MOTIVE - IF Raven, then why?

More and more as the days tick by, with no arrest, people here are obviously getting frustrated…

1. Many assume the case is clear: Raven stabbed Janet to death. Period.

2. Others contend that there is just no way that Raven would ever hurt Janet, much less kill her.

3. And, the third contingent is simply undecided…not enough information to decide, etc.
Looking at the first scenario, I wanted to focus on the question of MOTIVE.

IF Raven in fact murdered Janet, then why?

Was this a premeditated murder? Had Raven carefully planned the events of April 26?

Or, did something trigger rage, and result in Janet’s murder that night?

POSSIBILITIES –

1. Finances. It seems clear by now that Raven and Janet were experiencing some really tough times, financially. Rent issues for certain. Other debt concerns? Day to day expenses? Legal expenses? Expenses, in general, versus income – Janet we know was working and earning income. We do NOT know for fact, what, if anything, Raven was doing, work-wise. Was there any other source of income?

Could there have been an argument that night over some financial issue that resulted in Janet’s murder?

Could there have been some argument about employment? IF Raven was not working, could a discussion about that have resulted in an argument or something that ended up with Janet being stabbed?

2. Embezzlement. This ties in on some level to finances, sure. We’ve been told that Janet had no knowledge of the embezzlement. But, was this whole issue one that still haunted their day to day lives? Were there arguments about it? Certainly until the issue was ever truly resolved, it must have hung over the household like some dark cloud. And with the ongoing embezzlement issues, there must have been at least some financial repercussions, i.e., legal expenses. And, beyond finances, the embezzlement is certainly another issue altogether – the fact the Janet must have now known that her husband was capable of criminal activity.

3. Infidelity. We have had all sorts of discussions here regarding Raven’s alleged infidelities. If they happened, when they happened, etc. Numerous people have confirmed that yes, there were infidelities, at least during the time Raven and Janet were not living together. Others have suggested the these infidelities continued, even after Raven and Janet reconciled. Were they still on-going in April 2005? Who knows. Was there evidence of any NEW infidelity on Raven’s part? Could Janet have found something, or heard something, that led to a confrontation that evening with Raven? Along those same lines, there was even discussion here about Raven’s sexuality. IF there is any truth to those rumors or speculation, could any of that played a part in the events of April 26th?

4. Temper. It’s been mentioned by several people who knew Raven personally, either now or in the past, that he was known for his temper. There is a report of an assault on a referee at a soccer game. Others have talked about his "short fuse" in general, with regards to temper. Raven himself wrote on one of his websites about his issues with his temper. All of that said, did his temper just get the best of him that night, for whatever reason? Did he just "snap", fly into a rage, about SOMETHING, and that rage was directed at Janet?

5. A new beginning. Be prepared folks, this one is cold and harsh. Raven wrote the day before Janet’s murder about being free… a new start… a new beginning. Raven, admittedly, has not had the smoothest of lives, some things his fault, some not. So, talking of a fresh start in life is perhaps natural and a good thing. But, is there a possibility that a fresh start and being "free" had anything to do with a fresh start, without Janet in the picture? I’m reminded of Mr. A pointing out early on that Raven’s writings on the website and the blog, were so egocentric. "I" this, and "me" that. Was Janet such an insignificant aspect of his life? Was he thinking of a life of just him and Kaiden, no Janet around? Sounds cold and calculating, for sure, but, just another thing to consider.

6. Marriage. This ties into many of the things mentioned above, most certainly. But, one has to wonder, with everything that had been going on in their lives, for many months, was the Abaroa’s marriage strong and solid? Is there any chance that Janet could have confronted Raven that evening and said something along the lines of, "I can’t do this anymore and I want us to take some time apart…." Again, speculation, for sure. But, say Janet did in fact say that to Raven that night, and, she also mentioned that not only did she want out or something, but that she also was going to take Kaiden with her - could that have resulted in rage, and ultimately murder?

All of these things are speculative, pure and simple. But, IF Raven did in fact murder Janet on April 26th, then there is SOME reason….one of these? Some variation of one of these? Or, something else????

SouthEastSleuth said:

IF Raven in fact murdered Janet, then why?

Or, did something trigger rage, and result in Janet’s murder that night?

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My opinion: Crime of Passion. Not Random, No media hype, LE not asking for help.

ewwwinteresting said:

My opinion: Crime of Passion. Not Random, No media hype, LE not asking for help.

