GUILTY NC - Laura Ackerson, 27, Kinston, 13 July 2011 #2

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Hi Jbr, I'm remembering with Michelle Young how long it took for the State to bring their case to trial - seemingly forever and a day. then having to retry the b@*tard. I hope with Laura's case things move along faster and they get it right the first time. xox

Amen! I hope they don't put him in General Population. Just think about all the guys who hate their ex-wives. He might be a hero. Solitare would be better. He couldn't boost his ego or play the star!
 
...:websleuther:....................................:wagon:.................................:balloons:...


:greetings:..................

Jump on in with us & help us sleuth this one out. That you know GH will be a big help in our discussions, :seeya:

Thanks! I'm far out of "that circle", but I'll keep my ear to the ground;) :websleuther:

I am curious. There was a segment of this discussion where a lot was cited about trials and attorneys in detail. (I've personally had a good experience with HM in the past, btw, but I'm not shocked about his involvement...) You guys really seem to be in the know. How can I best keep up when this trial occurs? Are transcripts available somewhere or is it from news and discussion? A message would be fine, and thanks in advance!
 
Thanks! I'm far out of "that circle", but I'll keep my ear to the ground;) :websleuther:

I am curious. There was a segment of this discussion where a lot was cited about trials and attorneys in detail. (I've personally had a good experience with HM in the past, btw, but I'm not shocked about his involvement...) You guys really seem to be in the know. How can I best keep up when this trial occurs? Are transcripts available somewhere or is it from news and discussion? A message would be fine, and thanks in advance!

Hi RaleighGD, Welcome aboard. Trust me you will be hearing from everyone here to see what you can find out. Wonder if you can get a ticket to the trials........lol

Are you close to the courthouse? There are records you can view if you go in but not available on the net. I'm sure someone will mention them....

Of course the courtroom will probably be filled up with reporters!
 
Rodger Ackerson is in Kinston visiting his grandchildren and trying to gain custody of them.
.
He says he was accused of molesting his daughters in the mid 80s
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Rodger claims the allegations were made by a vindictive ex-wife....

The molestation charges are of course serious, but false accusations of the same - especially given the family dynamic at the time - are unfortunately not uncommon. Revenge is a strong motivator.​


(snipped by me)

Let me start by saying that your input on this thread has been excellent and much appreciated, IMHO.

I do want to take issue though with the suggestion that false allegations of abuse, and specifically sexual abuse are common in the context of divorce/custody proceedings, and that revenge is a common motivator.

There is quite a bit of research that suggests that intentionally false allegations of sexual abuse in the context of divorce/custody are rare:

http://www.michbar.org/publicpolicy/pdfs/Legislators_CustodyDomesticViolMyths.pdf

http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/ap.html

http://www.missouristate.edu/assets/swk/Module-12_Handout-2_Fact_Sheet_Divorce_and_Allegations.pdf

I don't know if this case is one of the "rare" ones or not, but it does concern me that LA's half-sister has been vocal about her opinions on the custody of these children. That tends to make me believe she does not doubt the veracity of whatever allegations were made.​
 
(snipped by me)

Let me start by saying that your input on this thread has been excellent and much appreciated, IMHO.

I do want to take issue though with the suggestion that false allegations of abuse, and specifically sexual abuse are common in the context of divorce/custody proceedings, and that revenge is a common motivator.

There is quite a bit of research that suggests that intentionally false allegations of sexual abuse in the context of divorce/custody are rare:

http://www.michbar.org/publicpolicy/pdfs/Legislators_CustodyDomesticViolMyths.pdf

http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/ap.html

http://www.missouristate.edu/assets/swk/Module-12_Handout-2_Fact_Sheet_Divorce_and_Allegations.pdf

I don't know if this case is one of the "rare" ones or not, but it does concern me that LA's half-sister has been vocal about her opinions on the custody of these children. That tends to make me believe she does not doubt the veracity of whatever allegations were made.

Hi there. Great information. I don't think I've seen anything on here about LA's half sister. Please tell us more and provide links if you can.

Thanks for giving us a heads up on this subject.
 
Thanks! I'm far out of "that circle", but I'll keep my ear to the ground;) :websleuther:

I am curious. There was a segment of this discussion where a lot was cited about trials and attorneys in detail. (I've personally had a good experience with HM in the past, btw, but I'm not shocked about his involvement...) You guys really seem to be in the know. How can I best keep up when this trial occurs? Are transcripts available somewhere or is it from news and discussion? A message would be fine, and thanks in advance!

