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Pastimes : Murder Mystery: Who Killed Yale Student Suzanne Jovin? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (80)	12/16/1999 7:52:00 AM
From: MNI	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1397

Hi. I disapprove of this thread. Criticism of the police doesn't seem to be the right way of dealing with an open case, apart from their leaking your friend's name, which is most probably even incorrect behaviour. Nevertheless I will contribute once. Your best option seems to be to follow up the German accent question, as it seems to be the only way to determine whether the altercation was between killer and victim, or killer and female accomplice (which would give a giant boost for your group killing theory), or two people who had nothing to do with the crime, which would change the time schedule fixed points. This won't help you however, if a possible German accent wasn't strong enough to be a really distinctive feature. This is most probably true since Suzanne wasn't in her first year, and I assume has spoken English with her parents for her lifetime anyway. As for the place of stabbing and the use of a car, I was not convinced of any car use before the lack of blood at the crime scene entered the discussion. However your witness may have incomplete knowledge or remembrance. If you really want to build on this, ask several witnesses and most probably you will see grossly different crime scenes. I think assumptions on the motive or profile of the killer from the number of stabbing wounds are not well-founded. With an inexperienced killer, (I hope we can say that is the most probable scenario) all kinds of emotions can spring up after the first blow has been made, and even very rational people who have premeditated their act can behave like in a killing frenzy after being shocked by the experience of the beginning murder. So much more true for any kind of spontaneous or passionate violence. Neither altercation nor scream are necessarily connected to the crime. That leaves open the possibility of an anaestheticised victim (classically a sponge or cloth with chlorofom). Most probably there are nowadays a thousand ways to apply various anaesthetics, that would synchronically explain the apparent lack of protective wounds, signs of struggle, and maybe could have been used to bring the victim into a car or to a place that she wouldn't have entered 'normally'. I think in chemical analysis you have to know what you are looking for, so forensics can check on a number of obvious choices, but not on all possibilities. Drug application in a car is easier than outside, and that scenario would allow for any kind and arrangement of wounds even with a physically weak single killer. It would even allow for the possibility of death before stabbing, but this might have been found out in the forensics, I believe. Even a physically strong and fit young person could have fainted when tired and shocked, or subconsciously have taken a break from reality. Finally, I think all assumptions based on expectations what a young intelligent lady would have done in her situation are unfounded also. I know from my own experience that I have done things that are very atypical for me near the closing date of any paper, especially ones that didn't look to go all to well. Additionally, the victim grew up in a place where the little rules of behaviour for the little things may be different from the American expectation. I would guess that we are usually walking longer distances than Americans, and in many places, e.g. the rurals around Goettingen, Hitch-hiking with strangers was nothing unusual twelve years ago, and for young people, even if female and alone. I guess it hasn't so much changed since. Especially the self-confident among the youth indulged in it, and most parents didn't even disapprove as long as no Autobahn or main through traffic line was touched. Surely not inside town or with people known from afar. The majority used other means of traffic, but if in need of quick transport - why not. Concerning cat's hairs - it doesn't seem they can be proof if found with the victim. In her High School Yearbook (http://www.thg.goe.ni.schule.de/jovin/) she answered a questionnaire saying that playing with her cat was a favorite spare time use. Cat's hairs (either if Suzanne had her own in Yale, or any other cat that she had access to) could be proof if found in a car or house when its' owner denies she was ever in it. Please don't forget that none of us has sufficient information to criticise the police, who surely do their best. Also I think we should acknowledge that even with Jeff's interviews most of our information about the victim and her motives is gathered from news and papers, and that we therefore surely have not enough objectivity to try profiling her and the crime.