This Saturday, March 8, 48 Hours presents “Cati Blauvelt: Death of a Soldier’s Wife,” airing at 10:00 PM ET/PT on CBS. The episode, reported by Peter Van Sant, explores the 2016 murder of 22-year-old Cati Blauvelt in Simpsonville, S.C.
Here’s the Lowdown: Cati Blauvelt’s body was found in an abandoned farmhouse on October 26, 2016. Friends immediately suspected her estranged husband, John Blauvelt, a former army recruiter. Their short marriage had ended with Cati filing a domestic violence report against him. As police investigated, 17-year-old Hannah Thompson, who had moved in with John, became a person of interest.
What This Means Now: With no concrete evidence to hold him, authorities couldn’t prevent John Blauvelt from fleeing. Declared armed and dangerous, he disappeared with Thompson, triggering a manhunt. The episode features interviews with US Marshals William Cook and Chris Tamayo, investigators Keith Morecraft and Cheryl Schofield, and Cati Blauvelt’s friend Aly Somerville.
The Bigger Picture: This case highlights the devastating consequences of domestic violence and the challenges of bringing a suspect to justice when they go on the run. It also raises questions surrounding the relationship between John Blauvelt and the much younger Hannah Thompson. Before this new episode at 9pm is an encore of “The Assassination of Jeff German”, about a Las Vegas journalist who was stabbed to death.
