Brother of James Ray III testifies killer told him victim had been violent

Robert Ray, the younger brother of James Ray III, who is on trial in Newark for the 2018 murder of his girlfriend Angela Bledsoe, testified on Thursday that his brother had confided in him a month and a half before the killing that Bledsoe had “slapped or punched” him.

And in a confession letter his brother read on the stand, James Ray wrote to him that she had become “increasingly violent.”

The testimony is significant because defense attorneys Thomas Ashley and Brooke Barnett are arguing their client acted in self-defense when Bledsoe picked up a handgun that Ray had been cleaning and pointed it at him.

In the confession note, the defendant, who was a U.S. Marine and officer in the NYPD before getting his MBA and law degree, wrote, “I reacted in the heat of the moment, eased down and couldn’t stop firing. I was scared…”

Bledsoe was hit by four bullets, including one that hit her in the back.

More: Tensions high during opening arguments as James Ray III's Montclair murder trial begins

Robert Ray’s several hours of testimony recounted in detail the harrowing evening after Bledsoe’s Oct. 22, 2018 killing, from meeting his brother at a restaurant where the defendant left he and Bledsoe’s 6-year-old daughter in his care and slipped away, to discovering a confession note in the six-year-old’s suitcase.

Ray testified that he cried when reading the note, and then called the Montclair police and told them, “there might have been a murder” at 304 North Mountain Ave., the six-bedroom house the couple shared.

During her questioning, assistant prosecutor Michelle Miller chipped away at the self-defense narrative to reveal a possible motive, asking Robert Ray why he characterized the killing as a murder.

He replied that his brother had told him that Bledsoe was having an affair and wanted to move to Florida with their daughter.

Bledsoe’s lover was an Orlando city official named Bakari Burns, who is married, Barnett said in opening arguments.

In addition to the confession note, Robert Ray found several other items in his niece’s suitcase, including his brother’s will; checks, cash and bank cards, and instructions for putting the Montclair house on the market. He later did so, tossing all of Bledsoe’s possessions except for a journal and notebook, which he turned over to police. The defendant also sent his brother payment confirmation for a Disney cruise that he, Bledsoe and their daughter were scheduled to go on in December.

“It is paid for. You will need passports,” he wrote.

After calling the police, Robert Ray began texting his brother, begging him to come back for the good of his daughter, known in court as AR.

Recap: A look back at the events leading up to James Ray III's Montclair murder trial

“The best thing for AR is is that you surrender,” Robert Ray read from a transcript of the texts. “The only way to redeem any fraction of honor would be to allow the daughter you love so much to at least get the chance to grow up knowing her father is alive and is available to help bring resolution to a psychologically delicate situation. … Don’t make matters worse. She will already need counseling and a bunch of assistance getting over this. Don’t abandon this beautiful girl.”

Robert Ray said that, instead of responding, his brother told him to contact George Marable. When he asked who that was, his brother didn’t answer.

George Marable is the octogenarian former owner of the DLV Lounge, a jazz music venue, which closed last year; Ray visited the bar several times a week.

Two weeks later, James Ray III was arrested in Cuba by FBI agents.

The murder resumes on Tuesday in Newark.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Brother of James Ray III testifies in Montclair NJ murder trial