A Montclair lawyer arrested in Cuba earlier this month admits fatally shooting his girlfriend, but claims her killing was self-defense, his own attorney told a judge in Newark Monday.
Superior Court Judge Ronald D. Wigler, however, said the state's evidence was more than sufficient to keep James Ray III behind bars while awaiting trial on murder and weapons charges.
"I really haven't heard anything that convinces this court you have overcome the presumption for detention," Wigler told Ray, who stood before the court in a green jail uniform, guarded by Essex County sheriff's officers.
Ray, 55, is charged with first-degree murder and unlawfully possessing a weapon in the death of Angela Bledsoe, whom Montclair police found fatally shot inside the couple's North Mountain Avenue on Oct. 22.
Ray was arrested by FBI and Homeland Security Investigations on Nov. 6 following his detention by Cuban authorities on an Interpol "red notice."
Ray's attorney, Thomas R. Ashley, argued his client had been cleaning several guns he owned when Bledsoe took one and pointed it at Ray. Ray fired at her with the gun he was holding only to defend himself, Ashley said.
Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Shaughnessy, however, said Bledsoe, 44, was shot four times: once in the jaw and three times in the back.
Ashley said his client had planned to return to the United States and that he left the country only for fear authorities wouldn't believe his story.
"This court well knows that flight alone is not an indication someone is necessarily guilty," he said.
The judge appeared skeptical of the argument.
"There's really no indication you had any intention of coming back to face these charges," Wigler said.
Prosecutors have said Ray, who has been jailed at the Essex County Correctional Facility, wrote a note admitting fatally shooting Bledsoe.
The note, found by Ray's sibling in the suitcase of the lawyer's 6-year-old child, said Ray was feeing specifically to avoid a lengthy trial and the possibility of jail time, authorities said.
The handgun used to kill Bledsoe has not been recovered. In the note, Shaughnessy said in court Monday, Ray admitted disassembling the gun and disposing of the parts in Philadelphia, where he briefly lived on the street after Bledsoe's death.
If convicted of murder, the judge noted, Ray faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison without parole.
Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.