Janet's body to be exhumed

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7477259

DURHAM (WTVD) -- The Durham Police Department has requested the family's permission and consent to exhume Janet Abaroa's body from her final resting place in Pennsylvania - permission and consent were granted.

Investigators want to gather more evidence before the trial of Janet's husband Raven on first-degree murder charges.

Authorities extradited Abaroa from Idaho on February 26. Janet was found stabbed to death in the couple's Durham home in 2005. She was pregnant at the time of her death.

Video:

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/video?id=7477623

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7718536/

Durham, N.C. — The family of a Durham woman killed inside her home five years ago have given authorities consent to exhume her body.


In a statement Thursday, Janet Christiansen Abaroa's family said the Durham Police Department and the district attorney's office recently made the request to remove her remains from her Pennsylvania grave.


"While this is heartbreaking and emotionally difficult for the family, it is yet one more example of this family's commitment to pursuing justice for Janet," the statement read.


Janet Abaroa was 25 and pregnant with her second child when, police say, her husband, Raven Abaroa, stabbed her to death in an upstairs bedroom at their Durham home on April 26, 2005.


Police arrested him Feb. 1 in southern Idaho on a first-degree murder charge.

What in the world are they expecting to find by re-examining Janet's remains 5 years later?
This autopsy appears to be very thorough, with all wounds detailed and every organ dissected and examined. In addition a sexual assault kit was preformed and a blood sample collected. There are detailed photos of all wounds and abrasions. I can understand if it were not ruled a homicide after the 1st examination. This exhumation seems like an odd thing to do. Any ideas what they hope to find that was apparently missed the 1st time?

http://www.ncwanted.com/asset/unsolved/2007/11/27/2093072/Janet_Abaroa_Autopsy_Report.swf

If it's just another t crossed or i dotted, it's worth it. This needs to be an iron clad case because Raven should never be out on the street. I think whatever they are re-examination is just going to tighten and clean-up the case against Raven.

terminatrixator said:

If it's just another t crossed or i dotted, it's worth it. This needs to be an iron clad case because Raven should never be out on the street. I think whatever they are re-examination is just going to tighten and clean-up the case against Raven.

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I agree with i's dotted and t's crossed, but you don't just exhume a corpse unless there is a very compelling reason. Again, what could they possibly be looking to find that was not covered the first time????

Amos Tyndall got served the papers, so wouldn't those papers be public? He'll probably be coming forward and speaking publicly in the near future.

2:30 today is a hearing on the case.

terminatrixator said:

Amos Tyndall got served the papers, so wouldn't those papers be public? He'll probably be coming forward and speaking publicly in the near future.

2:30 today is a hearing on the case.

Click to expand...

Since the family was not even told the reason, I doubt his attorney will get any info at this time. It is still part of the 'ongoing investigation', so Tyndall won't get anything until the final autopsy results are complete and published.

"Christiansen family spokesman Tim Dowd said the family does not know why investigators want to exhume the body or when it will happen.

"The exhumation is part of the investigative process in this case, and the police department has no further comment," spokeswoman Kammie Michael said."

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7718536/

terminatrixator said:

2:30 today is a hearing on the case.

Click to expand...

Routine status hearing before the judge that was set 90 days from his arraignment. The defense can complain to the judge if they have not received all discovery, ect. If it looks like everything is proceeding on time, the judge will set a trial date at one of these status hearings ....there are 3, 90 days apart.

Because of the still 'active' investigation, we may see a trial date set for another 3 months. But then again, Raven can request a 'speedy trial' and the Judge can set a trial date now.

I got a note from someone that there was a lot of reporters at the hearing today and that Amos Tyndall did speak with reporters. I haven't seen anything on it online.

Also, I read something on WRAL.com that was quite interesting

http://www.wral.com/golo/page/1896337/?id=7718536

Rarely do I ever know any of the people covered in a news story, but I met this family at a local tech school one night within weeks before the murder. Raven seemed like a friendly guy and they seemed to be very happy and excited about their future -- him with a new career and them with a new baby with another on the way. I was devastated when I learned about this, thinking, "No wait -- I just met them the other day!" And they were really nice; this was just so difficult to believe.

Snipped...

I really hope this person has reached out to Law Enforcement or even Janet's family for that matter through tearsforjanet.com

This person made a comment about meeting Raven & Janet and commenting about about another baby on the way, one more thing that points to the fact that Raven knew Janet was pregnant and therefore decided to take two lives and not one, in my opinion!

http://m.heraldsun.com/heraldsun/db_39935/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=WRrNs7fc&detailindex=0&pn=1&ps=5&full=true#display


By John McCann

jmccann@heraldsun.com; 419-6601

DURHAM - The man charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife is troubled by the idea of local authorities wanting her body dug up, but he won't stand in the way of their work, according to the defendant's lawyer.

Janet Abaroa's remains were interred in Pennsylvania, according to Tim Dowd, a representative of her family. The Durham County District Attorney's Office and the Durham Police Department requested access to the victim's body, he said. The family gave authorities permission to have the body exhumed, Dowd said.

Raven Abaroa is charged with killing Janet Abaroa in 2005. He is being held in the Durham County Detention Facility.

"We are not going to object to the state exhuming the body," said the defendant's lawyer, Amos Tyndall. "As her husband, however, the idea of his wife's body being disturbed saddens Raven."

Durham Police Department spokeswoman Kammie Michael said the exhumation is part of the investigative process in this case.

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IMO Raven should have thought of this before he decided that divorce was not an option for him and he took Janet and his unborn babies life.

Right after the embezzlement and Janet's murder you think he would have done everything in his power to lead an exemplary life, he did not. Raven is a sociopath, he will always be a sociopath. Obviously Amos Tyndall is a good attorney, but you can only put so much spin on things and had Raven not been arrested, perhaps his girlfriend Melissa or another girl would have been next.

Just the Fax said:

I agree with i's dotted and t's crossed, but you don't just exhume a corpse unless there is a very compelling reason. Again, what could they possibly be looking to find that was not covered the first time????

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I agree, JTF. I'm surprised to hear this. Very perplexing, indeed. I look forward to learning what they were searching for...

Husband balks at exhuming slain Durham woman's remains


http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7890347/

Durham, N.C. — A man accused of stabbing his wife to death inside their Durham home five years ago has objected to an attempt by police and prosecutors to exhume her body.

Attorney Amos Tyndall previously said Raven Abaroa had no objections to removing Janet Christiansen Abaroa's remains from her Pennsylvania grave. Janet Abaroa's family issued a statement Thursday, however, saying that they learned Wednesday that Raven Abaroa had refused to sign a court order allowing the exhumation.

Janet Abaroa, 25, was pregnant with her second child when she was stabbed her to death in an upstairs bedroom at the couple's Durham home on April 26, 2005.

Raven Abaroa, 35, has said he had nothing to do with his first wife's death. He told police he was at a soccer game when she was killed, and he found her when he returned home later that night.

Police arrested him Feb. 1 in southern Idaho on a first-degree murder charge. He had moved to Utah and Idaho with the couple's son, Kaiden, after the stabbing and later remarried.

Tyndall couldn't be reached Thursday for comment about the exhumation.
Janet Abaroa's family said they were "prepared to do whatever is required," including going through a court hearing about exhuming her remains.
"The family is united in their effort to pursue justice in this case and has had an extremely tough time with the very real stress surrounding the whole exhumation process, but they understand the importance of this initiative as part of an active, ongoing murder investigation," the family said in the statement.

"The fact that Mr. Abaroa has elected not to cooperate, despite his initial indication that he would, saddens the family but comes as no surprise, as he has never been engaged in helping authorities solve the brutal stabbing murder of his pregnant wife," the statement continued. "His actions are certainly not appreciated by the Christiansen family and will only serve to strengthen their resolve to push forward."

Raven Abaroa remains in the Durham County jail under a $5 million bond.

So despite being "publicly" ok with exhuming Janet's body, Raven has now refused to sign the court order.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7890347/

I love this part of the family's statement, though:
"The fact that Mr. Abaroa has elected not to cooperate, despite his initial indication that he would, saddens the family but comes as no surprise, as he has never been engaged in helping authorities solve the brutal stabbing murder of his pregnant wife," the statement continued. "His actions are certainly not appreciated by the Christiansen family and will only serve to strengthen their resolve to push forward."

Ha! Take that, Bird!

Guera, we must have both got the Google News at the same time!

I cannot believe that they would try to stop it. What makes me so angry is that this family has to deal with this exhumation process and dealing with knowing it's going to happen and having it halted and the process postponed has to be rough on them.

In the research I have done, it looks as though Amos Tyndall is a respectable and ethical attorney. I do know there are defense attorneys that can have those qualities and give a rigorous defense for their client.

I hope that these actions are not so he can stall more and then jump in with the "speedy trial" and then throw a bunch of red herrings in there and a bunch of stupid publicity stunts. This would be a travesty to the justice system and not fair to Janet her unborn child and her family.

