The Springfield Three--missing since June 1992 - #4

Trooogrit said:

Sexual assault was the motive based on the information they had at the time. 4 seperate agencies agreed on this. So with that being said you have come to RAPE as the motive. This does not confirm this being planned or not planned, we dont have enough information to make that determination. Looking at the criminal history of Cox or Garrison an argument could be made either direction.

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But sexual assault of which woman? All? Just one? Which one?

Knowing that specific part of the motive would implicate certain people, while leaving out others.

However, no matter the answer to that, Cox and/or Garrison still remain.

I must have been missing in action when the news came down that four agencies agreed that rape was the motive in this crime. I could have entirely missed that but if it is true, it is news to me. Where can that be verified for I have never seen it anywhere?

If rape was the intended purpose why wait until the girls returned home? It seems infinitely easier to have accomplished rape on any of the three prior to them all being together in or about the home. I'm not getting the logic of this although it may be true. I was just never aware that being the case.

Having said that, I have heard speculated that Sherrill was the "target." But the "target" of what? That I have never seen published.

I will be as blunt as I can possibly be. In my view it was the concocted plot between Cox and "X" that caused this crime. Both had motive. Cox would do it "just because." "X" had his own reasons. If there is even the slightest connection; a thread of evidence, that these two individuals knew or had talked to one another then as far as I am concerned this is the motive(s) of why this went down on that June night.

Missouri Mule said:

I must have been missing in action when the news came down that four agencies agreed that rape was the motive in this crime. I could have entirely missed that but if it is true, it is news to me. Where can that be verified for I have never seen it anywhere?

If rape was the intended purpose why wait until the girls returned home? It seems infinitely easier to have accomplished rape on any of the three prior to them all being together in or about the home. I'm not getting the logic of this although it may be true. I was just never aware that being the case.

Having said that, I have heard speculated that Sherrill was the "target." But the "target" of what? That I have never seen published.

I will be as blunt as I can possibly be. In my view it was the concocted plot between Cox and "X" that caused this crime. Both had motive. Cox would do it "just because." "X" had his own reasons. If there is even the slightest connection; a thread of evidence, that these two individuals knew or had talked to one another then as far as I am concerned this is the motive(s) of why this went down on that June night.

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Well I posted that stuff about Thomas, as well as the review of the case by the KCPD, MHP, SLPD in thread number 3. THey concluded the same thing that the SPD concluded that sexual assault was the motive and not drug activity, I will have to find the articles.

I posted an article that said LE believed sexual assault was the motive, with Sherrill as the intended victim. I posted it in the last thread, but that thread has been pulled. It will take me a while to find that article but here is one regarding the motive I was able to quickly find.

Detectives share view in case of missing women
Chillicothe (Mo.) Constitution-Tribune
November 13, 1995
Springfield, MO, (AP)- A group of veteran detectives who have reviewed the 1992 disappearance of three women has reached the same conclusions as police did.

The three women –Sherrill Levitt, her daughter Suzanne Streeter and Streeter’s classmate Stacy McCall- all were apparently abducted from Levitt’s home in June 1992.

The Missouri Violent Crime Support Unit has finished reviewing the case files, and close to 30 leads will be re-examined, said police Capt. Darrell Crick.

The support unit and Springfield investigators agreed that the motive was sexual assault, rather than drug dealing. They also agreed on the same list of suspects, although the two groups ranked them differently on a scale of suspicion.

Police stopped working the case full time last spring, and the list of suspects still stands at about 12.

"Police speculate sexual assault may have been the motive, with Levitt the intended victim."

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dale417 said:

Missouri Mule and others, I have found the news article in my files regarding Det. Thomas' statement. It is to be found in the June 7, 1994 News-Leader, p.1B and 3B. Thomas is quoted as saying,"we have a motive"..."we believe we are on a track that will be very profitable", and further down the page, "I've know what precipated this thing from almost day one." On the other side of the coin, Officer Todd Whitson (same rank, if I remember) states, "We need evidence, we need confessions"...."Until we have solid information all we're doing is speculating."

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Dale -- not sure if you read these articles or just took your quotes from Kool Kat, but the articles you have cited are about Thomas' work in investigating the GJ3. These articles are in line with what I posted about Thomas working with Garrison and the Webster county dig. Robert Cox is not even mentioned in these articles and Cox did not even come out as a possible suspect until much later.

If Thomas knew "what precipated this thing from almost day one" then he obviously didn't know about the cover up and that this crime was never meant to be solved.

"Investigators from the St Louis and Kansas City areas, as well as the Missouri Highway patrol looked at the case for five days.
They studied the first two weeks after the womens disappearences, thinking that was the most critical time frame to examine. Among the most notable findings:
*The belief (shared by the Springfield police) that sexual assault, rather than drug dealing motivated the crime.
*The list of suspects remained constant between Springfield and support unit investigators, the only difference is the ranking of the suspects on a scale of suspicion."

NL November 11, 1995

Hurricane said:

Dale -- not sure if you read these articles or just took your quotes from Kool Kat, but the articles you have cited are about Thomas' work in investigating the GJ3. These articles are in line with what I posted about Thomas working with Garrison and the Webster county dig. Robert Cox is not even mentioned in these articles and Cox did not even come out as a possible suspect until much later.

If Thomas knew "what precipated this thing from almost day one" then he obviously didn't know about the cover up and that this crime was never meant to be solved.

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No Hurricane, I did not take my quotation usage from Kool-Kat, but from the original article in the News-Leader. I will cede that the local paper isn't as investigative as some these days. I didn't mention anything about Cox, merely stated that I feel it very interesting.

dale417 said:

No Hurricane, I did not take my quotation usage from Kool-Kat, but from the original article in the News-Leader. I will cede that the local paper isn't as investigative as some these days. I didn't mention anything about Cox, merely stated that I feel it very interesting.

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OK, so we are in agreement then that these articles do not establish that Robert Cox is/was Det. Doug Thomas’ #1 suspect “from almost day one” as has been alleged. In fact statements attributed to Thomas in these articles such as “we have a motive"..."we believe we are on a track that will be very profitable",were actually made about information supplied by Garrison which led to the Webster County dig and the GJ3 suspects.

Hurricane said:

OK, so we are in agreement then that these articles do not establish that Robert Cox is/was Det. Doug Thomas’ #1 suspect “from almost day one” as has been alleged. In fact statements attributed to Thomas in these articles such as “we have a motive"..."we believe we are on a track that will be very profitable",were actually made about information supplied by Garrison which led to the Webster County dig and the GJ3 suspects.

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Cox was not even on the radar when Thomas made the statement, sure he had been questioned twice, but they didnt step up there investigation on Cox until after the review (note my post above) in late 1995. In early January 1996 is when they went after him. He also was being investigated at this time for the I-70 killings. At this point "Steve" had been the focus of the investigation for over a year.

Indianagirl said:

I posted an article that said LE believed sexual assault was the motive, with Sherrill as the intended victim. I posted it in the last thread, but that thread has been pulled. It will take me a while to find that article but here is one regarding the motive I was able to quickly find.

Detectives share view in case of missing women
Chillicothe (Mo.) Constitution-Tribune
November 13, 1995
Springfield, MO, (AP)- A group of veteran detectives who have reviewed the 1992 disappearance of three women has reached the same conclusions as police did.

The three women –Sherrill Levitt, her daughter Suzanne Streeter and Streeter’s classmate Stacy McCall- all were apparently abducted from Levitt’s home in June 1992.

The Missouri Violent Crime Support Unit has finished reviewing the case files, and close to 30 leads will be re-examined, said police Capt. Darrell Crick.

The support unit and Springfield investigators agreed that the motive was sexual assault, rather than drug dealing. They also agreed on the same list of suspects, although the two groups ranked them differently on a scale of suspicion.

Police stopped working the case full time last spring, and the list of suspects still stands at about 12.

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It's hard to keep up with everything but obviously this changes everything. If we have everyone who actually saw the case agreeing this was sexual assault rather than drug dealing and if they are correct, then the long held belief of many in the community of a drug connection that was widely discussed in the early days of the investigation was never well founded but based on rumor and surmise. I have never personally believed it was because I could find nothing that established such a link but it was always there.

