The case of 22-year-old Katie Blavelt, a vibrant woman loved for her kindness to animals and friends, unfolds as a chilling tale of violence and long-term pursuit. Found murdered in an abandoned basement in Simpsonville, South Carolina, her death sparked a six-year investigation that culminated in the arrest of her estranged husband, John Blavelt. Prosecutor Kenley A.B. led the case with determination, navigating digital footprints, witness testimonies, and a complex personal dynamic. John’s behavior—ranging from emotional detachment to mocking his wife at her funeral—revealed a pattern of manipulation and cruelty. His digital activity, including searches linking his name to her death, and a journal explicitly stating “I did it,” provided damning evidence. Hannah, the 17-year-old girlfriend, became a crucial witness, and the prosecution approached her with sensitivity, acknowledging her trauma and potential role in the case. Despite years of evasion, John was eventually apprehended and tried, where his cold demeanor and journal entries shocked even the prosecution. The jury convicted him in under three hours, delivering much-needed closure to Katie’s family. The case underscores the power of persistence, digital evidence, and empathy in true crime—where justice not only brings a conviction but also a measure of peace to a grieving family.
Hello everybody, Depa Roberts here to tell you what our 2020 True Crime Plus subscribers are listening to this week, all six episodes of The Screen Murder, a new podcast from 2020. They're available to subscribers now, add free. And as always, subscribers get access to hundreds of our 2020 episodes going back years. If that sounds like something that you are interested in, well subscribe to 2020 True Crime Plus on Apple Podcasts now. Hi there everybody, welcome to 2020 The After Show, I'm Deborah Roberts and as always it's good to have you with us. Today we are going to take you inside a pretty amazing story, kind of a cat and mouse game is from our latest 2020 episode called Born to Kill and it centers around 22 year old Katie Blubbel. Friends described her as a free spirit, a woman who was just a bright light, she loved animals, she had a couple of dogs, in fact loved animals so much she worked at a pet smart. Well in October 24th of 2016, Katie was supposed to meet up with a niece after work. She didn't show up, she didn't answer her phone and of course her family was deeply worried so they called police and devastatingly just 24 hours later, Katie's body was found in the basement of an old abandoned house in the middle of the woods in small town, Simpson
ville, South Carolina, not far from her home, she had been brutally murdered. And of course the big question was who would do such a thing to a woman who was such a bright and beautiful spirit? Well police zero in on an obvious suspect and it would wind up taking years for this case to actually be solved, it would take a determined prosecutor to actually take on this case and bring justice to Katie's family. And fortunately for us, we have that prosecutor with us today, Kenley A.B. came into this case and she would not give up. She was in our report on 2020, you would have seen her on Friday night if you caught the report and if you didn't, she is here with us today to give us some more details and kind of a personal take on this case as well. So Kenley A.B. great to have you with us. I thank you for having me. Oh my gosh. Good to have you. You've been so busy by the way you're a woman who is in and out court. We had a hard time pinning you down because every time you look up, you're in the court room. Let's talk a little bit more about you than before we even get into this case because for more than what, 13 years you've been a criminal prosecutor. One of your big areas of interest is human trafficking, you're deeply, deeply concerned about penetrating these cases that involve young women and so forth. Give me a sense of your passion and what brought you into this line of work. Yes. So, you know, I was a first generation lawyer in my family, but new, pretty early on I wanted to do trial works that I wanted to be a litigator and then I wanted to be a prosecutor. There's something about being a prosecutor where you just have this ability to do the right thing for the right reason every time. And then I logged the opportunity and the ability to do that. And then I zeroed in in college really on helping special victims. So, children of sexual assault, domestic violence, domestic homicide, which is what this case was. I zeroed in pretty early on on trying to help some of our most vulnerable populations and getting the opportunity to be a voice for them and a representation for them in court. Yeah. And as a woman too, I would imagine that you really feel a little burning passion about it. I have interviewed so many female prosecutors, detectives who really bring something kind of different to this kind of work because we do feel that I think a little bit differently when we are out there, when I'm reporting, when you're prosecuting, I would imagine. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I mean, we see, you know, these sheer experiences and our friends and people that we know and so it's just so interesting to be able to actually do something about it on this side. Yeah. Well, tell me about Katie Blavelt and how that case, when it hit your desk and you began to look into this young woman who had been married. She was in the throes of a breakup and then she turns up murdered. What were your first thoughts about this? Yeah. You know, so this case was really interesting when it came on my death. First it came in a giant box and a lot of times we end up with boxes and cases, but we don't necessarily start with them. So first and foremost, I was really impressed just with the depth of work that the Simpsonville Police Department had done on this case. Once I started going through it, it was really interesting to see the personal dynamics take shape to see who Katie was with her older husband, John, now a strange husband or then a strange husband. And then it was really interesting to me to see how many teenagers were going to be involved in this case as key witnesses. It wasn't something I was necessarily expecting to see on the front end, but we were really able to get a lot of really good information from 16, 17 and 18 year old and they became key and essential witnesses throughout this entire case and trial. Yeah. And we want to talk about that later because they were actually pivotal in your actually being able to prosecute this case. But let's talk about Katie and without getting too sensational about it, I mean, the way this woman was murdered, and oftentimes that tells you something when you know exactly what had happened to them. I mean, she had been found in this abandoned house where there are things about the way her body had been found and the way she had been murdered that informed you a little bit as a prosecutor. Absolutely. First and foremost, this abandoned house wasn't just an abandoned house on an open road. It was secluded in the woods. This was a house where somebody didn't want Katie to be found. Not only was the house almost impossible to see from the road, but then where Katie's body was as well was downstairs in a basement, in a cement kind of carve out that existed in that basement. Her body, her body or itself also told us a lot of really interesting things. So it was almost like it was a two-sided crime scene because we had Katie in this box secluded and hidden, and she had no pants on. And typically when there's not a sexual assault evolved in a case, which there wasn't in this one, when there's not a sexual assault, someone will remove the clothing in order to embarrass that victim. But then also, yeah, but then also Katie's body was covered with a giant bullword. And so typically people cover bodies when they don't want to have to look at what they did. Typically that's someone that's got a connection or some sort of compassion. So we had this weird, dual-sided crime scene, especially with her body, if somebody that wanted to embarrass her, but then also had some sort of affection for her as well in terms of the crime scene. So that was really interesting to me to see both of those in there at the same time. Yeah, that's so interesting. I've never heard that before that you would assume that if the bottom of the clothing is removed, that maybe they had been assaulted, and this whole notion of embarrassing the victim, well, police eventually, I mean, initially started looking at her estranged husband. And we say older, he was around what, 27, 28. Katie was pretty young. Yep. That's six year age difference. Yeah. So she was a bit younger than he was, but they had had a little bit of a rocky relationship. What did you begin to learn from folks about him and about their relationship? So the military was everything to John. That was his entire identity. That is the job that he was meant to have, and he was a recruiter, and that's actually how he met Katie. He actually recruited Katie prior to ultimately marrying her. So he recruited Katie, and then he got sent to the high schools to be a recruiter in the high school. And that is really where we start to see how he operated, and he used that recruiter charm, and that ability to talk to people, to kind of break people down, and to break their guards down. And it just allowed him to go in a little bit further and to dispel up these deeper relationships. Well, when you got this case, you started digging and trying to find out obviously about him and about the relationship, because now, you know, the case has to be prosecuted once, eventually, and we'll talk a little bit about how police were able to finally make an arrest here. You actually saw the interviews that investigators had done with him, and that was pretty revealing to you, right? Yeah. Absolutely. And the death notification, which is when they notified him that she had been found dead, and you know, everyone reacts to trauma differently into bad news differently. So I tried really hard not to say it was an atypical reaction, right? Like I understand people process things differently, but this was bizarre. And the most telling thing about all of it is he never asked any of the law enforcement officers how she died. And that was so telling to me, even when they confronted him with that and said, you know, hey, man, we've been talking to you this whole time and told you that we found your wife dead and you never asked us how she died. His response was, well, it doesn't really matter. Does it? And that was just, that was so telling to me if someone that just genuinely had no care or concern or someone that already knew it was one of the, yeah, that's always so stunning to me when I, when I cover these stories. And when you hear about these interrogations and the way people present, I mean, oftentimes you, they're going overboard with their emotions. And then oftentimes like this, they just show no, it's just absolutely shocking to me. And then one thing factored into this case, which I see a lot in the stories I cover in 2020 is that digital evidence. Everybody thinks that they're going to be able to search and look in Google.
