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Arrest Made in Malfetti Homicide

Mekel Blash, a 27-year-old Nadir man, was arrested Friday and charged with murder in the January 2014 death of James Malfetti on St. John, the V.I. Police Department reported Friday night.

According to the VIPD, Blash was arrested at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

James Malfetti, 41, was found inside his Boatman Point Road apartment on Jan. 19, 2014, with stab wounds to his neck. The death drew national attention, with CBS News and other stateside media suggesting the VIPD shared complicity in the murder of Malfetti, who was from Scotch Plains, N.J., and had lived on St. John about a year.

At the time of the death the V.I. Police Department declined to describe any other circumstances of the death, saying only that it was part of an ongoing investigation.

Blash, 27 of Nadir, was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault, third-degree assault, use of a dangerous weapon during the commission of a crime of violence, grand larceny and first-degree burglary.

No bail was issued for Mekel Blash by order of Judge Kathleen McKay of the Superior Court. Blash was processed and remanded to the Bureau of Corrections pending his advise of rights hearing.
 

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