John Blauvelt trial features texts and emotional testimony

GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C (WSPA) – Trial continued on Wednesday for the Upstate man accused of killing his estranged wife in 2016.

The day began with an emotional testimony from Wayne Roper, a friend of John and Cati Blauvelt. Roper, called by the state, testified that he is the one who found Boyter-Blauvelt’s body in the basement of the abandoned home.

He testified that he called police less than one minute after finding her.

“I go inside, look around everywhere and it looked like someone had been there. I went through and checked the whole place, went downstairs and found her,” Roper said.

The state showed Blauvelt’s phone records, highlighting specific text messages that he had sent to his alleged 17-year-old girlfriend at the time, Hannah Thompson. The messages said “she’s gone” and another said “I’m going through with that thing.”

Blauvelt’s search history was also shown in court, with records showing that he searched “how to sharpen a knife” and “what to do if my wife dies.”

The state called many witnesses to the stand, including the lead investigator with the Simpsonville Police Department, Keith Morecraft.

“This was the basement of the home,” Morecraft said. “Dirt floor basement. There was a concrete box, and her body was located in that concrete box.”

During cross-examination, the defense argued that the department Morecraft worked with during the investigation had focused solely on Blauvelt as a suspect. Morecraft denied this claim, stating that about 25 people were interviewed. The defense continued to question the thoroughness of the investigation.

“At what point in that interview did you ask him ‘why a bottle with his name on it was 18ft from a large pool of blood at the time?'” Paul Neely, the defense attorney asked. “There was so much trash at that scene and he was known to be a person to be a frequent at that location. It wasn’t a damning piece of evidence.”

Trial is expected to continue on Thursday morning.

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