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Christopher Blevins, 45, of Runnemede, has been charged with murder in he death of Laura Hughes, who moved back to New Jersey with Blevins last year to have a relationship with her two daughters, as previously reported by Daily Voice.
Blevins admitted to strangling Hughes before stuffing her body into a refrigerator last July, according to the affidavit for probable cause obtained by Daily Voice.
The refrigerator had been wrapped in a sleeping bag and secured with blue ratchet straps, according to the affidavit for probable cause. A search of Blevins and Hughes’ shared apartment uncovered blue ratchet straps and a calendar that displayed an "X" on each day leading up to July 24, 2024, the affidavit says.
Blevins’ green pickup had been photographed transporting a refrigerator-shaped object in July 2024, police paperwork says. Specifically, the vehicle had been seen in Long Beach on July 24, 2024, and in Sea Isle on July 25, 2024, according to police papers.
Detectives also learned that Blevins had fled to Mexico in the same pickup on Aug. 2, 2024, and had stayed in hiding for several weeks, police documents say. On Aug. 27, 2024, Blevins surrendered to authorities in Mexico City and admitted to being involved in a violent incident in Runnemede, and panicking afterward, the affidavit says.
However, a search of a law-enforcement database was negative as Hughes’s body had not yet been found and no charges had been issued, the affidavit says.
Blevins returned to the United States in September and stayed in Delaware until Dec. 30, 2024. That day, Blevins left work for a lunch break and never returned to work or went home, police said. Attempts to contact him were unsuccessful.
On Jan. 3, 2025, Blevins was charged with desecration of human remains and hindering apprehension, and was entered into the NCIC. On Jan. 13, detectives were told that Blevins had been apprehended in San Diego, California after providing a false name, and was lodged in jail pending his extradition to New Jersey.
Detectives traveled to the San Diego Jail and met with Blevins for a formal statement. Blevins told detectives that he had strangled Laura Hughes to death in late July at their Runnemede apartment, used his truck to transport her remains in a refrigerator to the Belleplain State Forest, and tried to evade law enforcement afterward, the affidavit reads.
Blevins has been charged with first-degree murder, with second-degree desecration of human remains and third-degree hindering apprehension in the death of Laura Hughes, Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay announced.
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