Man charged in deaths has tie to Zebb Quinn case

LEICESTER — A man who was suspected in the disappearance of Zebb Quinn — one of the region's most baffling cold cases — was charged Tuesday with murder in the deaths of a Leicester couple with Hollywood connections.

Buncombe County sheriff's officers early Tuesday charged Robert Jason Owens, 36, of Owens Cove Road, with first-degree murder in the deaths of Joseph "J.T." Codd, 45, and his wife, Cristie Schoen Codd, 38. Officers also charged Owens with the murder of an unborn child, according to arrest warrants. Cristie Codd was pregnant.

In addition, Owens was charged with breaking and entering and larceny, accused of breaking into the Codds' home on Sunday and stealing a laptop, jewelry and a Glock handgun with a combined value of $1,500, according to warrants.

Family members reported the couple missing Sunday. But according to arrest warrants, investigators believe the victims died on Thursday.

Investigators remained at the Codds' home on Hookers Gap Road and at Owens' home, about a mile away on Owens Cove Road off Hookers Gap, much of the day Tuesday, both properties cordoned off with police tape.

J.T. Codd worked as a grip in the film industry, handling cameras and other equipment, and his wife was a celebrity chef and caterer, according to friends.

Owens had done some construction work at the Codds' home, Sheriff Van Duncan said.

"He had done some odd jobs for them," Duncan said. "He owns a construction business."

Investigators were still trying to determine a motive, the sheriff said. Duncan said he couldn't comment on the location of the couple's remains or how they died.

After family members reported the couple missing Sunday, deputies went to the home but found no one there. Deputies did find the couple's vehicles at the home, and the family's two dogs were inside the house.

Cecilia Owens, a friend of the Codds and an aunt by marriage of Robert Jason Owens, said she had watched the couple's house and dogs on several occasions and considered them friends. Cristie Codd's father called her Sunday and asked her to check on the couple, as he had not heard from them in days and was worried.

Cecilia Owens has keys to the home and checked on it Sunday.

"As soon as I walked in, I knew something was wrong," she said. "Just the look of the place, and she had left the dogs and she never would leave her dogs — those were her babies."

The house also smelled, as the dogs had defecated and urinated, Owens said. Cristie Codd was "an immaculate person," so Owens knew something was wrong.

"I went through the house, looking to see if someone was hurt or what have you, or maybe bad sick, but I did not find anyone in the home," Owens said.

She called Cristie Codd's father back, and he called in the sheriff's office.

Cecilia Owens would not talk about her nephew, but she offered glowing comments about the Codds, who moved to Leicester about two years ago.

"They were so loving and kind-hearted, you could have never asked for any two better people," Owens said. "They were so talented; they had a bright future before them."

The crime stunned residents in the rural area. Patsy Cole, who lives on Hookers Gap Road near the victims' home, said she had gotten to know the couple last fall after meeting them at the Newfound Community Center.

"They were nice people. They never bothered anybody," Cole said. "They volunteered to help me if I ever needed help."

Wayne Carson, a retiree who lives across the road from Owens, said he had known him since Owens was a child.

"He never caused anyone any trouble here," Carson said.

But Carson acknowledged that Owens had "been in some trouble over the years."

According to the N.C. Department of Public Safety, Owens has spent about 23 months in state prison between 2002 and 2009 after convictions for habitual impaired driving, speeding to elude arrest, assault on an officer, resisting officers, reckless driving and drunk and disorderly conduct.

Owens' first DWI charge was filed in October 2002. He was released from his last stint in prison in July 2009, according to state records.

Owens made his first court appearance on the murder charges Tuesday morning, coming before District Court Judge Julie Kepple, who informed him of the charges he faces and the maximum penalties.

The three murder charges each carries a maximum penalty of death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Through a public defender, Owens said he wanted a court-appointed attorney. His probable cause hearing was set for April 7. Owens is being held without bond at the Buncombe County Detention Facility.

After the court appearance, Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams said Owens "is charged with three very serious crimes." Asked if he would pursue the death penalty, Williams said his office will need more time to make that determination.

"Once we have an opportunity to review the case, we'll take a look at what an appropriate approach to the prosecution is, but at this time I can't comment on how we're going to proceed," Williams said.

Williams declined to comment on the Quinn connection.

The Zebb Quinn cold case

Asheville police, who continue to look for leads in the Quinn case, have considered it a homicide from early in the investigation.

The 18-year-old's disappearance remains one of the region's best-known unsolved crimes and in 2012 was featured on the Investigation Discovery Channel show "Disappeared."

Quinn vanished on the night of Jan. 2, 2000. A Roberson High School graduate who attended Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, Quinn had gotten off work at the Hendersonville Road Walmart at 9 p.m. He planned to go look at a Mitsubishi Eclipse for sale with a co-worker — Owens, who was 21 at the time.

A Hendersonville Road convenience store video showed Quinn and Owens buying sodas and driving away separately.

According to Owens' account, Quinn later flashed his headlights at Owens and the two pulled off the road. Quinn told Owens he needed to find a pay phone to return a page. He returned about 9:30 p.m. and bumped into Owens' truck. Quinn promised to pay for the damages, then said he had to leave and drove away, according to Owens.

Two weeks later, Quinn's car, a 1990 Mazda Protégé, turned up in the parking lot of Little Pigs Barbecue on McDowell Street, with a Labrador-mix puppy inside and a large pair of lips drawn in lipstick on the rear window. Quinn took no clothes, no contact lens solution, no extra money — nothing that would indicate he was going away. He liked his job and always stayed in close touch with his mother and sister.

The following month, on Feb. 14, a Superior Court judge issued a search warrant authorizing officers to draw hair, blood and saliva samples from Owens relating to Quinn's disappearance.

"He was definitely a primary suspect in the Zebb Quinn case," Duncan said.

But police never had the evidence to warrant charges.

Zebb Quinn's mother, Denise Vlahakis, said she is not jumping to any conclusions with Owens' arrest.

"I do view it as totally separate from Zebb's case," Vlahakis said. "I'm hopeful with what he's facing, eventually whatever information he may have been holding back he may decide to go ahead and let it go."

Vlahakis said she personally considered Owens a suspect in her son's case.

"He was the last one with Zebb, and his story, it did not fit the timeline of the call records that they had," she said. "And he did show up at an urgent care center the next morning, after Zebb had disappeared, with injuries."