a few doors down and one afternoon during a smoke break, their conversations began.

• 9:08Speaker 05

  So me and her just kind of met and started dating. I was staying at her house most, most days during the week at her dad's house. And then we finally got an apartment in December. And you got married in what year? Uh, 2015.

• 9:23Mike Boudet?

  After they married, it didn't take long for John and Katie to realize they weren't as compatible as they'd hoped. They barely lived together for two months before the relationship fell apart and Katie decided to walk away. She left John and the two were officially separated.

• 9:40Speaker 05

  What kind of stuff were y'all arguing about? Um, everything. Just normal? Just normal stuff. People's stuff? And then being a recruiter, I talked to a lot of different people. So I had two phones and I talked to a lot of females and she didn't like us. But that was my job as a recruiter. I had to talk to everybody. Yeah. And she wouldn't like that. So then we'd argue about that. So you guys weren't married long at all? Mm-hmm, two months.

• 10:06Mike Boudet?

  In October of 2016, Katie went missing and naturally her husband was one of the first people police wanted to talk to. For the most part, John was open and cooperative. He admitted that their marriage had been difficult, even horrible at times. But he insisted he'd never laid a hand on her or caused her any physical harm.

• 10:27Speaker 05

  I mean, we, we were the worst couple, you know, we argued a lot, but I think it was just bad timing, honestly. Cause she was going through some shit and I was going through some shit and she just left one day. When was the last time you actually saw her? I'd say probably July because she moved out in April, I think. Have you ever gotten so mad at her that maybe you did something you didn't mean to do? No, absolutely not.

• 10:55Mike Boudet?

  John also told investigators that he hadn't seen Katie for months and he provided a reasonable alibi for the day she went missing.

• 11:03Speaker 05

  Did you work this Monday? Mm-hmm. What time did you get off Monday? Uh, like 2:30 ish, 2, I don't know. Where'd you go in for work?

• 11:14Mike Boudet?

  Did you stop anywhere on the way home?

• 11:17Mike Boudet?

  Was anybody home with you?

• 11:19Speaker 04

  Um, yeah, my roommates were there.

• 11:23Mike Boudet?

  John's roommates backed up his story. They told investigators they saw him come home from work that day, on the day that Katie went missing. Though, they did lose track of him later in the evening, when he said he was going out for a jog. Investigators also spoke with people who knew both John and Katie, and were familiar with their relationship. Many described John the same way: polite, disciplined, the picture of an army soldier. For them, the idea that he could hurt Katie didn't seem possible at all.

• 11:57Speaker 03

  They used to fight a lot, but like, he was never like, violent with her when I lived there. And a lot of the time, it was like, mostly her that like, started the arguments. What do you think the chances are that John lost his cool and did something to her? I know he didn't. I've been around him when he's drunk, like, straight up drunk. And he's not angry. You know, they've gotten really upset and he just, he just comes in and just cries. Like, I mean, I've seen him mad, but, you know, he just yells and that's the end of it.

• 12:34Mike Boudet?

  After looking into John and finding no clear link to Katie's disappearance, investigators began to consider other possibilities. They knew that after the marriage ended, Katie had started dating again. This opened the door to new questions and a different suspect.

• 12:52Speaker 04

  I don't know what her family's told you. Hopefully, Shannan's been, I don't know, up front with you, but she's been dating around a lot. Okay. Yeah.

• 12:59Speaker 03

  Yeah, we're, we're looking into some of that.

• 13:02Mike Boudet?

  Investigators learned that Katie had recently reconnected with an ex-boyfriend, 21-year-old Wayne Roper. This was a bizarre relationship that quickly became the focus of their suspicions. And through a series of strange, unsettling events, that relationship led detectives to another name: the young man you heard at the beginning of this episode, Ricky Hargrove.

• 13:27Speaker 05

  Yesterday, when I was, uh, finishing up some assignments in my classes online.

• 13:34Speaker 05

  I got a call from Wayne at around 11:30. Wayne called and says, "Hey, man, can you, can you come pick me up from work?"

• 13:45Mike Boudet?

  On the night of October 24th, 2016, Ricky received an unexpected phone call. It was from Katie's ex-boyfriend, Wayne Roper, who asked for a ride home from the Walmart where he worked. Ricky hesitated, then agreed, as long as he got a little gas money.

• 14:03Speaker 05

  When he got out of the, got into the car, I say, "Hey, man, what's up with Katie being missing?" And he said, "They haven't been able to find her. They pinged her phone in West Virginia or something." And then they pinged it again, and it was in Simpsonville. And he said, "Yeah, there was this house that we used to hang out at, and I've been wanting to check that because I think they, that she might be there."

• 14:34Mike Boudet?

  When Wayne climbed into the passenger seat, his request caught Ricky off-guard. He wanted to go to a nearby abandoned farmhouse, a place that was rumored to be haunted. Strangely, Wayne said he thought Katie might be hiding there.

• 14:49Speaker 05

  I get out of the car with him, give him my lamp, my headlamp, and we walk in there. I'm talking about the house being haunted. I don't want anything to do with this. And I tell him about, you know, if we do find her, he says, "We're going to call the cops." And I say, "But my, I got a bunch of weed in there." And then, I'm not expecting to find her at all in there, and I was just kind of dismissing. Whenever we go in there, we check all the upstairs rooms. And then when we get done checking those, we go downstairs.

• 15:32Mike Boudet?

  Reluctantly, Ricky drove Wayne to the abandoned farmhouse, and together they searched the dark, empty rooms for any sign of Katie. After several minutes of searching, and after they made their way into the basement, Wayne Roper pulled out his phone and dialed 911.

• 15:49Speaker 03

  Simpsonville 911, what's the occasion of your emergency?

• 15:52Speaker 05

  Um, I'm in that discovered search across in the woods. Um, my friend, she's been missing for, for-

• 16:03Speaker 06

  I think thirty hours now. And, uh, we went into the woods where we used to all hang out at. And, uh, there's a house there. And, uh, we went looking for her there just in case, like she might be there staying or something. And we, we found her in the, in the bottom part, in the basement, covered up with pieces of wood.

• 16:26Speaker 03

  Okay, like was she, was she still alive?

• 16:30Speaker 06

  No, sir. No response. And she's, she's pale.

• 16:33Speaker 03

  So she was pale and unresponsive?

• 16:36Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 16:36Speaker 03

  Are you still there with her?

• 16:38Speaker 06

  No, sir. I, I walked away. I couldn't.

• 16:42Speaker 03

  Is anybody still there with her?

• 16:44Speaker 06

  No, sir.

• 16:46Mike Boudet?

  That night, the body of twenty-two-year-old Katie Blaveld was found in the basement of an abandoned farmhouse. She'd been covered with planks of rotting wood, and an autopsy later revealed she'd been brutally stabbed to death. Simpsonville wasn't the kind of place where people normally vanished, or where murder made the nightly news. When it did, everyone knew about it. Naturally, solving Katie's murder became a top priority for local investigators. But answers didn't come quickly. Nearly a decade would pass before a jury would finally hear the case. And even then, the truth was anything but certain.

• 17:46Mike Boudet?

  Buy smart, drive for less, and trade for more. That's Toyota affordability. And it all starts with a great deal on a truck from your local Toyota dealer. Make a smart buy on the off-road-ready Tacoma, or half-ton Tundra, two of Toyota's most capable and long-lasting trucks. Built with the strength for the tough jobs, the tech to power your next big adventures, and the rugged style for everything in between. Or discover Toyota's off-road lineup, including the iconic Forerunner and Land Cruiser, designed to go beyond the everyday. And with Toyota's proven reputation for quality and reliability, plus available hybrid power on many models,

• 18:30Mike Boudet?

  you can get more for every mile and drive for less along the way. And long after you leave a lot, your Toyota keeps delivering with great resale value. So you can trade in for more when you're ready for your next Toyota. From a great deal today to a great value tomorrow, a Toyota is right for you. Shop toyota.com for deals and details, or stop by your local Toyota dealer today. Toyota, let's go places.

