Montclair lawyer back in court on girlfriend’s killing. Judge to decide if he stays jailed

A Superior Court judge is expected to decide Tuesday whether a Montclair lawyer accused of killing the mother of his child should stay jailed pending trial.

James Ray III, 55, is scheduled to appear at the Essex County Veterans Courthouse in Newark for a hearing on prosecutors’ motion to detain him before trial, authorities told reporters last week.

Ray, who was handed over to FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents last week by authorities in Cuba, has been charged with murder in Bledsoe’s Oct. 22 fatal shooting.

Under statewide criminal justice reforms that took effect last year, Ray is likely to remain behind bars for the duration of his case unless his attorney can convince the judge he’s neither a public safety threat nor a flight risk.

Court documents obtained by NJ Advance Media and other outlets say Ray — in a note found by a family member — confessed to killing Bledsoe and expressed a fear of prison time.

Affidavit: Lawyer admitted killing girlfriend

The note, a detective wrote, led Ray’s sibling to call police, who discovered Bledsoe in the couple’s North Mountain Avenue home suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. She died of her injuries not long after.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office last week told reporters Ray had been detained by Cuban authorities when he arrived in the country on Oct. 28, after Interpol issued a worldwide “red notice” alerting member countries of his wanted status.

Ray, who maintained a law practice in Manhattan, previously drew media scrutiny in 2013 when a paralegal he formerly employed sued him for sexual harassment.

The paralegal, who later settled the case out of court, claimed Ray had subjected her to unwanted conversations about polygamy and pornography, and pressured her to become his “third wife.”

Ray remained jailed at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark as of Monday afternoon.

If convicted of murder, he faces a minimum sentence of 30 years in state prison and a maximum of life.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.