Cristie Schoen's house

This is Cristie Schoen's former house.

It is located at 87 Hookers Gap Road in Leicester, North Carolina.

The "Food Network Star" contestant and her husband, Joseph "J.T." Codd, purchased the property in February 2013.

At the time of their murders, Schoen was five months pregnant. Friends and relatives said that the newlyweds were looking forward to raising a family in rural North Carolina. They had also made plans to start an aquaponics farm and a farm-to-table restaurant.

The couple were reported missing on March 15th, 2015, after Schoen failed to show up at a family event in Mississippi. By that point, Codd's family had also noticed that he wasn't responding to any of their phone calls or text messages.

When the police arrived at the residence to carry out a welfare check, they noticed that the couple's vehicles were parked in the driveway. Furthermore, their dogs were still inside the house and had defecated on the floor.

At that point, it became clear that foul play was involved.

Shortly after the disappearances became public news, a caller contacted the police and told them that they had seen a local contractor named Robert Jason Owens throwing large bags into a dumpster.

An inspection of the dumpster uncovered personal items belonging to Cristie Schoen.

Owens was a home contractor who had worked for the couple. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder after the police searched his property and discovered their dismembered remains in a wood stove inside his mobile home.

During questioning, the contractor claimed that he accidentally killed the couple by hitting them with his vehicle. Owens said that they had been trying to help him after his pickup truck became stuck in a ditch. He explained that the incident occurred when he hit the accelerator by mistake.

Owens told the police that he attempted to cover up the accident by destroying the couple's remains. He also admitted to stealing personal belongings from the house in an attempt to make it look like a robbery.

In April 2017, the contractor agreed to plead guilty to three counts of second-degree murder and two counts of dismembering human remains.

Shortly afterwards, he was sentenced to a minimum of 60 years in prison.

Photos

Photos of the house and other related images.

87 Hookers Gap Road

This Google Street View image of 87 Hookers Gap Road was captured in April 2013—roughly three months after Cristie and T.J. Codd purchased the property for $161,000.

The small, 1,000-square-foot house was built in 1971.

It sits on a wooded 27-acre lot in a rural, mountainous area of western North Carolina.

Murder

The police believe that Cristie Schoen and T.J. Codd were murdered on March 12th, 2015.

Robert Jason Owens (pictured right) claimed that he accidentally killed the couple after he hit the accelerator by mistake.

Notably, Owens was also implicated in the murder of 18-year-old Zebb Quinn, who disappeared from Asheville, North Carolina, on January 2nd, 2000.

In July 2022, he pleaded guilty to being an accessory to Quinn's murder. Owens claimed that his deceased uncle, Walter "Gene" Owens, murdered Quinn and that he had helped him cover up the crime.

Crime scene

It is believed that Owens killed the Codds at their residence on Hookers Gap Road.

The couple had hired the home contractor to help them clear trees on the property.

Robert Jason Owens' property

Image source: Google Maps

Owens owned a property at 8 Owens Cove Road, which is just one mile east of 87 Hookers Gap Road.

The remains of Cristie Schoen and T.J. Codd were found in a wood stove inside the mobile home.

The Google Street View image above was taken roughly 11 months before the murders occurred.

Coordinates: 35.600645, -82.719463

Google Maps