Raven deserves all the Karma he has coming his way.

My prayers are with Janet's family & friends and I hope that this issue can be resolved soon for the family's sake.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7532436

Story at link:

Snipped:

"Now that Raven has refused to sign an order of court consent for the exhumation, the Christiansen family said in a statement Thursday that the process will now likely take months instead of weeks. It says it will appear in court in Pennsylvania to ask a judge to move forward with the investigation."

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I cannot imagine knowing for a month that your daughter, sister was going to be exhumed to have it stalled and now have to go through a court system to get it done and think about this process for months.

How sad for the family.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/07/08/571149/abaroas-attorney-attempting-to.html



Published Thu, Jul 08, 2010 12:21 PM
Modified Thu, Jul 08, 2010 12:23 PM

Abaroa's attorney attempting to halt exhumation

DURHAM Raven Abaroa's attorney will be in Chambersburg, Pa., Friday trying to stop the exhumation of Janet Christiansen Abaroa's body.
Raven Abaroa is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of his pregnant wife in 2005.

Five years later, this February, police in Idaho arrested Abaroa, 30, at his home in Montpelier. Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez Sr. has said Abaroa's arrest came because investigators continued to follow leads with help from the FBI and State Bureau of Investigation.

Last month, the Christiansen family consented to let the Durham Police and district attorney's office exhume Janet Abaroa's body seeking evidence.
"While this is heartbreaking and emotionally difficult for the family, it is yet one more example of this family's commitment to pursuing justice for Janet," the family said in a statement.

Lauren Sulcove, an assistant district attorney in Franklin County, Pa., has petitioned the court there to approve digging up Abaroa's body on behalf of Durham authorities.

"Raven Abaroa is opposing it," Sulcove said.

Abaroa's attorney Amos Tyndall of Chapel Hill hasn't filed any motion yet, Sulcove said, but he has told her he'll appear in court Friday at 1:30 p.m.

In the hours before her death on April 26, 2005, Janet Abaroa picked up her child at day care and went with her husband to drop her car off for repairs. The Abaroas met with a church member at their home that evening before Raven Abaroa left about 8:30 to play in an indoor soccer game in Morrisville.

Raven Abaroa told officers he found his wife when he returned about 11 p.m.

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jesse.deconto@newsobserver.com or 919-932-8760
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This should be interesting, court in PA. Good luck to the Christiansen Family, it's an ongoing investigation and there is no reason this should be held-up any further.

I would think Raven, his family & friends would want to make sure that Justice is served in this case and that all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed.

http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=248741&format=html

Prosecutors in murder case seek exhumation of body

Remains of Janet Christiansen Abaroa requested for tests

By JENNIFER FITCH
July 8, 2010
waynesboro@herald-mail.com
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — Prosecutors in a North Carolina murder case are asking Franklin County (Pa.) Judge Douglas Herman to sign an order to exhume the remains of a woman buried in Brown’s Mill Cemetery.
Court documents state the Durham County (N.C.) District Attorney’s Office is requesting the remains of Janet Christiansen Abaroa for four tests. It wants fingerprints, casts of her hands and marks made on her skeleton by the weapon, as well as an answer to whether there are contact lenses in her eyes.


Abaroa’s lifeless body was found in her Durham home on April 26, 2005, court documents state.

Police obtained an arrest warrant for her husband, Raven Abaroa, and charged him with murder earlier this year. After having previously been indicted by a grand jury, Raven Abaroa was arrested Feb. 1 on the warrant, according to court documents and published reports.
Janet Christiansen Abaroa’s family is expected to attend a hearing before Herman at 1:30 p.m. today. A family spokesman said the woman’s father was subpoenaed, and others want to attend in a show of support for further testing and prosecution of the person charged in her death.
It was “extremely distressing” for the next-of-kin to decide to proceed with exhumation, family spokesman Tim Dowd said.

“The family recognizes this is an ongoing investigation, and the family wants to see justice,” he said.

Court documents state that, through his attorney, Raven Abaroa initially consented to the exhumation and later disagreed with it. They also state the victim’s 5-year-old son is too young to be asked for his consent as next-of-kin, but her parents and siblings all signed forms.

“Mr. Abaroa objects to the commonwealth’s petition to exhume Mrs. Abaroa’s body ... to conduct experiments that have no scientific validity, will be performed without a specific or established protocol, and are designed to support conclusions the analysts have already reached about the case,” defense attorney Amos Tyndall wrote in a statement obtained by The Herald-Mail.