and use all kinds of technology, and it won't be detected. But in this case, it was also very telling when you looked at that digital footprint, didn't it? - Absolutely. There were a couple of things that really stood out to me in terms of the digital footprint. One, this was a guy that was constantly on his bow. He would wake up at four in the morning, and just started Google searching things, and started looking at things. So he was always on his phone, but he wasn't during the time that Katie had died. So that was extremely telling to us. There were a lot of other small digital things that we got to pull together with surveillance cameras and stuff throughout the case. But most telling was what he was Googling once he found out Katie was dead. And that was not just Katie Blauville, or Missing Simpsonville woman. He was always attaching his name to it. So he's always Googling, you know, John Blauville Katie Blau. He was just trying to see was his name associated with his name in these newspapers, and I mean, I think you do that to figure out if anyone's onto you. - Yeah. - Right, and so that's exactly what it was. He wasn't caring about what the news was saying about his wife. He was caring about what they were saying about him. - They were saying about him. In looking at the piece on Friday night, it was really just captivating in so many ways. And one other thing, and this speaks to your work too, the work that you are so passionate about when you talk about young people. You know, this couple had split up. John had already moved on, and he had another interest, a 17 year old girlfriend by the name of Hannah Thompson. And it was just shocking to me when we revealed that he brought her to his wife's funeral. His girlfriend, his new teen girlfriend, what about you and what was your reaction? - Yeah, so they set up a private viewing at the funeral home for John. And this was a law enforcement tactic. They were hoping that if they set up this private viewing that maybe they could catch and say something or something, oh, you know, something useful throughout the investigation, they were not accepting him to show up with Hannah Thompson. But he showed up and they were there and they had this private viewing that law enforcement was able to listen in on, and the whole time he was just talking about how Katie was dirty and was laughing and they were cracking jokes. And it just, again, I don't try to judge people's reactions, but I certainly judge that. - No, you have to judge that reaction. - Yeah, that was long that was not what we were expecting. It is not what should happen. So not only were we shocked that he brought Hannah along, but just the conversations that he was having with her. And the way he was just mocking his wife, was just appalling to us. It was just absolutely shocking to see that. Well, I want to dig more into that and his character, but also to the way this thing all played out, police began to zero in on John Blabell. And then he disappears. That was a big moment that I think kind of caught us all off guard. And also that search and what happened in behind the scenes. So we need to take a quick break, but when we come back, we want to talk about what happened behind the scenes and how police got their big break. So stay with us, Kenley. And don't you go anywhere. We'll be right back. (upbeat music) - Go! Go! - 20th century studios presents Well Fall, the most incredible survival thriller of the year. - I think it will. - Help! - In theaters Friday to survive the unthinkable, do the impossible. - You're gonna become so dangerous that the predators can't help but let you go. - I'll have to know your promise. - I'm going home. - Josh program, survivor, survivor. - Well Fall. - Waited PG-13, maybe inappropriate for children under 13. In theaters Friday, get tickets now. - From the studio that brought you one to vision. - I was an Avenger, but I'm not a hero anymore. ♪ It's like I was in my ♪ - This Wednesday, the vision returns for the final chapter of the groundbreaking trilogy. - Not a family. - Wasn't for real. - You sure about that? - I had a father called Vision. - Oh, is this possible? - Yes. - Don't miss the two episode premiere of Marvel Television's Vision Quest. Nothing bonds a family together quite like mortal jeopardy. Streamy one today, homey one Disney plus. (upbeat music) - Welcome back everybody to 2020 The After Show. I am sitting here today with Kinley A.B., a star state prosecutor in the state of South Carolina, a woman who is just dogged and determined to solve cases. And in this case, it is the case of Katie Blavelt. We covered this story Friday night. It was called Born to Kill. And when we left off, Kinley, we were talking about how John Blavelt was on the run. But he wasn't alone. He was with his 17 year old girlfriend, whom he had brought to the funeral, or to certainly to see his wife at the funeral home. And now he's on the run. And what was your thinking about this? Any fears about this young woman, her safety? What was your thinking? - Yeah, you know, first and foremost, there's fear and concern for Hannah. Not only did he take Hannah on the run, he completely isolated her before he did so. So she had turned her phone into her mailbox, right? So her parents mailbox. So she had no phone. She didn't have anything. So not only was there a fear because we knew how dangerous of a person he was, that there was a fear because she had no way of contacting anyone. If something was going wrong or she needed help. So there was definitely a fear. And then the longer they stayed gone, the more I think that fear grew. - Yeah, were you worried that she would meet the same fate as Katie? - I was certainly convinced she was dangerous. I hoped that she wasn't gonna meet the same fate as Katie. I think for Katie, I think Katie's the one person that stopped falling for John's tactics. And I think that's what really spurred a lot of this on. You never know what could happen with someone who is just proven to be such a violent individual. Like you said, this was not some sort of accidental death or something that was insignificant. This was a brutal killing, a brutal and intentional act. Well, they're on the run, which was really shocking to me that they could even evade police. I mean, obviously today we have technology that might make that a little more difficult, but this was 10 years ago. But they're on the run and they're gone for a while. Were you beginning to worry then that this case was not gonna be able to land in court and be solved? - Yeah, I mean, and I think we had solved the case, right? Like I think everyone knew it was John, especially when he fled. It was solved, but there was nothing we could do about. They couldn't find him to serve those arrest warrant. So you're kind of sitting there trying to do more and more, but your hands are really tied until you find him. So I mean, there was definitely periods of time, especially as years continued to pass where I thought this case was never gonna get prosecuted. - Yeah. So Hannah eventually makes her way back to South Carolina. Again, as I said, this takes years, but ultimately things start to change, but over time she makes her way back to South Carolina. And you know, you've got to deal with her. How are you looking at her as a victim, as someone who can help you in this case? How did you approach that? - I think the biggest thing we did, and a huge thank you to Simpsonville Police Department for doing this as well. I think the best thing we as a team did was didn't categorize her, right? We didn't categorize her as a victim or as someone that could help us or as a defendant. She certainly had the ability to be all three. And so we were very cautious and very careful when we communicated with her and when we met with her to make sure we were recognizing, you know, this is someone that is potentially a victim, someone that, no matter what has been traumatized, even if we don't think she's a victim, someone that's potentially a defendant in this case. And so we just try to be really careful handling Hannah and making sure we were, you know, dotting our eyes and crossing our teeth in terms of communicating with their ass tonight, traumatize her or, you know, trample on her rights as a defendant as well. So it was a really interesting way of approaching somebody because she really was everywhere on that spectrum in terms of her involvement in this case. - So you try to do what you can with her, you still trying to find him, and then eventually US marshals actually do find him. And I thought it was interesting, you know, they discovered that he's now moved on to another girlfriend, he's an Oregon. And he's with this girlfriend. They actually find him and you get that moment and you're at an event with your, one of your kids, right? - Right, yeah, I was at my daughter's swim lesson and I got a phone call from a coworker of mine, which was just odd to get a phone call after hours. And he said, "You're never gonna believe it." They found John Blavett and I said, "You gotta be kidding me." It was, it was not something I was expecting to get a phone call about, but then as soon as we got that phone call, I mean, it was boots on the ground. Everyone was ready to go. Law enforcement was ready to go. Get 'em, we had extradition paperwork drawn up. We were ready to try to make up for the six years of lost time that we had for Katie's family. - Yeah, six years. There's, when you're describing this, it sort of comes back to the future. What does it tell me Lee Jones movie about the, you know, the fugitive? That kind of comes to mind. I mean, it had to be, I guess, a sense of satisfaction that you finally caught this guy that you have been pursuing, you know, to try to bring him to trial. - And the thing about John is that he had told people before, you know, well, I'll just go work on a fishing boat in Alaska or I'll just go to Mexico. So when we had all of these years passing without any digital evidence, I mean, there were five years that went on that nobody had any sort of connection with him or any digital evidence. So as time was passing and we weren't getting anything new, I mean, for sure, yeah, we didn't think we were gonna find him. I'm very glad they did. - Yeah. - But he, you know, he had started a new relationship and was just living completely under the radar. My gosh, well, it was just really captivating how they finally did zero in and finally you get your man and you're gonna bring him to trial. So if you would just stay put, we're gonna take another break because we wanna talk about bringing him to trial and also how you were able to get this case in front of a jury. So don't go anywhere. We're gonna be right back. (upbeat music) - It was one thing for there to be,
