In reference to the original post,
In general I agree that going with one's initial observations and gut feeling is often the clearest path and best source of information. That's why I believe that any investigation or speculation at this point should focus on reports, notes, evidence, interviews, etc. collected/made within the first few hours/days after the supposed "kidnapping" and subsequent discovery of JB's body.
I give little credence to theories based on interviews, remembrances, behaviours, observations, etc. occurring months or years after the fact. By the time the bits and pieces of the case have been plastered all over various media outlets, intertwined with rumour and mere innuendo, guessing, emotions and prejudices which have nothing to do with the case at hand (none of which are grounded in clear, observable, verifiable fact), people are remembering what they have been coached/pressured/conditioned to remember, what they think they should remember, and only those things that their egos will allow them to remember because they have devoted so much time, energy, argument, and other resources to pursuing one theory that, for whatever reason, they simply are not willing to relinquish -- even at the cost of wrongly accusing someone or never solving the case.
That said, we cannot be sure LA's gut feelings were really that. She did not actually make notes on the case until 5 years after the fact, and even then such notes were transcribed from voice recordings by a friend. By that point any notes made were clouded, tainted, and/or influenced by her current feelings about the case, relationship with the R's, frustrations, prejudices etc., which is really too bad. Had she made her notes immediately, perhaps we would have a clearer picture with which to work/solve this case.
I am not saying that the way this case has been bungled rests on LAs shoulders alone, she is human and was dealing with a crime absolutely beyond the realm of humaneness and understanding.
Dealing with this crime around Christmas/New Years, within a department not equipped/experienced to deal with crimes of this nature, etc. all contributed to the break down in following best practice. Her supervisor should have stepped in and allowed her time off from the hands on part of the investigation in order to take care of the paperwork end, or, at the very least, hired out the transcription.
Anyone with experience in transcription, law enforcement, medical, social work practice, etc. knows that shorthand notes and voice recorded notes by their very nature/neccessity are often made in haste, with a few quick catch words and phrases meant to conjure feelings, pictures, and general lines of thoughts about a particular case.
Voice recorded notes are often made when there is so much information coming in that one cannot possibly encode and organize it into long term memory immediately, much less write down all that has happened. Thus short notes and catch phrases/words are made to return to the moment, remember the entire picture. If we dont transcribe/expand these shorthand/voice recorded notes within a certain amount of time, all the details of the broader picture, our initial lines of thought, etc. never make it into long term memory, and thus when we try many years afterwards to transcribe them, we simply are not getting the entire story -- those catch phrases and words hold no meaning any more, the ability of catch phrases and words to conjure the entire picture has dissolved -- so any gaps are filled in with current day thoughts, prejudices, emotions, etc.
okay, linda said when she was around jr near the x-mas tree, she had her finger on her gun or something like that, as if she had a sick feeling in her gut that it was he, jr who had killed jbr. (sorry, not verbatim)