Good Morning Raleigh GD and please forgive me for not extending a warm welcome to you yesterday.
With the big ticket trials, WRAL.com and another tv station WTVD? will stream them live on the internet. That is how most of us have kept up with the doctor/ballerina, Cooper, Young trials this year. If you can't watch live during the day, WRAL will put up the feed in the late afternoon/early evening so people can watch and catch up that way. WRAL is very good about posting the legal documents on their website as soon as they get them.
It's better than anything on tv, and I've truly become addicted to watching these sordid trials. And with each one, I gain a little bit more weight :)
 
I do want to take issue though with the suggestion that false allegations of abuse, and specifically sexual abuse are common in the context of divorce/custody proceedings, and that revenge is a common motivator.

Sorry, that was a poor choice of wording on my part. instead of writing that "its not uncommon", I should have wrote "its not unheard of".

The 2 things that give me pause in this particular situation are:

1) that RA had to suspect these allegations would be aired publically (and nationally), and would be an issue which would be front and center at the custody hearing. If they are true, or even believeable for that matter - certainly a judge will rule against him taking custody of his grandsons. Why would he even attempt to do so?

2) the family dynamics at the time of the allegations. Without knowing all the details, we do know that RA had custody of his 3 children from his first wife (for whatever reason), then married a much, much younger woman, then had a child (Laura) with her. This could have exaberated already simmering relationships. Shortly thereafter the allegations rose and his 2 previous daughter (7 and 10 at the time) left to go live with their mother. According to RA, the report from the "friend of the court" supports his claim. I'm not sure if this report was for the divorce or transfer of custody though.

Having said that, the allegations could of course be true.

This is what I was suggesting before - now in a more detailed manner.

ETA: there was an incident of a false allegation in my extended family, during a divorce, which was coached. While the actual accusor (not the coach) apologized personally to the accused, the matter was never brought up/discussed again within the extended family...so my outlook could be a bit weighted.
 
Hi Jbr, I'm remembering with Michelle Young how long it took for the State to bring their case to trial - seemingly forever and a day. then having to retry the b@*tard. I hope with Laura's case things move along faster and they get it right the first time. xox

With MY, I think its the arrest that took forever. 14-18 months to trial seems like a long time, but its the norm for a WC homicide at this point.

If this is a DP case, it will for sure take its time getting to trial. There will be a hearing on making the case DP eligible. There will be probably be a motion for a change of venue (among other things), and each will push the process back a few months.

There may also be the issues of gathering evidence across 7 states, digital forensics, interviewing hundreds of potential witnesses in Raleigh, Kinston, New York, VI...combing through financial records, reviewing the entire custody case, DNA testing of many items in custody, and some not yet discovered...it all piles up.
 
I thought it was the storage unit on Glenwood?
would this be it?
7012 Glenwood Avenue Raleigh, NC 27612
919-275-3826
http://www.securcareselfstorage.com/self-storage-locations/north-carolina/

YES, that is the actual one - same hours though, so it still puts GH and AH there with the SUV and the U-Haul trailer before 6:00 on 7/13.

Since as we know GH is now the person referred to as the last to see LA on 7/13 at 9:30 PM...suppose he is lying? What if LA actually came by at 5:00?

She left Wilson around 2:00 I believe, had 2 appointments after that (talked to CM on phone around then). 9:30 seems pretty late to be bringing back a 1 and 3 yr old from dinner and leave a huge time gap. Maybe LA really got there at 5:00 and she was dead shortly thereafter?
 
Also gives a bit of background.

Today, he's out much more money. A collection he had been gathering for 15 years, worth an estimated $36,000, was stolen from his Collector's Korner shop July 20.
.
.
Ackerson, who retired from the Lansing post office in 2000, grew fond of Lowell during his years at Flat River Antique Mall, where he had a booth. The Lake Odessa resident stayed there until the mall closed in 2005. A year later, he opened his shop on Main Street.

[LINK]
 
YES, that is the actual one - same hours though, so it still puts GH and AH there with the SUV and the U-Haul trailer before 6:00 on 7/13.

Since as we know GH is now the person referred to as the last to see LA on 7/13 at 9:30 PM...suppose he is lying? What if LA actually came by at 5:00?

She left Wilson around 2:00 I believe, had 2 appointments after that (talked to CM on phone around then). 9:30 seems pretty late to be bringing back a 1 and 3 yr old from dinner and leave a huge time gap. Maybe LA really got there at 5:00 and she was dead shortly thereafter?

I thought the same thing last night when I was absorbing the info about the storage unit. I would hate to think they left her dead body in the apartment while they ran 'errands'. But it's possible, especially if she arrived that early.
 
