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Eight charged – including 5 for murder – after Rhode Island woman found dead in woods
Prosecutors say they are charging the three other suspects with related offenses.
Central Falls, Rhode Island, police arrested eight people Tuesday in connection with the death of Erica Bader, who police found dead in a wooded area of Pawtucket at the end of October.
Prosecutors are charging five of the suspects with murder and three others with related offenses, court documents show.
According to court documents, those charged with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy include:
- Andrew Cornell, 28
- Joshua Brunelle, 35
- Elizabeth Durand, 41
- Stephanie Bletzer, 37
- Brittney Terpening, 34
Those charged with conspiracy, kidnapping, and failure to report a death include:
- Christopher Kordalewski, 22
- Joanne Miller, 26
- Cheryl Blakely, 36
Authorities are holding all suspects without bail, and none has entered a plea.
Terpening was Bader’s roommate, according to court documents reviewed by WPRI.
According to the Providence Journal, detectives in Central Falls began their investigation after police in Pawtucket contacted them on Oct. 27 to say they discovered a body in a wooded area of Pawtucket.
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Investigators determined that Bader, 24, was placed in Pawtucket following her death somewhere else, the Journal reports. Investigators traced the case to an address on Central Street in Central Falls.
A multi-agency investigation involves the Central Falls Police Detectives Division, members of the Pawtucket Police Department, the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General, and the Office of the State Medical Examiner.
The Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General confirmed it is part of the investigation, but did not provide any further details as the investigation was still active on Wednesday.
“I’m glad justice is served again, that they’ve been brought forward, all eight of them,” said Crystal Smith, Bader’s stepmother, in an interview outside the courthouse with The Boston Globe. “I’m glad they’re at where they’re at, and I hope they stay there.”
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