00:00:00
out off of Southeast Main Street, there was a body that was found in the house. Okay, we're able to say that it is
00:00:05
Kevin. Okay, I'm so sorry for your loss, sir. >> This is 28-year-old John Plowvelt.
00:00:12
Learning that his missing wife was discovered in an abandoned [music] house, brutally murdered, surrounded by
00:00:18
satanic markings. However, John had a disturbing secret he couldn't tell the interviewer that day. down if I wiped
00:00:29
her down. >> Using his military experience, he carried out a nearperfect murder that
00:00:36
kept detectives one step behind for years. And by the time investigators began to narrow in on him, Jon was
00:00:44
already long gone, living in a new state, in a new house, running away with his 17-year-old girlfriend, [music]
00:00:52
and seemingly getting away for good. >> Mr. defies [music] any kind of logic that I have experienced in my 62 years
00:01:01
on this earth. >> We know more than you think we do. What if I told you that your cell phone did
00:01:06
ping somewhere other than where you say you were? >> It's 2:15 p.m. on October 24th, 2016.
00:01:19
22-year-old Katie Blauvelt is captured on CCTV inside her workplace. Her shift is soon coming to an end. And she's
00:01:27
planning to meet her mother at 3:00 p.m. that same day. She leaves, calls her mother, and takes a selfie, unaware it's
00:01:36
the last photo she ever takes. Not long after, her phone pings a location for the last time, and Katie disappears
00:01:44
without a trace. 5 hours passed by. It's now 700 p.m. and Katie never arrived for dinner with her
00:01:53
mother. Worried, the mother and other family members try calling her multiple times, but her phone has no signal. At
00:02:02
7:48 [music] p.m., Katie's mother reports her missing. Officers, friends, [music] and family mobilize to look for
00:02:09
her, and the search officially begins. But this left detectives [music] with a critical 5-hour gap in the timeline, one
00:02:16
they would spend months trying to piece [music] together. 10 hours would go past without any clues
00:02:25
about Katie's whereabouts. Then at 12:33 a.m., the police receive an unexpected call. One of Katie's friends is on the
00:02:34
line, claiming he's just found her body dead inside an abandoned house deep in a
00:02:40
nearby forest. >> Simpsonville 911. What's location of your emergency? >> Um, I'm in that uh discovered church
00:02:48
across from in the woods. >> You're in disco. You're at Discover Church across from where?
00:02:54
>> Um, in the woods across from it. [music] you're I was worried about my friend uh
00:03:00
Katie and she she went missing. She's been missing for a while now. And uh we came in this house that we used to hang
00:03:07
all hang out in. And uh um she she >> quickly medics and police rushed to the address of an abandoned house deep in
00:03:18
the woods. Upon arriving at the scene, officers notice multiple graffiti markings, including [music] apparent
00:03:25
satanic symbols. Soon after, they identify the caller as Wayne Roer, a friend of Katie, who leads them into the
00:03:33
basement of the abandoned house. There, officers find a large concrete box sealed with plywood.
00:03:40
When they remove the cover, they're met with a horrifying sight. Katie's body lies inside with a knife pierced through
00:03:48
her neck and 16 stab wounds across her body. The lack of struggle and the state of her clothing with her shirt pulled up
00:03:57
and her lower clothes missing suggested a motivated killing. All of these details point detectives straight to
00:04:05
Wayne as their first potential suspect. But what they don't realize is that this
00:04:11
is exactly what the killer wants them to think. Every detail of the scene has been arranged to send them chasing the
00:04:19
wrong lead. Without realizing it, detectives have walked straight into the killer's setup.
00:04:28
As the night went on, forensics revealed chilling details. Katie's body had been
00:04:33
dragged to the basement and her phone was found submerged in water to destroy [music] it. Wayne is detained and
00:04:39
brought in for questioning. At the moment, detectives believe they have their killer and they're ready to push
00:04:45
for a confession. >> Wayne, I'm sorry to keep you waiting, brother. >> Hey, buddy.
00:04:50
>> What's your name? Franklin Wayne. I'm sorry. Franklin Wayne about Franklin or Wayne.
00:04:59
At this point, Wayne believes he's been brought in to be questioned as a witness
00:05:03
after the heartbreaking discovery, unaware that detectives are already convinced about his involvement in the
00:05:08
murder and any statement he makes might be used against him. >> I think you know why you're here, right?
00:05:15
>> Okay. Um, tell me uh tell me how how did you meet Katie? just from the time you
00:05:22
met her, kind of what your relationship was and leave you up until, you know, 11:30 or so last night. Okay. Okay. I
00:05:31
first met her. We were friends at first and then we [clears throat] dated for like a month or so and then that's when
00:05:40
I moved to Liberty with my dad and we stayed in contact for a little bit and then once I left my dad and went to
00:05:48
North Carolina, we lost contact. Detectives begin the interview by learning that Wayne and Katie were once
00:05:53
together. But quickly, Wayne reveals something that would immediately put suspicion onto his name.
00:06:01
>> Maybe uh a year later that Katie got married to John Lville. And uh then one [music]
00:06:10
night uh she came and uh got with us with uh John. was the first time I've seen her
00:06:19
since I moved. And since then, u um John offered me to move in with him, a roommate, and $200 a
00:06:31
month. And I I took it up. It was a good deal. >> So, you live with her and her husband?
00:06:39
>> Yeah. >> Kind of weird. >> It was. >> When was this? Do you remember when this
00:06:43
was? when I live with him. Um, it was before June this year. >> As Wayne explains that he once dated
00:06:52
Katie and later lived with her and her husband, detectives gain another reason to suspect him, jealousy. And just as
00:06:59
everything appears to be moving in the perfect direction for the real killer and his carefully constructed plan,
00:07:05
Wayne makes a claim that complicates the investigation and may just be enough to
00:07:11
ruin the killer's plan. there everything like going okay you know then they started having arguments cuz of me
00:07:20
because uh she used to talk about me before and uh she told me that he was jealous of me and uh their argument
00:07:30
started getting worse and that was whenever he got drunk one night and uh he cussed
00:07:40
her out and he had her in the Uh they were just pretty much just screaming at each other and then from
00:07:46
there she ended up moving back when with her mom I think. >> When did you and Katie
00:07:58
when you were living with John and Katie? We all being intimate with each other.
00:08:03
>> Um it was only once. >> And John was there or not there? It was a Yeah, it was like three something.
