Jury trial opens for man accused of killing estranged wife

GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – A jury trial officially began on Tuesday in Greenville County, eight years after a man is accused of killing his estranged wife.

Trial began with opening statements. First, from the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, which is seeking to prove John Blauvelt guilty of murdering his estranged wife, Cati Boyter-Blauvelt.

The state spoke to the jury, asking them to remember a few numbers.

One was the number “six”, that’s how many inches they said Blauvelt put the knife in Boyter-Blauvelt’s body.

Secondly, the number “2,724,” the amount of miles that Blauvelt traveled from Fountain Inn to Oregon to escape.

Lastly, the number “2,086.” Blauvelt was on the run for 2,086 days, hiding and living in Oregon, according to the state.

The state finished off their opening statement by reading a message from a journal they said Blauvelt wrote to his daughter, Madison, in December of 2016.

Prosecutors said she was the only child Blauvelt shared with his estranged wife.

“Someday I hope you understand why I did it,” John Meadors, Prosecutor, S.C. Attorney General’s Office, read out of what he claimed was Blauvelt’s journal. “The girl was evil to me. She treated me like dirt. She took everything from me including you. I am sorry that I had to do it, to do that but there was no other way for me. There was no other way for me. Sorry bud I love you.”

The defense took the floor next. Public Defender, Paul Neely argued that the state has tunnel vision.

He said there were other fingerprints at the crime scene that were never examined.

“Tunnel vision is how you ignore the fact that there is evidence at the crime scene of someone else being 18 feet from the spot Cati Blauvelt died,” Neely said to the jury. “Not him, somebody else and you don’t ask the first question about that piece of evidence.”

The state then called their first witness to the stand, the U.S. Marshal that was in charge of arresting Blauvelt. Second was the victim’s Mother.

“She was sunshine,” Boyter-Blauvelt’s mother said.

Hannah Thompson was called to the stand next, who was Blauvelt’s alleged 17-year-old girlfriend. Thompson is charged with accessory after the fact, among other charges.

On Tuesday, she testified that Blauvelt told her he was going to kill Boyter-Blauvelt. Thompson added, after they fled the state, he told her how he did it.

“He told me that he stabbed her in the neck,” Thompson said. “Then, he told me he ‘had to drag her body back to the abandoned house,’ which is where he said ‘he did it at’ and that he threw her phone into water that was on the ground in the abandoned house and he said that he ‘had to cover up her blood with dirt.'”

When Thompson was cross examined, the defense questioned her about her credibility as a witness.

The defense argued that Thompson has lied about various aspects of the case in seven interviews before Tuesday.

Thompson was charged with accessory after the fact, and other charges in this case. The South Carolina Attorney Generals office said Thompson is looking at 55 years in prison. They say she has not been promised a reduced sentence.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS.