In the soft South Carolina night, in the city of Simpsonville, Cati Blauvelt was missing. It had been two fearful days for her mom, Patti Piver.

Patti Piver: I just was terrified that something was gonna happen to her.

Then, past midnight on Oct. 26 2016, investigators Cheryl Schofield and Keith Morecraft were dispatched to the scene. Cati’s mangled body had been found in an abandoned farmhouse. She was 22 years old. A knife blade left in her body.

Investigator Keith Morecraft: There was a rectangular concrete box kind of in the center of the basement. … We found Cati’s body inside that box.

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: Her body had basically been folded into this box. It was a picture of what you would see in a horror movie.

Cati’s mom was overwhelmed.

Patti Piver: I was totally empty inside. … She did not deserve to be murdered.

Jennifer Piver is Cati’s stepsister.

Jennifer Piver:  I just prayed and cried and … Just sick. Just sick.

Morecraft and another investigator went to tell John Blauvelt his wife’s body had been found.

Investigator Keith Morecraft: We went to make the death notification.

INVESTIGATOR (death notification visit): I’m so sorry for your loss, sir.

At first, Blauvelt appeared distressed. But as the conversation progressed his demeanor changed.

Investigator Keith Morecraft: Didn’t ask normal questions … such as … where did you find her? How did she die?

Peter Van Sant: He wasn’t shocked by the news?

Investigator Keith Morecraft: He didn’t seem to be at all.

Peter Van Sant: What did that suggest to you?

Investigator Keith Morecraft: That he knew how she died. He knew where her body was.

John Blauvelt did have one question. But it wasn’t about Cati.

JOHN BLAUVELT (death notification visit): Am I being charged with a crime? Because he’s recording me. And I’m not comfortable with that.

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT: You’re not being charged —

JOHN BLAUVELT: OK.

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT: — with a crime right now.

Peter Van Sant: Right away you sensed this could be our guy.

Investigator Keith Morecraft: I was pretty confident at the time.

But they couldn’t arrest him on a feeling. First Morecraft and Schofield had evidence to gather and a case to build. But just as they got started, John Blauvelt took to the road. Traveling with him was Hannah Thompson, his new girlfriend, all of 17.

Peter Van Sant: How concerned were you about Hannah’s safety?

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: If he was willing to kill his own wife, there’s no telling what kind of danger Hannah Thompson would’ve been in by fleeing with him.

WHEN CATI MET JOHN BLAUVELT

But John Blauvelt hadn’t always been considered threatening. Back in 2014, in the quiet city of some 20,000, he was a welcome part of the community — the larger than life, public face of the U.S. Army.

Peter Van Sant: A person of principle, someone willing to sacrifice.

Patti Piver: Yes.

Peter Van Sant: For his country.

Patti Piver: That’s what I think.

Peter Van Sant: These are all admirable traits, right?

Patti Piver: Yeah exactly.

It was then that John Blauvelt met Cati, just yards from his recruiting office at a sub shop where she worked. Cati turned 20 and Blauvelt was 26. They started dating.

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: And they just hit it off.

Patti Piver: She’s lovable, caring, funny. Who wouldn’t fall in love with her?

In the summer of 2015, recruiter Blauvelt convinced Cati to enlist. But after just two months, a health issue prevented her from finishing her training.

Patti Piver: They found a problem with her spine. … She got a medical discharge out of the Army.

While Cati’s military hopes were dashed, Blauvelt told friends he had found his calling.

With his war stories about his deployments in Iraq and his sharp uniform decorated with service ribbons, Blauvelt impressed local teenagers.

Aly Somerville: Like, to me, he had all his ducks in a row.

Peter Van Sant: Almost like a role model, right?

Aly Somerville: Almost like a role model. More like—it was definitely like a role model.

Aly Somerville, a close friend of Cati, says she often ate lunch with John Blauvelt at his recruiting booth in her school. She adds he also sometimes showed up at local hangouts.

Aly Somerville: I thought he was cool.

Peter Van Sant: He was interested in your life, what you were up to and things?

Aly Somerville: Yeah, he made sure I was OK.

But as he began dating Cati, her family was never half sure about Blauvelt.

Patti Piver: I don’t think I ever had a meaningful conversation with him.

Peter Van Sant: Did he seem interested in you and … the family?

Jennifer Piver: No. Not at all.

Then, after about a year — and seemingly out of the blue — Cati surprised her family with an alarming announcement.

Patti Piver: She says, “Oh, by the way,” she said, “me and John got married today.” … And I’m in shock. .. Then she said, “Oh, we got married at the courthouse.”

Patti Piver:  They went on the honeymoon … But within two months, that honeymoon was over.

A DREAM HOUSE-TURNED-PARTY HOUSE

Staff Sergeant John Blauvelt and his new bride were putting down roots in the community. Cati had taken a job at the local PetSmart.

Patti Piver: Yeah, she’s gonna love that (laughs) and she did. …

Peter Van Sant: And she was passionate about animals.

Patti Piver: She was.

Peter Van Sant: This could be a career for her.

Patti Piver: Yes.

As for John Blauvelt, he already owned a four-bedroom home in Fountain Inn, right next to Simpsonville, where Capt. Schofield worked.

Capt. Cheryl Schofield (with Van Sant outside the Blauvelt’s home): Once they got married this is the house that they were supposed to move into and have a family.

Jennifer Piver: She wanted a family. She wanted to have kids.

Cati moved in. And soon the house was crowded with kids. But not the kind Cati imagined.

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: Unfortunately the only kids that were here were the teenagers that John Blauvelt invited.

John Blauvelt had invited Cati’s niece to stay with them, and later Hannah Thompson and Aly Somerville crashed there, too. Somerville says it became a party destination for kids from Hillcrest High School, where Blauvelt often worked as an Army recruiter.

Aly Somerville: We were just smoking weed all day, every day.

Peter Van Sant: And how old were you then?

Aly Somerville: 16.

And Somerville claimed it wasn’t just weed that was the draw. She said, at times, there was booze, acid, and cocaine.

Peter Van Sant: This is with the U.S. Army recruiter, right?

Aly Somerville: U.S. Army recruiter, yes. … Letting us party at his house. … Like, that — this is awesome.

Patti Piver says it wasn’t long before Cati grew frustrated with all of the partying and told Blauvelt it had to stop.

Peter Van Sant: Her dream house turned into a party house.

Jennifer Piver: Right.