a single clown sighting. And then there was a second one. Hundreds of students launched a late-night manhunt. How many more of these are we going to have? Nell Streaming. The rumors started to spread around town that there were killer clowns. The clowns are coming. They were clowns seen in different rural areas. We even tried to form a killer clown tosses. Most of the new Hulu original documentary, Clown Tanek, Nell Streaming with Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers, terms apply. Welcome back to 2020 The After Show. I'm talking with Kenley A.B., a South Carolina prosecutor who, after years of pursuing a man who was accused of murder, was finally able to get his case to trial. 22-year-old Katie Bloodvalt had been killed. You may have seen this episode in Friday's show called Born to Kill. And it was a six-year odyssey trying to capture the man, her husband, Katie's husband, who was finally eventually arrested and charged in her death. Kenley A.B. is telling us about the twist and turns in this case. And we're going to bring some things up to that you didn't get a chance to hear in our broadcast. We'll get a chance to talk about some of those details. So tell me about this. So he's charged in Katie's murder. He has pleaded not guilty. By the time he actually is actually brought to court, he's given a public defender or he's finally in the court room. What was that like for you as a prosecutor? Give us a sense of when you have been pursuing something like this so long and you see this man in court. I mean, obviously you've got a job to do. But you've also got to observe. So there's got to be body language and all of that there. Tell us and take us inside that courtroom. Yeah, you know, it was really interesting because when John Wallvale was found and located, I wasn't in the courtroom during his first bond hearing. If someone else from the office had handled that so trial, it was really the first time I got to see him in person. And I had listened to every interview and read every statement. And I was ready for this just, you know, really aggressive. Tough guard to kill. I know, yeah, this board to kill military guy to walk in there. And he wasn't. He was just very stoic. He was very detached. He showed little to no emotion throughout the entire trial. There were two times where you can see a physical reaction to something that was going on. And it wasn't when people were calling him murder for people representing evidence. It was when he first walked in for jury qualification and saw how many potential jurors were there. You can see his face and was like, you just couldn't believe that everyone was there for him. Oh wow. And then, yeah, and then likewise when the cameras were there, cameras started on the second day of trial or the first day of trial on day two of the case. And when he saw all the cameras, it's the only time he saw any emotion on his face and it was joy. It was very bizarre, you know, stoic throughout the whole trial, but very engaged at the attention he was getting. Yeah, yeah, just absolutely bizarre. And we've seen that, I guess, with other killers too in some of these cases where they're kind of basking in the glow of the attention. One of the things that shocked me in the episode, and you know, I don't know, for some reason, I wouldn't have expected it from this guy. But one thing that was really important to you was the fact that he had written a diary. He actually recorded some details about what had happened. And there was actually one passage that kind of stopped you in your tracks, tell us about it. Yeah, so he kept a journal, the larger majority of the time he was on the run. And Hannah would also write in it. They would kind of write back and forth to each other so strange. What was going on? It was very strange. And he would write mundane things about his day. And he would write letters to people. Like there was a letter he wrote to his daughter that said, you know, I'm sorry, I had to do it. But you know, you'll never understand, but I had to do that. That woman was evil to me. You know, clearly referencing Katie and what he had done and why he was on the run. But I think the one page that really stood out to all of us is he's writing about some people involved in the case, some law enforcement involved in the case. And then almost like a puzzle, he writes down at the end and underlines the letters that spell out, I did it. And it was one of the last things I said in my closing and to just see that, you know, he's talking about the case. He's talking about people in the case. And then to just show, you know, I did it. It was just, I mean, it's honestly something you see in movies. It's nothing that I ever thought would have been in real life. So it was extremely interesting once we found that journal and got to not only be in his head during that time. He was on the run, but to see how just brazen he was to ultimately write, I did it and underline it in his journal. Yeah, that was really a stunner for all of us too. I think when we saw that, you know, you have to, of course, you know, divorce yourself from the emotions and you're doing your job and you're giving it to the jury. I'm just sort of curious. So when you, especially something like this and someone like that and you're reading all of this, is that when you, when you're doing your opening and also when you were doing your closing here and you're trying to appeal to the jury. And again, you don't have an eyewitness, you know, you have your, your, your, your man here and you, your convinced that they, they probably will see it. What, what are those moments and emotions like for you when you're making that final argument and hoping that the jury will really get it? Yeah, you know, that's 22nd left on the clock. You've got, you know, 20 