JAMES Ray III was convicted of killing his girlfriend, Angela Bledsoe.
However, he died before serving prison time.
Who was James Ray III?
James Ray III was an attorney who lived in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, with his girlfriend, Angela Bledsoe.
The pair shared a daughter who was born in 2012, per ABC News.
According to the outlet, the pair met when Ray hired Bledsoe to work at his insurance brokerage firm.
He had previously earned his law degree and served in the US Marines. He had also worked as a New York CityPolice Department (NYPD) officer.
What was James Ray III convicted of?
Ray was convicted of the 2018 murder of 44-year-old Bledsoe, which took place in their Upper Montclair home when he was 55 years old.
As NorthJersey.com reported, the verdict came on Friday, May 12, 2023, following a six-week trial.
Montclair police found Bledsoe dead in the kitchen of the couple’s home on October 23, 2018.
The prosecution’s attorney Michelle Miller said that “there was blood all over the place.”
The outlet continues: “Bledsoe had been shot in the chest in the living room, then staggered to the kitchen, bleeding profusely, where Ray then shot her in the back and face.”
And while defense attorney Brooke Barnett made the case that Ray shot Bledsoe in self-defense after she picked up a gun and pointed it at him, Miller claimed the crime scene was “staged.”
She said: “If that gun had been in Angela’s hand there would have been blood all over it, too. That gun was placed there, it wasn’t dropped, kicked or slid.”
When did James Ray III die?
As NorthJersey.com reported, Ray died on Sunday, June 18, 2023.
According to Robert Florida, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, he was found unconscious in his cell at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, New Jersey.
A statement from Essex County Chief of Staff Philip B. Alagia said that Ray was pronounced dead at University Hospital in Newark after a “medical emergency.”
She added that an investigation was taking place and said: “A cause of death will be determined by the Medical Examiner’s Office.”
On December 8, 2023, NJ.com reported that, according to The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the autopsy is not complete and an official cause of death has not been determined, “although it has said there were no signs of foul play.”
Ray had been scheduled to be sentenced for Bledsoe’s murder on June 22, 2023, as NorthJersey.com reported.
How can I watch Angela Bledsoe’s 20/20 episode?
According to ABC News, the 20/20 episode about Bledsoe’s murder will premiere on Friday, December 8, 2023, at 9 p.m. EST.
It will be available for streaming on Hulu beginning December 9.