00:08:11
And >> And how did that come about? >> Um, I was drunk and he was drunk and it was like after that like he just he
00:08:22
changed. >> If true, Wayne's claims about Jon's violent behavior could shift suspicion
00:08:28
towards him. But despite Wayne's accusations, something still doesn't add up. His story with its inconsistencies
00:08:36
and gaps keeps raising suspicions because prior to this interrogation, detectives learned that on the day of
00:08:42
Katie's death, Wayne arrived late to work and he admits to walking near the abandoned house around the time Katie
00:08:48
disappeared. More importantly, while at work, Wayne was aware that Katie might be inside that very house. Yet, despite
00:08:55
that suspicion, he never alerted authorities. Instead, he waited until the end of the day, went there himself,
00:09:02
and only then called the police. All of this places Wayne squarely in the crosshairs of investigators, and
00:09:10
unknowingly pushes them further into the real killer's trap. Because in the next
00:09:15
few minutes, the interview will take a terrifying turn as detectives unknowingly edge closer to forcing an
00:09:23
innocent man into confession to a brutal murder that he never committed. But before we get to that, recently I'd been
00:09:30
dealing with these headaches for 3 weeks straight, and I kept pushing off seeing
00:09:33
a doctor because I've always struggled to find one that works for me in my insurance. That's where I used Zachdoc,
00:09:39
the sponsor of today's video. Zakdock is a free website where you can search and
00:09:43
compare highquality in-et network doctors. And Zachdoc isn't just for one type of care. ZuckDoc has over 150,000
00:09:50
providers across nearly every specialty from primary care to dental, eye care, urgent care, mental health, and more.
00:09:57
It's basically a one-stop shop for your healthcare needs, and it's completely free to use. When you found the doctor
00:10:02
you need, you can see their actual appointment openings. Plus, Zockdoc helps you get appointments fast,
00:10:07
typically within just 24 to 72 hours of booking. And you can even score same day
00:10:12
appointments. No need to call doctor's offices and wait on hold either. So, if there's something you've been ignoring,
00:10:17
make it easier on yourself. Go to zdock.com/drinsanity. That's zoocdoc.com/drins
00:10:25
insanity. or [music] click the link in the description to find and instantly book a top rated in network doctor
00:10:31
today. With that said, let's get back to Wayne's interview where detectives are on the verge of pushing an innocent man
00:10:40
into a murder confession. >> Why did Why did you call the police? >> I didn't think of it at the time. I
00:10:47
didn't. >> Do you know she was dead? [clears throat] >> No. Why would you think the best idea is
00:10:54
for you to walk into what turns out to be her final resting place where somebody murdered her and dumped her
00:11:02
down there like a piece of trash? You know why you didn't look in the bathroom? >> We glanced in there with the flashlight.
00:11:09
Like if you're standing at the door of it, you can see in there. >> You can't see in the tub. I'm telling
00:11:14
you, I was up there in the day cuz you wasn't in the tub, Mr. defies any kind of logic that I have experienced in my
00:11:24
62 years on this earth. >> You look like you're going to pass out. This is too much. I bet it is.
00:11:32
>> Get it off of you then. >> I'm sure it is. All you got to do is lay it down. You lay the burden down. That's the only
00:11:39
way you'll be forgiven. You got to say, "I messed up. Help me." That's what you got to say. and I'll do it, but I'm not
00:11:48
going to do it on credit. >> Detectives remained suspicious of Wayne, but with him sticking to his story and
00:11:55
no hard evidence, they couldn't yet arrest him. Instead, they collected his DNA sample to compare with the DNA found
00:12:01
underneath Katie's fingernails. But that's when just a few hours after Wayne's interview, as police searched
00:12:08
the area around the abandoned house, they stumbled upon Katie's car. Only a few miles from the crime scene, left
00:12:15
abandoned in a nearby parking lot. It looked as if she had left in a hurry, but the reason her car ended up there
00:12:22
would remain one of the biggest mysteries for the following months. Up to this point, everything was going
00:12:29
according to the killer's plan. one designed and carried out by Katie's own husband, John Blauvelt. But Wayne's
00:12:37
comments about his jealousy pushed detectives to dig deeper. What they found was a restraining order filed
00:12:44
months earlier after Jon had allegedly pulled a gun on Katie when she refused to give him her phone. For the first
00:12:51
time, despite his efforts, officers were seriously beginning to suspect Jon. So the next day on October 26th, detectives
00:13:01
approach him at his office on the military base where he works. Their goal is simple. Hear his side of the story.
00:13:08
Verify his alibi for the day Katie died and see how he reacts under pressure. For most perpetrators, this would be the
00:13:16
moment everything starts to fall apart. But Jon isn't like the rest. He would play it perfectly.
00:13:24
>> All right. Well, there out off of Southeast Main Street. There was a body that was found in the house. Okay. An
00:13:31
abandoned house. Um, and at this point, we're we're able to say that it is captain. Okay. I'm so sorry for your
00:13:39
loss, sir. Um, at this time, we are investigating. We would investigate every death the
00:13:46
same way. We start with homicide and work our way from there. Okay. What the restraining order deal? What's the deal
00:13:53
with that? This is a charge back that I got back in um February. [snorts] Uh domestic violence first degree.
00:14:00
>> Do do you know if she had any issues with anybody? Anybody that won't hurt her or anything like that?
00:14:05
>> No. And I just I know that she's been dating around and you know it's whatever
00:14:09
cuz I was into but >> notice how John intentionally directs detectives towards the fact that Katie
00:14:15
is dating around. Him pointing this out isn't a coincidence. It's a strategy. By
00:14:21
controlling the narrative this early, Jon is quietly planting a story that will protect him later.
00:14:27
>> Did you work this Monday? >> Mhm. [clears throat] >> What time did you get off Monday?
00:14:32
>> Uh, like 2:30ish, 2. I don't know. >> Did you stop anywhere on the way home? No.
00:14:37
>> Let me ask you this. Why were you looking for Katie? >> For Shant right now, I'm just trying to help her
00:14:44
out. >> Who do you know that would want to do harm to her? >> Nobody. [snorts] Do you know uh there's
00:14:51
a guy that used to live with you? Uh redheaded fella. >> Redhead. >> Yeah. >> Wayne.
00:14:56
>> Yeah. >> Mhm. >> What's his story? >> Just regular dude. Good guy. >> France.
00:15:02
>> Mhm. What do you do for the army? >> Well, right now I just sit in this office. Small office right now. Um
00:15:08
because of the civil investigation, all my recruiting duties have been suspended. [music]
00:15:12
>> Are you familiar with this abandoned house? >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> That's the spot.
