Six-year nationwide manhunt ends, local task force arrests South Carolina murder fugitive

Medford, Ore.—One man’s 6-year run from the law ended right here in Medford.  Oregon U.S. Marshals arrested a South Carolina murder suspect, John Tufton Blauvelt Wednesday, July 20, 2022, after a lead by a dedicated cold case team of investigators.

He’s wanted for allegedly killing his estranged 22-year-old wife, Catherine “Cati” Blauvelt.

She was reportedly stabbed to death in Simpsonville, SC on October 26, 2016.

Blauvelt reportedly fled the area just after the murder with his then 17-year-old girlfriend, Hannah Thompson.

Thompson’s parents reported the teen missing on November 21, 2016.

She was found in Oregon the following month, after reportedly being abandoned by Blauvelt.

The U.S. Marshals Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force in Oregon, working with the Medford Police Department and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, located and arrested him Wednesday.

He had been going by the alias “Ben Klein”.

Blauvelt is being held in Jackson County Jail pending extradition to South Carolina.

 

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