NE - Omaha Double Murder #3 - *Arrest Made*

Today I made a return visit to the area of the Hunter residence, accompanied by my wife; she grew up in the area and had some knowledge of the houses etc.
First, I think it was very possible for someone across the street and even down the street a bit to have wittnessed the POI on the front porch. The house directly across the street has two large windows in front, and several upstairs. There is an unimpeded view of the porch area of the Hunter residence from there, I had wanted to check that out at this time of year before the tree foilage was in.
That neighborhood is a maize of streets. There are several places where the POI could have parked at a distance and walked. For some reason I always imagined him parking north of the residence. My wife said no, she'd bet he'd parked on the next street east. That is a dead end street with the houses on the west side backing onto the area of the Hunter residence.
This is where it gets interesting. I had always thought- and so posted- that there was a high wall in the rear of the Hunter home, there isn't. In fact from a quick glance it looks as if there is a hedge forming the back border between the properties. So, he could have parked there, walked around on the walk to the next block and gone to the front porch. After he left he could have cut through the back yard to where his car was parked! This would also mean he'd approached the Hunter home from the south, this would have meant he'd only have cut through one yard, only one house to the south of the Hunters before the corner.
I'd like to find a small scale map of the area to post a link to, I think this may be hard to follow. Ths would account for how he was able to leave the area cleanly. Unless someone in the house in back was home he could have been bloody and not have aroused attention.
One chilling thought. If this were a serial killer, he could not have chosen a better place to make a getaway from a crime. Wittnesses would be confused as to which way he went, etc.
Has anyone ever read in the accounts which direction he was walking from when he approached the house?

I've always visualized the stranger coming from the direction away from the Hunter's driveway from a photo I saw on here of the house quite some time ago. That is sheer speculation on my part though. Not knowing which direction the house faces, I'm unable to know whether it would be north or south. If the house faces west, it would be north.

YellowDog said:

I've always visualized the stranger coming from the direction away from the Hunter's driveway from a photo I saw on here of the house quite some time ago. That is sheer speculation on my part though. Not knowing which direction the house faces, I'm unable to know whether it would be north or south. If the house faces west, it would be north.

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The houses faces west.I also always visualized this guy walking toward the house from the left (north) as you face the house. One point I was trying to make is that the strets in that area run every which way- he could have easily parked nearby and the car would still have been out of sight. Also if the FBI is correct inj this being a serial killer he could have chosen that home to attack simply on the basis of the neighborhood providing easy concealment and escape.

I wonder what the FBI bases their theory of a "serial killer" on? Have there been similar killings in that area that we don't know about? I know the Anderson deaths were ruled a murder/suicide (even though their children did not believe this) but could they have also been victims of a random serial killer? Their deaths keep coming back to mind when I think of the Hunter/Sherman murders.

YellowDog said:

I wonder what the FBI bases their theory of a "serial killer" on? Have there been similar killings in that area that we don't know about? I know the Anderson deaths were ruled a murder/suicide (even though their children did not believe this) but could they have also been victims of a random serial killer? Their deaths keep coming back to mind when I think of the Hunter/Sherman murders.

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Exactly. I know of at least one other researcher who believes there may be a link between this crime and the Anderson killings. I believe to this day that the Anderson children continue to question the conclusion OPD gave them.
There were a lot of little things that did not suggest Dr Anderson was planning to go home that day and shoot his wife and then himself. All this on a day almost a year after the Dundee killings a few blocks away, and then the wierd deal about the home being broken into while the crime tape was still up! Was someone covering something up?
We had a seperate thread on those murders at one time and I may dig it up and see what happens shortly.

I remember back in the early days of this thread, we talked a lot about how useful a floorplan of the house would be in helping us iron out some theories. I still believe this to be the case.

Obviously there were various good reasons (not least of which was much-needed privacy for the Hunter family) why this was out of the question at the time. As time goes on, might we suppose something like a rough floorplan could become available at any point..?

http://articles.philly.com/2011-03-23/news/29178704_1_alr-credit-cards-indictment

There is a thread on the above link here at WS but I am posting it here since we have discussed the possibility of these murders being a hit.

Hitman for hire dot com? I never knew there was such a thing! Who in their right mind would set up such a site?!!! And who whould apply for employment there? Well I guess at least one card dealer from the Bellagio did.....Geesh!

OT It's good to see Greykid back. I hope everyone is having a nice spring.

wm

Here's a link to the Anderson deaths. That always seemed strange to me that they ruled it a murder/suicide. As I recall, they were planning to go on a trip. Being in the same general area of the Hunter/Sherman murders certainly makes you wonder.

http://www.action3news.com/global/story.asp?s=10092164

greykid said:

I remember back in the early days of this thread, we talked a lot about how useful a floorplan of the house would be in helping us iron out some theories. I still believe this to be the case.

Obviously there were various good reasons (not least of which was much-needed privacy for the Hunter family) why this was out of the question at the time. As time goes on, might we suppose something like a rough floorplan could become available at any point..?

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Welcome back, Greykid! The posts you made on the original thread are among the most thought provoking we have had. I may repost another one or two on this one.
I have long wished to know the floor plan of the house, especially how the DR and kitchen were situated. I have gleaned bits of information. The back entrance to the house was into the kitchen at the rear of the house. There is a concrete slab back there that Shirlee used to park on when there. So, her car would not have been visable from the street. The Douglas county assesor's site has a barebones plan but just an outline. The rooms and their relationship are not specified. I would really like to know where the basement stairs exited. If Tom came up from the basement where would he have entered in that house? The Kitchen, I assume, but some homes in that area have the stairs to the basement in the DR.
I believe the Hunter family may follow this thread and I would not expect any input from them. However if anyone reading this knows something about the floor plan we'd sure like to hear it.
My wife grew up in that neighborhood and says she was in that house many years ago before the Hunters bought it but she cannot recall much.
I wanted to post the following link about another unsolved Omaha murder case, there is a short thread about it under Cold cases but here it is:

http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/118627694.html

I have always felt it a bit chilling that the little boy in that case bears some resemblence to Tom Hunter, or is it my imagination? Cannot be the same perp, too much time elapsed, or has it?

Most of that style home in that era were built on a center hall plan with the living room on one side of the hall going from the front of the house to the back. On the other side of the center hall and stairway would be a kitchen and dining room. There was usually a half bath either at the end of the center hall or between the kitchen and the dining room. Usually, the bedrooms were all on the second floor. The stairway to the basement was usually right under the stairway going to the second floor but entered back close to the kitchen doorway.

I was rereading the February 4 news article on the WOWT site and a comment I'd overlooked before jumped out at me, writing about the POI:

"Lieutenant Kanger says their initial black and white composite sketch did not accurately relay the man's more prominent feature, his olive complexion. He was also described as being in his late twenties to early thirties, and 5'8" to 5'10" tall. Police say he may have been driving a silver CRV."

Why would they stress his olive complexion? Maybe an attempt to deflect attention from Dr Belenky or to let the public know that he is not strongly suspected?

I know that in regards to this autopsy, MB declared a child's death non-accidental, and after the autopsy was reviewed, it was in fact found to be accidental. An innocent person could have gone to jail for a crime they did not commit.

I'mforjustice said:

I know that in regards to this autopsy, MB declared a child's death non-accidental, and after the autopsy was reviewed, it was in fact found to be accidental. An innocent person could have gone to jail for a crime they did not commit.

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:welcome4:

I'mforjustice, I am glad you joined WS and hope you stay around and sleuth with us.

Thank you for sharing the info. So the word non-accidental was the 'one word' in the report that Calgary authorities were speaking of? We here have been curious about this. Has anything new been released in the Calgary news recently about the MB investigation?

wm

Wikipedia describes "olive complexion" as a skin color from Asia, the Mediterranean,
Middle East and certain European countries like Germany, Netherlands, etc.
Gisele Bundchen (spelling?), the model, is described as having an olive complexion.

I don't think this necessarily rules MB out. I'm not sure how someone describing another person who was seen for only a short time could say for certain that the complexion is olive unless the person describes was Asian. Certain colors in clothing
can make skin color seem different. Caucasian verses African American, yes, but "olive"????

As for the word in the autopsy under scrutiny--isn't "accidental" or "not accidental"
pivotal in an autopsy? Isn't that a pretty big mistake? If they are having to review other autopsies, it's going to take an eternity to straighten it out. Then to have to decide if there was malicious intent or just a mistake...

brudsaunt said:

Wikipedia describes "olive complexion" as a skin color from Asia, the Mediterranean,
Middle East and certain European countries like Germany, Netherlands, etc.
Gisele Bundchen (spelling?), the model, is described as having an olive complexion.

I don't think this necessarily rules MB out. I'm not sure how someone describing another person who was seen for only a short time could say for certain that the complexion is olive unless the person describes was Asian. Certain colors in clothing
can make skin color seem different. Caucasian verses African American, yes, but "olive"????