00:15:19
What's this? >> Hang out spot. Am I being charged with a crime? Cuz he's recording me and I'm not
00:15:23
comfortable with that. >> No. >> If I am, I'd like to contact a lawyer >> cuz this is uncomfortable.
00:15:31
>> Okay. >> You're not you're you're not being charged, okay, with the crime right now.
00:15:36
>> As the interview ends, John does something counterintuitive. He defends Wayne, the man he's secretly framing.
00:15:44
It's a manipulation tactic known as reverse empathy. By showing compassion, he makes himself appear harmless and
00:15:52
trustworthy. Jon's first interrogation had gone almost perfectly, leaving detectives with little they could use
00:15:59
against him. Still, they couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. With
00:16:05
no evidence to hold him, he was let go and officers would turn to those closest to Jon and Katie, their friends and
00:16:12
family, unaware that Jon had already influenced them. Detectives started with Crystal, Katie's
00:16:21
best friend, and at the time also Jon's roommate. Jon knew exactly what to expect here. In his interrogation, he
00:16:28
had already planted the idea that Katie was dating around. And Crystal, being one of Katie's close friends, also knew
00:16:35
about her dating habits. His hope was that she would unknowingly reinforce this misdirection, steering suspicion
00:16:43
towards anyone but him. >> All right. October 28th, 2016, 4:47 p.m. to know. Um, and like I said, all I ask
00:16:53
is that you don't up here and he's not the only suspect. You know, there's other people we're
00:16:59
talking to questioning. So, has he made any statements about, you know, if I go to jail for
00:17:05
Katie's murder? He's just I mean he said that [music] you know it sucks for him because he feels like he's he's going to
00:17:12
get in trouble for it [music] but you know he's like I didn't do this you know like I'm tired of people coming after
00:17:19
me. [music] >> See me and John actually really do get along. You know what I'm saying? I'm not
00:17:24
going to lie about him at all. I'm going to tell you the straight up truth. If he's acting weird I'm going to tell you.
00:17:29
But he wasn't. I was thinking last night about it. I really was. um just maybe a
00:17:35
split [music] second thought that it could have been John, but he's ever since Katie's gone
00:17:41
missing, he's made sure that there was more than one person around him. At the time that Katie died at 8:00 at night,
00:17:47
John would all three of us were sitting over here. I mean, from 5:00 when he came back home [music] till me
00:17:56
and my boyfriend left for work the next morning, he was there. Notice how Crystal mentions that Jon got
00:18:03
home at 5:00 p.m. and stayed there the entire evening until morning. It's a detail that would later turn out to be
00:18:09
part of John's manipulation. So, if you had to take a guess who killed her, she said,
00:18:16
>> "I don't know because I heard a lot of things and I know she had a tender and I
00:18:22
know that she was dating a lot of people from, you know, Cheyenne telling me that
00:18:26
[music] she took a lot of people down in the house. I didn't even know that house
00:18:30
existed. >> What What were John's feelings or thoughts toward Katie to you? >> I mean, I know that he loved her. I know
00:18:38
that he still does. I mean, he's mad because of what Katie is accusing, you know, yelled the gun up to my head and
00:18:46
stuff like that. And just by the way she was talking, I knew she was lying because that's what she did. Me and her
00:18:50
used to get each other in trouble all the time in high school. That's what she would do. She would lie, you know.
00:18:56
>> But we're done. >> Yeah. Just as Jon hoped, Crystal's account added fuel to the idea he had planted.
00:19:04
By emphasizing Katie's dating life, she unknowingly fed into Jon's narrative, suggesting the threat may have come from
00:19:12
someone she was seeing, maybe even Wayne. Next came Catherine, Jon's ex-wife and the mother of his child. He
00:19:20
had already made sure she wouldn't say too much. Fear and their shared child would be enough to keep her quiet.
00:19:30
This is an investigator Hawkins. Hey, how are you? Nice to meet you. >> With you being married to him for seven
00:19:35
years, has with the drink being grieving sober, has there been any violence between the two of you?
00:19:43
>> Okay. I mean, I'm not here to to go and arrest him for something that happened,
00:19:46
you know, 10 years ago or anything like that, but I just don't want to go into anything that had to do with us because
00:19:56
that doesn't have anything to do with what happened between him and Gay. >> I mean, it's not that you're
00:20:02
incriminating yourself. >> He's a good guy. I mean, I'm a lie. some bad joke, but I assume I wouldn't be if he was
00:20:14
that crazy. >> Well, you never know. One time for somebody to snap him. >> But he's never snapping me for some
00:20:20
reason. >> Plus, you two have a kid together, so >> yeah, there's that. >> All right, I'll give you a business card
00:20:29
with my phone number on there. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you very much for coming with your app. Catherine's
00:20:36
silence kept Jon safe for now. But the final interview with Katie's niece, Cheyenne, would not go, according to
00:20:44
Jon's plan. Unlike Crystal or Catherine, she wouldn't protect him. Instead, she would point suspicion [music]
00:20:51
directly at Jon and reveal a motive that would tie everything together. For the first time, his carefully built plan
00:20:59
would start to fall apart. [snorts] >> All right. Your name is Cheyenne Paxton. Is that correct?
00:21:06
>> Yes, sir. >> Okay. It is Thursday, October 27th at 8:52 a.m. Simpsonville Police
00:21:12
Department. This has been reference to the homicide investigation Kaitlin Black. Have you ever seen John get
00:21:21
violent towards Katie? >> I've never seen him put his hands up. I've seen them already. you [snorts]
00:21:28
>> would Katie have gone over to his house on her own >> within the last 3 weeks. How long? Like
00:21:35
I know. >> So if he says he hasn't seen her since July July. Yeah. No, he's seen her. I
00:21:41
know that John is really angry for a lot of weeks. >> Tell me what he's been for.
00:21:49
>> [gasps] >> He feels like that it's her fault that all like, you know, their relationship
00:21:56
went bad and everything kind of went bad for a little while and he feels like it's her fault that he's losing his job
00:22:02
and that he got in any trouble and he's just he just blames it all on her, you know.
00:22:08
>> And um I don't know if this matters or not, but I know he has like $150,000 life insurance policy on her, too.
