Former Marine’s 18-page story detailing night he shot his girlfriend takes center stage at his murder trial – NJ.com

As attorneys on Wednesday read aloud parts of a journal from a Montclair man accused of killing the mother of his child, some members of the woman’s family couldn’t bear to listen.

Angela Bledsoe’s father got up and left the courtroom while her mother wept as attorneys argued whether James Ray’s journal should be admissible. Ray is accused of fatally shooting Angela Bledsoe, 44, on Oct. 22, 2018 inside their home on North Mountain Avenue in Montclair.

“You can feel the pain,” said Ray Bledsoe, the father, after court. “Was she calling out for her daddy, or her mother?”

Ray’s writing includes a legend that shows the fictitious names of real people. Ray, who was 55 at the time of the shooting, refers to himself as Jack in the story and listed character names for his girlfriend and daughter.

One of Ray’s attorneys has argued that he shot his girlfriend in self-defense. The 18-page journal, which reads like a short book, describes in great detail an argument and then a shooting.

Ray wrote that he took out two guns to clean and left them on a table when he thought Bledsoe had gone out to run an errand. When he came out of the bathroom, he wrote that he saw Bledsoe holding one of the guns, according to excerpts read aloud by the prosecutor.

The couple began to argue about issues in their relationship. Bledsoe said at one point that she was going to take their daughter with her to Florida, according to the writings that were read aloud in court.

He wrote that he asked Bledsoe to put the gun down and then eventually moved towards the guns on the table. The writing indicated that he grabbed one of the guns and took a lunge while he fired it in his girlfriend’s direction.

“He said ‘I thought my shot missed because she stood and started coming in my direction,’” Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Michele Miller read from the journal. “‘I ran towards the bathroom on her approach. I stood in my bathroom with my weapon pointed towards the door for a time that seemed like an eternity.”

Ray, an attorney and a former Marine, wrote that he exited the bathroom in a “ready to fire position” and then saw a trail of blood leading into the kitchen. There, he saw his girlfriend sitting on the kitchen floor.

“‘As I took a step from the stove in her direction, she lifted her arm and pointed it at me again,’” Miller read. “‘Out of reaction, I fired in her direction and it seemed like I couldn’t stop firing and I had no idea how many rounds I had fired or whenever she slid from a quasi-sitting up [position] to laying flat and the weapon no longer pointed.’”

Thomas Ashley, one of Ray’s attorneys, argued to Superior Court Judge Verna G. Leath in Newark only the part in the story about Ray’s account of the shooting should be admissible.

The writings were found on Ray by authorities when he was arrested in Cuba about six days after the shooting occurred, Miller said. Ray wrote in the story that he intended to get the writing published and have half the proceeds go to the couple’s young daughter, who is now about seven.

This isn’t the only writing Ray made in the wake of the shooting, according to authorities. Police said they found a confession note written by Ray inside a suitcase that belonged to the couple’s daughter.

The note accused Bledsoe of having an affair. The prosecutor in court on Wednesday argued both people in the relationship had had affairs.

It’s not clear what parts of the journal are embellishments and which are real. The story follows Ray’s character catching rides with truck drivers across multiple states until he reached Mexico and flew out to Cuba.

The prosecutor said that some portions of the story matched the evidence that was found during authorities’ investigation. For example, Ray wrote that he left his BMW at Newark Liberty International Airport, which Miller said was found by investigators in the same location.

Miller, the prosecutor, argued that all of the story, which was titled “On the Move,” should be admissible in court because it showed his mindset, how he avoided detection by police and how he disposed of the murder weapon. Authorities said in 2018 that they were not able to recover the weapon used in Bledsoe’s homicide.

“It tends to show the murderer acted like a murderer,” Miller said.

Ashley, one of Ray’s attorneys, argued that other portions of the story shouldn’t be allowed in court because they were prejudicial.

One section Ashley wanted omitted had to do with Jack, who was Ray’s character, wanting to “brawl” with a truck driver who he perceived as being gay. Ahsley said he wanted that omitted since some jurors might perceive him as homophobic.

“This rambling on and on and on about facts and issues which have no relationship whatsoever to the crime, I submit your honor, is a very slippery slope,” Ashley said. “A slope that if you went down that slope, it would result in James Ray not having a fair trial in any sense of the word.”

Bledsoe’s sister, mother and father have been traveling to court from other states to keep tabs on the case. The family has also established a $100,000 endowment for students who want to attend the same university Bledsoe attended, Florida A&M. She eventually went on to work as a financial consultant, the family said.

Her sister, Lisa LaBoo, is now in the care of the couple’s daughter too.

“One thing that she really misses is just being able to cuddle and hug with her mom,” said LaBoo of the daughter.

The judge will issue her decision about whether the journal can be used in court by Oct. 11.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.