Peter Van Sant: And that’s the last thing your sister wanted, right?

Jennifer Piver: Absolutely.

As Cati and John Blauvelt drifted, Thompson was there to fuel the fire.

Investigator Cheryl Schofield: Hannah absolutely despised Cati.

Peter Van Sant: And what was the nature of Hannah’s relationship with John as time went on?

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: Hannah became John’s puppy. Any time that John would tell her to do something, she would do it.

It was all too much for Cati. According to police records, after being married less than three months, Cati moved out. Schofield says Blauvelt and Thompson wasted no time.

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: She moved into John Blauvelt’s bedroom in this house when Cati moved out.

Aly Somerville: Whoa, that’s creepy. Like you’re in your late 20s and she’s 17 dude. … Like, you’re not supposed to be doing stuff like this.

Thompson’s father went to the police and told them he hadn’t seen his daughter for two weeks. That night, on Feb. 26, 2016, cops showed up at Blauvelt’s house.

Peter Van Sant: When they arrive what happens?

Capt. Cheryl Schofield (with Van Sant outside Blauvelt’s home): They tried to make contact with John … and John refused to come outside.

Somerville was inside the house with Blauvelt and some other minors when police arrived.

Aly Somerville: And John was like “Lock the door. Nobody go outside.”

Peter Van Sant: What were they saying?

Aly Somerville: Like, “John Blauvelt,” like, “come out of the house with your hands up.”

Peter Van Sant: You must have been a little terrified. Were you not?

Aly Somerville: Terrified. Yeah.

Peter Van Sant: These were people with weapons. Were weapons out?

Aly Somerville: Oh yeah. There were weapons drawn and everything.

Peter Van Sant: A veteran of the Iraq war and they’re having to pull their guns to get him out of the house?

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: Yes.

Peter Van Sant: It’s kind of extraordinary, isn’t it?

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: Yes, very much so.

John Blauvelt eventually opened the door and was questioned by police. On Feb. 27, 2016, he was arrested and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. His soldier’s image was replaced with a mug shot.

Patti Piver: He’s the exact opposite of what everybody thought he was. The exact opposite.

And soon John Blauvelt’s troubles would get even worse. Police talked to Cati the day John was arrested. She told them about a more troubling incident she says happened a month earlier.

Investigator Keith Morecraft: There had been a domestic violence incident where John allegedly pointed a gun at Cati.

Peter Van Sant: Pulls out a gun, points it at her —

Jennifer Piver: Right.

Peter Van Sant: — head …

Jennifer Piver: Yep.

Peter Van Sant: Says what?

Jennifer Piver: That he was gonna kill her. … And also threatened the family.

Peter Van Sant: Threatened the family. What do you mean?

Jennifer Piver: Threatened to kill the family.

Investigator Keith Morecraft: The Fountain Inn Police Department investigated the matter and ended up charging him with domestic violence.

A restraining order was issued preventing John Blauvelt and Cati from seeing each other.

Jennifer Piver: He blamed her for ruining his life. Because there was obviously gonna be a consequence from the military.

That consequence came just a few days later, when the Department of the Army cut John Blauvelt’s pay and suspended him from the recruiting duty that defined him.

Patti Piver: You can’t do this and be a military recruiter.

The Army reassigned him to a small back office and began an investigation that might lead to his dismissal.

Aly Somerville: He was like, “I can’t be out in the field” … “like on the front lines” … “I’m not recruiting people for the Army. Now I’m sitting behind a desk” and that’s what made him so mad.

Cati quickly moved on from her short, disastrous marriage and told her mother she planned to divorce John Blauvelt.

Peter Van Sant: Your daughter moves out. Did she move back with you?

Patti Piver: Yeah.

But But despite the restraining order, Cati and John Blauvelt still had some contact, including visits to the house she had shared with John.

Patti Piver: The only reason she would go back over there was because she had her dog over there, Jupiter.

Patti Piver: For some reason I just was terrified that something was gonna happen to her.

As for John Blauvelt, the military career he cherished was in tatters. And according to Somerville, he planned to get revenge.

Peter Van Sant: Did he ever say anything about harming Cati?

Aly Somerville: Yes. He did say multiple times that he was going to kill Cati. …He said that she ruined his military career, that’s all he’s ever wanted to do in life. …

Peter Van Sant: You destroy my career — I’m going to destroy you?

Aly Somerville: Yeah. …

Peter Van Sant: Did you think he’d really go through with it?

Aly Somerville: No. Never.

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: He was very vocal on the fact that he wanted Cati dead. He wanted Cati gone. 

A HUSBAND’S ANGER AND PLAN FOR REVENGE?

Police say Cati Blauvelt was last seen alive on Oct. 24, 2016, at her job at PetSmart. But come morning in Simpsonville, no one had heard from her. Calls to her went to voicemail. Her mother reported her missing.

Peter Van Sant: Did she tell the officer she spoke with that she was suspicious of John Blauvelt?

Investigator Keith Morecraft: She did.

The desperate search and the painful waiting began.

Patti Piver: I didn’t think she was alive anymore.

Jennifer Piver: It’s terrifying. It’s the worst feeling. You feel helpless.

After midnight, two of Cati’s friends followed a hunch that sent them deep in the woods to an old, abandoned farmhouse.

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: Teenagers would go there. And they would party, they would drink, they would smoke marijuana.

Cati and John Blauvelt were known to have gone there, too.

The friends made their way to the basement. They were horrified by what they found. One of them called 911.

911 OPERATOR: 911, What’s the location of your emergency?

FRIEND: …We found my friend Cati … dead in —

911 OPERATOR: OK.

FRIEND: — the house.

911 OPERATOR: OK. … Are you saying she’s dead in the house?

FRIEND: Yes, ma’am.    

911 OPERATOR: Is she cold?

FRIEND: She’s very pale. And there was no response.

Cati Blauvelt’s body had been stuffed into a cold, concrete box.

Peter Van Sant: You believe she — Cati was killed outside the house and brought in?

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: Yes … And we believe that she was actually killed on the gravel driveway. And then drug on her face through that window.

Peter Van Sant: And if she’s screaming there’s no one to hear.

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: You wouldn’t hear it … from that house where that house was located.

Peter Van Sant: And you live with that every day.

Patti Piver: Every day.

Peter Van Sant: It doesn’t get any easier, does it?

Patti Piver: No.

It was Oct. 26, 2016. Investigators made that official “death notification visit” to Blauvelt. They got their first sense of the resentment he held towards Cati.