As for the word in the autopsy under scrutiny--isn't "accidental" or "not accidental"
pivotal in an autopsy? Isn't that a pretty big mistake? If they are having to review other autopsies, it's going to take an eternity to straighten it out. Then to have to decide if there was malicious intent or just a mistake...

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I am of German descent on my mother's side of the family and we have people in our family who might reasonably be described as having an olive complexion, not to mention dark, straight hair. It's mainly due to the Mongol invasions hundreds of years ago. So, I question how much weight we should give to one eyewittness account seeing this man at a distance. He was wearing a black jacket, don't know if that would have affected how he looked.

BTW I still wonder what type of jacket he was wearing, a suit coat, short jacket or a long coat. I somehow imagine the last, he could have covered up his bloody clothes that way. I also think if he'd been asian maybe that would have been more noticable.

We've discussed previously the bag he was carrying, apparently an over the shoulder case, like you'd carry a laptop in. If he intended to kill from the getgo that would have made a very convenient carrying case for knives and anything he used to clean up and compromise evidence with. Maybe however he actually was carrying a computer? That puts his reason for being there in a different sphere. God I wish we knew if those knives were brought in or not.

Could the olive skinned man have gained entrance into the Hunter home by saying that he had some documents to deliver for one of the parents? This would have been a good excuse for carrying a briefcase to the door.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1003434/the_real_differences_between_mormons.html?cat=4

I was thinking about Morman students that go door to door in cities and Jehovah Witnesses who do the same and found this article. I found the last part quoted below very interesting.


"Jehovah's Witnesses may be on a street corner in the city, but you are more likely to meet them at your door, holding a Watchtower and Awake magazine. The women will wear skirts or dresses and carry a book bag, the men will wear suits and carry a briefcase."

Do you think it could have been someone like that at the door that day?

I wonder why they have never released the autopsy reports on the Hunter/Sherman deaths? Don't most states release those when the autopsy is complete? Oh, I forgot, this is Omaha and they do things differently.

YellowDog said:

I wonder why they have never released the autopsy reports on the Hunter/Sherman deaths? Don't most states release those when the autopsy is complete? Oh, I forgot, this is Omaha and they do things differently.

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This is one reason I considered filing a FOIA request, YD! Autopsy reports should be available unless considered part of an active/ongoing investigation. This case seems to be a cold case, however, so maybe they could be released. BUT...IF the LEA determines releasing info could compromise an open case, they can refuse the request. Those reports would sure be helpful as the drawings and details would give us an idea on body placement in the home as well as an idea of the H home floorplan.

From my understanding, whoever makes the request is responsible for paying for all the copies and it can get quite pricey. I guess we have no idea of knowing how many copies would be included unless it was actually filed. (I wish I were independently wealthy)

A poster on the Brittanee Drexel case that I follow has filed one FOIA request and has recently filed a subsequent request. I'll try and contact our WS on that thread, mlatta, to pick his brain and see what I can learn from his experience.

I am surprised that news outlets in Omaha haven't already filed such a request after all this time. (which makes me a bit suspicious, to be quite honest.)

MOO

wm

I also wish to comment on the olive skinned man.

OPD's concern that the composite sketch did not reflect enuff of the 'olive' in the man's skin tone bothers me. I wonder how many neighbors witnessed this man and whether other features were described as similar. IMO, if the OSM was Asian, those features would be noticable...If the OSM were AA or mixed, certain features would be noticeable.....If the OSM were hispanic, certain features would be noticable. Many of my former students were immigrants from Mexico and SA. (My students from mexico had more of a red skin tone, much like Native Americans. Some of my students from Honduras and other SA countries had more Olive skin, but not all depending on the country) My dear bf is of Russian Jewish descent (Kiev. His grandparents arrived at Ellis Is. as immigrants and were quickly given a new surname which was easier to pronounce in the USA) and his skin is very 'Olive colored' during the winter. In the summer sun, his skin becomes very dark and mediterranian-like.

The composite profile sketch featured a dark haired man with a VERY prominent nose! I hope that OPD or FBI is looking at this closely and ruling out nationalities based on the descriptions they do have. For instance, MOST people of asian descent have slanted eyes......Most peeps of AA descent have wide nostrils and flatter noses from a profile view. Peeps from Mexico have a reddish skin tone.....

I hope no one feels as though I am being disrespectful towards anybody's heritage as that is not my intent. I am only trying to narrow down the nationality/ heritage of this Olive skinned man and hoping that OPD is already working on this.

The prominent nose on the composite sketch narrows it down for me.

MOO wm