South Carolina murder suspect captured in Medford

Jul. 21—A suspect in a 2016 South Carolina homicide featured by John Walsh and the "Unsolved Mysteries" podcast is behind bars after a six-year nationwide manhunt ended in west Medford.

John Tufton Blauvelt, 33, who went by the alias "Ben Klein" in Southern Oregon and is wanted in the murder of his 22-year-old wife in South Carolina, was captured Wednesday by U.S. Marshals and a team of local law enforcement at a home on Lincoln Street, according to a news advisory issued by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

Blauvelt was a U.S. Army recruiter until October 2016, when he was classified as a deserter and disappeared about the same time his estranged wife, Catherine "Cati" Blauvelt, was found stabbed to death inside the basement of an abandoned house in Simpsonville, South Carolina. Blauvelt allegedly fled the area with his 17-year-old girlfriend, according to the U.S. Marshal's Service.

The following month, police in Simpsonville issued warrants for Blauvelt's arrest on charges of murder and possessing a weapon during a violent crime.

The juvenile was found safe in Eugene in December 2016 after Blauvelt abandoned her in Oregon and the teen called home, but the trail for Blauvelt had largely gone cold.

In the ensuing years, Blauvelt's story was shared by national outlets that include "In Pursuit With John Walsh" in 2019 and the Oct. 13, 2021 "Unsolved Mysteries" podcast "Recruiter on the Run."

In early 2022, a "Cold and Complex Case Team" from the U.S. Marshals Service joined the search. The team, based out of Arlington, Virginia, worked with Medford police and the Jackson County Sheriff's Office to narrow the search for Blauvelt to Southern Oregon.

According to an email from Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Tamayo in Portland, since the USMS Cold and Complex Case Team took the case in January, the agency has written more than 60 search warrants and conducted multiple interviews.

The multi-agency Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, which includes resources from the U.S. Marshals, the sheriff's office and Central Point police, descended on Blauvelt Wednesday afternoon at a residence on Lincoln Street in Medford.

During the arrest, U.S. Marshals learned Blauvelt had assumed the alias "Ben Klein," according to Tamayo.

Simpsonville police Chief Mike Henshaw praised the work of the U.S. Marshals Service and local police agencies who contributed to Blauvelt's capture.

"I hope that the arrest of John Blauvelt brings Cati's family some relief from the situation that they have had to endure the past few years," Henshaw wrote.

Blauvelt was booked in the Jackson County Jail Wednesday. He was expected to be transported to South Carolina pending an extradition hearing scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Jackson County Circuit Court.

Reach web editor Nick Morgan at nmorgan@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MTwebeditor.