JOHN BLAUVELT (death notification visit): She flipped my life upside down.

Morecraft and Schofield wanted more information from Blauvelt. And so, just a week later, they spoke with him.

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: Didn’t seem to really care that she was gone. Let alone had been murdered.

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT (Nov. 2, 2016 interrogation): Anything you say can be used against you in court

JOHN BLAUVELT: I lost a friend. Maybe not the best wife, but I lost a f******* friend.

He told them he visited Cati at the funeral home.

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT (Nov. 2, 2016 interrogation): Did you go by yourself?

JOHN BLAUVELT: Yeah. Well, I took Hannah with me.

Blauvelt said he hadn’t seen Cati in months. Their marriage had been a nonstop argument.

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT (Nov. 2, 2016 interrogation): What kind of stuff were y’all arguing about?

JOHN BLAUVELT: Um. Everything. (Laughs)

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT: Just normal?

JOHN BLAUVELT: Just normal stuff.

Investigator Keith Morecraft: He seemed very arrogant, cocky, narcissistic.

Then the cop fired that point-blank question.

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT: Did you kill Cati?

JOHN BLAUVELT: No.

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT: OK. Do you know who killed her?

JOHN BLAUVELT: No.

Peter Van Sant: Sitting across, talking to this man, what are you sensing in John Blauvelt?

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: That he very much is the one who more than likely … committed this murder.

Investigator Keith Morecraft: Like he was put off. Like we were taking up his time. … That he was smarter than we were, and that he was gonna get away with this.

Next up: Hannah Thompson.

HANNAH THOMPSON (interrogation): I don’t know anything about her murder.

INVESTIGATOR: You do.

HANNAH THOMPSON: I don’t.

INVESTIGATOR: You do.

Investigators confront Thompson, sensing she must know something.

CAPT. SCHOFIELD (interrogation): Tell us exactly what happened to Cati.

HANNAH THOMPSON: I really don’t know.

And while they suspected Thompson might know something, they did not know exactly what.

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT (interrogation): I can tell you already you’re lying to me. OK? You do not wanna get wrapped up in catching a murder charge.

HANNAH THOMPSON: Right.

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT: You’re 17 years old. You have your entire life ahead of you.

HANNAH: Mm-hmm.

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT: You may love John … and you may think you two are going to get married and … walk down the yellow brick road, OK? But no man and no woman is worth going to prison for.

HANNAH THOMPSON: Mm-hmm.

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT: Do you agree?

HANNAH THOMPSON: Yes, sir.

CAPT. SCHOFIELD: If you know something, and you’re trying to cover up for it … you’re gonna go down with the person who did this to her. For — for knowing anything, whether it was beforehand or after the fact — you’re gonna go down with them.

Investigators showed Thompson an autopsy photo of Cati.

INVESTIGATOR: Look at her. She’s right here.

HANNAH THOMPSON: I don’t wanna look at her.

INVESTIGATOR: That’s your friend.

HANNAH THOMPSON: I don’t wanna do this anymore.

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT: Don’t wanna do what? Don’t wanna help us find out who killed her?

HANNAH THOMPSON (crying): Can I please leave? Can I please leave?

CAPT. SCHOFIELD: Hannah, this is a friend of yours that we’re trying to do —

HANNAH THOMPSON: I know. And I wanna help, but I can’t.

With no help from Thompson, police hands were tied.

Investigator Keith Morecraft: We had to let him go.

Potential hard evidence had to be processed, including John Blauvelt’s cellphone records and his DNA.

Capt. Cheryl Schofield:  It’s very aggravating. … because we know we’re sitting across from the person who killed his wife. … And shortly after that interview is when he fled the state.

Investigator Keith Morecraft: He had taken his red GMC Yukon.

Peter Van Sant: And he was gone.

Investigator Keith Morecraft: He was.

John Blauvelt, trained in survival and combat, was suddenly loose on the open road.

Patti Piver: I didn’t think they were ever gonna find him. He just disappeared off the face of the map.

And so did Thompson. Police believed she was with Blauvelt.

Prosecutor Kinli Abee would begin building the case with the chilling evidence she says he left behind.

 Kinli Abee: First, what I want to kind of show is, you know, the knife that was found in Cati’s neck … And so what you can see here is this X-ray, that the actual knife blade broke off inside of Cati.

Peter Van Sant: What you’re holding there —

Kinli Abee: Yep.

Peter Van Sant: — is what I’m seeing on this X-ray.

Kinli Abee: Exactly. Matches exactly right there. That’s what was found and lodged in her neck. And that’s how she died.

Simpsonville police knew they needed help to find John Blauvelt.

Investigator Keith Morecraft: I contacted the United States Marshals.

Marshal Will Cook: The investigation is let’s find him, let’s find him, let’s find him.

THE SEARCH FOR A FUGITIVE

On Nov. 18, 2016, John Blauvelt — still on the run — was charged with Cati Blauvelt’s murder.

Peter Van Sant:  What kind of fugitive are you dealing with?

Marshal Will Cook: A cocky one. … John thought … we were never going to find him.

U.S. Marshal Will Cook, based near Simpsonville, would become the point person in the hunt for John Blauvelt, who had been skilled at evasion.

Marshal Will Cook: He had training from the Army that … the government provided him to —

Peter Van Sant: — avoid you guys.

Marshal Will Cook: Avoid us. And he was good at it.

Investigators remained uncertain about Thompson’s involvement in the murder — if any. But they knew for sure she was traveling with Blauvelt. They uncovered photos of Blauvelt and Thompson shopping and Blauvelt at an ATM. His red Yukon truck passing through Texas and New Mexico, heading west.

Peter Van Sant: Were you able to get hits on where this vehicle was from time to time?

Cook: So there were a couple of license plate reader hits.

But by the time police were able to respond, Blauvelt was gone.

Marshal Will Cook: And in a game like this, all the seconds count.

Then, after a month, investigators caught a break. Thompson made contact with her family from Eugene, Oregon. She wanted to come home to Simpsonville. Schofield couldn’t wait to talk to her.

INVESTIGATOR SCHOFIELD (Dec. 20, 2016 interrogation): We are very glad that you’re back, and that you’re safe, and that nothing bad happened to you.

HANNAH THOMPSON: Mm-hmm.

Thompson’s story was that Blauvelt had left her in Eugene. Just up and walked away.