Also gives a bit of background.

Today, he's out much more money. A collection he had been gathering for 15 years, worth an estimated $36,000, was stolen from his Collector's Korner shop July 20.
.
.
Ackerson, who retired from the Lansing post office in 2000, grew fond of Lowell during his years at Flat River Antique Mall, where he had a booth. The Lake Odessa resident stayed there until the mall closed in 2005. A year later, he opened his shop on Main Street.

[LINK]

Insured, hmmm? Attorney fees perhaps?
For some reason I don't yet truly trust this man.
 
JRB, would you be so kind as to update the timeline with the Storage sighting? I'm wondering when they bought the coolers.....
 
Sorry, that was a poor choice of wording on my part. instead of writing that "its not uncommon", I should have wrote "its not unheard of".

The 2 things that give me pause in this particular situation are:

1) that RA had to suspect these allegations would be aired publically (and nationally), and would be an issue which would be front and center at the custody hearing. If they are true, or even believeable for that matter - certainly a judge will rule against him taking custody of his grandsons. Why would he even attempt to do so?

2) the family dynamics at the time of the allegations. Without knowing all the details, we do know that RA had custody of his 3 children from his first wife (for whatever reason), then married a much, much younger woman, then had a child (Laura) with her. This could have exaberated already simmering relationships. Shortly thereafter the allegations rose and his 2 previous daughter (7 and 10 at the time) left to go live with their mother. According to RA, the report from the "friend of the court" supports his claim. I'm not sure if this report was for the divorce or transfer of custody though.

Having said that, the allegations could of course be true.

This is what I was suggesting before - now in a more detailed manner.

ETA: there was an incident of a false allegation in my extended family, during a divorce, which was coached. While the actual accusor (not the coach) apologized personally to the accused, the matter was never brought up/discussed again within the extended family...so my outlook could be a bit weighted.

Forgive me if this has been discussed; however, were the allegations ever proven? Did he ever serve time for "these allegations"? I am just wondering what became of the allegations made so long ago.

RUMOR: The brother of LA said on the FB page that he did NOT want his father to have custody. Are these allegations the reason why?
 
Forgive me if this has been discussed; however, were the allegations ever proven? Did he ever serve time for "these allegations"? I am just wondering what became of the allegations made so long ago.

RUMOR: The brother of LA said on the FB page that he did NOT want his father to have custody. Are these allegations the reason why?

No, the allegations were never proven and the father hopes the ex wife will retract her statements about this. I haven't read that there was any type of court proceedings regarding the allegations--just her word against his. He knows this will be a huge concern with his trying to get custody of the little boys. I read the FB rumors a couple of weeks ago and that, in combination with several other issues, just makes me leery of everybody involved in this case.
 
No, the allegations were never proven and the father hopes the ex wife will retract her statements about this. I haven't read that there was any type of court proceedings regarding the allegations--just her word against his. He knows this will be a huge concern with his trying to get custody of the little boys. I read the FB rumors a couple of weeks ago and that, in combination with several other issues, just makes me leery of everybody involved in this case.

I am with you I think LA distanced her self from her family for a reason, none of them seemed to have her nor her children in their lives until this point. I am not sure if it is just the way I was raised, but I just could not imagine my life without my sister/brother in it. I wonder just how many of her family members other than JA have even laid eyes on these children?:banghead:
 
I am so surprised about this information regarding the storage unit and U-Haul. It never occurred to me they already had the U-Haul on Wednesday when Laura went missing. I have been assuming they killed her, then rented a U-Haul, then went to Texas. I thought the Texas trip was an impromptu one intended to dispose of the body. I assumed that because of the very short time they stayed there (24 hours or so).

But why would they have rented a U-Haul and already had it by (assumption) 6PM on Wednesday and be at the storage facility? Maybe they had previously planned to travel to Texas that weekend and it wasn’t an impromptu decision.

They did not leave for Texas until Saturday morning (maybe so Grant could pretend to go to Wilson to wait for Laura at the Sheetz), which means Laura was dead and stored somewhere, somehow from Wednesday evening/night until Saturday morning!

I expect Laura arrived at Grant's in the late afternoon/evening. You wouldn’t go to visit a 2 and 3 year old at night, especially if you had planned to visit a friend in Cary later the same evening. (The drive from Cary back to Kinston would take about 2 hours.)

It’s at least an hour drive from Wilson to Raleigh. So maybe Laura arrived around 4 or 5, they killed her, and then took her body to the storage facility while they tried to figure out what to do with her. But then why did they already have the U-Haul and need rope?