00:22:17
>> All right. I appreciate you coming in. I know it's not easy, >> especially when somebody close to you,
00:22:22
but it's important. We, you know, a lot of this information you gave us, good information that we need. So,
00:22:29
>> Cheyenne's interview gave detectives their first real motive, pointing to John. But motive wasn't enough. They
00:22:36
needed evidence. >> They have a few leads, but they have no defined person of interest just yet. As
00:22:43
the investigation dragged on, the detectives frustration began to grow. Jon had covered himself so carefully
00:22:50
that they couldn't even get a judge to approve a DNA warrant. Without it, they had nothing that could tie him directly
00:22:57
to Katie's final moments. It's now been 4 days since Katie was killed, and detectives didn't have any
00:23:05
solid evidence. They knew Jon was smart, but so were they. Out of options and patience, they began planning something
00:23:13
different. They began forming a new risky and very unconventional plan. [music] In just 2 days, they would set a
00:23:21
trap for Jon. A trap at Katie's own funeral. In the days leading up to the funeral,
00:23:28
detectives stayed ready. While they waited, Katie's family mourned and tried to make sense of what happened. [music]
00:23:35
22-year-old Katie had spent the past year working at PetSmart, surrounded by animals she was saving and [music]
00:23:42
taking care of. She was easygoing and warm, quick to make friends and [music] close with her family. But her peaceful
00:23:50
life from just days earlier would make what was about to come only more unsettling.
00:23:58
As the day of the funeral came, detectives entered the funeral home early, working quietly before guests
00:24:04
began to arrive. They positioned hidden cameras around the room and secretly wired the space for sound. Everything
00:24:12
inside the funeral home looked normal, but in reality, detectives controlled every detail. They'd placed cups of
00:24:19
water and other drinks where guests could easily reach them. The plan was simple. Get Jon to drink from one of the
00:24:25
cops, catch it on video, collect his DNA from the cup, and compare it to the DNA
00:24:30
found on Katie's body. On October 30th, the day of the funeral, detectives set their plan into motion. But what their
00:24:37
cameras are about to capture goes far beyond anything [music] they expect. She's all
00:24:56
they didn't wipe her down. Think she still plunges the funeral home. Detectives know their
00:25:19
[music] plan has worked. They quickly return to retrieve the cup he had drank from and the hidden camera they placed
00:25:25
earlier. When they review the footage, three critical things stand out. All of which will become pivotal to the entire
00:25:33
investigation. The first is exactly what they were hoping for. Jon drinks from one of the cups and leaves it behind,
00:25:40
giving detectives the evidence they need to collect his DNA without a warrant and
00:25:45
compare it to the samples found on Katie. The second detail is something they never expected. The footage
00:25:52
captures Jon walking up to the casket, [music] taking pictures of Katie's body while making unsettling comments. And
00:26:00
the third, perhaps most unsettling of all is that Jon isn't alone. Standing beside him is an unidentified young
00:26:09
woman who quietly tells him to stop taking pictures, then giggles moments later. Her behavior immediately drew
00:26:17
attention and detectives decided to collect her cup as well for DNA testing. And when they began digging into her
00:26:23
identity, they discovered the woman was 17-year-old Hannah Thompson, a friend, and more recently Jon's new roommate.
00:26:33
They also learned that she had once been close friends with Katie. Given her connection to Jon and Katie and her
00:26:40
strange behavior at the funeral, detectives know Hannah isn't just another witness. She might be the key to
00:26:47
solving the entire case. And they were dead on. At this point, detectives have interviewed Wayne, John, and people from
00:26:56
both Jon and Katie's circle. They also collected crucial evidence and leads and now believe that Hannah, the 17-year-old
00:27:03
who lived with Jon, could be the key to uncovering the truth about Katie's murder. The next day, on October 31st, a
00:27:11
week after Katie's death, detectives approach Hannah and bring her in for interrogation. If anyone knows what
00:27:17
really happened, it's her. >> When was the last time you uh you saw Katie? >> Like a few months ago.
00:27:24
>> Did uh what was your feelings towards her? I mean, I always like I've always seen
00:27:30
her as like a friend cuz like I lived with her for a little bit, >> right? So, is it fair to say you were
00:27:35
you were on good terms with her when she was killed? >> Mhm. >> Okay. Um, did you end up going to her
00:27:41
visitation Saturday? >> No, I didn't. >> Okay. [clears throat] So, you didn't get
00:27:45
to say goodbye to her? >> Mhm. >> Um, John, I think went there Sunday, right? >> Mhm.
00:27:53
>> Okay. You didn't get to go get to go with him? >> I went with him. Yeah. I didn't go
00:27:57
Saturday either though cuz um her family doesn't really like me >> because of um her niece Cheyenne.
00:28:05
>> Yeah. >> Yeah. We were like kind of like off and on friends and I think she might have
00:28:10
said something about me that her family didn't really like me. >> Did uh so did you go in the room and pay
00:28:17
your respects or >> how did that go? >> It was hard. It was really hard. Um >> how long did you stay in the room with
00:28:23
her casket? >> Like 10 minutes. 10 [music] to 15 minutes. >> What' y'all talk about while you're in
00:28:31
there? >> We didn't talk at all. >> Nothing. >> We just [music] each had our like
00:28:36
moments, I guess. >> John never take his cell phone out and take a picture of her.
00:28:41
>> No, he didn't. >> Sure. >> Mhm. >> Well, you can tell me. I just Some people do that.
00:28:46
>> Yeah. No, [music] he never took a picture of her. >> Watch Hannah's behavior closely as the
00:28:51
questions get more direct. Her eyes start darting between the detectives. She fidgets with her hands, picks at her
00:28:56
nails. Her whole demeanor shifts. It's clear she's getting nervous. And the detectives can see it, too.
00:29:02
>> So, while you were in that room, you two never talked at all. [clears throat]
00:29:05
>> I kind of rubbed his back a little bit. You know, I told him that it was okay,
00:29:08
but other than that, we didn't really talk. >> Was he crying? >> Mhm. >> Were [clears throat] you crying?
00:29:13
>> Mhm. >> It's just hard like seeing somebody like that, >> I bet. [snorts] Okay. Um, Monday night at some
00:29:21
point before you went out, you guys carried out a bag of trash to your car or to his car, right?
00:29:27
>> I don't remember. >> Okay. So, you don't recall carrying out a trash bag or him cleaning anything up?