Dowd said the victim’s parents and other family members chose to bury her on their family plot at Brown’s Mill Cemetery in Antrim Township, Pa.
According to court documents, the Durham County 911 Center received a call at 10:58 p.m. on the night Abaroa’s body was discovered. The caller, Raven Abaroa, said he returned home and found his wife dead from what he described as a gunshot wound.
The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner concluded the cause of death was two stab wounds to the front torso, court documents state.
“At the time of Janet Christiansen Abaroa’s autopsy, no prints were taken from her fingers; therefore, her prints cannot currently be compared to the prints found at the scene of the crime,” court documents state.

“Additionally, an apparent bloody impression of a human hand was found on the clothing that Raven Abaroa allegedly wore during the incident.”
Tyndall said Raven Abaroa performed CPR on his wife as instructed by a 911 operator. He said investigating officers did not initially request fingerprints or measurements of Janet Christiansen Abaroa’s hands, or a cast for tool mark comparison.

Tyndall also claimed latent fingerprint examiners excluded the Abaroas as the sources of some of the prints.

Raven Abaroa, who is being held in the Durham County Detention Facility without bail, told police his wife had gone to sleep as he left the home for a soccer match. Court documents state family members told police that the victim always removed her contact lenses before going to sleep.
In another interview, Raven Abaroa allegedly told police several items were missing from the home, including a collection of throwing knives, court documents state. He later told investigators he found one of those knives after packing his things and moving to Utah.

His attorney shipped the knife to the Durham Police Department in May 2007, court documents state.

Included for Herman’s review is a drafted court order asking for exhumation to occur over a 48-hour period potentially starting July 19. Franklin County Coroner Jeffrey R. Conner would have custody of the remains, which would be taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pa., for tests.

Following completion of tests, the woman’s remains would be reinterred in Brown’s Mill Cemetery unless the Durham Police Department wants to retain some for analysis.

Raven did not perform cpr, she was dead, she was blue, we heard the 911 call. Every single second of it. He NEVER tried to perform CPR. She asked him if he felt could do it - he said no she's dead she's nothing.

http://www.ncwanted.com/unsolved/audio/2034527/

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Another strange comment:

"Raven Abaroa allegedly told police several items were missing from the home, including a collection of throwing knives, court documents state. He later told investigators he found one of those knives after packing his things and moving to Utah."

The police took everything including the kitchen knives, so he so-happened to find a knife several years later? This is ridiculous, he's ridiculous, he could have bought a knife and mailed it to cops, it could be the knife cleaned up, it could be just one of the knives "supposedly taken" that he decided to send ONE....(not the murder weapon) - the possibilities are ENDLESS.

Raven Abaroa is full of it.

Another quote

"Mr. Abaroa objects to the commonwealth’s petition to exhume Mrs. Abaroa’s body ... to conduct experiments that have no scientific validity, will be performed without a specific or established protocol, and are designed to support conclusions the analysts have already reached about the case,” defense attorney Amos Tyndall wrote in a statement obtained by The Herald-Mail."

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Well I think the testing is something that Raven, his family & friends and you should have no issues with. I mean seriously, there was enough to indict Raven Abaroa on, if these tests were not conducted now, then you would have something on appeal later.

Every i must be dotted and every t must be crossed, so there are no issues on appeal.

Nobody wants an innocent man to pay for a crime he didn't commit and nobody wants a murderer to go free.

It's about the truth, Raven, his family, friends and attorney should not have a problem with that....but Raven was never good at telling the truth.

terminatrixator said:

Raven did not perform cpr, she was dead, she was blue, we heard the 911 call. Every single second of it. He NEVER tried to perform CPR. She asked him if he felt could do it - he said no she's dead she's nothing.

http://www.ncwanted.com/unsolved/audio/2034527/

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Another strange comment:

"Raven Abaroa allegedly told police several items were missing from the home, including a collection of throwing knives, court documents state. He later told investigators he found one of those knives after packing his things and moving to Utah."

The police took everything including the kitchen knives, so he so-happened to find a knife several years later? This is ridiculous, he's ridiculous, he could have bought a knife and mailed it to cops, it could be the knife cleaned up, it could be just one of the knives "supposedly taken" that he decided to send ONE....(not the murder weapon) - the possibilities are ENDLESS.

Raven Abaroa is full of it.

Click to expand...

Sounds like Michael Peterson's "blow-poke' that was conveniently found at the 11th hour. Surly the cops don't think he sent them the actual knife he used to kill Janet:waitasec: