Reply and Impt. Caution:
Jeff -- In my response to Jim, I stayed within the confines of his scenario, in a constructive attempt to show why, IMO, it wouldn't work. In your reply, you significantly deviated from the given scenario.
Please decide if you want to try to solve this crime, or continue acting as the Captain of the Debate Team -- with you reserving the right to unilaterally change the Propositions and Rules.
In terms of a few of the points you touched, and another important concern:
1. Where were the dogs? Really, Jeff. If there weren't any dogs being walked anywhere on College, so be it, my humble apology. My point was, and is, that there were many people walking on College that night, at the time in Jim's scenario that Suzanne would have been kidnapped.
3. The location where Suzanne was seen by the unnamed witness: At approximately 9:20, Suzanne dropped-off the keys and walked Northbound on College. The witness left the Rink and was walking Southbound on College. If Suzanne didn't stop anywhere, she was close to the Rink when last seen on College. Should she have stopped, she was somewhere between the points. Based on the witness' report of who was walking in front of, and several paces behind, Suzanne, subject to confirmation by the witness, or an additional witness, it appears she crossed Elm and was proceeding Northbound on College (which also appeared to be the assumption is Jim's scenario).
2. A woman screaming: Every self-defense course, magazine article, book, etc. admonishes women to scream as loud as they can, get sick to their stomachs, kick, scratch, fight, and do everything possible to call attention to the situation and avoid getting in a vehicle by force. Suzanne was undoubtedly aware of it. There was nothing in Jim's scenario about a knife being pulled at that time [to the contrary, he specifically stated when the knife was pulled-out in the vehicle].
3. Rape motive: "Gang rape" occurs thousands of times a day in the U.S. "Punks" and a pretty Yale student walking alone, on a warm, weekend night, present a highly likely combination for it; possibly, except, if the only motive was robbery, and they were more in urgent need of money [e.g. for drugs] than desirous of anything else.
That aside, when there is a murder such as this one, with there being no evidence of actual or attempted sexual assault, IMO, it is more indicative of someone who knew the victim, or knew something about the victim, and had a specific purpose for wanting to meet with her, which then escalated to violence and murder; or observed her doing something that caused him to "snap" [as in many of the thousands of domestic homicides each year].
You are assuming robbery as a motive, which you say cannot be proved/disproved because she did not have her wallet. Has anyone checked about any jewelry she always wore [ring(s), pendants, anything in gold] that was still on her when she was found, or missing? Although not as liquid as money, drug addict thieves would have taken it.
4. "Jim or (an) unknown assailant(s): It appears to me that you are fixated on the the murderer(s) being completely unknown to Suzanne because, if known to her, the focus turns back to Jim. That narrow approach excludes many motives and perpetrators.
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5. YOUR interview of witnesses: I could not be more serious about this caution: While you are quite intelligent and apparently sincere in your purpose, YOU are not a trained interviewer or investigator. It concerns me that the leading and suggestive questions you are propounding to the witnesses will adversely impact the admissiblilty, and reliability, of their testimony should there ever be a Trial. I assume you are not recording these conversations, nor are you precisely following a questionnaire which was prepared by an unbiased, clinically trained and qualified interviewer. Your questioning of Mrs. Oxley [previous post] exemplifies the basis for that concern.
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In the future, should you continue "interviewing" witnesses, for the integrity of the case, I encourage you to either record the conversations (with permission), or exactly follow a properly prepared questionnaire, documenting all responses and refusals to respond.
Regards,
Carol |
