A Rhode Island man accused of murdering his missing girlfriend in a "blood bath" at his home allegedly told a store clerk he thought he killed her following a blowout over another man.
Charlotte Lester, 44, vanished May 16, 2022 in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Police had purportedly long suspected her boyfriend, Mark Perkins, 64, had something to do with her disappearance, but for nearly two-and-a-half years, they lacked enough evidence to initiate an arrest, according to court documents, WJAR-TV reported.
Two days after Lester went missing, police questioned Perkins about their relationship. At the time, detectives alleged his hands were visibly swollen, and he appeared "calm and unaffected with her disappearance."
It was later on learned in the days leading up to meeting with detectives, Perkins allegedly confessed to a convenience store worker that he and Lester "had the blow out of the century" over another man and that his house was a "blood bath."
"I think I killed her," Perkins allegedly told the clerk, who noted the suspect's hands were bloodied and his arms were covered in scratches and bite marks, the documents read.
The clerk relayed the disturbing information to police, who in turn executed a search warrant at Perkins' residence that following day.
Investigators allegedly discovered blood spatters throughout the home, a bloodied shirt, and bleach nearby. The blood evidence came back as a match for both Lester and Perkins.
Surveillance footage around the time of Lester's disappearance allegedly captured Perkins following her to another man's home. Two days later, video showed his truck with a large object in the back. Hours later, he returned without it. That same week, he purportedly bought a new mattress using a fake name.
But without a body, authorities stalled on his arrest.
It wasn't until Sunday when a hunter found a human skull and dental records proved the remains belonged to Lester that police took Perkins into custody and charged him with first-degree murder.
Perkins has not entered a plea to the charge and remains held without bail, according to the Fall River Reporter.
"We were right," Kathy Wilson, a spokesperson for Lester's family, told The Providence Journal. "It happened exactly the way we thought it did, where we thought it did, by who."
