NE - Omaha Double Murder #3

[waltzingmatilda]

BRAVO Lt Kanger and OPD for taking this case national!!!!

That video of Tom departing the school bus breaks my heart. He was just a young boy!!! Thank you, Ozzie for posting it. And thanks to Snick and all for keeping this thread alive!

Am hoping and praying for a break. My thoughts and prayers always to the familes' of the victims....

wm

[Snick1946]

Originally Posted by Ozzie

http://www.ketv.com/news/local-news/....html#comments

I wonder if Thomas's screen names have a secret meaning? I really hope AMW will help bring the killer to justice. And I wonder why OPD did not focus in on this lead when this crime first happened? And thank you Snick for keeping this thread alive,

Ozzie, thank you- I'd missed this story and am sitting here reeling at some of the things revealed in it. I don't like to think of what sort of inappropriate discussions Tom was involved in- he may perhaps have been posing as someone older and was enjoying teasing men looking for hookups. OMG. It should make all of us with kids double check where they go. Haunting video..

[fran]

Wow! Talk about bombshell of new evidence!

This opens whole new avenues.

fran

[Snick1946]

The segment of the story about the license plate was interesting, looks as if they think it was a Florida plate. Wonder if they have a suspect in mind?

My son- who knows much more about this stuff than I ever will- tells me that it is relatively easy to find out where someone lives or at least where they chat from by getting their web address.

I also noted that the detective interviewed mentioned that the suit the assumed perp was wearing was 'loose fitting'. A disguise maybe?

[waltzingmatilda]

Originally Posted by Ozzie

http://www.ketv.com/news/local-news/....html#comments

I wonder if Thomas's screen names have a secret meaning? I really hope AMW will help bring the killer to justice. And I wonder why OPD did not focus in on this lead when this crime first happened? And thank you Snick for keeping this thread alive,

I dunno if this means anything but motzim spelled backwards = miztom.

Technology changes so rapidly nowadays, OPD may not have realized in 2008 that these gaming systems allow real time communications with peeps from all over the US/world. I didn't know until 2010 when I saw my SIL playing and my daughter voiced her concerns about him talking with strangers thru the system. JMO and speculation on my part tho.

wm

[Etilema]

There is a Hebrew word "motzim" that can mean "finding" and can also have the meaning of "judges". Is there any reason to think TH would have been familiar with Hebrew? For instance, was he Jewish?

[waltzingmatilda]

Hi there Etilema! Thanks for the Hebrew meaning of 'motzim'.

IIRC, snick posted Tom's and Shirlee's obits somewhere in one of these threads. Maybe we can locate it to see where his services were held. Tom was a bright boy so it wouldn't surprise me if he knew other languages. I just assumed the family is Catholic since Creighton is a Jesuit college but you know what happens when one assumes.

moo

wm

[Ozzie]

I was thinking the exact same thing. Those look like Florida plates if the witness description of them are to be true and accurate. And the ill fitting suit? Seems odd. To me that doesn't say 'professional'. It says maybe this person wanted to blend in with the neighborhood and thought by wearing a suit would work. I'm just throwing this out there but could OPD still track down the IP address of whomever was chatting with thomas through the xbox live or through the computer?

[KAE]

Originally Posted by Ozzie

http://www.ketv.com/news/local-news/....html#comments

I wonder if Thomas's screen names have a secret meaning? I really hope AMW will help bring the killer to justice. And I wonder why OPD did not focus in on this lead when this crime first happened? And thank you Snick for keeping this thread alive,

Wow. I took a break from WS for a while and then I lost my password. Glad I took the effort to try and find it again!
The bus video has me a bit baffled, didn't Thomas wear glasses?
I'm sure hope the person Tom was sitting with has been checked out by LE. Is this one his fellow students? What were they talking about during the ride home?
It almost looks as if Tom is covering his face or wiping his mouth with his jacket as he leaves. Anyone else see this or am I reading way too much into all this?