00:29:34
>> Mm-m. >> Having to put stuff in the trash? >> No, sir. >> Okay. >> On Monday, the day Katie was killed, one
00:29:42
of their roommates reported seeing John and Hannah carrying out several bags of trash. At the time, detectives didn't
00:29:49
think much of it. It felt like a small, irrelevant detail with nothing to back it up. But now, with all this new
00:29:56
information coming together, that statement suddenly stood out. It was another piece of the puzzle, something
00:30:02
they could finally use to put more pressure on Hannah. Um, just so you understand, we've been working this case
00:30:09
steady since she disappeared, >> right? >> So, there's a lot of these things that
00:30:12
we know the answers to. >> Mhm. >> I can tell you already you're lying to me. Okay,
00:30:18
you do not want to get wrapped up in catching the murder charge. I got to tell you a little something. At the
00:30:23
funeral home, we were there. Okay. There was a camera in the room. There was a reporter in the room. We
00:30:31
heard everything you guys said. So, do you want to go back and rehash that? >> I don't.
00:30:40
It was not easy to see her like that. Is that why there was giggling and stuff? >> There's not any Googling.
00:30:49
>> We've been doing this longer than you've been alive. >> You're not you're not you're not slicker
00:30:54
than us. You know, you're not going to outsmart us. We we we've talked to people. This is a murderer. You
00:31:00
understand that? >> Yes, sir. What do you think about somebody that would stab a girl in the neck to the
00:31:06
point where the knife went all the way through to the other side and then stick her body like a piece of trash in the
00:31:12
basement of an abandoned house to sit there for a day and a half before somebody finds her?
00:31:18
>> Okay, she's right here. >> I don't want to look at her. >> It's your friend. >> I don't want to do this anymore.
00:31:25
>> Don't want to do what? Don't want to help us find out who killed her. >> All you got to do is tell the truth. It
00:31:30
will be so easy. alligator. >> Can I alligator? >> Can I Can I tell you something? To tell
00:31:36
the truth, you don't have to try. It just flows. It just comes out. >> We're also aware of what people have
00:31:43
told us about you and Katie. They're telling us that you didn't like her one bit.
00:31:49
>> Well, after me and John started like getting together, Katie started not liking me. If you know
00:31:59
something and you're trying to cover up for it, you're going to go down with the
00:32:03
rest of them. You're going to go down with the person who did this to her. >> I don't know anything about her murder.
00:32:10
>> You do. >> I don't. >> You do. >> I really don't. >> We really do. >> You do. We know more than you think we
00:32:16
do. >> I I don't want to talk anymore right now. Even after being confronted with the
00:32:23
footage and being caught in multiple lies, Hannah refused to give up on any additional details she may withhold. But
00:32:31
while none of this gave detectives [music] the definitive proof they needed, Jon didn't know that. And that
00:32:37
uncertainty was exactly what they were counting on. So detectives decide to bring him in again. This time more
00:32:44
prepared and ready to push harder than before. They planned to corner him with everything they had, but they'd have to
00:32:51
be careful. If they push too far without enough to arrest him, it could tip him off, causing him to disappear.
00:32:58
>> We hadn't really had a chance to sit down. I know I talked to you that day that when we notified you about her
00:33:03
death. >> Yeah. >> And things are kind of emotional and everything. So, Right. So, the viewing
00:33:08
was Saturday, right? >> Right. 2:00 to 4 on Saturday. >> When did you when did you get
00:33:12
>> I went Sunday. 2:30 on Sunday. >> Okay. They So, they just had a private thing for you? M by yourself or?
00:33:18
>> Yeah. Well, I took Hannah with me. >> Did you? >> Yeah. >> Was that hard? >> Yeah, cuz I mean, first of all, there's
00:33:25
nobody there but me and her, so we're just kind of standing there staring at like Katie's nasty, like, dirty,
00:33:30
disgusting body. I've seen people dead. I've [ __ ] dealt with this [ __ ] before, and now there's nobody else
00:33:36
there. You know what I mean? >> That night, somebody says you and Hannah were putting some trash from a bag, like
00:33:42
a trash bag in the back of the Prius. >> Do you know remember doing that? Oh yeah. Uh Marley had [music] like the
00:33:49
most explosive [ __ ] >> all on the floor and stunk up the whole house. I throw out like four towels.
00:33:57
This moment reveals Hannah's lie. She claimed she couldn't remember taking any trash out. Yet John's statement confirms
00:34:04
otherwise. It's a small clue, but one that'll soon become part of a much bigger picture.
00:34:10
>> So you guys got home around three roughly. Brandon and um >> Crystal. >> Crystal were there. Um what happened
00:34:17
after that after you've done that? >> We went and met my uh friend Scott to get some money that he owes me.
00:34:23
>> What's he owe you? >> He owed me 500 for when he crashed my car. >> Where'd you meet with Scott?
00:34:30
>> That does actually. >> But he was in the army with you. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. We played together.
00:34:35
>> We played together. >> Did you go anywhere before that? >> No. >> This is where John makes his first
00:34:40
mistake. mentioning a name detectives have never heard before. Charles Scott, his friend from the military, someone
00:34:48
who'd later proved to know far more about the night Katie died than anyone realized.
00:34:53
>> I don't know how much you know about cell phones and stuff like that. Um, [music] but as you go around, your cell
00:34:59
phone's constantly searching for signals and stuff like that. Um, so with that said, is there
00:35:06
anything going back to last Monday, is there anything that you've told me that your cell phone records would say
00:35:12
otherwise? >> I don't believe so. >> What if I told you that your cell phone did ping somewhere other than where you
00:35:18
say you were? >> Then I'd also say that her cell phone pinged in West Virginia. >> Yeah, that ended up being a AT&T mishap.
00:35:26
They they plugged in the wrong phone number. >> Yeah. I don't know. >> Okay. Um,
00:35:33
what if I told you that Charles Scott's phone number pinged in the same area that yours did and not around Zach's
00:35:40
piece? >> When? >> Monday night. >> He's got a freedom of moving on him. We can call him. We can ask him.
00:35:46
>> Okay. So, the night this Monday night that we're talking about around 6:15, sometime around that time frame, can you
00:35:55
think of any reason your phone would show that you were in that area of Augusta Road and White Horse Road?
00:36:00
>> No. >> Um, is there any reason you and Charles were talking a lot that evening?
00:36:05
>> Yeah, cuz he that's the night that he was here. That's the night he was available. [clears throat]
00:36:10
>> I'm not looking to offend you, but it's questions that we we need to get answered and cleared up. Okay. Um, did
00:36:16
Katie have any kind of life insurance policy >> through the military? Yeah, she's
00:36:19
automatically enrolled. >> Okay. >> Same as my daughter. >> Would you be willing to take polygraphs
00:36:23
so we can go ahead and do that for you and eliminate you and start looking elsewhere?