INVESTIGATOR SCHOFIELD (Dec. 20, 2016 interrogation): Did you ever see John again?

HANNAH THOMPSON: Mm mm. [shaking her head no]

And, Thompson added, she had no idea where Blauvelt was headed. But apparently, she had enough of life on the run.

Marshal Will Cook: She thought it was going to be a fairy tale. You know, they were going to live on the lam and make things happen. But after a few weeks of that, reality set in.

Any romantic notion Thompson may have had was derailed when Blauvelt got the Yukon stuck in the mud in the Pacific Northwest.

Peter Van Sant: Couldn’t get out?

Marshal Will Cook: Could not get out.

HANNAH THOMPSON (Dec. 20, 2016 interrogation): He said that we would hike. We had to hike, like, walk off the mountain basically.

Marshal Will Cook: Miles and miles.

The couple was reduced to panhandling for change.

Peter Van Sant: And they used that for food?

Marshal Will Cook: Sustainment.

Thompson says while on the road, Blauvelt confessed — sharing the awful details of the killing.

HANNAH THOMPSON (Dec. 20, 2016 interrogation): He told me that the knife broke. … I can’t believe that he would do something like that. … (crying)

INVESTIGATOR SCHOFIELD: What — what else did he tell you about it? I know it’s — it’s hard.

HANNAH THOMPSON: He told me that the last thing she —  she said was … that if he let her go, that she wouldn’t call the police.

INVESTIGATOR SCHOFIELD: Where were they, Hannah?

HANNAH THOMPSON: The abandoned house.

Peter Van Sant: An adult can psychologically take advantage of a child. Do you believe in a way that’s what was going on between John and Hannah?

Investigator Keith Morecraft: Absolutely, yeah.

HANNAH THOMPSON (Dec. 20, 2016 interrogation): And he was just crying and screaming and like … he was like, saying that he did all that stuff for me, like —

INVESTIGATOR SCHOFIELD: Did all what stuff?

HANNAH THOMPSON: Like kill Cati. 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.

Thompson told conflicting stories about her involvement, eventually saying she dropped John Blauvelt off by PetSmart the day Cati disappeared and then left. Thompson says she did not know he planned to kill Cati. But later that day, he asked her to help hide Cati’s car. She also admitted she had lied in her first interview just days after Cati’s murder.

HANNAH THOMPSON (Dec. 20, 2016 interrogation): He told me that if I lied to the police, that he would keep me safe.

Investigators did not charge Thompson right away because they needed her.

Investigator Keith Morecraft: We had a long-term goal of, A, finding John, B, prosecuting him. And she was the key to a lot of that.

CAPT. SCHOFIELD (Dec. 20, 2016 interrogation):  We’re still hunting for John.

HANNAH THOMPSON: Right.

CAPT. SCHOFIELD: OK?

HANNAH THOMPSON: Mm-hmm.

They hoped she might lead them to Blauvelt.

INVESTIGATOR MORECRAFT (Dec. 20, 2016 interrogation): Has John contacted you by Facebook at all since you separated? Or since contacted you by any means at all?

HANNAH THOMPSON: No.

CAPT. SCHOFIELD: But please don’t keep it a secret —

HANNAH THOMPSON: Mm-hmm.

INVESTIGATOR SCHOFIELD: — from — from us.

HANNAH THOMPSON: OK.

INVESTIGATOR SCHOFIELD: OK?

HANNAH THOMPSON: Mm-hmm.

But if Thompson knew where John Blauvelt was, she wasn’t ready to tell them.

HANNAH THOMPSON (Dec. 20, 2016 interrogation): I still really care about him, even though he did something, like, really bad. Like I feel like I should hate him. A part of me does, but a part of me just keeps thinking about how he used to be.

Blauvelt was still out there. Months turned into years and lives changed.

Marshal Will Cook: He’s beating us. And we don’t like to lose.

Peter Van Sant: It’s driving you crazy.

Marshal Will Cook: It’s driving us crazy.

Peter Van Sant: Was it frustrating that you retired with this case still out there?

Investigator Keith Morecraft: It was very frustrating. … And it was the only case that I still had that was open.

Those who knew John Blauvelt thought justice for Cati might never come.

Ali Somerville: John is the type of person that if somebody was gonna get away with it, it would be John.

Patti Piver: I never really thought that they would get him.

The police in Simpsonville interviewed Thompson repeatedly over the years. Then in 2022 – six years after Cati’s murder — Thompson finally revealed a secret. She had been in regular contact with Blauvelt for years.

HANNAH THOMPSON (June 2022 interrogation): We had been talking — the whole time. … Like, at first we were talking every single day, multiple times, like, for hours a day. …

CAPT. SCHOFIELD: Did anybody know you were still talking to him?

HANNAH THOMPSON: Nope.

Thompson told investigators how they communicated.

HANNAH THOMPSON (June 2022 interrogation): At the very beginning we were communicating on Facebook Messenger. And then after that we were talking on Snapchat.

She said their conversations ended in 2019.

Authorities believe Thompson had matured, with time and distance away from Blauvelt. She told them she realized what she had done was wrong, and gradually offered more leads. Blauvelt might still be in Oregon. And she added Blauvelt told her he had been living with another woman for years.

CAPT. SCHOFIELD (June 2022 interrogation): ‘Cause honestly, she’s in danger, too.

HANNAH THOMPSON: I know.

Marshal Will Cook: Based on some of the information that Hannah gave us … zoned us in on … John’s new girlfriend in Medford, Oregon.

Medford is small city in the northwest. Investigators jumped on the lead and discovered a phone number that Blauvelt had used to text a mystery woman.

Peter Van Sant: And this sounds tantalizing, isn’t it.

Marshal Chris Tamayo: Very tantalizing.

Marshal Chris Tamayo is Cook’s colleague in the Northwest. His team got an address that corresponded with the mystery woman’s house. He took “48 Hours” to the scene.

Peter Van Sant: They started to stake out the house?

Marshal Chris Tamayo: Stake out the house … And …they followed a subject out — a male that appeared to match our description.

But six years after Blauvelt allegedly murdered Cati, how could investigators be certain they had their man?

Marshal Will Cook: John has some unique tattoos.

Peter Van Sant: Can you show me?

Marshal Will Cook: This is a still shot — from one of John’s initial interviews with Simpsonville Police.

The tattoo of a pirate.

It was a quiet morning in Medford.

Marshal Chris Tamayo: As I’m starting to pull through this neighborhood my heart is racing.

