Man Who Killed Girlfriend, Dumped Her In Fridge Fled NJ Several Times: Docs

Editor's note: People who may be facing domestic violence can view their county's resources, call the New Jersey hotline at 1-800-572-SAFE (7233), or contact the national domestic-violence hotline. For emergencies, call 911.

RUNNEMEDE, NJ — The Camden County man accused of killing his girlfriend and dumping her body in a refrigerator made multiple efforts to flee the region, according to court documents Patch obtained.

Christopher Blevins, 45, of Runnemede, was charged Jan. 29 with first-degree murder in the death of Laura Hughes. Blevins told investigators he strangled Hughes to death in late July before transporting her remains in a fridge to a state forest, his affidavit says.

The body of Hughes, who was 50, wasn't discovered at Belleplain State Forest until late December. It took weeks for authorities to identify her and charge her boyfriend with murder.

After the victim's death, Blevins was a free man for several months — until he was arrested Jan. 13 in San Diego on charges related to dumping Hughes's body. He was charged with murder two weeks later.

Blevins remains jailed in San Diego, with his extradition to New Jersey in the works.

Court documents provide a timeline into Blevins's alleged efforts to escape the law over the past six months.

Blevins fled to Mexico on Aug. 2, days after dumping the victim's remains in the forest, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

In Mexico, Blevins remained in hiding for several weeks. But on Aug. 27, he tried to turn himself in to Mexico City authorities and admitted to "being involved in a violent incident in Runnemede, New Jersey, and panicking afterwards," his affidavit says.

But a police-database search came up negative since Hughes's body hadn't been discovered yet, so he was free to go.

Blevins returned to the United States in September and stayed in Delaware for the next few months.

Hughes was found dead on Dec. 22. Eight days later, Blevins left work for lunch and never returned to work or home, according to court documents.

Authorities started to zero in on Blevins as a suspect but weren't able to locate or find him. On Jan. 3, he was charged with desecrating human remains and hindering apprehension.

Blevins was arrested Jan. 13 in San Diego after providing a false name, authorities said. Detectives traveled to the San Diego Jail, where Blevins admitted to killing Hughes in their shared apartment and dumping her body, his affidavit says.

He was charged with murder last week.