00:36:26
>> I have to talk to my lawyer about that first. >> Okay. >> See what he says cuz I don't know about
00:36:30
that at all. >> As the interview ends, detectives have their first real connection between Jon
00:36:35
and Charles. Both of their phones show activity near the area where Katie's body was found. It isn't enough to make
00:36:41
an arrest, but it's enough to keep digging. And with a new name now tied to the night of the murder, John can sense
00:36:48
it. Detectives are closing in. At this point, the main circle of suspects included Wayne, John, Hannah,
00:36:57
and now more recently, Charles Scott, John's friend from the army. But as detectives slowly pressed forward, Jon
00:37:05
was growing uneasy. For the first time, he was starting to realize his master plan might not hold.
00:37:13
That's when on November 4th, 11 days after Katie was killed, detectives received a call that would send the case
00:37:20
in a whole new direction. Crystal, who was John's roommate and had been interviewed earlier, came forward with
00:37:26
information that changed everything. >> Hi, Crystal. >> Hello. >> How are you? I'm good.
00:37:33
>> Oh, okay. >> What's been going on since Oh, I don't know. You got a phone call on Wednesday
00:37:41
>> at 3:30. He called and he said um he said, "Are y'all at home?" And we said, "No." And he said, "Okay, all right.
00:37:47
Bye." And then just hung up. Well, me and Brenn got home about 6:15, 6:30. And we seen that uh in our room, we have,
00:37:55
like I said, the Halloween lights just going across the ceiling. The attic is right where that light is at. And we had
00:38:00
the lights I had the lights going across the attic. Well, when we come back, they
00:38:05
were just torn down. We haven't even touched them. They were just ripped out from the attict. And once we figured out
00:38:10
he was gone, we went searching through the house, making sure all the windows were locked and covered. And cuz I've
00:38:15
never been in a house alone like that except for my apartment. But he just he just he was gone, you know, and we
00:38:22
couldn't call him cuz the cops have his phone. I said, Brandon, I said, "We need
00:38:25
to go back outside and call the Clintonville detective warlock." And I told him what was happening. And he was
00:38:31
like, you know, I was like, you know, if you want to come and search the house right now, I give you full permission.
00:38:36
He said, "Well, I can't do that without a warrant." And he was like, and I was like, "Well, I mean, there's no way that
00:38:41
somebody can come out here and like search the house or anything like that." And he said, "No." He said, "Your best
00:38:45
bet is to go stay the night somewhere else." He was like, "Cuz you're possibly living with a murderer."
00:38:52
>> John was gone. His disappearance also meant he abandoned his military service,
00:38:59
officially classifying him as a deserter. However, as investigators would soon learn, he wasn't alone. He
00:39:07
had fled with none other than the 17-year-old girl, Hannah Thompson. And as officers across the state searched
00:39:16
every highway, every motel, every possible route out of South Carolina with no sign of either of them, it
00:39:23
became clear this wasn't just an investigation anymore. This was a manhunt. In the days that followed, leads were
00:39:33
few. The pair had vanished completely off the grid. A 28-year-old former army sergeant and a 17-year-old teenager gone
00:39:41
without a trace. Then on November 19th, 26 days after Katie's death, a small breakthrough happened. John's red Yukon
00:39:51
was captured on CCTV near Los Cuses, New Mexico, about 1,600 m from Simpsonville,
00:39:57
South Carolina, where he disappeared. And just two days later on November 21st, that same Yukon was found
00:40:05
abandoned in the mountains of Yumatila County in Oregon, over 1,400 m away from Las Crues. Inside the vehicle,
00:40:13
investigators found Jon's laptop, clothes, and camping gear scattered around, suggesting that after the crash,
00:40:20
Jon and Hannah grabbed what they could and ran into the woods. The discovery confirmed what detectives had already
00:40:26
feared. John and Hannah were constantly on the move, crossing state lines and staying just far enough ahead of law
00:40:33
enforcement to vanish again. Later that same day, authorities issued arrest warrants for both Jon and Hannah,
00:40:40
officially turning the case into a nationwide manhunt. By this point, Jon and Hannah had
00:40:46
already been on the run for over 2 weeks before any warrants were ever issued, putting them far ahead of law
00:40:52
enforcement and nearly impossible to track. But once the warrants went active, detectives finally gained full
00:40:59
access to their phones, chat logs, and internet history. And that's when their worst suspicions were confirmed.
00:41:08
>> I just woke up and I already feel sad again. I feel like you're still talking
00:41:13
to Katie. >> I promise you I'm not talking to Katie. >> I will leave you if you talk to her. I
00:41:18
swear. >> I know I'm not and I won't. She's gone. I'm done with her. I promise. I'm going
00:41:24
through with that thing though soon. >> I'm going to be staying with you. >> Good.
00:41:29
>> The messages between the two suggest that John had been planning the murder for months prior to it actually
00:41:35
happening. And upon searching his internet history, they found searches like how to make a two-way radio or how
00:41:43
to sharpen a knife, leaving little to no doubt about his involvement. But with John and Hannah still missing,
00:41:50
detectives had little choice but to wait, hoping for the next break that could pull them back on the trail. And
00:41:55
that's when on November 25th, 21 days after Jon and Hannah's disappearance, and over a month after Katie's death,
00:42:03
detectives got a call from a South Carolina prison. But the caller wasn't just anyone. The call came from the
00:42:11
cellmate of Charles Scott, Jon's army friend, who was already in custody for an unrelated charge. Charles's phone had
00:42:19
pinged near the abandoned house on the day Katie died, and his cellmate was about to provide a lead that could give
00:42:26
detectives the breakthrough they desperately needed with details [music] only the killer could have known.
00:42:33
>> Just [clears throat] as we're talking today, is that Charles Town you're talking about? That's the one I'm
00:42:38
talking about. He's okay. He killed a girl. Helped kill a girl with one of his blade named John. Something like that.
00:42:46
You know, my dad put her in a drug house or an abandoned house in a basement in a
00:42:52
box that take two people's home. He was the one that coerced her to the spot where John come up behind her and got
00:43:00
her, grabbed her. They met at a different location. When John got her, they put the knife toward John stabbed
00:43:06
her. I don't know how many times John stabbed. He didn't say he said he knows he stabbed her twice and John made him
00:43:11
stab her twice. He actually said he scared him when he scared stabbed her at first, but then after he stabbed her, it
00:43:16
made him feel a little better. William's statements are shocking. His account of
00:43:21
what happened closely mirrors the possible events of the night Katie died. And what he says next only grows more
00:43:28
disturbing. >> He said, "Well, this is the second time. The first time he told me about, you
00:43:33
know, how he coerced her because his spot and now they was going to talk about something about John trying to
00:43:38
help John come off marijuana and John's on drugs real bad. After they John grabbed her, they put him in John's
00:43:45
Tahoe, red Tahoe, took her to the scene. So where does it say where they actually
00:43:51
killed her at? In the back of the Tahoe on the tarp. I told him, be honest with me. I said, "Have they took your DNA?"