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My problem with this being a crime of passion is the apparent lack of evidence. Maybe there is evidence that they're just waiting on but apparently it hasn't been enough to make a quick arrest in any case. I would think that if this was a true crime of passion, Raven would have made some blunder that would have resulted in his arrest by now. If you spontaneously kill your spouse in a fit of rage, wouldn't you panic afterwards, leaving some solid evidence behind?

I believe that IF Raven did this, it was planned on some level.

JerseyGirl said:

My problem with this being a crime of passion is the apparent lack of evidence. Maybe there is evidence that they're just waiting on but apparently it hasn't been enough to make a quick arrest in any case. I would think that if this was a true crime of passion, Raven would have made some blunder that would have resulted in his arrest by now. If you spontaneously kill your spouse in a fit of rage, wouldn't you panic afterwards, leaving some solid evidence behind?

I believe that IF Raven did this, it was planned on some level.

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Speculation:
Unless he killed her at 8:00 or 9:00 pm and had 2 to 3 hours to panic, start thinking about himself, then clean up before he called 911. I would think that IF Raven planned it, he would have at least planned it so that the PD thought it was random. There would be a whole lot more suspects on a random murder. I mean, as much as we have all investigated, talked about, been told, etc., we can't even think of one other person besides Raven that did this. We haven't been told, by friends and close acquaintances that don't want to believe or can't believe that Raven did this, any other realistic possibility. IF this was a planned murder, imo, I would think that the perp would at least have gotten himself off the POI or suspect list.

You may be right, however, my gut is just telling me that Raven was already boiling over with life and something happened that night and he snapped.

Your points are valid, EI, but at the same time, we've heard that someone that knew Raven said that he was more arrogant than he was smart or something like that. Raven might THINK that he's capable of pulling off the perfect murder, but there's no guarantee that he's smart enough to make it appear random. As for the list of suspects, we have no idea if they have one or not, if Raven's still on it, etc. All we really know is that nearly 2 months after his wife's murder, Raven is still a free man.

We've heard that Raven has a temper but I also see Raven as being very calculating. Which of those is the stronger tendency, I wonder? IMO, the calculating nature is the stronger of the two.

I think something else to consider, as far as motive goes, IF Raven is the murderer, is what would he have to gain, after killing Janet -

- He talks on his websites about starting over, being free. So, would this freedom include being single again, just him and Kaiden?

- Would Janet's death solve any of the financial difficulties? Was there a life insurance policy(ies)? Would he be free to sell off more assets to raise money?

- There's been much talk about the alleged affairs. With Janet out of the picture, Raven would certainly be "free" to pursue other relationships..

- Would Janet's death allow Raven to pursue some other lifestyle in some other place? He wrote once about hoping to return to Northern Virginia in the years to come. Was he ready to go now? Or, to move on to Utah?

- Harsh, but, did he want Kaiden all to himself?

I've thought often about the subtitle of Raven's blog entry:

"If I were a bird...Wait I am!"

A raven is a bird, sure, the obvious. But boy, the symbolism there is creepy.

The raven in legend is a bird of ill omens, death, darkness, and ill will. I was told early on (unconfirmed) that Raven kept a stuffed raven in his office at Eurosport. I think of that stuffed raven, symbolic of just a name, sure, but also foreboding of such hard times to come - embezzling, losing a job, financial disaster, and the ultimate darkness, Janet's murder.

We don't often choose our names, certainly... But it does make me think, personally, that if I'm writing, "if I were a bird, wait, I am," that my name was something more sublime, i.e., Dove, Cardinal, or Robin.... versus the bird of death and ill omens... the irony would haunt me, for sure.

I like your question, SES. What's gained? We've seen that there is probably no sizable financial gain from Janet's death (unless there was some life insurance that we don't know about). The credit cards would have come due, there would still be cars to pay on, etc. But I think about Mark Hacking and he didn't have much to gain either by killing his wife, but he did because he was so deep in his various deceptions that he didn't see a way out. I think that this might be closely related to why Raven would kill his wife--maybe he was tired of disappointing her (not living up to the mormon standards or really any moral standards) and deceiving her. Maybe he didn't want any attachments so he could go do whatever he wanted. It sure seems like he was a weekend warrior. Maybe Janet wanted him to be at home more. Maybe he felt too restricted and wanted to be free...like a bird. And this was his way to get his freedom back (but then I wonder about Kaiden--you can't be too free with a baby around).