• 19:00Speaker 03

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel. People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood. And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone. One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies. So join us and hear their stories and more, because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table.

• 19:45Speaker 03

  Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 19:57Speaker 01

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 20:38Mike Boudet?

  On October 23rd, 2016, 22-year-old Katie Blaveld was supposed to meet her younger sister after work. But by that evening, she was missing. The following day, investigators began piecing together what little they knew. A troubled marriage with an Army recruiter, a recent separation, and a late-night drive to an abandoned farmhouse. That's where two young men, Wayne Roper and Ricky Hargrove, claimed to have made a discovery they'd never forget. It was Wayne who happened to be Katie's ex-boyfriend, who reached for his phone and dialed 911.

• 21:17Speaker 06

  I was worried about my friend Katie, and she went missing. She's been missing for a while now. And she came in this house that we used to hang out in. And she's gone now. She's not alive. What's wrong with her, sir? She's not alive. We found her in this house, not alive. You found her what? We found my friend Katie Boudet, dead in the house. Okay, okay. In other words, she's dead in the... Are you saying she's dead in the house? Yes, ma'am. Now, are you sure she's dead? You...

• 22:02Mike Boudet?

  She's not breathing? Is she cold?

• 22:05Speaker 06

  She's very cold. And there was no response.

• 22:09Mike Boudet?

  There's no response?

• 22:10Speaker 06

  No.

• 22:11Mike Boudet?

  Okay, sir. And what's your name?

• 22:13Speaker 06

  Wayne Roper.

• 22:16Mike Boudet?

  After Wayne made this call, officers quickly arrived at the scene, and the search for Katie Blaveld came to an end. Her body was found in the basement of the abandoned farmhouse, stuffed into a narrow cement opening and covered with planks of rotting wood. An autopsy later revealed the cause of death. She'd been stabbed multiple times, including twice in the neck. A fragment of the knife used to kill her was still lodged in her throat. Investigators later concluded that the murder had taken place somewhere else, likely nearby, perhaps in the driveway, and that Katie's body had been dragged into the basement in a hurried attempt to hide the crime.

• 23:00Mike Boudet?

  Now that Katie had been found and the case had shifted from a missing person to a homicide investigation, detectives turned their attention to the man who claimed to have discovered her body, Katie's ex-boyfriend, Wayne Roper.

• 23:13Speaker 04

  Tell me, how did you meet Katie?

• 23:16Speaker 05

  Uh, I went to school with her at, uh, the Chris.

• 23:19Speaker 04

  Okay, y'all just had classes? Y'all the same age?

• 23:22Speaker 05

  Uh, she's 22 and I'm 21. She's a few months older than me.

• 23:27Speaker 04

  But y'all were in the same grade?

• 23:28Speaker 05

  Uh, she was a year above me.

• 23:30Speaker 04

  Okay. And did y'all have classes together? How did y'all meet?

• 23:34Speaker 05

  Um, we rode the bus together and, uh, we also had the same lunch. I first met her, we were friends at first, and then we dated for like a month or so.

• 23:46Mike Boudet?

  Wayne explained that his relationship with Katie had been a brief high school fling, and that after they broke up, the two remained friends. Years later, after Katie married Army recruiter John Blaveld, Wayne ended up moving into their home. In a strange twist, he had become a housemate to his ex-girlfriend and her new husband.

• 24:07Speaker 05

  John offered me to move in with him and a roommate.

• 24:11Speaker 04

  So you lived with her and her husband?

• 24:12Speaker 05

  Um, yeah.

• 24:13Speaker 04

  That's weird.

• 24:14Speaker 05

  It was.

• 24:15Speaker 04

  Did he know that when you moved in?

• 24:18Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 24:20Mike Boudet?

  According to Wayne, John was aware of his past relationship with Katie and never seemed to be bothered by it. In fact, after a night of heavy drinking, Wayne claimed he was invited into their bedroom.

• 24:31Speaker 04

  When you were living with John and Katie, how were y'all being intimate with each other?

• 24:38Speaker 05

  Uh, it was the one once.

• 24:40Speaker 04

  And John was there or not there?

• 24:42Speaker 05

  He was, uh, it was...

• 24:43Speaker 04

  Did he know it? How did he not know it?

• 24:46Speaker 05

  I had to, yeah, it was like a threesome thing. And like after that, like, he just, he changed.

• 24:54Speaker 04

  And how did that come about?

• 24:57Speaker 05

  Um, I was drunk and he was drunk and it was her idea.

• 25:02Speaker 04

  I can see where that might cause some friction, but you continued to live there?

• 25:06Speaker 05

  Yeah. I mean, he didn't say anything verbally to me, you know, and like, I just thought everything was gonna be okay. Then they started having arguments because of me, because of, she told me that he was jealous of me.

• 25:26Speaker 04

  Their arguments are getting worse.

• 25:28Mike Boudet?

  Wayne described how John and Katie's marriage had fallen apart, marked by constant fighting and tension in the house. Eventually, Katie moved out, and a few months later, Wayne did as well. Then, after Katie went missing, Wayne claimed he had just decided on a whim to go look for her at the old abandoned farmhouse where her body was found.

• 25:51Speaker 04

  Tell me about the abandoned house. How do you know about it?

• 25:54Speaker 05

  Um, we used to go there and drink all the time. But I didn't get off of work until 11:00. And I called Ricky and see if he'd give me a ride. And I was almost home from work. And I asked him if he would take me to go to the abandoned house to look. And I used his flashlight to go in there, and I was looking on the ground.

• 26:16Speaker 04

  What flashlight?

• 26:17Speaker 05

  It was a headmine.

• 26:18Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 26:19Speaker 05

  And I was looking on the ground for any footprints or tracks or anything.

• 26:26Mike Boudet?

  Wayne said he went to the abandoned farmhouse in the middle of the night to look for Katie, which was something investigators immediately found unusual and highly suspicious.

• 26:36Speaker 05

  Then we went down to the basement, and I looked there in that concrete thing, and I seen a jacket. Looked to the left, and I see her.

• 26:50Speaker 04

  How do you know it was her?

• 26:52Speaker 05

  It's she was missing. Like, it's the first thing that popped into my head.

• 26:57Speaker 05

  After that, we ran over there, and then once I got to the road, I called down.

• 27:03Mike Boudet?

  Investigators also spoke with the young man who had driven Wayne to the farmhouse, Ricky Hargrove. His account of that night largely matched Wayne's version of events.

• 27:15Speaker 05

  And then he looks down, and he said, I think he said, "There she is. Oh, my God." And then I looked, glanced at her, and I said, "Oh, my God." I turn around and I hear him say Katie, like trying to wake her up or something. I'm like, dude, I think she's dead. I'm kind of going up the steps by then. And he comes up behind me when he's pulling out his phone, calling right then.

• 27:41Mike Boudet?

  Naturally, investigators were puzzled by this story. Something about it just didn't add up. It was strange enough that these two guys had randomly decided to search for Katie in the middle of the night. But even stranger was the first place they looked, they found her body. Detectives knew something wasn't right. One of them, or maybe both, had to be lying.

• 28:05Speaker 04

  Why didn't, why didn't you call the police?

• 28:09Speaker 05

  Uh, they already put out a missing report.

• 28:13Speaker 04

  No, no, I'm talking about the, all this conversation about the abandoned house. I'm just curious, why didn't you refer it and say, hey, look, y'all might look over there and look.

• 28:23Speaker 05

  I didn't think of it at the time. I didn't.

• 28:25Speaker 04

  That's kind of odd, isn't it?

• 28:28Speaker 05

  It's just like, I don't know. I just didn't expect anything to be there.

