John Blauvelt

In October 2016, 22-year-old Catherine “Cati” Boyter-Blauvelt was found stabbed to death inside an abandoned house in Simpsonville, South Carolina. Her estranged husband, former Army recruiter John Blauvelt, fled and evaded authorities for nearly six years before his arrest in Oregon. He was convicted of her murder in September 2024 and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In October 2016, Catherine “Cati” Boyter-Blauvelt, a 22-year-old Army veteran living in South Carolina, was reported missing after failing to meet friends following work. Her body was discovered inside an abandoned house in Simpsonville. She had been fatally stabbed. Investigators focused on her estranged husband, John Tufton Blauvelt, a U.S. Army recruiter with a history of domestic violence allegations involving Cati. The couple had recently separated, and prosecutors later presented evidence of threats and statements suggesting he had planned to kill her. Following the murder, Blauvelt fled South Carolina with his teenage girlfriend, Hannah Thompson. He remained a fugitive for nearly six years, living under an assumed identity in Oregon before U.S. Marshals arrested him in July 2022. During his September 2024 trial, prosecutors presented testimony, forensic evidence, and writings discovered during the investigation. A Greenville County jury convicted Blauvelt of murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The case drew attention because of the domestic violence allegations preceding Cati's death, Blauvelt's prolonged disappearance, and the years her family spent awaiting justice.