The Marshals made their move.

Marshal Chris Tamayo: That’s the house right there.

Peter Van Sant: And did you see any activity?

Marshal Chris Tamayo: We — did see him come out.

Marshal Chris Tamayo: He’s coming out shirtless.

But was it for sure John Blauvelt? A pirate told the tale.

FUGITIVE JOHN BLAUVELT CAPTURED

On July 20, 2022, some six years after Cati Blauvelt’s death, Chris Tamayo joined Marshals and other law enforcement for the takedown of the man they believed killed her.

Marshal Chris Tamayo (with Van Sant outside house in Medford, Oregon): John’s about three quarters away down the driveway, and the guys start going right at him, giving him commands: “Police show us your hands. Get down on the ground!”

Peter Van Sant: And what does he do?

Marshal Chris Tamayo: His eyes got wide, pure shock. And he drops down to the ground fast.

John Blauvelt was handcuffed and under arrest.

But the suspect told the Marshals they had the wrong man.

Marshal Chris Tamayo: He said, “I’m Ben Klein.” … I said, no you’re not. … And he stuck with Ben Klein.

Ben Klein? Had the Marshals make a mistake?

Marshal Chris Tamayo: We have a device that allows us to mobile print someone in the field.

Peter Van Sant: Fingerprint.

Marshal Chris Tamayo: Fingerprints.

It took less than five minutes for Ben to become John.

Marshal Chris Tamayo: “Your fingerprints show that you are John Blauvelt. … you’re wanted out of South Carolina.”

Peter Van Sant: He knew it was over?

Marshal Chris Tamayo: He knew it was over.

When the Marshals went inside the house, they realized the raid could have taken a fatal turn.

Marshal Chris Tamayo: There was a firearm, a handgun sitting right on the nightstand.

Peter Van Sant: What did that tell you?

Marshal Chris Tamayo: That was an indication to us that … he probably would’ve given a fight.

All of it was apparently news to the woman Blauvelt was living with, when she returned to the house later that day.

Marshal Chris Tamayo: Pure shock. She was visibly shaking, crying, scared.

Tamayo recorded audio with her at the scene:

MARSHAL TAMAYO: So he’s being arrested … on charges out of South Carolina.

GIRLFRIEND: For what?

MARSHAL TAMAYO: For murder.

GIRLFRIEND: Are you serious? (crying)

MARSHAL TAMAYO: Yeah … 

GIRLFRIEND: I can’t believe any of this. This is like a f******* nightmare. I’m sorry.

Blauvelt’s girlfriend told the Marshals she had no idea who he really was.

GIRLFRIEND: We been together for like six years …  He would do random odd jobs … 

GIRLFRIEND: He was basically here watching my cats and my …  my dog all the time.

Peter Van Sant: She loved him.

Marshal Chris Tamayo: She loved him.

The news hit Simpsonville like thunder.

Patti Piver: I was over the moon, just freaking — that was such a great day.

Capt. Cheryl Schofield: And I was completely elated.

John Blauvelt would go cross-country again. This time, handcuffed and brought back to a South Carolina jail to await trial. Just three months later, Hannah Thompson would be charged with five felonies including obstruction of justice and accessory after-the-fact. She would plead not guilty and be released on bail.

Prosecutor Kinli Abee, who began putting the case against Blauvelt together a few months after Cati was killed, would team with John Meadors, preparing the case for trial starting with that blade investigators found in Cati’s neck.

John Meadors: Doesn’t get any worse than that and that’s what she died from.

Kinli Abee (Holding the blue shirt Cati was wearing): You can actually see through the collar of the shirt where that knife blade entered. And you can see it right there.

Peter Van Sant: Right there?

Kinli Abee: Yeah. Right into her neck

They focused on that abandoned farmhouse where kids once partied, where they found Cati.

Kinli Abee: They would throw their bottles, their empty beer cans … And that’s exactly where he discarded Cati’s body.

Peter Van Sant: So do you think John was making a statement by placing her body —

Kinlee Abee: Absolutely.

Peter Van Sant: — in this bin that normally you put trash.

Kinli Abee: Yeah, absolutely.

Prosecutors say Blauvelt blamed Cati for the abrupt end of his military career.

Kinli Abee: It’s all Cati’s fault.

Peter Van Sant: He’s not responsible for what he did. He’s blaming his wife?

Kinli Abee: Yes.

And there were John Blauvelt’s own words. While on the run, he kept a journal—that the Marshals found.

Peter Van Sant: Like a diary, correct?

Marshal Chris Tamayo: Correct.

And it held a damning entry.

Marshal Chris Tamayo: So at the end … it says boldly, “I did it.”

Peter Van Sant: And for you that’s what?

Marshal Chris Tamayo: That’s evidence and proof that he murdered Cati.

THE TRIAL OF JOHN BLAUVELT

In September 2024, eight years after Cati’s death, John Blauvelt went on trial for murder.

Patti Piver described the child she adored.

Patti Piver (in court): She was sunshine. I mean everybody loved her.

Aly Somerville stared at the man she once called a role model.

Aly Somerville: He looked like a stone-cold killer to me.

The prosecution’s key witness was Hannah Thompson. She would admit to helping Blauvelt the day Cati died.

PROSECUTOR MEADORS (in court): You loved John Blauvelt, didn’t you?

HANNAH THOMPSON: Yes. 

PROSECUTOR MEADORS: You helped him … hide Cati’s car after he killed her, didn’t you?

HANNAH THOMPSON: Yes.

PROSECUTOR MEADORS: You didn’t know he’d killed her at that point?

HANNAH THOMPSON: No.

PROSECUTOR MEADORS: But you did help him?

HANNAH THOMPSON: Yes 

And prosecutors played grainy video that Thompson says shows John Blauvelt getting out of Cati’s car and into his. Thompson was at the wheel of his Prius.

JOHN PROSECUTOR MEADORS (in court): But that was you on that video?

HANNAH THOMPSON: Yes.

PROSECUTOR MEADORS: In those cars?

HANNAH THOMPSON: In the Prius, yes.

Once on the run she says he told her the details of the murder.

HANNAH THOMPSON (in court): He had told me that he killed her …  

HANNAH THOMPSON: He told me that … he stabbed her … in the neck …

HANNAH THOMPSON: He said that he threw her phone into water … that was on the ground, in the abandoned house.

HANNAH THOMPSON: And he said that … he had to cover up the—her blood with dirt.

