I agree. The "rope story" is a convenient fabrication in order to position the knife at the crime scene. The details of the story make no sense. As many people observe - most people seeking to cut a cloth rope use scissors.
Her convenient memory lapse regarding where the knife wound up is also telling.
The Murder Timeline:
Then JA would have us believe she darted into the closet with TA in hot pursuit. Miraculously she recalled the position of TA "fictitious" loaded gun which was situated high up on a shelf. With a single jump, she secured the loaded gun and immediately gained control of this gun - all while TA is in HOT PURSUIT- she appropriately grabbed the gun ( JA I suppose will explain she knew the gun was loaded based on her prior discovery as house cleaner). She then regains control of the situation by pointing the gun at TA and exhorting him to "stop".
Then TA as football linebacker tackles JA. One is of course given to wonder why a linebacker when confronted by someone wielding a loaded gun would choose to "tackle" rather than grab the hand with the gun. Nonetheless TA proceeds with a near perfect tackle of JA and as the two bodies descend to the ground - as if in a Sam Peckinpah "slow motion" scene - the gun discharges and alas TA is shot in the head. Wounded the monster continues to advance inexorably toward JA who then was shaking like a chihuahau.
THEN (jury is now out of breath following this intense scene) comes=
NOTHING.
Then comes "THE GREAT BLACK OUT"
During the "Great Black Out" - JA stabs TA 27 times, performs a near perfect decapitation, drags the 185 lb corpse back; inserts the corpse into the shower stall and begins the GREAT WASH UP.
JA cleans the corpse, and her hands and arms. She has to remove all of her bloody clothing - shoes, pants, shirt etc. She cleans the hallway as best as possible. She places the knife into the dishwasher. She begins a load of laundry. She stuffs all the bloody appurtenances into her bag.
Eventually JA --still "totally BLACKED OUT" --proceeds to load up her car with all the incriminating stuff. She starts the car and puts the car into DRIVE.
She drives out of the MESA suburb onto the Freeway heading towards Flagstaff AZ- about 200 miles north. Still totally blacked out, JA turns onto Freeway 40 due west through Kingman. Still blacked out JA drives another 150 miles west towards Las Vegas.
Then other miracles occur. JA comes to!!!!! THE GREAT BLACK OUT has finally ended. So this GREAT BLACK OUT lasted from about 5:30PM to around 11:00PM.
While blacked out JA was able to drive a car through town, find on ramps to the appropriate freeway, read signs that signal turn off to Fwy 40 leading to Kingman NV. She could drive a car at the appropriate speed in the appropriate lane of some 300 miles of road. If one counted the number of cognitive tasks JA achieved within this black out it would number in the thousands.
Of course we all know JA has a perfect memory of TA murder, her cover up, and her desperate escape into the desert night
Most people who go from here (Mesa/Phoenix) either go to Flagstaff and then north to Page. From Page going west towards Kanab, Utah. Continuing west to St. George where she'd catch I-15 to Salt Lake, Utah.
