A North Carolina man has admitted to killing a former Food Network Star contestant and burning the remains of her, her husband and their unborn child.
WSPA has reported that Robert Jason Owens has now confessed to killing Cristie Schoen Codd, 38, her husband Joseph "JT" Codd, 45 and their unborn child after they were reported missing in 2015.
According to the Asheville Citizen- Times Jason Owens, who worked as a contractor for the couple, became a suspect after a neighbor spotted him placing large trash bags into a dumpster. Soon after, the couple's dismembered remains were discovered in a wood stove on his property.
"Because there are no surviving witnesses and Jason Owens had exclusive control of the crime scene for several days and he had nearly completed the gruesome project of cremating his victims' remains, we will never know many of the facts surrounding the Codds' deaths," said Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams. "What we do know is that through both a solid investigation and a competent interrogation by law enforcement, Jason Owens confessed to being responsible for killing the Codds and further admitted to dismembering and burning their physical remains in his wood-stove."
Investigators say that Jason Owens told them that he had accidentally ran over the couple while they were trying to help him remove his vehicle from a ditch. Because he was impaired he said he thought he would be arrested so he instead dismembered them and burned their bodies. The paper also reported that he admitted to selling off much of their belongings to make it look like they had been robbed and kidnapped.
Since he entered a guilty plea, the death penalty is not an option, however, if he is convicted he will spend anywhere for 60 to 75 years behind bars.
Schoen Codd appeared as contestant on Season 8 of Food Network Star.