But Blauvelt’s defense team, Paul Neely and Ana Walker, made Thompson admit that her story changed over the years.

DEFENSE ATTORNEY WALKER (in court): You’ve lied to your friends and your family?

HANNAH THOMPSON: Yes …

DEFENSE ATTORNEY WALKER: And you kept lying.

HANNAH THOMPSON: Yes.

Then the defense zeroed in on the lack of DNA evidence at the scene.

Peter Van Sant: Was there any DNA that tied John Blauvelt to this murder?

Paul Neely: No.

Ana Walker: There was no DNA matched to John Blauvelt.

And what about John Blauvelt’s journal, in which he wrote “I did it…”? His lawyers told “48 Hours” much of it was a fantasy.

Ana Walker: A lot of this journal is filled with these fictional stories of observations. It’s filled with poems, drawings, all kinds of things.

As for Hannah Thompson —

KINLI ABEE (in court): You heard she has five pending charges for the information she ultimately provided to law enforcement.

The prosecution pointed to the importance of her testimony.

KINLI ABEE (in court): She is facing 55 years in jail upon conviction for those crimes and she got up here with no deal. The State didn’t offer her a single thing, no agreement to dismiss her charges, no cooperation agreement, no nudge nudge, wink wink — none of it. She got up here and testified. And she told you because she thought it was the right thing to do.

Capt. Cheryl Schofield:  She did a great job, going up there and telling the truth and giving the key details of what John had told her, what he had done to Cati …

The trial lasted four days. The jury was out some five hours.

COURT CLERK (reading verdict): As to the charge of murder, we the jury unanimously find the defendant, John T. Blauvelt, guilty.

Reporter Taylor Farmer covered the case for WSPA.

Taylor Farmer: And it was very emotional in the courtroom, kind of quiet but you could tell Cati’s family was very emotional.

Patti Piver: As soon as the jurors got out, I just started crying.

John Blauvelt was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Patti Piver: He’s a monster. … She was helpless.

And what did the family think about Hannah Thompson, who allegedly covered for Blauvelt for so long?

Jennifer Piver: I would think she was a stupid 17-year-old until at trial when I heard how long she’d been in touch with him. … You are not willing, at that time, to turn him in. … I have hard feelings about that. … it’s unfathomable.

Peter Van Sant: What would you say to your sister today if you could.

Jennifer Piver (crying): That I’m sorry. … That I love her. And that I think she was brave.

Hannah Thompson’s trial date is still pending.

John Blauvelt is appealing his conviction.

If you have been a victim of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.

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Produced by James Stolz. Kat Teurfs is the field producer. Ryan Smith, Charlotte Fuller, Michelle Sigona are the development producers. Michael Vele, Greg McLaughlin and Marcus Balsam are the editors. Peter Schweitzer is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.

This first appeared in the Planet Money newsletter. You can sign up here.

President Trump vs. the independent agencies. It’s a battle for the history books — literally. To understand the significance of this showdown, we need to go back to history ourselves.

Historians generally agree that the first independent agency in the U.S. government was the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). Founded in 1887, the ICC had a pretty revolutionary job: regulating the powerful railroad industry. Led by “robber barons,” the monopolistic companies that controlled the railroads were accused of price gouging and other abuses of power. The creation of the ICC was one of the opening salvos of the turn-of-the-century, bipartisan Progressive movement that sought to rein in big corporations and the excesses of free-market capitalism.

Because the railroads were so critical to the United States’ economy and because the work of regulating the railroads was highly technical — think like crunching data to figure out what railroad rates should be — Congress wanted the ICC to be staffed by experts who operated above the fray of partisan politics. They designed it to be led by a board of commissioners from both major political parties. And, significantly, they decided to insulate the agency from presidential control.

The original law creating the ICC instructed, “Commissioners can only be removed by the President for ‘inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.'” In other words, the president couldn’t just fire them willy-nilly. When the act creating the ICC was going through Congress in 1887, there was surprisingly little discussion about why the president was limited in this way.

The first iteration of the ICC had actually pretty weak regulatory powers. In 1906, however, Republican President Theodore Roosevelt signed a law greatly strengthening the ICC, including giving it the power to make rules regulating the railroad industry that had the force of law. This souped-up ICC became the prototype for many independent agencies to come.

Over the course of the 20th century, Congress designed and presidents signed into existence all sorts of independent agencies. These federal agencies regulate critical areas of the U.S. economy and society, including the stock market, product safety, fraud and corruption, the money supply, labor relations, monopolies, nuclear power, the media and elections. One common feature of these agencies is they have buffers against presidential control — like making it hard for presidents to fire their leaders; giving those leaders really long tenures, so new presidents don’t necessarily appoint them when they take office; and allowing these agencies to make rules and regulations without a president’s stamp of approval.

Lawmakers have offered many rationales for limiting presidential power over independent agencies (and given how many agencies there are and how different their missions are, it makes sense why there are so many reasons). These include insulating the agencies from political pressures, making their work less partisan, reducing turnover of agency leaders, promoting stability and predictability in agency decision-making, creating checks and balances within the federal bureaucracy and helping prevent corporate interference with these agencies’ technocratic work serving the American public.

However, since their inception, there have been many questions over how these agencies fit within the U.S. constitutional framework. And many have opposed insulating these agencies from presidential control, particularly since the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s. Companies don’t like being regulated, especially by unelected bureaucrats. Presidents don’t like having their power limited. And many conservatives claim this whole system is antidemocratic.

Since taking office, Trump has been asserting extraordinary power over independent agencies and trying to rein in their autonomy. For example, he issued an executive order asserting that he, as the elected head of the executive branch, has authority over independent agencies and that their rules and regulations need his approval. And he has fired the leaders of the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, among others. (Much of this is being challenged in federal courts, and one court recently ruled that the president’s firing of the head of an independent agency, the Office of Special Counsel, was unlawful.)

Democratic lawmakers and consumer advocates have criticized Trump’s attacks on agency independence. “Trump’s illegal executive order on independent agencies aims to shield corporations from accountability and centralize more power with Trump and his minions,” said Robert Weissman, a co-president of Public Citizen, a progressive consumer advocacy group, in a news release. Weissman stresses that this order will hurt the work of agencies like the Federal Election Commission, which he said “is independent of presidential control so that it can serve its election integrity mission without partisan favor.” And he points to the potential effect on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission, which are supposed to protect investors, consumers and “market integrity.” He says, “Their independence is designed to enable them to perform these duties without undue political pressure from giant corporations, the super rich and the super-connected.”

