Soldier convicted in stabbing of wife after six-year run; appeal filed

Cati Blauvelt, 22, was found stabbed to death inside an abandoned Simpsonville structure on Oct. 26, 2016, leaving a community demanding answers and a military recruiter’s career in ruins. CBS News reports her body was discovered in a concrete box in an abandoned farmhouse and that a knife blade broke off and was left in her neck. Foxcarolina describes the scene as the basement of an abandoned house in Simpsonville; both outlets agree the victim was discovered in an unoccupied residence.

Authorities identified Cati’s estranged husband, U.S. Army soldier John Blauvelt, as the principal suspect. Paramount’s 48 Hours press materials and CBS News say the brief marriage had ended amid turmoil after Cati filed a domestic violence report. Investigators told jurors, as reported by CBS News, that Blauvelt blamed Cati and told friends he intended to get revenge. A journal recovered in the investigation reportedly contained the phrase "I did it," according to Foxcarolina and the 48 Hours Post Mortem podcast featuring Peter Van Sant and Kat Teurfs.

Paramount and Foxcarolina say Blauvelt vanished soon after the killing, declared armed and dangerous and reportedly fled the Southeast with a 17-year-old girlfriend, Hannah Thompson. U.S. Marshals later tracked him down, living under a different name in Oregon, when they ended what Foxcarolina and the podcast summarize as a six-year manhunt. Paramount names U.S. Marshals William Cook and Chris Tamayo among those involved in the case.

Foxcarolina reports Blauvelt was returned to Greenville County, convicted of murder in September 2024 and that his defense filed an appeal on Feb. 20, 2025 after a denial of a new trial. CBS News updated its account on Feb. 22, 2026 and notes a 48 Hours episode by correspondent Peter Van Sant titled "Cati Blauvelt: Death of a Soldier’s Wife" aired March 8, 2025 and is now streaming on Paramount+. The 48 Hours press release framed the story bluntly: "A SOLDIER ON THE RUN AFTER HIS WIFE IS MURDERED - DOES HIS NEW GIRLFRIEND HOLD THE ANSWERS?"

Hannah Thompson later entered a plea. CBS News reports she pleaded guilty on Aug. 20, 2025 to one count of obstruction of justice and one count of misprision of a felony and was sentenced to three years of probation. Cati’s mother, testifying at trial and quoted by CBS News, said she "thinks of Cati's violent death every day" and told the jury Cati was pure "sunshine."

The case raises policy questions about military oversight and protections for domestic violence victims. CBS News reports the Department of the Army cut Blauvelt’s pay, disciplined him and removed him from recruiting duties after complaints; advocates and local officials have pointed to recruiter roles as positions of public trust that warrant stricter vetting and quicker administrative responses when allegations surface.

Several key factual gaps remain public. Media accounts do not provide a precise capture date or court docket entries for sentencing details; Foxcarolina and podcast coverage identify the journal and a pirate-tattoo identification technique as crucial investigative leads but court exhibit records have not been cited in the accounts reviewed. Prosecutors, defense counsel, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Department of the Army did not provide new statements to the outlets cited.

For families and communities, the procedural arc matters: a 2016 killing, a six-year disappearance, a 2024 conviction and an appeal filed in 2025 leave enduring questions about evidence, accountability and whether institutional responses to domestic violence and violent suspects are sufficient. Journalists and officials say court records, coroner reports and U.S. Marshals arrest logs remain the next steps to confirm the media-reported timeline and the forensic basis for conviction.