These are just my ramblings though.

I think that there were many times that Raven probably thought about how his life might be better without Janet - whether in terms of finances, freedom ... I don't know if he ultimately acted on it or not but I still believe it crossed his mind.

By all accounts, Janet was a good and pious woman. She had strong morals and seems to have stood by them. I wonder if looking at her daily might have made Raven feel guilty, or feel like he should feel guilty or something. So the best way to avoid having to look at himself and his own behaviors was to eliminate his "moral mirror" or his "moral compass", if you will, by which he may have been forced to measure himself. Get rid of the daily reminder that perhaps Janet was a better person or a better Mormon or a better parent. Maybe Raven compared himself to her, and couldn't handle the fact that he couldn't be the good person that she was.

Here's a really deranged thought. Raven seemed to want to be the best at everything. He boasted about his VX, he boasted about his motorcycle. He seems to have a tendency to inflate everything about himself. Now this is where it gets deranged ...

We know how much it seems that he adored Kaiden. Could it be that he thought that there was no way that he could measure up to Janet in Kaiden's eyes? That he could never be the favorite or preferred parent as long as Janet was around? With the VX, if someone's was better, he could simply add new parts or get a new paint job. When someone's a better parent, it's not as simple of a fix. He'd have to actually change himself as a person. Was that something of which he was capable? Or was it easier to eliminate what he may have viewed as his competition for Kaiden's love?

I apologize if this thought offends anyone. I know it sounds completely bizarre but then again, so does murder. I don't know what causes someone to do something so drastic, and if it's something that Raven did, I'm just trying to imagine why.

SouthEastSleuth said:

"If I were a bird...Wait I am!"

A raven is a bird, sure, the obvious. But boy, the symbolism there is creepy.

The raven in legend is a bird of ill omens, death, darkness, and ill will. I was told early on (unconfirmed) that Raven kept a stuffed raven in his office at Eurosport. I think of that stuffed raven, symbolic of just a name, sure, but also foreboding of such hard times to come - embezzling, losing a job, financial disaster, and the ultimate darkness, Janet's murder.

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So, did Raven live up to his name? Did he bring omens, death and darkness to others? It appears he did to his wife, was she the only one? Maybe it's only those he is close to. Maybe he is the "dark" one in his family. His mother may have had nothing to do with the embezzlement, but he used her name and address, bringing her into the nightmare. IMO, this goes beyond selfish!

I've heard it said that you should name your children carefully because people often grow into their name and its meaning. Whether or not that's true, I don't know but it is an interesting concept. I think Raven really likes his name ... all the way down to having a stuffed raven in his office.

SouthEastSleuth said:

- There's been much talk about the alleged affairs. With Janet out of the picture, Raven would certainly be "free" to pursue other relationships..

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Contemplating the ideas of various possible motives......we have heard about the affairs but no real detail. What if Raven was really involved with someone? IMO, Raven was trying to live up to something he wasn't.......a good mormon, a good husband, a good employee, a good soccer player, etc. Maybe this person was telling him how wonderful he was and really feeding his enlarged ego. Having to hear from Janet what a lousy husband, lousy lover, lousy provider, and whatever other insults she could possibly throw at him, was too much for him to handle. If Janet was out of the picture, he wouldn't have to go through a messy divorce (which he indicated in his blog, his parents went through). It is quite possible that he did not want to relive this nightmare he had as a child and thought it would be just easier to eliminate Janet then to divorce her.

ewwwinteresting said:

Contemplating the ideas of various possible motives......we have heard about the affairs but no real detail. What if Raven was really involved with someone? IMO, Raven was trying to live up to something he wasn't.......a good mormon, a good husband, a good employee, a good soccer player, etc. Maybe this person was telling him how wonderful he was and really feeding his enlarged ego. Having to hear from Janet what a lousy husband, lousy lover, lousy provider, and whatever other insults she could possibly throw at him, was too much for him to handle. If Janet was out of the picture, he wouldn't have to go through a messy divorce (which he indicated in his blog, his parents went through). It is quite possible that he did not want to relive this nightmare he had as a child and thought it would be just easier to eliminate Janet then to divorce her.