Thanks everyone, esp. Snick, for keeping this thread going!
Hoping all this new info will lead to a suspect.

[Snick1946]

Originally Posted by KAE

Wow. I took a break from WS for a while and then I lost my password. Glad I took the effort to try and find it again!
The bus video has me a bit baffled, didn't Thomas wear glasses?
I'm sure hope the person Tom was sitting with has been checked out by LE. Is this one his fellow students? What were they talking about during the ride home?
It almost looks as if Tom is covering his face or wiping his mouth with his jacket as he leaves. Anyone else see this or am I reading way too much into all this?

Thanks everyone, esp. Snick, for keeping this thread going!
Hoping all this new info will lead to a suspect.

No you're not. Something bothered me about that video too but I couldn't place it until now. I remember that day well- it was unseasonably warm in Omaha. Why was Tom wrapped in a blanket? Was he concealing something?
Where were his glasses? He did not look to me like a kid that just got out of school- almost as if he had something worrying him? Was he getting threats from someone and maybe was trying to hide his face while walking up to the house?

About the idea that his screen name backwards is 'miztom', could he have been exploring transgender issues? Or more likely could he have been just interested in the subject and posing as transgender in chat rooms?

[tapu]

Kupcake/Kupkake, urban dict's 2nd meaning:
The word given to a boy who resembles the cute aspect of an actual cupcake.


I remember hearing this decades ago as slang used by gay men for underage boys.

[tapu]

When Tom was leaving the bus, it appeared to me that he may have been concealing the lower half of his face with the jacket he had. And that would fit with removing his glasses, too.

Maybe someone on the chat sites had intimated that he'd be there for Tom that day and Tom was worried he'd be waiting at the bus stop.

[Snick1946]

Originally Posted by tapu

When Tom was leaving the bus, it appeared to me that he may have been concealing the lower half of his face with the jacket he had. And that would fit with removing his glasses, too.

Maybe someone on the chat sites had intimated that he'd be there for Tom that day and Tom was worried he'd be waiting at the bus stop.

Repeating myself, but the expression on his face was not good. He looked scared. Every pic I ever saw of him he was wearing glasses. Why on that day of all days was he not?? The news article said something about him having an online interaction the night before. I wonder if threats were made?

[KAE]

Originally Posted by Snick1946

No you're not. Something bothered me about that video too but I couldn't place it until now. I remember that day well- it was unseasonably warm in Omaha. Why was Tom wrapped in a blanket? Was he concealing something?
Where were his glasses? He did not look to me like a kid that just got out of school- almost as if he had something worrying him? Was he getting threats from someone and maybe was trying to hide his face while walking up to the house?

About the idea that his screen name backwards is 'miztom', could he have been exploring transgender issues? Or more likely could he have been just interested in the subject and posing as transgender in chat rooms?

Originally Posted by tapu

When Tom was leaving the bus, it appeared to me that he may have been concealing the lower half of his face with the jacket he had. And that would fit with removing his glasses, too.

Maybe someone on the chat sites had intimated that he'd be there for Tom that day and Tom was worried he'd be waiting at the bus stop.

Thanks, That was one of my thoughts as well! I have found photos of Tom not wearing glasses on the family's website, so the fact that he wasn't wearing them may not mean anything.

My other thought was that he may have been wiping his mouth off with the jacket.
I'm sure LE has checked out the person he was riding with... right?

I also thought Tom got home from school at around 3:00pm. The video has a timestamp of 1:10:30p near the end. If that time is correct, how does it change the timeline - if at all?

[Snick1946]

Found this online:

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/ente...g_kupkake.html

Note the date, May 2008. I sort of doubt any relationship between Tom and an old white dude in Baltimore, besides he didnt have the extra 'k' on his screen name. It does show you that this may be a screen name meant to send a mesage to others who come across your posts- as in, "I'm available"?

[waltzingmatilda]

I've re-watched the video several times. The person sitting next to Tom appears to be a young girl, she has a ponytail. Tom raises up from collecting his bookbag/sweater? from the floor, and just as he exits the bus, he covers his face with the sweater.

