Body parts likely belonging to a murdered Food Network star and her husband were found inside a stove at a North Carolina residence, police revealed Friday during an ongoing investigation into their deaths.
The suspected killer, Robert Jason Owens, told sheriffs he "stored and destroyed" the bodies of his victims- believed to be Cristie Codd and her husband Joseph "JT" Codd- at his home in Leicester, according to search warrants obtained by Citizen-Times.
Owens, 36, was arrested last Monday after police carried out the warrants and found human remains on his property.
"We were able to recover what we think are human remains. Part of those we recovered from a woodstove at the residence," Sheriff Van Duncan told the newspaper. Police would not say if the remains were burned.
Owens- also charged with the death of the couple's unborn child- admitted to hitting 45-year-old Joseph Codd with his pickup truck at their home, also in Leicester. It's not yet clear how Cristie Codd, 38, died.
Investigators also aren't sure when the couple died, but they believe it was on Thursday, March 12. Police were alerted to the couple's disappearance three days later on Sunday after Cristie's father filed a missing person's report, the Citizen-Times reported.
A neighbor told officers that same day there was a suspicious man in the area carrying large trash bags.
"They said someone had come out and in a very suspicious way had left things in a dumpster," Duncan told the newspaper. "We were able to locate items (from the bags) that we know belonged to Cristie Codd."
After locating Owens, police determined he broke into the Codd's home and stole their property, including a laptop and jewelry. He is also charged for the theft.
At this time it's still unclear why Owens, a contractor, allegedly killed the couple that hired him to work on their home.
"What we know right now might not be exactly what we know in a week or two weeks from now surrounding motive," Duncan said according to the newspaper.
Cristie Codd went by her maiden name Cristie Schoen when she competed on season eight of "Food Network Star."
She and her husband, who worked as a grip for Hollywood projects, relocated from California to settle down and raise a family, their friends said.