00:43:59
He said, "No." Well, that's a good thing. I tell you, your DNA is crossing. He said they had my DNA is not going to
00:44:04
be there. >> All right. If you don't have anything else, uh, Mark, we're going to go ahead
00:44:09
and conclude the interview at 11:02 a.m. >> Mark's statements put serious allegations on Charles. It wouldn't be
00:44:17
anything special as false accusations like this happen when inmates try to get a deal with officers or get their
00:44:23
sentence lowered. But in this instance, too many details added up. details only the killer or someone heavily involved
00:44:31
could have known. One of those was his claim that Charles had lured Katie to a location near the abandoned house. For
00:44:37
detectives, this suddenly made sense of why her car had been discovered just a few miles away, abandoned without a
00:44:44
struggle. Charles also allegedly told his bunkmate that he and Jon wrapped Katie in a tarp to move her into the
00:44:50
basement. This matched forensics, which had already indicated she'd been moved after death. Now, detectives have a
00:44:57
chilling theory of how that happened. It was now a very big chance for the detectives to possibly catch one of
00:45:03
Katie's killers. A chance they couldn't afford to waste. So, without hesitation,
00:45:09
they brought Charles in, hoping for the biggest breakthrough in the case yet. But detectives knew getting Charles to
00:45:15
talk wouldn't be easy. They didn't have enough evidence to pin him down, and they needed something, anything, that
00:45:22
could make him slip. So, they decided to take an insane risk. They came up with a
00:45:28
plan to push him over the edge. They would bluff, pretending that Jon had already been arrested and was ready to
00:45:34
testify against him. If Charles believed it, the pressure might finally make him
00:45:40
talk. But if he didn't, detectives would lose their best chance to get the truth.
00:45:46
>> All right, Charles, >> what do you think the polygraph says? >> Let's Let's get away from the polygraph.
00:45:51
Okay. And you've been saying that ever since I read the launch changing. Okay. Cuz it's not looking good for you.
00:45:57
[music] Okay. >> I have absolutely nothing to do with that girl. You got to take a poly.
00:46:04
>> Let me tell you that John was arrested in in New Jersey. >> Okay. >> Okay. And he sang like a bird to those
00:46:11
investigators. >> I don't care what he told you. >> Well, you should. >> I was not there. Um investigator mainly
00:46:18
told you that John was arrested earlier. >> Okay. And he's talking. What do you think he's saying?
00:46:23
>> I don't know what he's saying. I don't know. But I know I never seen that girl
00:46:27
day in my life. >> We were both there, Charles. >> No, we were not. >> As soon as the questioning starts,
00:46:34
Charles demands a polygraph. And detectives know exactly what that means. Polygraphs aren't reliable, can be
00:46:40
manipulated, and their results can't be used in court. It's an easy way out. Simple yes or no questions instead of
00:46:47
real confrontation. And before long, his avoidance turns into an act of ignorance.
00:46:53
>> I never seen that. >> You knew that they were married and you knew that John had problem.
00:46:57
>> No, I did not know. >> You told me. You told me at the founding police department that John has talked
00:47:03
about how she was [ __ ] his career up. >> That was a lie. Everybody singing like a bird. I I never
00:47:10
had no weapon. You will not find no fingerprint or no weapon that I touch. [music] Number one.
00:47:17
Why is that? >> Cuz I wasn't there. I didn't touch no weapon. I never said he said I'll never
00:47:23
find fingerprints on a weapon that you touched. >> Yeah. >> Have you ever Have you ever told anybody
00:47:29
that you're involved in this murder? >> Do I look stupid? Do I look like I would
00:47:34
just go inside of a [ __ ] jail to some guy I don't know and say, "Hey man, I murdered some girl."
00:47:39
>> You know what it looks like? It looks like you were remorseful for your actions. Let me ask you this. Um,
00:47:44
where's the phone that you had that you communicated with Katie on? >> Who? Who's Katie? The girl that died?
00:47:49
>> Yeah. >> I never communicated with her. >> Where? Where's the phone? >> What phone?
00:47:54
>> The phone that was used to communicate with the girl the day that she was murdered.
00:47:58
>> Only phone that I had was the one you confiscated and the one in this house. Even after the detectives bluff and
00:48:07
revealed the testimony his previous cellmate made about Charles involvement in the crime, he denied everything.
00:48:14
Still, detectives couldn't ignore the phone data placing him near the house or the chilling details from his bunkmate.
00:48:20
With no confession, all they could do was wait. Charles's DNA was now added to the samples already being tested against
00:48:27
the evidence found beneath Katie's fingernails. And when those results came back, they would finally reveal who was
00:48:34
truly involved. Over 2 weeks have now passed since the last lead on the case. With false leads
00:48:43
and missing crucial timelines, it [music] was becoming more and more possible that the real killers of Katie
00:48:49
would never be found. until the detectives got a call from Hannah's parents with information that could soon
00:48:57
result in solving the whole case. Hannah had resurfaced stating she had been abandoned by John and would soon come
00:49:05
back to her hometown so law enforcement would be there waiting for her. It was now the day when Hannah was
00:49:14
supposed to come back to her home. Law enforcement secured all entries to the city as well as all possible places she
00:49:21
could go to. And finally, at 9:00 a.m., she would be spotted near her family home. From there, she would be instantly
00:49:29
detained and taken to the police department for interrogation. For the detectives, it was now or never. That
00:49:36
was their biggest chance of finding out what had really happened and who is truly responsible for Katie's death.
00:49:42
>> What was the game plan when you died? What? I don't think we really had one. Like I guess both of us just kind of
00:49:50
panicked and confused Friday that he wanted to leave like the state and we like drove up into the mountains and he
00:50:00
like he just got the car like stuck in the like in trees like in the mountains. So I was like like what are we going to
00:50:09
do? He said that we would hike. I kind of like stopped and I was crying and I was like, I can't do this anymore. I was
00:50:18
like, I need to go home. Like he started like yelling at me and calling names and
00:50:23
saying that if I left like he was going to kill. Then like one morning like he had gotten
00:50:31
up and left and I I was just like I'm not just going to like sit here like so I got up and I went to like um down the
00:50:42
street to like a hotel. Started crying and then I sent a message to my mom and dad. Um,
00:50:51
>> Anna continued describing their time on the run, doing her best to avoid talking
00:50:55
about the day of the murder. It went on for nearly 2 hours, and by then, the pressure had clearly worn her down.