I find it rather amazing that they continue to have a list of suspects of about 12 people and that they all agreed on the same 12 suspects.

I can only draw from this article (that I had not seen or recalled having seen) that much information has never been shared with the public and which has led to the present situation where we are left groping in the dark for answers. I will be the first to admit that if the task force groups all agreed on the same 12 suspects then this changes the way the case must be analyzed.

A final thought. If there are 12 serious suspects then perhaps this suggests a biker connection of some sort although it was stated a local biker group was not considered as likely suspects. This possibility had been suggested to me by a local LE officer sometime back because they were unlikely to rat one another out.

Trooogrit said:

Cox was not even on the radar when Thomas made the statement, sure he had been questioned twice, but they didnt step up there investigation on Cox until after the review (note my post above) in late 1995. In early January 1996 is when they went after him. He also was being investigated at this time for the I-70 killings. At this point "Steve" had been the focus of the investigation for over a year.

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With 12 suspects still on the official list (in 1995) that says to me that passing their polygraph, in and of itself did not automatically eliminate someone from being a suspect. SPD simply used the polygraph as a tool in the investigation. All of this debate about polygraphs being worthless was just a waste of time.

Trooogrit said:

Cox was not even on the radar when Thomas made the statement, sure he had been questioned twice, but they didnt step up there investigation on Cox until after the review (note my post above) in late 1995. In early January 1996 is when they went after him. He also was being investigated at this time for the I-70 killings. At this point "Steve" had been the focus of the investigation for over a year.

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Is it not true that Cox was actually brought to the attention of the SPD as early as two weeks of the abductions when the Zellers contacted the SPD after learning of the abductions. They had kept tabs on Cox after Cox was let off death row in Florida? That would have been in 1992.

To my knowledge, only Cox was so seriously investigated that two officers (one now a top officer) went to Texas to coax out of Cox where the women were to be buried. This must have come with considerable time and expense. And of course he was prominently written about in the newspapers and on television and if memory serves me correctly the prosecutor sued to have the KY3 tape seized as evidence in the event of a trial since it appeared there may have been incriminating statements he had made. And of course there are the two letters he wrote which are publically available which strongly indicate he could have been involved.

I would ask this question. If Cox was not truly investigated as a viable suspect until 1995 why not? Of all of the people considered only he had all of the attributes and ability to carry out this crime by himself. While Garrison certainly was on their radar and he was so prominently written about what is there in his past that would indicate he was capable of carrying out the crime?

Assuming that 1995 was the first time Cox was seriously considered, then one must extrapolate that he was not a target of the 1994 grand jury. We know that (so far as I know) the only thing that linked the three subjects was their association in the Kansas penal system and they knew one another. And as we know, no bill of indictments ensued from that grand jury process.

Hurricane said:

With 12 suspects still on the official list (in 1995) that says to me that passing their polygraph, in and of itself did not automatically eliminate someone from being a suspect. SPD simply used the polygraph as a tool in the investigation. All of this debate about polygraphs being worthless was just a waste of time.

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This seems to indicate that they have merely not been eliminated as suspects. But I wonder if they were serious suspects. The newspaper account seems to strongly suggest they were.

"The support unit and Springfield investigators agreed that the motive was sexual assault, rather than drug dealing. They also agreed on the same list of suspects, although the two groups ranked them differently on a scale of suspicion.

Police stopped working the case full time last spring, and the list of suspects still stands at about 12."

So, it appears that not only had all of the agencies agreed on the same list of suspects but that they were serious suspects and the motive had been narrowed down to rape.

If that were true, and if Sherrill Levitt were the target, why would they wait until all three women were there? They would not have arrived until approximately 2:45 AM. But if they did, why was there no DNA or forensic evidence from any of the 12 suspects?

While the polygraph is merely a tool, it is also misleading. We have to believe that nearly 20 years has passed and none of these 12 possible suspects have confided to anyone a possible involvement. That is certainly unusual according to my understanding of the criminal mind. They always have to brag to someone how they pulled off the perfect crime or drag others into their little plots. Somehow, I believe it is more likely than not that the SPD narrowed the list down beyond the 12 and most likely to Cox himself. My $0.02.