The timing of this visit to the storage facility is really interesting. Because I think they did the gruesome work at their apartment on Thursday, the following day (when they asked Amanda’s daughter to pick up the kids, bring a vacuum and food). If they had put her body in the storage unit, they would have then have had to pick it up and bring it back to the apartment on Thursday to (I can’t even say it)…

Then, they may have waited to leave for Texas until Saturday morning so that Grant could pretend that Laura was a no-show at Sheetz on Friday afternoon. Assuming Laura’s body had been dismembered and stored in the chests, were the chests sitting in the U-Haul in the parking lot for 2 days? Or did they use the storage facility? Five chests would take up a lot of space.

But why did they have a U-Haul prior to killing her? That’s perplexing.

The police will surely know from cell phone pings and surveillance video whether Grant was actually at the Sheetz station in Wilson. And the storage facility should also have surveillance video as well. RPD will also know the date and time of the ice chest purchases. Has that already been disclosed?

I wish there was no issue of the death penalty. I believe it’s an “easy way out” (I know that sounds crazy). If there is no question of the death penalty, maybe they would confess to some sort of involvement and then get life in prison without the possibility of parole. Although, IMO, I don’t believe Amanda would go for this – she will want Grant to go down and make herself appear as a victim.

Because, it is so obvious from dismembered body parts found in a creek across from Amanda’s sister’s house where they had just arrived with 5 coolers, that they did this. It’s just the details that are missing. And I hate to think of the time and resources being spent on investigating this when it’s done and over with, there is no question of their involvement. Just slam the door on the cell for the rest of their lives and may Laura rest in peace.

I sound so hawkish and anti-criminal rights, but these two truly don’t deserve any more time and attention (just like Casey Anthony). If Amanda ends up with a bona-fide case of PP psychosis, then I’ll eat my words and apologize. But what is known of her involvement so far does not sound like a case of psychosis to me. This took much too long to orchestrate and execute. She had DAYS during which she could have had moments of lucidity and/or escape from the situation, if as some believe, she was suffering from PPP or “Grant’s spell.”

Sorry for this long rambling post, but the U-Haul sighting at the storage facility on the 13th really threw a wrench into my vision of what transpired. This case gets more bizarre at every turn.
 
YES, that is the actual one - same hours though, so it still puts GH and AH there with the SUV and the U-Haul trailer before 6:00 on 7/13.

Since as we know GH is now the person referred to as the last to see LA on 7/13 at 9:30 PM...suppose he is lying? What if LA actually came by at 5:00?

She left Wilson around 2:00 I believe, had 2 appointments after that (talked to CM on phone around then). 9:30 seems pretty late to be bringing back a 1 and 3 yr old from dinner and leave a huge time gap. Maybe LA really got there at 5:00 and she was dead shortly thereafter?

Are there any witnesses who saw LA and the boys at dinner or any who saw them anywhere that evening?
 
They took a truck to Texas, correct? Why did they need the U-Haul? The five coolers would have fit in the bed of the truck. AH's mother had just passed. Presumably, the Hayes' were thinking about moving (per Grant's FBs posts). Could the U-Haul be needed to drop off some things with AH's sister or pick up some items that her mother had willed to her?

I would love to hear what AH's sister and family has to say about the visit, how it went, the Hayes' demeanor, etc. AH's daughter said that AH was not acting as she normally did on the 14th and the days thereafter. I wonder if AH's sister picked up on that too?

ETA: I'm assuming the Wednesday visit with the boys was an impromptu visit? How would Grant and Amanda have known that Laura was coming on Wednesday, which was not a normally scheduled visit and not something Laura would usually do life/work-wise. Also, being that custody was a huge issue, I wonder if either one of them would have tried to stray from the formal court orders. So, if this was premeditated, I would guess Laura called Grant when she was in Raleigh just to talk to the boys on the phone and he lured her over to the apartment with the promise of seeing the boys (which if he were being nice, I'm sure she would have jumped at the chance to see her boys mid-week).
 
I am with you I think LA distanced her self from her family for a reason, none of them seemed to have her nor her children in their lives until this point. I am not sure if it is just the way I was raised, but I just could not imagine my life without my sister/brother in it. I wonder just how many of her family members other than JA have even laid eyes on these children?:banghead:

I totally agree with you.
Even with her family being fractured early on I still haven't figured out why, as adults, they seem to have remained that way.
I am still waiting (wishing) LA's mother will pop up with an interview. I would love to see what kind of feel I get from her.
 
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