Cops: Remains in wood stove may be Food Network star

Sabian Warren | Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times

Show Caption Hide Caption Human remains found in stove may be 'Food Network Star' contestant Police say human remains have been found inside the home of murder suspect Robert Jason Owens. Sheriff Van Duncan says the remains were found inside a wood stove and could be missing 'Food Network' star Cristie Codd and her husband.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The suspect in the deaths of a Food Network chef and her husband told authorities that he stored and destroyed the bodies of his two victims, according to search warrants released Friday.

And investigators say they found human remains inside a wood stove in the home of the man charged with killing the finalist in season eight of the Food Network Star TV show, her husband and their unborn child.

Robert Jason Owens, 36, of Leicester, N.C., was charged earlier this week with first-degree murder and murder of an unborn child in the deaths of fellow Leicester residents Joseph "J.T." Codd, 45, and his wife, Cristie Schoen Codd, 38. The couple had married in September.

Owens admitted to investigators that he had hit Codd with a pickup truck, according to a search warrant. The documents had no indication of how Schoen Codd, who went by her maiden name of Schoen professionally, was killed.

Owens, who knew the Codds because he had done remodeling at their home, also has been charged with breaking and entering and larceny, accused of breaking into the Codds' home and stealing a laptop, jewelry and a Glock handgun with a combined value of $1,500, according to arrest warrants.

In a news conference Friday afternoon, Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan would not talk about a motive for the killings. Warrants show that deputies took 11 knives and a saw blade from Owens' home.

The search warrants released Friday allege that Owens was seen putting garbage bags in a dumpster Sunday evening. Detectives were able to recover the bags and found items belonging to Schoen Codd, and Owens later admitted he went into the Codd residence and stole the items.

Investigators believe the Codds died Thursday, three days before a relative filed a missing persons report, Duncan said. The break-in at the Codd home was discovered Sunday afternoon when officers went to check on them because of the report.

Duncan said investigators weren't sure exactly when the break-in happened.

Deputies found the couple's two dogs alone in the house, unattended apparently for days, and saw Schoen Codd's purse and her husband's wallet as they looked for signs of the Codds, according to the search warrant. Three vehicles were parked in the driveway.

Contributing: The Associated Press