GUILTY NC - Spc. Megan Touma, 23, pregnant, murdered, Fayetteville, 13 June 2008

New Posts

Very good timeline at the below link. Notice the remark about the "do not disturb" sign on June 17th, the date on the letter. IMO, Megan could not show up at formation on the 16th because she was either being held captive or was already dead. If it's the latter, did the killer hang around for a day in her hotel room? Most hotels have a key card that records everytime the door is opened don't they?

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=297850

Touma left Germany June 11 and took a commercial flight back to the United States, according to Funaro.
The soldier signed into Fort Bragg at 2 a.m. June 12 and was given a barracks key. She reported for formation with the 19th Replacement Company at 6:15 a.m.
Sometime later that day, she returned the barracks key and indicated she would find lodging off post at her expense, which she was allowed to do.
Touma reported for another company formation at 3 p.m. That was the last Army officials said they saw of her.
June 13, a Friday, was an Army holiday. She had the weekend off and then failed to report for a morning formation the following Monday, June 16.
Court records indicate employees at the Fairfield Inn, where her body was found Saturday, recalled that there had been a “do not disturb” sign on the room door since June 17.
That was a day after her absence might have been noticed at Fort Bragg.

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=297850
 
ITA, SJana. I wish someone could get a peek at the motel's cleaning records but maybe they are easy to falsify. So what did she do from June 12 to the 16th? She would have been seen on some camera somewhere...parking lot, lobby, etc. She HAD to eat. It truly does make more sense that she was killed soon after check-in...but the motel sure doesn't want to appear negligent.
 
I don't think hotel employees remember who has a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door or when it was put there. Why would they remember Megan's sign and the specific date?
I am leaning towards death occuring before the 17th, probably before the 16th.
I always keep them on my hotel doors unless I want a maid barging in. The only times I don't have to do so are in Europe, where the hotel suites have doorbells, and no one enters until permission is given.

One other thing I just thought of- Europeans would have written the date as 17 June 2008 also. Just in case this turns out to be someone who followed her to Fort Bragg from Germany, which, if the case, the police should already know from airline or military flight records.
 
teacherbonnie said:
A few years ago when schools in my city were getting rid of their typewriters, it was suggested each school keep one or two "just in case" the need arose...and it has.

This person may have felt safer using a typewriter...but a specific typewriter CAN be matched to a typed document.

The father's silence speaks volumes!
Click to expand...

Handwriting can be matched and possibly leaves DNA. Using a computer, copier, or a printer is too risky and can lead back right to the source as we found in the BTK case.

I wonder what the blackened substance is?

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=297965

(snip)
The letter was postmarked June 24, the day before it arrived at the paper, and carried a local postmark. The envelope was smeared and blackened with an unknown substance.
 
concernedperson said:
Very good suggestion about the typewriter for filling out duplicate forms. The typewriter mentioned was in the article posted earlier by Luckyme.

Here is a map of where the crime took place and if you scroll up a bit you will see Fort Bragg.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=5000+....012293,0.018239&z=15&iwloc=addr&output=embed
Click to expand...

I'm admitting I'm old enough to remember using those relics, but the date at the top of the letter is written in military format: 17 JUNE @))* Meaning that the typewriter most likely was used in a military setting because just about every form they fill out is done in ALL CAPS. So, this person (IMO soldier who sent the note) has access to a typewriter.

ETA: http://www.fayobserver.com/photos/2008/06/n28letter.jpg

Note that the second date is not done in military format.
 
Thanks for the time line. I agree that Megan was likely dead sometimes on the 16th prior to the sign being noticed on the hotel room door on the 17th. Most maid services in hotels began around 9 AM so we can assume the sign was placed much earlier.
 
teacherbonnie said:
ITA, SJana. I wish someone could get a peek at the motel's cleaning records but maybe they are easy to falsify. So what did she do from June 12 to the 16th? She would have been seen on some camera somewhere...parking lot, lobby, etc. She HAD to eat. It truly does make more sense that she was killed soon after check-in...but the motel sure doesn't want to appear negligent.
Click to expand...
All that was found in her room food wise appears to be an Arby's cup. I think she was killed shortly after renting the room. JMHO at the present time. I agree that she would have to show up on the cameras at some point.
Chances are, as soon as the hotel realized what they were dealing with, the cleaning staff did a CYA with her room's cleaning records. I've never known a hotel of the caliber of a Fairfield Inn to give a hoot whether a room was cleaned or not, to bring the extra towels I asked for, anything. You get what you pay for in services, and Fairfield is not great. At all.
 
SeekingJana said:
I don't think hotel employees remember who has a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door or when it was put there. Why would they remember Megan's sign and the specific date?
Click to expand...

My family was in the hospitality, restaurant business. Housekeeping has a list of rooms to clean. They will note if a room can't be cleaned for some reason (do not disturb sign, or occupants still in room) so they don't get blaimed if there is a complaint later.
 
concernedperson said:
Thanks for the time line. I agree that Megan was likely dead sometimes on the 16th prior to the sign being noticed on the hotel room door on the 17th. Most maid services in hotels began around 9 AM so we can assume the sign was placed much earlier.
Click to expand...

What timeline are you referring to and why are you so sure she was killed on the 16th? Any ideas of what she did for 4 days in her hotel room before then?
 
SeekingJana said:
What timeline are you referring to and why are you so sure she was killed on the 16th? Any ideas of what she did for 4 days in her hotel room before then?
Click to expand...

I posted a timeline in post 81. It explains the first formation she missed was on the 16th. And she probably missed that because she was dead by then.
 
SeekingJana said:
What timeline are you referring to and why are you so sure she was killed on the 16th? Any ideas of what she did for 4 days in her hotel room before then?
Click to expand...