seconds to score the winning touchdown and you've got to just give the best drives of your life. There's no time for failure. There's no time for fumble or mistakes. And that's what it is. I absolutely love to close. I think a closing argument can really just pull every piece of the case together, especially this case which had a lot of really small digital pieces, you know, 10 cards and, and surveillance videos and starts and stops of when cars are turned on. You know, that's a lot of information for a juror to digest. And so I think it's extremely important to weave all of that together in a very clear linear story for the jury. So when they get there, they don't say, why did they show us this piece of evidence or what was that again? I just want it to be one very clean and clear story for them. And this case is also interesting because we had, Hannah, like Hannah had given us really good information, but we knew her credibility was going to come into question, right? And rightfully so the defense did question her credibility as they should have. And so I wanted to really use closing argument to corroborate every single piece of Hannah's story that I could to show the jury why they should believe her today. Yeah. So when they go off to deliberate, did you feel pretty confident or you never know? Were you worried? Yeah. Yeah, you never know. I felt really good when they went out to deliberate. Again, the defense attorneys did an outstanding job, but I just felt the evidence was there, but the longer they deliberated, the less that confidence was shining through. And so towards the end, before the verdict came, I was definitely a lot more nervous than I was probably 10 minutes after. Yeah, but you say the longer they deliberated, they only took what, three hours? Yeah, about three, a little over three hours. Yeah, that's relatively short. And they came back and when you heard that guilty verdict, your reaction and blah, blah, a reaction. I was so happy for that family. You know, you're happy for us, right? Like, you know, unhappy that we were able to do it. But most importantly, I was so happy for her mom. Her mom never gave up hope. And we kept promising her we were going to do everything that we could. You know, that's as a prosecutor, that's the only promise I can get. I can't say that we're going to win. I can't say, you know, that someone's going to be convicted or how much time they're going to get, but I made a promise to her that we would be the most prepared that we would be and that she would get the best team that she could. And we would do the best job possible. And so to know that our best job possible was able to bring her just that snitch of closure. It's never going to think the way what happened to Katie. But just that little bit of relief. We were really, really happy to be able to do that for that family because they're just, they are such good people. Yeah. Yeah. That bit of, you know, like you said, not closure, but certainly some kind of maybe repair to, you know, all the emotions they had been feeling. You actually throughout the course of this, at some point, you had an encounter with one of Blavelt's relatives somewhere, didn't you? I did. I did. We, um, with the attorney general of office, you know, who prosecuted the case for station in one area of the state, but the trial took place in another. So we stayed in a hotel in Greenville, South Carolina, which is the county where this happened. And John Blavelt also had an aunt that came and set behind him throughout the trial. I was as aunt in his cousin. And she happened to be staying in the same hotel as us. And so we kind of ran into each other after court one day. And she sent a just very nice post-it note through one of the employees at the hotel to give to us about, um, just the admiration she had for level of quality of prosecution. We were doing in the case and it caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting it. Yeah, I wouldn't expect that either from a relative. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, I think this, I think she supported her nephew. I don't necessarily think she supported what he did. Um, and I think, I think you can have both of those things. I think both of those things can exist at the same time. And so, you know, she was there sitting behind him every day. But I think she also very much respected the quality of prosecution that we were doing in this case. And decided to write me a little post note to tell me that. So it was a very nice touch. Yeah. That's really kind of unbelievable. Do you think Katie's family through the course of this trial? Were you able to help them understand why, you know, an act as senseless as this? I think why is the hardest question? And I think that was the one of the hardest things or one of my biggest concerns for the jury, too, right? We clearly don't have to prove why as prosecutors, but they were going to want to know why. I mean, they were estranged. He had a new girlfriend, they weren't in the middle of a big argument. So why do something this brutal? Um, but I hope throughout the trial, what Katie's family saw and learned is that, you know, this was somebody that didn't play by their rules. This was someone that loved himself and cared about himself more than anyone else. And I think Katie finally pushed against that. There's never going to be a why that makes it okay or that satisfies anyone. 'Cause it's a senseless lie, but you, they got some answers and you brought those answers to them. Kenley A.B.