• 28:35Speaker 04

  You could have called and said, hey, I don't know if there's any truth to this, but I've heard people talking. And there's an abandoned house down here, and y'all may want to check that. That makes sense to me. Putting on a headlamp like a miner and going up in there at midnight don't make no sense to me.

• 28:58Mike Boudet?

  Another detail that bothered investigators was that Katie's car wasn't at the scene. It had actually been found the day before, abandoned in a parking lot several miles from the farmhouse, with its license plates removed. So when Wayne and Ricky showed up at that old house, investigators had to wonder, why go inside at all? If Katie's car wasn't there, what made them think she would be?

• 29:25Speaker 04

  Did you think she was dead?

• 29:27Speaker 05

  No, I didn't.

• 29:28Speaker 04

  Okay, but there's no cars there, so what are the odds if she's really there, that she would be okay?

• 29:37Speaker 05

  I just...

• 29:38Speaker 04

  But I mean, he- help me understand. I mean, I don't know. I'm trying, I'm trying to get it. Because you drive up there because you're, you're kind of worried about her. When you get there, there's no cars.

• 29:50Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 29:50Speaker 04

  Right? So, what's the probability that she's really there? How would she have gotten there? You know what I'm saying?

• 29:57Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 30:00Speaker 05

  This is just a abandoned house.

• 30:01Speaker 04

  Did you know she was dead?

• 30:03Speaker 05

  No.

• 30:04Mike Boudet?

  Detectives pressed Wayne with simple questions, one that should have been easy to answer. But instead of explanations, they got shoulder shrugs and a string of "I don't knows."

• 30:17Speaker 04

  It's really hard for me to get through my brain that you've got hundreds of law enforcement officers looking for this little girl that you said was a friend of yours. We're peening phone, we're subpoenaing records. We're trying to find this girl because people that love her are trying to find her. And yet you and other guy in there, the first place they look, they find her. What are the odds of that?

• 30:51Speaker 05

  What do you mean?

• 30:53Speaker 04

  I, I think they just said what I mean. You had a bunch of options, yeah? But if you, if you really cared about her, why didn't you kill somebody? Why didn't you get somebody else there? Why, why would you think the best idea is for you to walk into what turns out to be her final resting place where somebody murdered her and dumped her down there like a piece of trash? Why do you think the best solution for you and Ricky is to go up there and put your DNA all over a murder crime scene? Why?

• 31:34Speaker 05

  I just, I didn't think about that.

• 31:38Mike Boudet?

  Listening to this interview, it's not difficult to figure out what investigators were thinking. They clearly believed that Wayne already knew what had happened to Katie. He probably knew where her body was, and this so-called discovery had been completely staged.

• 31:54Speaker 04

  And we need to decide whether we're going to continue to risk being accessory before, after the fact of a murder, helping dispose of a body after it was already dead, or play stupid and end up getting charged with all of it. You know, because right now, we can't put your hand being the one that killed that girl. But you finding her there, that's way too big of a coincidence for me, pal. So, I'm not opposed to helping anybody that's made a mistake, Wayne, but I can't help you if you don't tell me the truth.

• 32:32Speaker 05

  You're telling me the truth.

• 32:34Speaker 04

  You're telling me part of the truth.

• 32:37Speaker 05

  I'm telling you the full truth. I've told you everything I know.

• 32:42Speaker 04

  You had told us everything you know, Wayne, but it's time for you to do that, okay?

• 32:48Mike Boudet?

  Investigators kept pressing Wayne for what they believed was the truth. But no matter how hard they pushed, he stood by his story, that he'd simply found Katie's body and he had nothing to do with her death, or how she ended up in the farmhouse.

• 33:03Speaker 04

  You took that, your poor unsuspecting friend, right down in the crime scene because you knew exactly where she was, and you couldn't stand the fact that she was going to be there and might not be found. That's what I think happened. You took that boy in there so you could find her body.

• 33:23Speaker 05

  No, I didn't. I'm telling you the full truth. I've told you everything that I can think of.

• 33:30Speaker 04

  What kind of hand did you have in putting her body there?

• 33:34Speaker 05

  None, none at all.

• 33:37Speaker 04

  None whatsoever?

• 33:38Speaker 05

  None whatsoever.

• 33:40Mike Boudet?

  Despite the investigators' efforts, Wayne stuck to his story and to his claim of innocence. After several hours of questioning, both he and Ricky Hargrove were released and sent home. From there, the focus shifted to the farmhouse itself. Detectives began narrowing down their list of suspects by looking for anyone who not only knew about Katie but was familiar with the property. They soon learned the house had a reputation. It was a popular hangout spot for local teenagers looking to drink or get high.

• 34:15Speaker 03

  Because the abandoned house that she was found in, like it was released in the news, was a high school hangout for us. We'd go over there and chill sometimes. But the only people that really knew about the house was the immediate group, which was me, Cameron, Wayne, who found Katie, Cheyenne, Ally, Nick, and John.

• 34:42Mike Boudet?

  When detectives reviewed the names of people connected to the farmhouse, one caught their attention: John Blavell, Katie's husband. He was 30 and an Army recruiter. So what was he doing hanging around a known teenage party hotspot?

• 35:00Speaker 04

  Are you familiar with this abandoned house? Yeah. Okay. That's the spot. What's the spot? The hangout spot. I've been there a couple times. When was the last time you were there?

• 35:13Speaker 04

  I don't know. Like a week ago, a month ago? It's been months.

• 35:18Mike Boudet?

  When asked, John admitted he was familiar with the farmhouse. He'd partied there before with some local teenagers. But he claimed he hadn't been there in months. Even if that was true, investigators couldn't ignore how strange it was for a nearly 30-year-old Army recruiter to be socializing with high school students.

• 35:41Mike Boudet?

  As they dug deeper, they learned that John's job often brought him into contact with juniors and seniors, and that drinking with them had apparently become part of his routine. Many of those students said they admired him, and why wouldn't they? He was a good-looking soldier with a confident smile and a uniform that commanded respect. On the surface, he looked like a man who had his life in order: disciplined, trustworthy, the kind of person parents might even encourage their kids to follow. But beneath that polished exterior, investigators were hearing something very different.

• 36:21Mike Boudet?

  According to several of those same teenagers, it wasn't unusual for John to invite potential recruits back to his house, where he'd let them drink and get high.

• 36:33Speaker 03

  He was doing some recruitment thing, and I guess he wasn't meeting his quota, so she had, or he had told her to invite some friends over to smoke, and then he would do the recruitment stuff then. And then, that's how we met him. So it was a pretty safe state, that's a hangout for, if I said kid your age back

• 36:56Mike Boudet?

  then, to hang out?

• 36:58Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 36:59Mike Boudet?

  Use drugs, drink alcohol?

• 37:00Speaker 03

  Yes, sir.

• 37:02Mike Boudet?

  As investigators spoke with these teenagers, they began to get a clearer picture of John and Katie's relationship. What they learned didn't quite match the simple and amicable separation story John had been telling.

• 37:16Speaker 03

  During the time that you were around, when they were together, did you ever see any violence between the two of them, any arguing, fighting? Katie? Yes. Yes, it was frequent. They were always fighting about something, and then John would always be yelling and screaming at her, and then they would just go in their room and lock the door and just fight. And we wouldn't see any of it, like visually, but there was...

• 37:41Mike Boudet?

  We could always hear it.

• 37:44Mike Boudet?

  Investigators eventually discovered that before her death, Katie had filed a police report with a different department than the one handling her murder case. In that report, she stated that John had threatened to kill her and her entire family.

• 37:59Speaker 03

  Katie filed a criminal domestic violence report with Fountain Inn Police in January. And in the report, she detailed a fight that she had had with her husband a month earlier, where he threatened her several times at home with a revolver, threatening to kill her if she would not open or unlock her phone. The report went on to say that John Blauffeld grabbed his shotgun, both sets of keys, and left the house, saying he was going to kill everybody she knows.