It’s interesting that Weismann used the word “accountability,” because that’s the same word that many conservatives use when criticizing independent agencies. They condemn these agencies as not being accountable to the president, who is the only person in the government who is democratically elected by the whole country.

Many conservative legal scholars, especially those who believe in “unitary executive theory,” have long argued that independent agencies are really a part of the executive branch — and that therefore, under the Constitution, the president should have dominion over them, including the power to appoint and fire their leaders at will. In their view, independent agencies shouldn’t be independent. Some in this camp go as far as arguing that these agencies are part of an unelected “fourth branch” of government — the administrative state, or “deep state” — which undermines the constitutional system and the democratic will of voters.

“For the Federal Government to be truly accountable to the American people, officials who wield vast executive power must be supervised and controlled by the people’s elected President,” Trump states in his recent executive order.

Trump’s legal team seems eager to challenge the constitutionality of independent agencies, and conservatives on the Supreme Court have sent signals that they may be willing to play ball and declare them unconstitutional — despite legal precedents that go back at least 90 years. For instance, in 2020, the Supreme Court stripped the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of its independence, ruling that because it was headed by a single leader, instead of a commission (like say the ICC or FTC), the president could fire its leader at will.

What does this mean for the Federal Reserve?

The most powerful independent agency is arguably the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is responsible for controlling inflation and helping make sure the economy is good enough so Americans can find jobs (to use econ jargon, its “dual mandate” is to ensure price stability and full employment).

Mainstream economists have long believed that central banks like the Fed should be independent because politicians care a lot about elections, which happen in the near term, and they’ll be incentivized to make decisions about interest rates that serve their narrow, short-term electoral goals instead of the public interest of long-term economic growth and stability. For example, a president may want the Fed to lower interest rates before an election to juice the economy — but that could end up resulting in runaway inflation and ultimately be really bad for everyone.

Making the Fed independent, the thinking goes, helps solve this political problem by taking monetary policy out of the hands of political leaders, with their short-term election pressures, and putting it into the hands of nonpartisan technocrats (for more on this, check out this awesome Planet Money episode, “Happy Fed Independence Day“).

Interestingly, in his recent executive order asserting his authority over independent agencies, Trump takes a mixed approach to the Fed. The Fed famously conducts monetary policy — like influencing how low interest rates go and how much money circulates in the economy — but it has another important job, which is overseeing and regulating the financial sector. Trump asserts authority over the Fed’s regulatory work. But he makes clear his executive order asserting his power over independent agencies “shall not apply” to the Fed “in its conduct of monetary policy.”

Many Fed watchers, however, are still worried. Legal scholars question what will happen to the Fed if the Supreme Court says independent agencies are unconstitutional. And during both his first and second terms, Trump has publicly pressured the Fed to lower interest rates. Trump reportedly even mulled the idea of firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell — whom he had appointed to head the Fed — after Powell refused to follow Trump’s preferences for lower interest rates during his first term. Things got so heated back in 2018 that, according to The Wall Street Journal, Powell even prepared a plan to “fight his removal if sought by the president.” Trump ended up backing off, but many wonder whether another clash between the president and the independent central bank is inevitable this term.

It’s within this context that Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. — who, prior to becoming a senator, was an architect of the now not-so-independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — recently wrote a public letter expressing concern about Stephen Miran, who is Trump’s nominee for chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). Before working at a hedge fund, Miran got his Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University, where he studied under Martin Feldstein, who served as President Ronald Reagan’s CEA chair. The CEA is an important body that advises the president on economic matters.

In her letter, which she sent before Miran’s recent Senate confirmation hearing, Warren basically demanded that the economist publicly commit to the Fed’s independence. And she expressed concern about a March 2024 report that Miran co-authored at the Manhattan Institute titled, “Reform the Federal Reserve’s Governance to Deliver Better Monetary Outcomes,” which is critical of the Fed and offers a plan for overhauling it, including handing the president — and also state governors — greater power over it.

A plan to overhaul the Fed

Given that Miran — at the time of this writing — may be the next chair of the CEA, we figured it’d be worth reading through his proposal for overhauling the Federal Reserve. It’s pretty fascinating, offering a comprehensive blueprint for a radically new kind of Fed that he and his co-author, Dan Katz, argue would “ensure that it remains insulated from day-to-day politics while enhancing its accountability and democratic legitimacy.”

Miran and Katz begin their report by criticizing the Fed’s recent conduct. They’re critical of its large-scale purchases of assets, arguing it has distorted credit markets (this policy is known as “quantitative easing” — listen to this illuminating Planet Money radio segment about this here). They’re critical of the Fed’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which they argue “contributed to two years of declining real incomes and the highest inflation in four decades.” They are critical of the Fed’s work to address climate change and to increase the racial and gender diversity of its staff, suggesting these policies have been partisan. They are critical of what they call the Fed’s “revolving door,” in which economists move back and forth between the executive branch and the Fed. And they accuse the Fed of falling victim to “groupthink,” which they suggest has undermined the efficacy of its policies.

“Scrutiny of Fed rhetoric and actions makes it clear that the Fed has moved beyond its traditional narrow, technocratic role and instead has pursued a much more expansive monetary and regulatory agenda that is more consistent with an explicitly political institution,” Miran and Katz write in their Manhattan Institute report.

For these reasons and more, Miran and Katz “propose a fundamental overhaul of the Fed’s governance.”

Miran and Katz recommend a number of big reforms. “The core” of these reforms is their proposal to hand the president greater power over the Fed’s leadership, the Board of Governors, and give state governors greater power over the Fed’s 12 regional Reserve banks (read more about the Fed’s structure here).

First, presidential power over the Fed. They propose that Fed leaders be “subject to at-will removal by the president to ensure their accountability to the democratic process.” They also propose that Fed leaders serve shorter terms, which would give presidents more opportunities to appoint people to it.

However, Miran and Katz acknowledge that it’s important to insulate monetary policy from short-term political whims. So they offer a counterbalance: “To offset increased presidential influence on the Board of Governors, we recommend increasing the influence and independence of the regional Reserve Banks,” they write.

While the Fed’s Board of Governors is an independent government agency, the Fed’s 12 Reserve banks are essentially private corporations that, Miran and Katz write, are currently “controlled by local private banks, nonprofits, and corporations, without democratic legitimacy.” These Reserve banks are sometimes called “bankers’ banks” because they do a lot of things for banks that banks do for consumers, like providing loans, processing electronic payments and so on. Their leaders also play a significant role voting on the Fed’s monetary policy decisions, because a rotating group of them gets to vote on those decisions.

It’s rare that you hear conservatives advocate for nationalizing — that is, the government taking over — anything. However, that’s what Miran and Katz argue when it comes to the 12 Reserve banks.

“We propose nationalizing Reserve Banks, empowering governors of the states in their districts with the selection of their boards of directors, which, in turn, will continue to appoint Reserve Bank leadership,” Miran and Katz write. “Allowing Reserve Bank leadership to vote at every meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)—the 12-member branch of the Federal Reserve that determines the direction of monetary policy—will balance increased White House control over the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.”

Essentially, Miran and Katz argue that the 12 Reserve banks should be government entities that are under the sway of state governors and that they should play a bigger role in determining policies that set interest rates and the circulation of money in the economy. “Positioning the Reserve Banks as a check on the Board of Governors is a classic expression of American federalism, a formula that has proved successful for over two centuries,” they write.

Miran and Katz argue their plan balances the needs of “increased political accountability against the need to keep day-to-day politics out of monetary policy.” However, state governors also worry about elections — and it’s unclear how much of a check they would provide against a president wanting to juice the economy with lower interest rates — so it’s unclear how successful this plan would be at striking that balance.

As for the Interstate Commerce Commission, it was actually shut down in 1995. It might prove to be a pioneering independent agency in more ways than one.

New Mexico police are still seeking clues into the mysterious deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife. Investigators have ruled out many theories about their deaths, like carbon monoxide poisoning. Tom Hanson has the latest details.

An Indiana man has been sentenced to 105 years in prison for the 2022 fatal shooting of a Dutch soldier and wounding of two others in downtown Indianapolis.

A Marion County judge on Monday ordered Shamar Duncan to serve 60 years for murder, 35 years for attempted murder and 10 years for aggravated battery. The sentences are to be served consecutively.

A jury convicted Duncan last month.

Simmie Poetsema, 26, and the other two soldiers had been training at a southern Indiana military camp. The soldiers were walking back to their hotel during a night off in Indianapolis when they clashed with Duncan and a group of his friends, according to court documents.

Witnesses told police that the soldiers tried to defuse the situation but that a brief fight broke out before the gunshots were fired from a passing pickup truck.

Poetsema was a member of the Dutch Commando Corps.

Duncan told one of his friends that he opened fire on the soldiers because he “just spazzed,” according to an arrest affidavit.

Duncan apologized during the sentencing to the families of the victims. Duncan also told his family he was sorry for “letting them down,” according to CBS affiliate WTTV.

Is the United States headed toward autocracy?

That’s a question prompted by a steady stream of executive orders seeking to consolidate power in the White House and upend long held policies and norms.

New York Times Opinion writer M. Gessen lived through much of Russia’s slide into autocracy, and wrote a book about it.

They argue that one of the ways Vladimir Putin consolidated power… was by making a series of arguments that seemed outrageous at the time — like the idea that the LGBT population was a threat to Russian sovereignty.

President Donald Trump’s second term has been marked by a string of policy proposals that would have been unthinkable in any other administration.

Even if they don’t go anywhere, they’re reshaping the boundaries of our democracy.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Mia Venkat and Connor Donevan.

It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Nadia Lancy.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

5 charged in killing of missing man from Minnesota

Five people have been charged by New York State Police with second-degree murder in the killing of a missing man from Minnesota who authorities said died following repeated acts of violence and torture for more than a month.

His body was allegedly discarded by multiple individuals in a field.

The victim, Sam Nordquist, a 24-year-old transgender man originally from Minnesota, was reported missing on Feb. 9. His family said he traveled to New York late last year to visit his girlfriend.

Major Kevin Sucher, commander of the state police troop that includes the Finger Lakes region, said the facts and circumstances of the case were “beyond depraved” and “by far the worst” homicide investigation the office has ever been part of.

“No human being should have to endure what Sam endured,” he said, during a news conference.

According to charging documents, Norquist was repeatedly subjected to prolonged beatings “by punching, kicking and striking her with numerous objects…resulting in her death.”

On Sunday, the Ontario County District Attorney and New York State Police said in a joint statement that there is “no indication” at this time that Norquist’s murder was a hate crime.

“To help alleviate the understandable concern his murder could be a hate crime, we are disclosing that Sam and his assailants were known to each other, identified as LGBTQ+, and at least one of the defendants lived with Sam in the time period leading up to the instant offense,” the agencies said in a joint press release.

Those arrested include Precious Arzuaga, 38, and Patrick Goodwin, 30, of Canandaigua, New York; Kyle Sage, 33, of Rochester, New York; Jennifer Quijano, 30, of Geneva, New York; and Emily Motyka, 19, of Lima, New York. All five were charged after police on Thursday searched a room at the Patty’s Lodge motel in Canandaigua, the last place Nordquist was known to be staying.

All five were being held in police custody, pending arraignment. It was unclear whether any had obtained an attorney.

His death is sending shockwaves within the LGBTQ+ community in Minnesota. 

“Just knowing the violence and pure hatred that had to be bestowed upon him, it’s sad,” said Roxanne Anderson, a trans advocate. “I want people to remember we cannot succumb to the fear. We must unite.”

Authorities in New York said they are committed to providing a safe community for everyone.

“We share the community’s shock at such a heinous act of violence, and understand the fear circulating amongst members of the LGBTQ+ community,” the Ontario County District Attorney and New York State Police said in a joint press release.

Linda Nordquist, Sam’s mother, said “he would give you the shirt off his back.” 

“Very kind, loved his family, loved his nieces and nephew, very outgoing, worked hard,” she said.

Linda Nordquist said those who killed her son “can rot.”

“They are scum, they are evil, I don’t know how somebody can be that evil,” she said.

She’s filled with anger and grief, but mostly in shock.

“It’s just going to take some time, we just have to be there as a family, be strong for one another,” she said. “I don’t know, I’m at a loss for words, I don’t know what to say, what to feel, it hasn’t hit me quite yet.”

Until it does, Linda Nordquist will use small things like the stuffed animals on her dashboard she and Sam Nordquist collected in their travels to remind her of the good that came before the evil.  

U.S. Middle District of Florida/ RiverNorthPhotography Getty Images