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Raven seems to be very materialistic. From what I've read it seems as though Janet was more of a possession than a wife. What if she was going to leave him? Would that, on top of his embezzlement charges and his financial problems be enough to put him over the edge? Just an idea...

mad hatter said:

Raven seems to be very materialistic. From what I've read it seems as though Janet was more of a possession than a wife. What if she was going to leave him? Would that, on top of his embezzlement charges and his financial problems be enough to put him over the edge? Just an idea...

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Now that is well put. Raven seemed to have a hard time selling/losing his possessions....it would seem that Janet was like a possession to him and he wasn't going to let her leave him.

If Raven is the perp, I tend to believe that it was motivated more by not wanting to be with Janet anymore than by not wanting to lose her. I'm not even exactly sure why I feel that way.

ewwwinteresting said:

Now that is well put. Raven seemed to have a hard time selling/losing his possessions....it would seem that Janet was like a possession to him and he wasn't going to let her leave him.

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Exactly! She was the trophy wife. How would it have looked if she was going to leave him. It's been posted that they were going through a seperation before but reconciled once they learned they were expecting a child. What if "something" happened and this time she was going to leave him for good?

I would really like to see the autopsy report and not so much for TOD because with a short amount of time we are talking about, I think it is irrelevant.

What I would like to know is: Did Janet have a STD? Was Janet pregnant? I'm trying to figure out WHAT would be the straw that broke the Raven's back. If Janet found out Raven was still cheating on her and gave her a STD, she would be packing her bags. He would not like that. What if Janet found out she was pregnant again and told Raven and he flipped out (on meds or not) because he didn't want another child (remember the rumors of how he acted when she found out she was pregnant the other two times)? The autopsy report would show this. If she didn't have a STD and was not pregnant, then I will go back to figuring out other motives. Can anybody send me a copy of the autopsy report please?

You're on to something there, EI. If Raven did it, what WAS the final straw? Janet left before without incident. They were separated for a few months. She was well aware of the financial trouble and the embezzelment charges. So we're back to guessing Janet's state of mind the day of the murder. Had she confided in a co-worker that led them to be worried for her? Had she spoken to a family member that day?

So many questions...:banghead:

juliagoulia said:

You're on to something there, EI. If Raven did it, what WAS the final straw? Janet left before without incident. They were separated for a few months. She was well aware of the financial trouble and the embezzelment charges. So we're back to guessing Janet's state of mind the day of the murder. Had she confided in a co-worker that led them to be worried for her? Had she spoken to a family member that day?

So many questions...:banghead:

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We know Janet had close friends from ES but not sure how often she still talked to them. Did she have any friends at her new job? Hey, there is some people the media could talk to. The people that saw her that day. Did she tell them anything? Did she confide that she was leaving Raven? or that she was pregnant? Did she tell the babysitter that they were no longer needed since she was taking Kaiden and leaving town? Did the co-workers notice she was sick at times...possibly morning sickness? Hmmm.....is that enough questions to ask in one post?

ewwwinteresting said:

I would really like to see the autopsy report and not so much for TOD because with a short amount of time we are talking about, I think it is irrelevant.

What I would like to know is: Did Janet have a STD? Was Janet pregnant? I'm trying to figure out WHAT would be the straw that broke the Raven's back. If Janet found out Raven was still cheating on her and gave her a STD, she would be packing her bags. He would not like that. What if Janet found out she was pregnant again and told Raven and he flipped out (on meds or not) because he didn't want another child (remember the rumors of how he acted when she found out she was pregnant the other two times)? The autopsy report would show this. If she didn't have a STD and was not pregnant, then I will go back to figuring out other motives. Can anybody send me a copy of the autopsy report please?

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(remember the rumors of how he acted when she found out she was pregnant the other two times)?

............wow..........i don't recall those rumours....

...but i do think that something happened THAT night , and it could have been something as simple as...

.....raven ( again ) did NOT pick up kaiden from the sitter........janet had to...

...raven ( again ) says he's not going to give kaiden his bath...........he has a soccer game he wants to get into...

...raven got mail that day re: the embezzlement court date, and (again )refuses to talk about/acknowledge it...

...janet was all-star soccer, outstanding academically, a person people looked to as a leader.....she had some back bone...

...who knows what went on in that house that night, but i think JANET was the one who was fed up, and told raven to pack his bags...
...and it all came crashing down on raven......
... janet is after all paying the bills....................he's going to lose janet...kaiden...credibility, self-esteem, a place to live...(omg! the VX???)