• 38:26Mike Boudet?

  Following this incident, Katie made up her mind to leave John. She went to the police and reported what had happened. Within days, officers were at the door to arrest him. She just left one day. It was like a Tuesday, and then she came back Friday with all the, the entire Fountain Inn Police Department, and it was a pretty big scene. It was a four hour thing. When police arrived at John's door, he was drinking and getting high with high school students.

• 38:53Speaker 03

  And then the night that it happened, when the cops showed up, he was, I'm not sure what he was on, but he was running around the house waving guns, saying that he wasn't going to let the cops in, and that he would like, would rather like, use the gun before he let them in. So.

• 39:11Speaker 04

  Is this the night he got arrested?

• 39:13Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 39:14Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 39:15Mike Boudet?

  Strangely, when officers arrested John, it wasn't for threatening Katie with a gun, even though she'd filed a report saying he had.

• 39:23Mike Boudet?

  Instead, he was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor for drinking and using drugs with teenagers. After the arrest, the Army was notified, and John's recruiting duties were suspended, pending an investigation.

• 39:36Speaker 04

  Because of the civil investigation, all my recruiting duties have been suspended. So I've literally been sitting here since about March. Wasn't there any duty during the day, just office type stuff? Playing on the phone.

• 39:49Mike Boudet?

  John knew that the Army's investigation was mostly a formality. He knew what the outcome would be. He'd be found guilty and discharged, ending a 10-year military career with a dishonorable record. After a decade of service, he'd essentially destroyed everything he'd built. But instead of any self-reflection, instead of admitting that giving alcohol and drugs to teenagers might have been a bad idea, John looked for someone to blame. All of his anger landed squarely on his soon-to-be ex-wife, Katie Blavel.

• 40:27Speaker 03

  And then everything kinda went bad for a little while. He feels like it's your fault that he's losing his job. He's just, he just blames it all on her, you know? And, um, I don't know if this matters or not. But I know he has a $150,000 life insurance policy on it too.

• 40:46Mike Boudet?

  As John waited for the Army to discharge him, his behavior didn't change. He continued drinking with the high school students and, according to several of them, he often talked about Katie's life insurance policy and his desire to see her dead.

• 41:01Speaker 06

  I was over there one day with a bunch of, like, friends and, like, John, like, he plotted out ways to, like, kill her, but it was jokingly.

• 41:14Mike Boudet?

  Incredibly, John also offered a 16-year-old girl $50,000 to help him build a false alibi. He planned to have this teenager drive his car and take his phone to Charleston, so it would appear he'd left town, when in reality, he'd still be in Simpsonville, killing Katie.

• 41:35Speaker 03

  He was like, uh, "Do you wanna go to Charleston?" And I was like, "You definitely wanna go to Charleston?" And he's like, "Yeah, I wanna go to Charleston, but what?" And he's like, "I want you to take my car and my phone and all that, like, me, you, and Cheyenne." And he was like, "No, just you." I was like, "Well, that's weird, I said, "Why?" And he was like, "I can't really tell you." And he was like, "Tell her I didn't wanna tell you, really." And I was like, "Well, why?" I was like, "I know, I mean, like, why do you want me to do?" And he was like, "Take my car and my phone and my credit card, that's what he wanted me to do." And he was drunk. And he was like, "'Cause I'm gonna kill Katie." He was gonna get Elliot to take his credit card and his phone to Charleston. And Elliot asked why, and he said so it would look like I was in Charleston.

• 42:16Speaker 03

  And I asked him what he was gonna do while she was in Charleston. He said he was gonna kill Katie and he would give her fifty thousand dollars. Which is the exact amount of life insurance policy.

• 42:30Mike Boudet?

  Naturally, after hearing these things about John, investigators confronted him with the accusations. John denied it all.

• 42:38Speaker 03

  Have you ever, and probably jokingly, I would assume, made a statement to any of your friends about wanting to kill Katie? No. Ever said, you know, "Well, if Katie dies, you know, we'll get some money or buy money to do anything with?" No.

• 42:56Speaker 03

  Have you ever got up to any friends and said, "Hey, would you do me a favor and take my car, take my keys, my debit card, my phone, go away for the weekend to Charleston, say, and that'll make it look like I'm out of town so I can kill Katie?" No. So if somebody told us that, they're making that up? I believe so, yeah.

• 43:17Mike Boudet?

  After being confronted with the accusations, John pointed the finger at Katie's family, claiming they were spreading lies about him. In his version of events, he was the real victim, and just as hurt as everyone else who loved Katie.

• 43:32Speaker 03

  That's the same type of shit that's been coming out of her family's mouth for the last fucking two weeks. And I'm getting kinda sick of it because I don't feel safe in my house anymore.

• 43:43Speaker 03

  Fucking dirtbag-ass family.

• 43:46Speaker 03

  Well, you gotta understand right now, they're going through a lot too. I'm trying to understand, but I'm going through the same fucking shit. I lost a friend. Maybe not the best life, but I lost a fucking friend.

• 43:57Mike Boudet?

  There was another crucial element in this investigation, one that would eventually give investigators their best shot at justice for Katie. It centered around a teenage girl named Hannah Thompson.

• 44:10Speaker 03

  So this girl Hannah, tell me about her. Her and John like a couple or? Hannah and John have been sort of together, I guess, for like seven, eight months, seven months. So, pretty much since he and Katie split up?

• 44:31Mike Boudet?

  While John and Katie were still living together, John began sleeping with seventeen-year-old Hannah Thompson. And after Katie moved out, Hannah became John's live-in girlfriend. Once investigators learned about Hannah and her connection to John, they were, of course, eager to speak with her.

• 44:49Speaker 03

  When was the last time you, uh, you saw Katie? Like, a few months ago. What was your feelings towards her? I mean, I always, like, I've always seen her as, like, a friend, because, like, you know, she always told me that she was, like, here for me if I ever needed anything, um. So, as a pair, you say you were, you were on good terms with her once she was killed? Mm-hmm. Okay. We had a good relationship, like, we were all kind of close. Uh, did John ever make any mention of life insurance policy on her? I don't know. He never talked to me about it. Has he ever joked around about things would be better if she was dead, or I should kill her? No. Have you ever joked about that? Yes, sir.

• 45:34Mike Boudet?

  Within moments of speaking with Hannah, investigators were fairly certain of one thing. She was trying to cover for John. In other words, she was lying to protect him, which was an extremely dumb thing to do.

• 45:49Speaker 03

  We've been working this case steady since she disappeared. Right. So, there's a lot of these things that we know the answers to. Mm-hmm. I can tell you already, you're lying to me. Okay?

• 46:01Speaker 03

  You do not want to get wrapped up in catching a murder charge. You're seventeen years old, you have your entire life ahead of you. Mm-hmm. You may love John, and you may think you two are gonna get married and walk down Yellow Brick Road. Okay? But no man and no woman is worth going to prison for.

• 46:18Mike Boudet?

  Investigators gave Hannah the typical pep talk about honesty, consequences, and the importance of coming clean. But none of it seemed to sink in.

• 46:27Speaker 03

  When you told me earlier that you and John Art an item that was a lot, right? No, we're not really like, there's not a label on it. So who are you dating? I'm not dating anybody. But if you look at your Facebook status, you just posted on Sunday that you're currently in the most amazing relationship ever, or something along those lines. So who was that relationship with on Sunday? It was, I mean, it was with John, but we're not like in a relationship, like we're not dating. I just have a good relationship with him.

• 47:01Mike Boudet?

  While Hannah denied being in a romantic relationship with John, investigators only turned up the pressure. They were clearly convinced that she knew a lot more than she was saying.

• 47:12Speaker 03

  Well, after me and John started like getting together, Katie started not liking me, and I'm gonna say it right now, that like,

• 47:25Speaker 03

  she was not nice sometimes, but she did not deserve that.

• 47:31Speaker 03

  What she deserves right now is for us to figure out who did this to her. I know, I know. I know, and I. And at this point, nobody needs to cover for anybody. If you know something and you're trying to cover up for it, you're gonna go down with the rest of them. You're gonna go down with the person who did this to her. I don't know anything about her. You do. I don't. You do. I really don't. We really do. You do. We know more than you think we do. I think which is evident. I, I don't wanna talk anymore right now. Okay, because. You know who else can't talk right now is Katie. Man, she's not able to ever talk again.

• 48:14Mike Boudet?

  Investigators kept pressing Hannah, but they went too far. The moment they showed her the photos of Katie's body, the interview fell apart.

• 48:23Speaker 03

  What do you think about somebody that would stab her in the neck to the point where the knife went all the way through to the other side? And then stick her body like a piece of trash in the basement of an abandoned house to sit there for a day and a half before somebody finds her? Look at her, Hannah, she's right here. I don't wanna look at her. That's your friend. I don't wanna do this anymore. Don't wanna do what? Don't wanna help us find out who killed her? All you gotta do is tell the truth.

• 48:55Speaker 03

  Can I, can I tell you something? To tell the truth, you don't have to.

• 48:58Speaker 04

  Try, it just flows, it just comes out.

• 49:02Speaker 03

  Can I please leave? Can I please leave? Hannah, this is a friend of yours that we're trying to do- I know, and I wanna help, but I can't. Listen to me- I feel- Listen to me for just a second. This is a friend of yours, or was a friend of yours, and somebody brutally murdered her. I know. Okay? Unfortunately, you are right in the middle of all of this. And for- to sit here and lie to us to begin with, it is- is not helping you at all.

• 49:29Mike Boudet?

  Before long Hannah abruptly stood up, walked out of the room, and the investigators had no choice but to let her go. Around the same time, their interview with John ended as well. After he refused a lie detector test and said he'd be contacting a lawyer.

• 49:45Speaker 03

  I'm just gonna ask you point blank, did you kill Katie?

• 49:48Speaker 04

  No.

• 49:49Speaker 03

  Do you know who killed her?

• 49:50Speaker 04

  No.

• 49:51Speaker 03

  Would you be willing to take polygraph so we can go ahead and do that with you and eliminate you and start looking elsewhere?

• 49:56Speaker 04

  I'd have to talk to my lawyer about that first.

• 49:57Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 49:58Speaker 04

  See what he says, 'cause I don't know about that at all.

• 50:01Mike Boudet?

  By this point, investigators had gathered a good amount of evidence against John. Several interviews with friends and acquaintances painted the disturbing picture of John repeatedly talking about killing Katie and hiding her body. One witness said that John even offered them money to help him create a false alibi. Investigators also knew John had a documented history of domestic violence towards Katie, and that he was the sole beneficiary of her life insurance policy. Also, cellphone records placed John's phone near the parking lot where Katie's car was abandoned, at the exact time it was left there. Despite all of this, investigators decided to hold off on arresting John, wanting more

• 50:46Mike Boudet?

  time to strengthen their case. They let John walk out of the interview room. This was a decision that would turn out to be a very big mistake.

• 50:58Speaker 03

  Hannah Thompson's mother reported her missing yesterday to the Fountain Inn Police Department. The report states that the teen was last seen on October 30th. Hannah's mother told police that her daughter is believed to be with John Blaveld, the known homicide suspect. Investigators told Hannah's mom that Hannah's bank account has been left untouched since her last paycheck.

• 51:20Mike Boudet?

  In November of 2016, when investigators went looking for John and Hannah again, both of them were gone. No note, no warning, no trace. They had simply vanished. Their phones were dead, their car missing, and every lead hit a dead end. Overnight, the prime suspect of his teenage girlfriend had disappeared into the wind, leaving behind a grieving family in an open murder case. For the next six long years, the investigation into Katie's death would remain frozen in place,

• 52:01Mike Boudet?

  just waiting for the day that John Blaveld finally resurfaced.

• 52:30Mike Boudet?

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• 53:14Mike Boudet?

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• 53:44Speaker 03

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• 54:29Speaker 03

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• 54:41Speaker 01

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• 55:20Mike Boudet?

  In November of 2016, the investigation into Katie Blaveld's murder took a shocking turn. Her estranged husband, the prime suspect, Army recruiter John Blaveld, had disappeared. He'd fled town with his teenage girlfriend, Hannah Thompson, and nobody seemed to know where they might have gone.

• 55:39Speaker 03

  Well, 28-year-old John Blaveld is charged with murder in the death of his wife Catherine, who went by Katie. Katie's body was found in an abandoned house in Simpsonville back on October 26th. Investigators say she was killed with a knife two days earlier. Her husband was last seen on November 15th in New Mexico and remains on the run. Simpsonville Police say investigators believe that he's with his 17-year-old girlfriend.

• 56:04Mike Boudet?

  After John and Hannah fled, police spent weeks chasing scattered tips across state lines, but nothing brought them any closer to finding the couple or even knowing where they might be hiding. For Katie's mom and the rest of her family, this was a crushing setback.

• 56:21Speaker 06

  Because losing your child, I mean, losing a member of the family is hard, but losing your child is just unbearable. And then, in the beginning, we had hopes that we knew John did it. We just, in all hearts, knew John did it. But police have to go through their steps before they can, you know, sort of once and get him. And waiting was hard, but we thought, you know, we know they got him, they'll get him. But then when he ran, our hearts sunk, like, now what?

• 56:50Mike Boudet?

  Weeks turned into months, and there were still no credible signs of John or Hannah. Then, just when it seemed like all hope was lost, Hannah Thompson walked into a police station and turned herself in.

• 57:05Speaker 03

  Obviously, we brought you in here today because we wanted to talk to you about the truth and about everything that's been going on with you, but let me tell you that we are very glad that you're back and that you're safe and that nothing bad happened to you.

• 57:19Mike Boudet?

  After Hannah returned to Simpsonville, investigators wasted no time. To find John, they needed to know what they'd been doing while they were gone.

• 57:29Speaker 03

  Well, where did you go first? When you guys first left from the Simpsonville Fountain area, where'd you guys go? Um, we went to Spartanburg first.

• 57:42Speaker 03

  Because John had like a friend that he worked with that said that we could park um, the car in his yard to sleep there. And so we did that for a few days and then

• 57:54Speaker 03

  he drove like for two days straight, like not sleeping or anything, like through Georgia. And then Alabama. Like he basically drove all the way to Texas before he went to sleep.

• 58:09Mike Boudet?

  According to Hannah, she and John hit the road and never looked back. They drove through several states, living like fugitives, mostly sleeping in their car, always on the move and always looking over their shoulder.

• 58:23Speaker 03

  What was the game plan when you guys left? I don't think we really had one, like, I guess both of us just kind of panicked and he decided that he wanted to leave, like the state. And

• 58:38Speaker 03

  he told me that we were gonna leave and I was like, okay. What was the reason for panicking? Um, I think that was like around the time that like you and like the other investigators had been like texting me and he wouldn't let me reply or anything.

• 58:56Mike Boudet?

  Hannah told investigators that John had simply panicked. He knew it was only a matter of time before he was arrested, so he ran. As for Hannah, she claims she'd only left with John because he'd convinced her that she had no other options.

• 59:12Speaker 03

  Like he just kept telling me that if I talked to anybody that I would go to jail. If I went back home, I would go to jail. If I left him, I would go to jail, like he just kept saying that, like pretty much every day. He made me believe that like he knew what was best for me and he like, he would say he was like...

• 59:31Mike Boudet?

  Hannah explained that after several weeks on the run, the couple made it all the way to Oregon. That's where John's paranoia began to take over. He was unraveling more and more each day and panicking over the smallest things. Then one afternoon at McDonald's, his anxiety finally got the better of him.