00:51:02
That's when the detective would start asking her the difficult questions, causing Hannah to break, revealing
00:51:08
everything she knows. >> Let's go back to that Monday, okay? Because we now have conversations from
00:51:14
you and him on Wednesday about he's going to meet up with going to drink some beers with her at this abandoned
00:51:20
house. >> Um he says he tries to meet up with her. It doesn't work, but then lo and behold,
00:51:26
she's found at that abandoned house that he was supposed to go meet up with her at.
00:51:32
>> Um meanwhile, he randomly asks you to drop her off on Woodruff Road or drop him off on Woodruff Road
00:51:39
>> and doesn't tell you why or anything. >> Okay. So, can you please tell me what
00:51:44
the game plan was? Well, what did he tell you he was going to go and do? >> He was just He told me that he was just
00:51:50
going to go [music] talk to her at work. >> You drove him over there. >> He kept telling me like every day that
00:52:01
like it was my fault and that he did it for me and like what did he say he did for
00:52:08
you? He said that when we were in Oregon at the casino, he like yelled it real loud. He said that
00:52:19
he killed her for me. Hannah, was there a plan before this to get rid of Katie? >> Not from you. But did John ever talk to
00:52:29
you about getting rid of Katie? Honestly, >> what did he tell you about killing Katie? He just said that like it was
00:52:38
really really funny. He told me that the knife broke. He just said that broke the knife.
00:52:55
The last thing she she said was ow. And she said that before that that if he let
00:53:02
her go that she wouldn't call the police. Where were they handling? Um and you don't know exactly where he
00:53:15
could he did you have anything to do with G. >> And the reason why I ask you this is
00:53:25
because we're still looking for John, >> right? Okay. And as much as you think John cared about you
00:53:34
from an outsider's perspective and not knowing you, not being your mom, he doesn't.
00:53:42
>> Unfortunately, Hannah's statements proved [music] far less helpful in finding Jon than the detectives
00:53:46
initially hoped for. Although she stated that Jon confessed to killing Katie and
00:53:51
provided some new insights, she didn't know much about Charles's involvement. And while she could be arrested,
00:53:57
detectives decided she might prove more useful free. After all, they now had her
00:54:02
back in the city and under close watch, which seemed like a small success. What they didn't realize, however, was that
00:54:09
this was all part of Jon's plan, planting Hannah back in the city to infiltrate the case and feed him exactly
00:54:16
what detectives knew, keeping him one step ahead for years to come. Almost 3 months had passed since Katie's
00:54:26
body was found in the basement of the abandoned house, and the killer was still out there. But on that particular
00:54:32
day, the long-awaited DNA results finally came back. And the results of DNA found under Katie's fingernails
00:54:40
pointed to no one else but John himself. With the DNA matching to John, Wayne was
00:54:48
cleared. But detectives still believed Hannah or Charles might have helped, or at least knew far more than they
00:54:54
admitted. Detectives already knew that Jon was only using cash and most likely a fake ID. So, all they could do at the
00:55:02
moment was wait for Jon to make a critical mistake that would allow them to catch him. But Jon was careful. Very
00:55:11
careful. It had been over 7 months since Katie's murder and 6 months since Jon went on
00:55:19
the run. When on May 21st, 2017, investigators received tips and possible sightings of Jon in Washington, over
00:55:28
2,700 m from South Carolina, where Katie was found dead and over 300 m away from
00:55:35
where his red Yukon was found abandoned. Acting on these leads, they canvased local businesses and retrieved CCTV
00:55:44
footage from a parking lot in Washington where Jon was captured on camera. Unfortunately, despite getting close,
00:55:54
Jon managed to slip away, vanishing off under the radar once again. For the next year, the investigation hit
00:56:03
a standstill. [music] It wasn't until September 6th, 2018, almost 2 years since Katie's death, when Hannah finally
00:56:11
revealed that Jon had given her his journal and tools to hide. A crucial piece of evidence that would shift the
00:56:18
case in a new direction. The journal became a pivotal piece of evidence, revealing Jon's state of mind and his
00:56:24
premeditated intentions. It confirms that Jon's actions were driven by a deep desire to be with Hannah and his
00:56:31
willingness to kill [music] Katie to make that happen. During her interview, Hannah admitted she had been Jon's
00:56:37
girlfriend and that she had been in constant contact with him before Katie's death. She also confessed that she had
00:56:43
hidden Jon's journal, which contained disturbing entries about his obsessive thoughts and plans to escape with
00:56:49
Hannah. This was the last significant breakthrough in the case for years. With no new leads, the investigation stalled.
00:57:01
Detectives spent the next few years chasing down small tips and piecing together fragments of information, but
00:57:08
nothing substantial came of it. The case gradually faded from public attention. Then in 2022,
00:57:17
6 years after Katie's death, everything is about to change. After over 6 years of dead ends, US marshals and local law
00:57:28
enforcement tracked Jon down in Oregon. He had erased his past, now living under
00:57:34
the alias Ben Klene. Under his new identity, he had started a fresh life, marrying a new woman and leaving his
00:57:42
past behind. The arrest felt surreal. Jon, who had spent so long evading capture, was now cornered. After years
00:57:52
of hiding in plain sight, the truth had finally caught up with him, and the case
00:57:58
was nearing its resolution. [music] However, the mystery of how Katie was lured to the abandoned house remains
00:58:05
unsolved to this day. Her phone was recovered damaged, limiting investigators ability to access message
00:58:12
content and app-based communications. And while rumors suggested Charles Scott might have had contact with her, this
00:58:19
was never confirmed. with no physical or forensic evidence tying him to the crime. He was ultimately ruled out as a
00:58:26
suspect and never sentenced. In 2022, during an interview after Jon's arrest, Hannah revealed for the first time that
00:58:34
she and Jon had been in regular contact throughout the years he was on the run, continuing to text and communicate, even
00:58:41
after she had returned to South Carolina. This new revelation shed light on her role in helping Jon evade
00:58:48
capture. Finally, on September 20th, 2024, John Blauvelt was convicted of Katie's murder and sentenced to life in
00:58:57
prison without parole. Hannah Thompson was charged with obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact, receiving
00:59:05
a sentence of 10 years.