SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- A Massachusetts man whose wife's body was found stuffed in the trunk of a car at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport Saturday surrendered and confessed to the slaying in Santa Barbara, sheriff's officials said.
Basil Bletsis, 37, of Chelmsford, Mass., walked into the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and confessed he had murdered his wife, Panagiota Bletsis, and later stuffed her in the trunk of the family car, said sheriff's spokeswoman Beth Holle.
The victim was apparently killed in Massachusetts and driven to Kennedy Airport, New York police said.
Bletsis flew to Los Angeles Saturday morning and was met at the airport by his brother. Police said Bletsis told his brother he had killed his wife and the brother then convinced Bletsis to give himself up.
Sheriff's detectives passed information from Bletsis to Chelmsford police, and later New York police were able to locate the car at an airport parking lot.
New York police said the wife's body was found wrapped in a bloody blanket with her hands tied behind her back with telephone cord. The woman had apparently been beaten on the head, police said.
Bletsis was arrested by sheriff's detectives on a murder warrant issued by Massachusetts authorities and was in custody in the Santa Barbara County Jail, Holle said.