• 59:51Speaker 03

  We had stopped down at McDonald's and he was gonna use like wifi. Cause that's usually where we would go like Starbucks and McDonald's to get the wifi. And he like went to go find a table and sit at and I went to the bathroom. And then when I came out, he was like, he had like packed everything up like really fast. And he was like, we gotta go like right now. And I was like asking him why and he just wasn't like talking to me. He was just like, we just gotta go. And we got in the car and he like, he just kinda like threw the laptop like on my lap. And like basically threw it out of McDonald's and I kept asking him like what's going on, like what's wrong?

• 1:00:35Speaker 03

  He was like, I can't talk right now. He was like, I'm trying to focus.

• 1:00:40Mike Boudet?

  John had seemingly snapped. He began driving like a madman weaving through the winding roads of Eugene, Oregon, pushing deeper into the mountains as his paranoia took over.

• 1:00:52Speaker 03

  We like drove up into the mountains and he like freaking out, like just being really like hectic and like in his own head and you know, just panicking. I kept asking him why and he just kept telling me to be quiet and not talk to him and stuff like that. And then he just got the car like stuck in, um, like in trees, like in the mountains. And then I was like, why did you do that? Like, what are you doing? Like, how are we gonna get it back out? And he was like, we'll figure it out. He said that we would hike, we had to hike, like walk off the mountain basically.

• 1:01:32Mike Boudet?

  John's paranoia had made a very bad situation even worse. The couple was already on the run for murder and now John had managed to get their car stuck deep in the wilderness. There was no way to get it out without drawing attention, which meant they just lost their only means of transportation. Hannah said this was the moment it finally hit her. Something inside her seventeen-year-old brain finally clicked. She was trapped in the middle of nowhere with a man who was losing his grip. And for the first time, she realized that her life was in real danger.

• 1:02:08Speaker 03

  I feel like when he crashed the car, he was trying to kill me or both of us because he was just driving like into trees, like full speed, just like so fast. And we were hitting stuff and I was really, I got scared like at that point, felt like I was gonna die.

• 1:02:29Mike Boudet?

  That night, John and Hannah spent what would be their final night in the car. John talked about ending it all. A double suicide, he said, might be their only way out. The next morning, as they made their way off the mountain, he confessed something that was just as terrifying.

• 1:02:48Speaker 03

  That night, I remember before I went to bed, he told me, he was like, I'm thinking about letting the car run all night so that we both die in our sleep. And then the next morning, he, he had taken a gun with him, like when we left. And he, the next morning, he said he really thought about shooting me in my sleep and then shooting himself.

• 1:03:15Mike Boudet?

  After weeks of living on the road and dealing with John's spiraling, unpredictable behavior, Hannah finally broke. She wanted out. She wanted to live and she wanted to go home.

• 1:03:28Speaker 03

  And I was just, at that point, I was kind of like, not really having it. And I was crying and I was like, I can't do this anymore. I was like, I need to go home, like. And he, and then he just started crying and he was like, saying, oh, don't worry, I'm gonna fix it, I'm gonna fix it. He was like, I'll find it somewhere. He started like yelling at me and calling me names and saying that if I left, he was gonna kill himself. He like ran from me, like he ran away from me, just like screaming. And then he came back. He was just like, I was panicking again. He was like saying that he did all that stuff for me, like, and all this stuff.

• 1:04:13Speaker 03

  Like killing me, like, he was like, I did that for you. And like, all that kind of stuff, like trying to make me feel like it was my fault, like.

• 1:04:25Speaker 03

  And he kept telling me that like, if I went home, like, I wouldn't get to see my parents because I would just go straight to jail. He was just trying to make me feel guilty. And like, he told me that like, he was the only person I could ever trust in the world. He basically told me I didn't have anybody else but him.

• 1:04:48Mike Boudet?

  Hannah told investigators that John had manipulated her into staying with him, convinced her she didn't have a choice. But then, one day, John was simply gone.

• 1:05:01Speaker 03

  Then, like one morning, like, he had gotten up. He was like, I'll be right back, like, I'm gonna go into the bathroom. I was like, okay, I was probably half asleep.

• 1:05:17Speaker 03

  He just got up and left. And then I went back to sleep. Then I had woken up. He still wasn't back. And I was just like, I'm not just gonna like sit here, like. And by then, I was having to use the bathroom too. So I got up. I went to try and find the library.

• 1:05:43Mike Boudet?

  Hannah said she made her way to a nearby library, logged into a public computer and sent a few messages through her social media. A friend responded, offering to come get her and take her home to Simpsonville. She accepted and said that, from that moment on, John Blavell was gone from her life.

• 1:06:03Speaker 03

  By the time I had gotten back on the computer, everybody had like responded to me. And that's when like Angie came to pick me up. They had like arranged it where they could pick me up.

• 1:06:16Speaker 03

  Did you ever see John again? No.

• 1:06:19Mike Boudet?

  During this interview, it became clear that Hannah had switched sides. She now recognized that John was dangerous and manipulative, and investigators appeared to believe her story. At least, that's the impression they gave her.

• 1:06:33Speaker 03

  Do you understand now what he was trying to do? I feel like he was just trying to like manipulate me and just make it so that like he would be alone so that I wouldn't tell anybody anything. It seemed to me like he was looking out for his best interests the whole time, and it really had nothing to do with you. It just didn't really make sense because like, I've never like trusted somebody that much before.

• 1:07:02Mike Boudet?

  With Hannah now seemingly on their side, investigators shifted focus. They pressed for details about Katie's murder. They wanted to know what Hannah knew, how involved she'd been, and anything John might have told her.

• 1:07:17Speaker 03

  The last time you went to work with him, was that that Monday? That was the last time you went to work with him? Okay. Um, so he was driving you in passenger seat? With just the two of you? Yeah. And you went up to work with him at nine? Um, did you sit in the car? Did you go walk around? What did you do? I sat in the car. And I remember him telling me he needed me to drop him off on Woods and Grove. And so I turned and we were in the parking lot. And he got out of the car. He started walking. And I didn't think to like ask him what you were doing like, because at this point, we'd been dating for kind of like a while and

• 1:08:00Speaker 03

  it was just not something that I usually do, like ask him what he's doing or like why he's doing something, um.

• 1:08:09Mike Boudet?

  Hannah told investigators she had nothing to do with planning Katie's murder and claimed she didn't even know what John was up to. According to her, on the day of the murder, she simply gave John a ride to a remote parking lot and dropped him off without asking any questions. Investigators later concluded that John had likely lured Katie to the abandoned house where she was killed. Phone records showed that despite their separation and despite the restraining order, the two were still in contact. It seemed that Katie, ever hopeful, wanted to believe their marriage could still be saved. John used that hope to his advantage, and ultimately to lure her to her death.

• 1:08:53Speaker 03

  What was his relationship with Katie like? Did he still communicate with her to your knowledge? Every time they talked, she would call from a private number. And they would only use texting apps to talk to each other because they had a restraining order, I guess. And so they were like, kind of sneaking around, talking to each other.

• 1:09:17Mike Boudet?

  Hannah also claimed that John later described the murder to her. He told her that when he stabbed Katie, the knife broke off in her neck. And as she bled to death, Katie begged him to let her go.

• 1:09:30Speaker 03

  At some point, they were on the trail leading up to the abandoned house. He told me that's where they went. That he took her there. He says that they were talking for a little bit. He doesn't say exactly the conversation. He just said they were talking, and then he just did it. And he said that he stabbed her in her neck and that there was a lot of blood. And she told him that if he lets her go, she won't say anything to anybody.

• 1:10:04Mike Boudet?

  Investigators believe that after Katie bled to death, John dragged her body into the basement of the abandoned house and covered her with planks of wood. Then he went home, met back up with Hannah, and once again asked for her help.

• 1:10:19Speaker 03

  So I went back home, and John was outside. I didn't even go inside the house. But he was outside, and he was like, he used you to follow me, and he stopped the car somewhere. And I was like, okay. And he had this like bag.

• 1:10:38Mike Boudet?

  John loaded what investigators believed was a trash bag full of his bloody clothes into Hannah's car. Then he told her to follow him as he drove Katie's vehicle to an empty parking lot.

• 1:10:50Speaker 03

  And I followed him and we just drove like for a long time because he didn't get on the highway at all.

• 1:11:01Mike Boudet?

  John parked Katie's car, removed the license plates, and climbed into Hannah's vehicle. The two then headed back home, but not before stopping at a couple of dumpsters where John disposed of the plates, the bag of bloody clothes, and anything else that might tie him to the crime.

• 1:11:19Speaker 03

  When he threw the clothes away or the bags away, did you know at that point in time what was in the bags? No. Okay. Then what happened? We go home.

• 1:11:29Mike Boudet?

  Hannah claimed that as she drove John around that day, she had no idea. She was essentially acting as his accomplice. She said she didn't even know Katie was dead until days later, after the body was found and after the story hit the media.

• 1:11:45Speaker 03

  When I woke up in the morning, my mom had like sent me like this news story that like a body was found in the man's house. And I was just like, I immediately got like cold chills. And I was like, oh my gosh, like what is going on? Like, I used to go there all the time. It was just really scary. And I immediately like woke John up and I showed him.

• 1:12:13Mike Boudet?

  Hannah said that once she learned about Katie's murder, the truth slowly began to sink in. At first, John denied having anything to do with it, but deep down, she knew he was lying. Eventually, he admitted to what he'd done, though he rarely talked about the details. And whenever Hannah tried to ask him, he'd turn it back on her, making her feel guilty for even bringing it up.

• 1:12:39Speaker 03

  It was just so crazy because like. I didn't know like what to think and he had told me like the police didn't want to talk to you, he was like, you need to lie to them or else you're gonna go to jail, like you're never gonna get to see your mom, like, like the way that I felt, it felt like I did it, you know, like. When did he tell Hannah that he killed her? She never like came out and said, I killed her, but like. But you knew in your gut that he did it? Yeah. Did you ever ask him, hey, John, did you kill Katie? Mm-hmm. And what did he say? He was just, he would just brush it off, like, he'd be like,

• 1:13:24Speaker 03

  you guys don't want to talk about that right now, like, kind of making me feel dumb for like the, no, for asking it.

• 1:13:31Mike Boudet?

  Considering Hannah's relationship with John, that she was sleeping with him, running with him, and protecting him, it would be easy to doubt her story. But honestly, I don't. John completely played her for his own benefit. And I do believe that he turned her into an accomplice without her even realizing it. Judging by the way the investigators treated Hannah, I don't think they doubted her story either.

• 1:14:01Speaker 03

  I'm not saying that you knew what he was about to do, Hannah, okay? And quite honestly, I don't think that you had a hand in it at all. I'm just scared of being able to let anybody to think that like, I would do, or help somebody do something like that to anybody, like, I'm just really scared. Here's what I think, okay? One, I know he took advantage of you. He trusted you and he lured you and promised you whatever, told you whatever, and then made you do stuff that in the long run was just to save him.

• 1:14:43Mike Boudet?

  Hannah's return to Simpsonville was a good thing for several reasons. For one, she was safe and no longer on the run with a killer. And it also gave investigators another potential witness that could testify against John when his case went to trial. But that would only matter if they could actually find him and catch him.

• 1:15:05Speaker 03

  We're still looking for John. While he's out there, there's no telling what he's gonna do. Did he ever talk about going to Mexico, or Canada, or flying anywhere? Well, we first left, he talked about going to Mexico.

• 1:15:22Mike Boudet?

  Unfortunately, when it came to John's whereabouts, Hannah didn't have much to offer. As far as anyone knew, John might not have even been in the country anymore. And the investigation into Katie Blaveld's murder remained open and unresolved for years.

• 1:15:39Speaker 06

  This week marks three years since 22-year-old Katie Blaveld was brutally murdered in Simpsonville. Police say her estranged husband, John, is a suspect in her murder. But Simpsonville police say he's been on the run since they found her body in a cellar of an abandoned home. Now, he was last seen on the West Coast back in 2016 and not been seen since.

• 1:16:05Mike Boudet?

  By 2021, investigators had renewed their efforts to find John. Part of that effort meant bringing Hannah Thompson, now 22-years-old, back into the interview room.

• 1:16:17Speaker 03

  John is not a good person, obviously, and we are trying desperately to find him, okay? But we're still looking for him, and he needs to be held responsible for what he's done, okay?

• 1:16:31Mike Boudet?

  During this follow-up interview, Hannah made a disturbing admission. She told investigators that she'd remained in regular contact with John for years after returning to Simpsonville in 2016.

• 1:16:45Speaker 03

  And how are you guys communicating? At the very beginning, we were communicating on Facebook and Messenger. And then, after that, we were talking on Snapchat. Like, at first, we were talking every single day, multiple times, like for hours a day. I was the one that stopped communication with him. And I had just decided to, like, do it. I didn't tell him, like, "I'm not gonna talk to you anymore, I don't think..." And... So I think the conversation was pretty, like, I don't know, like, substance to it, really. Just maybe, like, "Hey, how are you?" Where was he back then? I know that he was living with somebody. Who?

• 1:17:28Speaker 03

  Um, a girl that he said that they were dating. She had her own house, I think. I think it was an apartment. Okay. But he also did like meet her parents and like they had gone to her parents' house, stuff like that too. So. What's the girl's name? I don't know. Where was that at? I don't really know. Whenever I would ask him like where he was, he would not tell me. He'd say like, I'm not telling you that or like, I can't tell you that.

• 1:18:01Mike Boudet?

  Unfortunately, by the time Hannah made this admission, it had been nearly a year since she'd last heard from John. Even so, the information helped investigators narrow their search. In 2022, about six years after Katie's murder, John Blaveld was finally found.

• 1:18:21Speaker 06

  Tonight, an upstayed man on the run since 2016, who investigators say killed his estranged wife, is now in custody. The victim's family just confirmed to us, John Blaveld was arrested in Jackson County, Oregon. Online records show he's been booked into that local detention center today.

• 1:18:42Mike Boudet?

  After his arrest, John made several jailhouse calls to friends and family. The recordings gave investigators a glimpse into his state of mind, as well as the events that led him to go on the run.

• 1:18:55Speaker 06

  Oh, you're not even in prison yet? No, I still gotta go to trial and everything. I'm gonna be in this jail for two to three years.

• 1:19:03Speaker 06

  Oh, no. Yeah. I thought you were in prison. So, okay. That's why I need a lawyer.

• 1:19:11Speaker 06

  I got a, I signed up for a public defender. But you know, they're like fresh out of college. They don't give a shit what happens. They just need to do their time.

• 1:19:20Speaker 06

  So. I don't even know. Not to get a real attorney. But we'll see. Like I, I'm gonna be in this jail for years. You know, they're not gonna give me a bond because they know I'll run because I just ran for six years. The day I ran, I, I, I wasn't staying at my house anymore. And I was on my way home from work or something, from somewhere. Uh huh. Uh, because I just like to stop by and, and check on my dog. And I saw the police at my house knocking on my door. Oh. So I said, okay, I'm leaving. And then I left and.

• 1:19:53Speaker 03

  I was home once for a while, then I was working for a while and I met a girl and I lived with her for like four years. And then one morning the US Marshals came, I was out front, uh, tending to my vegetable garden and the US Marshals just pulled up in the driveway. But that night I got the best sleep that I've had in six years, so I guess there's a positive to it. Yeah, I guess, I don't know. I was, I've been anxious, you know, I've had that anxiety, depression the whole time, but I'm actually feeling really good now, I'm at peace.

