Barbers, welcome! No, Yale Unions do not fingerprint their workers. Even assuming they did, I'm not sure to what degree the foreign palm print found on the soda bottle found near Jovin is usable in a fingerprint search. If it were, I'd think we'd at least have been told it didn't match anyone (but since we're talking about the NHPD, I suppose anything is possible). If it weren't, I would think the NHPD would at least have been able to compare the print to known entities although I know of no such comparisons except to Professor Van de Velde, of course (and of course it didn't match).
As for whether a Yale cafeteria worker (or the like) might have killed Suzanne Jovin, yes, that's a possibility. Suzanne probably knew enough of them (and vice versa) such that had she run into one in the street, given what I've heard about her being a polite, outgoing individual, I would think she'd have stopped and been cordial.
Assuming Jovin were approached by a maintenance worker she knew, what would make her get in the car with the guy? By definition (i.e. because it was someone she knew), we'd have to rule out force. It's *unlikely*, in my opinion, a) being so close to her apartment, she'd have accepted a ride, b) having just hosted a pizza party, she'd have accepted a dinner invitation, and c) having declined to go out with several friends, she'd have decided to go out at all. So, that's a big gotcha #1.
But, for sake of argument, let's assume Jovin did get into the car of said maintenance worker. What would then be his motivation? What would then cause him to kill her? There's no indication Jovin planned to meet anyone, so whatever motivation was involved would have to have been impulsive. I suppose it's possible someone might have been driving around looking for a victim, but I would think, if so, they'd have targeted a stranger. More than likely, in such a scenario, the motivation would have been sexual. Since there was no indication of a sexual assault, we could postulate that perhaps he killed her when she spurned his (unexpected) advances. The fact there doesn't seem to be any evidence of a struggle at the crime scene nor spatters of blood indicating a fleeing victim, it appears likely Jovin was subdued in the killer's car. That being the case, I can't see why he wouldn't have wanted to, or been able to, have his way with her. So that's a combined gotcha #2.
Then we have all sorts of problems associated with the single killer in a car theory. Given the extensive use of what appears to be a cheap knife, I doubt the killer had a gun. It would seem difficult to me to be able to keep someone captive in a car using a knife while being in the driver's seat. It's also quite awkward with the steering wheel in the way to get close enough and a good enough angle to effectively stab someone in the head area, especially given it was reported Jovin had no defensive wounds. Sure it would have helped had he stopped the car, but it also would have helped Jovin escape. And even if we surmise the killer didn't let on to his intentions until he had pulled the car over, the fact Jovin was likely not driven to wherever she had agreed to go, I would presume she was in a heightened state of alert and thus more likely than not to be ready and able to defend herself or bolt from the car. So there are yet a few more gotchas.
So, in conclusion, while a Yale maintenance worker as killer is certainly possible, there are too many gotchas to make it a probability... in my opinion of course. However, I'm certainly open to any ideas you might have that might make such a scenario more likely.
- Jeff |