I think he was afraid of being recognized just from watching his body language. Why would he pull a sweater across his face on a warm day?

My NON expert opinion, of course.

wm

[Snick1946]

Originally Posted by waltzingmatilda

I've re-watched the video several times. The person sitting next to Tom appears to be a young girl, she has a ponytail. Tom raises up from collecting his bookbag/sweater? from the floor, and just as he exits the bus, he covers his face with the sweater.

I think he was afraid of being recognized just from watching his body language. Why would he pull a sweater across his face on a warm day?

My NON expert opinion, of course.

wm

My feelings exactly and I am sure OPD has picked up on that. I think this kid spent his last few days in terror at something that blew up unexpectedly in his face- something he was either unable or unwilling to go to his parents with. If this analysis is correct perhaps the person he was afraid of was someone who'd only seen pics of him online.

This whole thing brings up the possibility that the perp may be someone outwardly respectable, perhaps with a wife and kids. He felt that Tom had something on him and wanted to be sure it would never come out. He could even have paid for a hired killer to do the job. One issue I have is, how did thisn guy get into the house? Did he tell Tom he'd be coming by, maybe to pick up something incriminating? I wonder if Tom knew Shirlee's cleaning schedule and asked him to come by when he knew there'd be someone else there? The possibilities abound..

[raindownonme]

This may be a dumb observation, but the "K" is the 11th letter of the alphabet, and Thomas was 11 years old. So "kupkakek" could somehow indicate his age.

[Snick1946]

Originally Posted by raindownonme

This may be a dumb observation, but the "K" is the 11th letter of the alphabet, and Thomas was 11 years old. So "kupkakek" could somehow indicate his age.

Welcome and no, there are no dumb observations. In fact I think that was pretty insightful. We're happy to have you and hope you can participate often.

[waltzingmatilda]

Originally Posted by raindownonme

This may be a dumb observation, but the "K" is the 11th letter of the alphabet, and Thomas was 11 years old. So "kupkakek" could somehow indicate his age.

Great critical thinking there raindownonme!

And welcome to WS!



wm

[brudsaunt]

I think of an eleven year old boy giggling with his friends as he spent time in chat rooms. I'm sure his friends have been questioned about that. Unless Tom had early homosexual tendencies, what could have happened in a chat room that would have prompted murder?

He has too much bounce in his step and purposeful forward movement as he leaves the bus to be anticipating anything frightening. MOO.

[raindownonme]

It makes me sick and sad to think that these murders could be tied to the boy's online activity. Perhaps the parents knew about some of the questionable activity, and due to the sensitive nature (homosexual? pedophilic?), they prevented the release of some information in the past? I am looking forward to the America's Most Wanted episode. I really hope it could help the family with closure & bring a murderer to justice.

[Snick1946]

Most of you are aware by now- but in case someone missed it, AMW will air a presentation about this case tonight on Lifetime channel, it is scheduled for 8PM CDT, you may want to check your local listing for the air time in your area. It's too bad it will be up against the Olympics but most of us are so glad it finally will be on there that this is of little concern.

I plan to watch with my family and will then post my feedback. Let's all hope this helpsm OPD tie things up and leaqds to an arrest.

[omaha]

Originally Posted by Snick1946

Most of you are aware by now- but in case someone missed it, AMW will air a presentation about this case this evinging on Lifetime channel, it is scheduled for 8PM CDT, you may want to check your local listing for the air time in your area. It's too bad it will be up against the Olympics but most of us are so glad it finally will be on there that this is of little concern.

I plan to watch with my family and will then post my feedback. Let's all hope this helpsm OPD tie things up and leaqds to an arrest.

I believe it's channel 33 for us in the area on Cox.

[Snick1946]

Originally Posted by omaha

I believe it's channel 33 for us in the area on Cox.

I think in Omaha it's channel 28, in Bellevue it may be 33.