• 1:20:24Mike Boudet?

  During these calls, John said more than once that he was relieved to be caught, happy even, that he no longer had to live his life constantly looking over his shoulder.

• 1:20:36Speaker 03

  I, I was, I was on the run for six years, man, I was, and I was just used to pace. Every night I would pace in the living room until like three thirty, four o'clock in the morning, fully dressed, like, ready to run, you know what I mean? It was, uh, yeah, like when I seen the marshals like pull into the driveway, like ten dudes, guns out, and I just, I swear dude, I smiled. I was like, I was like, I can't believe it's over. I got in the, I got in the truck and the marshal was like, "Six years is a long run, man," and I was like, "Oh, I'm glad you finally found me." It was like, it was a nightmare.

• 1:21:10Mike Boudet?

  What's most disturbing about these calls is what John didn't say. Not once did he mention Katie, her family, or show a single hint of remorse. Like a textbook narcissist, every word was about himself and the supposed peace he'd finally found.

• 1:21:29Speaker 03

  He didn't even, like, feel bad after the fact. Why do you say that? He never cried about it or anything, like, he just, I feel like it never happened.

• 1:21:47Mike Boudet?

  I'm not trying to even get mad at me if I started crying about it. In later phone calls, John shared more about the six years he'd spent on the run. He described how he'd managed to weasel his way into another woman's life, lying about his name, his past, and who he really was.

• 1:22:07Speaker 03

  Then I met that girl, did real good. I like maintained her budget, put her on a diet, like turned her life around. We bought a house together in September. It took three years to save up money, we bought a house, all in her name. And then I got arrested. The US Marshals tracked me down. And I called her, like, a week later from jail. And she was like, "Fuck you, you ruined my life." And I was like, "Oh, okay."

• 1:22:37Mike Boudet?

  You didn't know about anything, I guess?

• 1:22:39Speaker 03

  No, hell no. I didn't tell her shit about this. I had a fake name. I was going by Ben. I liked that name, too. We had a good time. We had a good life, man. We had a house, we had a dog, we had three cats. I didn't work for two years. I worked for the first two years we were together, I was a landscaper. Mowing lawns, building fences and stuff like that.

• 1:22:59Mike Boudet?

  Right.

• 1:23:00Speaker 03

  And then, uh, that guy retired. He retired, so then I was out of a job. And she was like, "Well, you can just stay at home. Just keep the house clean, take care of the dog." And I was like, "All right."

• 1:23:12Mike Boudet?

  Once again, this narcissist seemed either blissfully unaware or simply incapable of understanding that by dating this woman, living with her for years, and hiding his past, he'd made her a victim as well.

• 1:23:26Speaker 03

  So he's being arrested on charges out of South Carolina for murder. Are you serious? Yeah. I can't believe it. I love you. We've been together for like six years. He would do random odd jobs. He was basically here watching my cats and my, my dog all the time.

• 1:23:44Mike Boudet?

  When John's girlfriend learned the truth, she was devastated. And who wouldn't be? Imagine living with someone for nearly six years, loving them, trusting them, only to find out they were wanted in another state for murder? That the name and the backstory they'd given you were complete lies? The man she thought she knew had been living a double life. But this woman wasn't the only one to face the fallout. With John behind bars, it was finally time for Hannah Thompson to face justice as well.

• 1:24:17Speaker 03

  There is also a second suspect in Katie's death. Hannah Thompson was John Blaveld's teenage girlfriend who fled the state with him. She is now 25 and charged with obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact.

• 1:24:32Mike Boudet?

  Despite the charges against her, Hannah agreed to testify against John at his trial without any promise of leniency from prosecutors. Unlike John, Hannah's remorse seemed genuine. And as the star witness for the state, she helped ensure that John Blaveld received the prison sentence that he deserved.

• 1:24:53Speaker 01

  On Friday, a jury found John Tufton Blaveld guilty of murdering his estranged wife in 2016. Blaveld, the former US Army recruiter out of Greenville, now a convicted killer, was sentenced by the judge to life without the possibility of parole.

• 1:25:13Mike Boudet?

  As for Hannah, she pleaded guilty to her charges and received probation for helping John flee after the murder. Her reduced sentence reflected both her cooperation with investigators and the fact she was only 17 when she ran away with him. There's no question that Hannah was also a victim in this case. John clearly manipulated her. But one thing about her lenient punishment still feels hard to accept. After returning to Simpsonville in 2016, Hannah stayed in contact with John for years. And she didn't tell investigators about this until 2021. She said nothing, knowing that Katie's family was still suffering.

• 1:25:58Mike Boudet?

  She said nothing knowing that a killer was still out there and could strike again at any time. Maybe a more fitting punishment would have been a prison sentence that matched the years she kept this secret. But that's just my opinion. And what do I know? I'm a podcaster. In the end, what matters most is that Katie's family finally got some measure of justice and hopefully a bit of peace in knowing that John Blaveld will spend the rest of his life behind bars. What's one thing that we should know about Katie?

• 1:26:32Speaker 03

  One of the things I had was something about her laugh and her big eyes and her smile, and she just had a true heart. And her name is Katie, but her name is Catherine, and it meant innocent and pure. And that's what she was, and we lost that.

• 1:26:48Mike Boudet?

  The murder of Katie Blaveld wasn't a crime of passion or a moment of rage. It was the calculated act of a man who understood appearances, how to weaponize them and how to hide behind them. As a soldier, a recruiter, and a husband, John Blaveld knew exactly how to make people believe he was something worth trusting. But beneath that uniform, an easy smile, was a manipulator who saw others as tools to use, to control, to discard. He fooled his wife, his girlfriend, his community, and for a time, even the system

• 1:27:29Mike Boudet?

  meant to hold him accountable. In the end, John's greatest deception wasn't how he escaped justice, it was how long he convinced everyone that he was one of the good guys. If nothing else, Katie's murder is a reminder that trust should never be automatic, because anyone can wear a uniform that hides their deception. And sometimes, that person wearing it is a monster.

• 1:28:07Mike Boudet?

  We hope you enjoyed that episode like we hope you enjoy all episodes of Sword and Scale, which are available on our website, swordandscale.com. If you do enjoy that sort of content, head on over there, maybe download our app as well, sign up for Plus. You can get all kinds of content. You can get hundreds and hundreds of hours, all new stories. And you can also get Sword and Scale Television, or TV. Features hour-long episodes, each dedicated to a particularly gruesome case. And it's filmed in a very, uh, how would I say, maybe a David Fincher-like style?

• 1:28:52Mike Boudet?

  If that helps. It's very moody. It's very aesthetically pleasing. I don't know how to really break it down for you, but we spent a lot of time getting it right and making sure that it's the best goddamn true crime show you can find anywhere on TV or podcasts or anywhere. So definitely go take a look-see if you like it. It's right there for you. All 26 episodes. Plus, we got one coming every month for the rest of the year. So make sure to check it out while you can because it seems like true crime isn't really in vogue these days. A lot of people aren't that interested anymore.

• 1:29:36Mike Boudet?

  So it's you, yes, you, keeping the lights on, making sure that we continue offering this show for you every week. So one way to make sure that happens is to support us. This is my long beg. I only do this once a year. I do a long beg. It's part of my, it's part of my routine before I go back to my natural habitat. But, um, yeah, I'm running out of things to say here, so, um, yeah, just buy it or something? I don't know, or don't. I guess it's the free market speaking up.

• 1:30:17Mike Boudet?

  Probably shouldn't have alienated all of you woke people. Sorry about that. Oh, well, guess I made my bed.

• 1:30:29Mike Boudet?

  For those of you still left, I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful rest of your week. And, uh, I don't know, stay safe.

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