it is such a pleasure getting a chance to talk to you, getting a chance to know you. I tell you the folks of South Carolina are fortunate to have you down there fighting for for so many and so many victims and would be victims. So thank you again for taking the time. Thank you very much. Great to see you. And thank you to our listeners for choosing to spend your time with us today. And of course you can always find 2020 on Friday nights on ABC and you can stream episodes like this one anytime on Disney+ in Hulu. Thanks for joining us again and have a good day. On October 19th, 2025, the Louvre became the backdrop of something straight out of a heist movie. In this series, I'll take you inside the events of that day through the eyes of the people who lived them. Then I'll join the international hunt for the Louvre Jules. Heist at the Louvre, a new series from ABC Audio. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or your favorite podcast app. Or subscribe to 2020 True Crime Plus on Apple Podcasts to listen ad-free. The more we grow into Katzai, the more eyes that we have on us. We want to do everything for the fans. Our icons are what make Katzai iconic. On October 16th on Disney+ in Hulu, visit Disney+.com/what's-hi-fin-on for more information. Terms apply.
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
Prosecutor Kenley A.B. spent over a decade pursuing the murder of 22-year-old Katie Blavelt, whose body was found in a secluded basement in South Carolina after she failed to appear for a planned meeting.
Initial police suspicion focused on her estranged husband, John Blavelt, a former military recruiter who had a history of manipulation and showed no concern when informed of her death.
Digital evidence, including Google searches with his name attached, revealed John’s awareness of being pursued and his intent to hide from public scrutiny, confirming his guilt.
John and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Hannah Thompson, fled the area, isolating Hannah and raising fears for her safety and potential victimization.
Hannah, a key witness, provided critical testimony, and the prosecution handled her with care, recognizing her as a potential victim, defendant, or both.
John was arrested in Oregon after years on the run, and during trial, his stoic demeanor and journal—containing the explicit line “I did it”—revealed his guilt and brazenness.
The jury reached a guilty verdict in under three hours, providing closure to Katie’s family after years of uncertainty.
A relative of John’s praised the prosecution’s work, highlighting the emotional and ethical depth of the case and the justice system’s role in delivering accountability.
Summary:
The case of 22-year-old Katie Blavelt, a vibrant woman loved for her kindness to animals and friends, unfolds as a chilling tale of violence and long-term pursuit. Found murdered in an abandoned basement in Simpsonville, South Carolina, her death sparked a six-year investigation that culminated in the arrest of her estranged husband, John Blavelt. B.
led the case with determination, navigating digital footprints, witness testimonies, and a complex personal dynamic. John’s behavior—ranging from emotional detachment to mocking his wife at her funeral—revealed a pattern of manipulation and cruelty. His digital activity, including searches linking his name to her death, and a journal explicitly stating “I did it,” provided damning evidence.
Hannah, the 17-year-old girlfriend, became a crucial witness, and the prosecution approached her with sensitivity, acknowledging her trauma and potential role in the case. Despite years of evasion, John was eventually apprehended and tried, where his cold demeanor and journal entries shocked even the prosecution. The jury convicted him in under three hours, delivering much-needed closure to Katie’s family.
The case underscores the power of persistence, digital evidence, and empathy in true crime—where justice not only brings a conviction but also a measure of peace to a grieving family.
FAQs
Katie Blavelt, a 22-year-old woman from Simpsonville, South Carolina, was found murdered in an abandoned basement in October 2016. She had been brutally killed, and the case involved a long investigation to identify the perpetrator.
The suspect was John Blavelt, her estranged husband. He had a history of emotional manipulation and was later found to have committed the murder, which was confirmed through digital evidence, witness testimony, and a personal journal he wrote while on the run.
After John Blavelt disappeared, investigators used digital evidence, including Google searches and surveillance footage, to track his movements. They discovered he had been living in Oregon with a new girlfriend, and ultimately, U.S. marshals located him and facilitated his arrest after years of evasion.
Hannah Thompson, John's 17-year-old girlfriend, became a key witness. She provided crucial testimony after being traumatized by John’s behavior, including his presence at Katie’s funeral and his mocking comments about her. She also wrote in a journal with John, which helped confirm the motive and timeline of the crime.
Prosecutors used a combination of digital footprints, surveillance footage, and the journal entries of both John and Hannah. The journal included a clear statement — 'I did it' — which was a pivotal piece of evidence that confirmed guilt and showed John’s awareness of his actions.
The jury found John Blavelt guilty of murdering Katie Blavelt after a three-hour deliberation. The verdict brought closure to the family and was celebrated as a major breakthrough in a case that had remained unsolved for over six years.
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