SusieQ provided a time line from the newspaper link above. I believe it would have happened on or about the 16th because of maid service. Almost any hotel keeps records of room cleanings and who performed the cleaning. The noted Do Not Disturb sign was on the 17th. Several days later is when the maid/employee said there was a bad odor coming from the room.

I have no idea what she did in her hotel room before or if she even stayed in her hotel room the whole time.
 
concernedperson said:
I have no idea what she did in her hotel room before or if she even stayed in her hotel room the whole time.
Click to expand...

Do we know the last day the room was cleaned? That would narrow the TOD greatly.
 
SuziQ said:
My family was in the hospitality, restaurant business. Housekeeping has a list of rooms to clean. They will note if a room can't be cleaned for some reason (do not disturb sign, or occupants still in room) so they don't get blaimed if there is a complaint later.
Click to expand...
I wish all cleaning people and management staff were like your family's. I wish I could have specific details of the times I have gone into my room at a much nicer resort than a Fairfield Inn after being out all day and found it to still be dirty at night, with no maid service available. Megan was in a cheaper type hotel. I highly doubt their record keeping is meticulous... until they know there might be questions related to the entry dates and times. I'm sorry, but I'm a bit skeptical about when the cleaning notations were made, before or after the body was discovered. If you had the responsibility for cleaning the room, and left a decomposing body in a room for 4-8 days because you didn't make any attempts to see if the room was occupied or needed cleaning during daytime hours every day for that period of time, would you want that fact known?

When they say the room was opened because of the smell, I tend to think that the death had to have occurred before June 16th. Also, nothing is stated anywhere about her activities past June 12th. As someone posted, there should be film footage of her somewhere. Maybe there is and we haven't heard of it yet. Also, maybe she is on video with someone with her who is being investigated and they don't want to tip him off.
 
SeekingJana said:
When they say the room was opened because of the smell, I tend to think that the death had to have occurred before June 16th. Also, nothing is stated anywhere about her activities past June 12th. As someone posted, there should be film footage of her somewhere. Maybe there is and we haven't heard of it yet. Also, maybe she is on video with someone with her who is being investigated and they don't want to tip him off.
Click to expand...

ITA that something happened before the 16th. I would be interested in cell phone and debit/credit card activities. When did they stop?
 
SuziQ said:
Do we know the last day the room was cleaned? That would narrow the TOD greatly.
Click to expand...
We don't know but I would bet LE does know. Let's assume for practical purposes that the room was cleaned early morning on the 16th. This could explain the Arby's cup found in her room as she could have gone out for breakfast while her room was being cleaned. With all intentions of going to her formation later.

I don't believe the killer would be so stupid as to leave a cup behind so I will assume this is Megan's cup.
 
OK Fairfield Inn...are we to assume that maids cleaned the room on the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and then SUDDENLY out popped the DND sign on the 17th? For some reason I'm not buying that. I hope LE got to those housekeeping records immediately on the 21st.
 
teacherbonnie said:
OK Fairfield Inn...are we to assume that maids cleaned the room on the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and then SUDDENLY out popped the DND sign on the 17th? For some reason I'm not buying that. I hope LE got to those housekeeping records immediately on the 21st.
Click to expand...

Well, I think there's reasonable doubt about the housekeeping records because they had to have smelled the bad smell before the police arrived. I think it's possible, and in keeping with human nature, that the housekeeping records ( for possibly the entire floor) were doctored once they realized what they had overlooked.

OMG, can you imagine not trying to open a door to see if anyone was inside to clean for at least 4 days, then the horror of realizing a guest was dead in the room? I've had maids at excellent resorts more or less tell me to get up and out of bed and leave the room so they could clean every early AM, LOL. ( I am a late sleeper). They could have definitely altered the records after they knew they had a dead body in one of their rooms. I'm not saying that they did, but the advanced decomp statements don't quite jive with the timeline of the 16th to 21st in a cooled motel room.

The fact that nothing is stated about her activities after check in make me think she may not have ever left the room because she died shortly after check in. If someone known to her was planning on killing her when she arrived back in the States, I think they might have wanted to kill her as soon as possible, before she had time to go to the base, etc. The Arby's drink could have been part of a drive-through meal picked up on the 12th. We don't know. Most is speculation until the police decide to release info.

The advanced decomp is the sticking point for me. Found on the 21st, dead for how many days for the police to say " advanced state of decomposition"?
 
teacherbonnie said:
I think I read she checked in on June 12th. Was she ever seen after that date? If not, SJana is correct...her death could have been as early as the 12th which would better explain the extreme decomp.
Click to expand...

Here is an article about decomp. If you are squeamish don't read it. It seems putrefecation occurs about 4 days after death as this will be when the odor is fairly extreme. Of course, it would have been sooner out in the open. But in general it gives you a good idea what happens.

http://www.deathreference.com/Py-Se/Rigor-Mortis-and-Other-Postmortem-Changes.html
 
I think who ever did this knew Meghan and she let them into her room. Most hotel doors lock automatically and then have chains and other lock type devices. This room also used key cards..as that is on the list of items that LE took from her room.

I think she let that person into her room..or at some point gave them an extra keycard if they were coming and going while she was there. I would think the tapes in the parking lot, lobby, etc will show someone known to her.
 
CP...maybe YOU could give me a good idea instead???!! For some reason I don't want to read it! Just tell me what appears true in this case...death on the 12th or 13th...or later? Thanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Staff online

Members online

... and 202 more.
Total: 4,673 (members: 203, guests: 4,470)

Online statistics

Members online
203
Guests online
4,470
Total visitors
4,673
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
592,348
Messages
17,967,877
Members
228,753
Latest member
Cindy88
Back
Top