Well if they looked at the first 2 weeks of the investigation, then Cox and Garrison were on that list. However, I believe the crimes committed AFTER 1992, probably swayed the interest of the officers reviewing the case. That is why I think they put the heat on Cox after there review.

Missouri Mule said:

Is it not true that Cox was actually brought to the attention of the SPD as early as two weeks of the abductions when the Zellers contacted the SPD after learning of the abductions. They had kept tabs on Cox after Cox was let off death row in Florida? That would have been in 1992.

To my knowledge, only Cox was so seriously investigated that two officers (one now a top officer) went to Texas to coax out of Cox where the women were to be buried. This must have come with considerable time and expense. And of course he was prominently written about in the newspapers and on television and if memory serves me correctly the prosecutor sued to have the KY3 tape seized as evidence in the event of a trial since it appeared there may have been incriminating statements he had made. And of course there are the two letters he wrote which are publically available which strongly indicate he could have been involved.

I would ask this question. If Cox was not truly investigated as a viable suspect until 1995 why not? Of all of the people considered only he had all of the attributes and ability to carry out this crime by himself. While Garrison certainly was on their radar and he was so prominently written about what is there in his past that would indicate he was capable of carrying out the crime?

Assuming that 1995 was the first time Cox was seriously considered, then one must extrapolate that he was not a target of the 1994 grand jury. We know that (so far as I know) the only thing that linked the three subjects was their association in the Kansas penal system and they knew one another. And as we know, no bill of indictments ensued from that grand jury process.

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If Cox is the number one suspect and sexual assault was deemed the motive, explain to me based on his past criminal history, why this crime fits him at all? Not much about this crime fits his tendencies.

Trooogrit said:

If Cox is the number one suspect and sexual assault was deemed the motive, explain to me based on his past criminal history, why this crime fits him at all? Not much about this crime fits his tendencies.

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I would ask this question. What rules him out as capable of pulling off this crime? We will never know how many successful crimes he might have completed which have never been connected to him.

My view is that if the SPD believed he was such a viable suspect that they devoted two officers and considerable expense in interviewing him they believed he was capable of being the perpetrator. And if the prosecutor wanted that tape seized by the court he also must have had reason to believe he was capable of committing the crime.

We also know that Cox worked the neighborhood and would have access to knowledge of the comings and goings of the Sherrill and Suzie. He may even have struck up a conversations with them as part of his "ruse" to gain their confidence. Which, if true, would have put him into the unique position to have gained access to the home that night if she already knew him. Of course, this is all speculation but it is not impossible. And of course we know with his elite Ranger training he would know how to subdue the women perhaps only by himself alone.

But the restate, the fact that both the SPD and prosecutor devoted that much time, money and effort toward him suggests they viewed him as more than just a "usual suspect" without an alibi. They took him quite seriously and if we can believe that KY3 (being the leading media outlet) also took him seriously there is probably good reason to believe he is a serious suspect.

Also, sexual assault is not about sex; it is about control of he victim. That certainly fits Cox's profile.

One reason I think Cox is blowing hot air is because of his letters in which he refers to a "steve". Garrison's identity was easy to figure out from media reports. He was even making statements in the newspaper about the 3mw when he was on trial for rape, I believe in 94. Thus making it easy for Cox to know about a "steve." However, Cox never mentioned the names of the other 2 of the 3GJ (which were never mentioned in any media reports). I believe he didn't use their names as well because he didn't know their identities. IMO, if he would have been able to figure out the identity of the other 2, he would have also mentioned their names in his letters to further toy with LE.

This seriously makes me wonder if Garrison wasn't so easily identifiable, would we have ever heard about a "Steve" in Cox's letters?

On another note, why is it that Cox never did this kind of teasing and toying with LE when it came to a crime that could easily be tied to him? IMO, Cox toyed with LE about the 3mw because he knew he couldn't be tied to the crime, simply because he wasn't there. Nor would he be toying with LE if he was a free man walking the streets. I believe he is just bored sitting in a jail cell.

I'm not completely ruling Cox out, but he is low on my suspect list.

Below, I am reposting a news-leader article which explains why Cox was brought back into the picture. (Just a refresher, as I had forgotten why Cox was looked at again)
"But then in 1995 Cox was arrested for holding a gun on a 12-year-old girl during a robbery in Texas. Springfield police interviewed him again about the missing women. Cox implied, teased, suggested, but never confessed. His ex-girlfriend eventually recanted – Cox had asked her to lie for him, she testified to a grand jury.
But Springfield police never gathered enough evidence for an indictment. Cox, as though reading from a bad horror movie script, continued to play with detectives from his jail cell in Texas. He hinted he knew the women were dead and that they're buried somewhere near Springfield."

I think that everyone has a point of view about Cox. My contention would be that the cost, time and manpower devoted to Cox by the SPD had to be substantial. I doubt they would have expended it without good reason. And it is well to realize that they were apprised of him in 1992 shortly after the abductions.

What I don't understand is why Moore went to the GJ on such flimsy evidence that no bill of indictment was handed down on "Moe", "Larry" and Curly." The only thing that I am aware of them is that "Moe" (AKA Steve) was well publicized. "Larry" and "Curly" only knew him from the Kansas penal system. And after checking out their activities in Springfield at the Greene County database I could find absolutely nothing to tie them to Springfield beyond what might have only been a casual relationship with "Moe" who now rots in prison. I had no interest in checking further in their family tree to see who they might have been related to. Obviously, judging from their backgrounds we are unlikely to find pillars of society related to them.

I would love for anyone to answer one question for me. What was the reason that all four agencies who looked at this case came up with the consensus that this was a crime of sexual assault. By any measure, such an assault if it were actually the case fits Cox to a "T." Am I wrong? And lest there be no doubt, Cox had no alibi; furthermore, to my knowledge, he refused to take a polygraph if there is any validity to them whatever. It wouldn't prove guilt but it might help to exonerate him by cooperating. And why has he self-segregated himself at Lovelady? Rotting away in an un air conditioned Texas maximum facility can't be a walk in the park when he could probably get a cushy cell in Missouri closer to his hometown and family if any survive. He could get this if he would give up the location of the remains. And if he is playing games why has he cut off further communication to those with an interest in the case? For that matter he could even "confess" to the crime to get out of Texas back into Missouri. It wouldn't bring, by itself, a conviction.

Missouri Mule said:

I think that everyone has a point of view about Cox. My contention would be that the cost, time and manpower devoted to Cox by the SPD had to be substantial. I doubt they would have expended it without good reason. And it is well to realize that they were apprised of him in 1992 shortly after the abductions.

What I don't understand is why Moore went to the GJ on such flimsy evidence that no bill of indictment was handed down on "Moe", "Larry" and Curly." The only thing that I am aware of them is that "Moe" (AKA Steve) was well publicized. "Larry" and "Curly" only knew him from the Kansas penal system. And after checking out their activities in Springfield at the Greene County database I could find absolutely nothing to tie them to Springfield beyond what might have only been a casual relationship with "Moe" who now rots in prison. I had no interest in checking further in their family tree to see who they might have been related to. Obviously, judging from their backgrounds we are unlikely to find pillars of society related to them.

I would love for anyone to answer one question for me. What was the reason that all four agencies who looked at this case came up with the consensus that this was a crime of sexual assault. By any measure, such an assault if it were actually the case fits Cox to a "T." Am I wrong? And lest there be no doubt, Cox had no alibi; furthermore, to my knowledge, he refused to take a polygraph if there is any validity to them whatever. It wouldn't prove guilt but it might help to exonerate him by cooperating. And why has he self-segregated himself at Lovelady? Rotting away in an un air conditioned Texas maximum facility can't be a walk in the park when he could probably get a cushy cell in Missouri closer to his hometown and family if any survive. He could get this if he would give up the location of the remains. And if he is playing games why has he cut off further communication to those with an interest in the case? For that matter he could even "confess" to the crime to get out of Texas back into Missouri. It wouldn't bring, by itself, a conviction.

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You're right. There's a good probability that if Cox confessed and gave up the location of the bodies, he would be offered a deal (which could include a prison with air conditioning and being closer to family). My guess as to why he hasn't done so is because he doesn't know the location of the bodies. I guess it can also be said that he still thinks there is a chance he will one day get out of jail. I forget when he will be eligible for parole, anyone know?