Camden County man pleads guilty in death of woman whose body was found in refrigerator in N.J. state forest
Christopher R. Blevins, 46, pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter in the death of Laura Hughes, 50.
A 46-year-old Camden County man on Monday pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter in the death of a mother of two whose body was found in an abandoned refrigerator at a New Jersey state forest in Cape May County.
Christopher R. Blevins, faces 17 years in state prison under a plea agreement with the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office and is scheduled to be formally sentenced on Dec. 5, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said in an email Tuesday.
Blevins originally was charged with first-degree murder for the death of Laura Hughes, 50, of Runnemede, whose body was found just before Christmas last year in Belleplain State Forest in Cape May County.
Blevins still faces charges in Cape May County of desecrating human remains and hindering apprehension.
Authorities said automatic license plate readers captured Blevins’ green Dodge Ram pickup truck in Sea Isle City and Long Beach Township in late July 2024 hauling a refrigerator-shaped object in the truck bed.
When the refrigerator was found, it was wrapped in a sleeping bag, secured with blue ratchet straps, and covered in a carpet, authorities said.
Investigators searched the home Blevins shared with Hughes and found blue ratchet straps, a firearm, and a calendar with the days marked with an “x” every day until July 24, authorities said.
On Aug. 2, Blevins traveled to Mexico, crossing the border through Brownsville, Texas.
Later that month, Blevins reportedly surrendered to authorities in Mexico for an unknown reason and told them that he was involved in a violent incident in Runnemede and may have killed someone in a bar fight, and that’s why he fled the United States, the Press of Atlantic City reported.
With the body of Hughes still undiscovered, he returned to the United States in September 2024 and stayed in Delaware until the end of December, according to the Press of Atlantic City.
Blevins, who was not yet in custody, was first charged on Jan. 3 in Cape May County with second-degree desecration of human remains and third-degree hindering apprehension.
On Jan. 13, New Jersey State Police detectives were notified that Blevins had been apprehended in San Diego, California.
The San Diego Police Department posted on Instagram that officers investigating an illegal beach fire and alcoholic beverage violations found two men kicking sand trying to put out the fire and trying to hide alcoholic beverage containers.
“While one subject was known to officers and arrested for narcotics-related offenses, the other unknown subject provided the officers with false identification and was detained pending further investigation,” the San Diego police said.
“Beach team officers, with their due diligence, successfully identified the second subject and determined they had a homicide warrant from another state,” the San Diego police said.