Handyman Admits to Murder, Dismemberment of Pregnant ‘Food Network Star’ Contestant

Cristie Schoen Codd and Joseph “JT” Codd went missing from their North Carolina home in March 2015

Cristie Schoen Codd/Food Network

A handyman has confessed to the March 2015 killing of “Food Network Star” contestant Cristie Schoen Codd, her husband Joseph “JT” Codd and their unborn child.

Robert Jason Owens, a home contractor for the couple, was an initial suspect in the murder case after they went missing from their Leicester, North Carolina, home.

The handyman was spotted dropping their garbage bags in a dumpster, according to the Asheville-Citizen Times, and the Codd’s dismembered remains were found burned in a wood stove on Owens’ nearby property a few days later.

Over two years later, the case finally came to a close when Owens pleaded guilty in a Buncombe County Superior Court hearing Thursday.

In a plea deal that his attorneys reached with D.A. Todd Williams, the 37-year-old will spend a minimum of 59.5 years to a maximum of 74.5 years in prison without the possibility of parole. He’s also been indicted on two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon following the killings, the Times reported. He previously told law enforcement officers he broke into the Codds’ home and took various items, according to court documents. Those charges were dismissed as part of the plea arrangement.

The confessed killer’s name was linked to the disappearance of 18-yer-old Zebb Quinn, who was last seen Jan. 2, 2000.

Owens told investigators he accidentally ran over the Codds as they were trying to get his truck out of a ditch, a police statement given in court stated. His attorney said he was on prescribed medication for depression and was heavily impaired.

A celebrity chef and caterer, Cristie Schoen had been a finalist on Season 8 of the Food Network competition series. JT Codd, 45, worked as a grip in the film industry, handling cameras and other equipment on projects including HBO’s “Carnivale.” A neighbor said the couple had only recently moved to Leicester from California.

Schoen-Codd, 38, was five months pregnant with their first child at the time of her death.

Williams said the deaths were “among the most disturbing killings in Buncombe County history.”

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