Ransom Note and Calls to the Boss

[NancyA]

ITA and I find it extremely ODD that LE did NOT seem to even ASK.. if there was anyone (let alone a daughter!) inside the house at the time of the fire?

BBM and respectfully snipped. That has been bugging me since the beginning of this case. I dunno, it just seems that would be a standard fire department query and they usually want everyone outside and accounted for even if there is little danger of the fire spreading to the house. My only guess is, and it's a reach I admit, they did ask and were told no, maybe this was among the first red flags later for LE when they were becoming aware this wasn't a 'missing' child case.

 

[Clue Hopper]

What if the ransom note was not to find ZB missing, but to find her dead in bed? Just throwing a speculation out there.

 

[tehcloser]

What if the ransom note was not to find ZB missing, but to find her dead in bed? Just throwing a speculation out there.

Well, if you were ok with her being found dead in bed, why when she wasn't go through the trouble of dismembering her? And all of that had to have been done BEFORE the fire call, there was not enough time afterwards.

 

[NoeticSoul]

It has been my experience that drug dealers do NOT like to call the police for any reason and will avoid doing so at all costs.

So IMO it can only be one of two things

a) AB thought it was a dire enough situation to call 911 because he believed his daughter was missing.

or

b) It was planned and they had no choice in order to try to cover up a murder (and possibly make some extra cash in the process).

I pick B. Because belittling and minimizing the victim is an absolute sign of deception. Have you ever laughed on a 911 call that concerned the life of your child?

ADAM BAKER: No.. like I said we, uh, had all that drama last night and we… me and my wife went back to bed. And my daughter is, I think’s coming into puberty.. cause she is hitting that brooding stage (laughter) so we only see her when she comes out.. when she wants something. And that’s about it.

 

[Clue Hopper]

Well, if you were ok with her being found dead in bed, why when she wasn't go through the trouble of dismembering her? And all of that had to have been done BEFORE the fire call, there was not enough time afterwards.

The way I was thinking with a speculation went like this. She died because of some kind of trauma. They can't just report it because of the previous DSS calls. They make up the ransom note and fire. In the chaos of it all they discover Z in bed dead. Visible signs of trauma. They use the kidnapping thing as the excuse. It didn't work. So now the trauma needs covered up and they need to get rid of the body. That's as far as I have gone with the theory/speculation.

 

[Clue Hopper]

Also I might add that everyone seems to be going on the speculation that her little body was completely dismembered. That has not been said by LE. A dismemberment could be one body part. JMO.

 

[tehcloser]

The way I was thinking with a speculation went like this. She died because of some kind of trauma. They can't just report it because of the previous DSS calls. They make up the ransom note and fire. In the chaos of it all they discover Z in bed dead. Visible signs of trauma. They use the kidnapping thing as the excuse. It didn't work. So now the trauma needs covered up and they need to get rid of the body. That's as far as I have gone with the theory/speculation.

I understand what you are saying, but there is just not enough time between calls to do everything they did. That all took time. And you can't forget the clean up effort that was going on.......all the painting and what not.

 

[tehcloser]

Also I might add that everyone seems to be going on the speculation that her little body was completely dismembered. That has not been said by LE. A dismemberment could be one body part. JMO.

I honestly think that given LE has left the impression that they have found "enough" of her to ID., that it was more than just one body part, and there are still others missing.

 

[Clue Hopper]

I honestly think that given LE has left the impression that they have found "enough" of her to ID., that it was more than just one body part, and there are still others missing.

I know sometimes my speculations sound crazy and way out there. I think we all can agree that nothing about this case from the beginning has been sane in any way. It seems like lies, then more lies, then even more lies, keep surfacing. It makes it hard to believe anything. I'm trying really hard to just go on what LE has let out. It's hard to do though.

 

[tehcloser]

I don't think they sound crazy at all...we need to toss theories around.

 

[tlcya]

LONG RAMBLING POST ALERT! SPECULATION ALERT!

Here's whats been rolling round my noggin about the ransom note and 911 call

See if it works. E is the one awake, AB is the one sleeping. E is on the back porck with lighter, and is working up the nerve to put the hoax in motion or has been waiting til AB is good and soundly asleep before attempting to burn some sort of evidence.

E needs to get LE to the house so they can "discover" Zahra is missing. Who would take Zahra and why? Let's make it not about Zahra but instead about someone who to E looks like they have money and power.

AB's boss has stated that he finds AB a hard worker, but a bit slow. He has also stated he found E very er, controlling/bossy. You can tell by the boss's statement that he did like AB but did not care for E.

The ransom note's tone is resentful. Mentions that boss likes to be in control. Who between the two adults in that home is likely to resent someone exerting "control" over her or her puppet? E.

In this version, AB is clueless (I know, but devils advocate and all that jazz).

E has hidden the fact that Zahra is dead and disposed of from AB by discouraging him from entering her room. E or dog wakes AB when fire is going on. FD shows up, boss shows up, E intends for Zahra to be discovered "kidnapped".

When LE, who by now has arrived on scene thanks to ransom note, shows up E doesn't want to be the one who "notices" Z's absence. She needs LE, FD, boss or someone to ask about Z. Or she needs AB to mention her. Either no one does or when someone inquires, AB pipes up that his wife looked in on her and she is fine. E may even have assured AB Z was sleeping soundly during the first few minutes of the fire call scenerio.

That has completely ruined E's plan. In order to keep AB from looking in, waking Zahra (who isn't there) as fire trucks are on the way, E has effectively screwed herself. She tells AB No, honey, Z is fine, let her sleep - you know she's had that flubug.

Only now, AB tells LE that. Now we can't discover her missing because LE will never buy that Z was there sleeping soundly mere minutes before. So now Z does not get reported "kidnapped" according to plan. E panics and does not follow through with reoprting Z kidnapped at that time.

Later, E has to go to plan B. The running out to tell AB that Z is missing later that afternoon.

Yeah, its a holey theory at best.

The point in this excercise is to explore the idea that regardless of if AB was a knowing participant or a clueless bystander - I really think that ransom note - cannot be laid at AB's door. E's claims that AB was somehow the originator of that plan/idea is bunk IMO. The tone and wording of the note is very resentful and specifically refers to the boss being controlling. Who else have we heard that about? E.

IMO - E and E alone was the author and conceiver of the ransome note.

 

[Mountain_Kat]

Charlie, I totally agree, they needed the boss to make it look legit. My take on EB's 911 call however is that I think she sounded "scared and anxious", but not because of the fire, because they had set a plan in action. I honestly think they chickened out. Maybe because of the reaction they got from LE and the FD, or even the boss, but whatever the reason, they didn't got through with it. (Maybe the boss even told LE that EB was a drama queen..) Kinda like EB saying "nothing has gone the way"...blah blah blah.

I'm starting to think that the reason she may have sounded "scared and anxious" is because AB decided, on his own, to go ahead with a previous kidnapping plan. And I'm thinking the fire might not have been a part of the previous plan.

Think about these things:

1). An employee of the restaurant next door said that he saw someone sitting on the back porch playing with a lighter. He doesn't say he saw 2 people out there...just one.

2). In Adam Baker's 911 missing child call, he says, "We woke up." He then reverses himself and says, "The dog woke ME up." Not, "the dog woke US up." So, was EB sleeping, and AB had to wake her up? If so, just how long WAS she sleeping before he woke her up? Not out of the realm of possibility that it was AB sitting outside on the porch playing with a lighter. If they had BOTH been up, why did the employee only see 1 person sitting there?

3). If we look at EB saying in her jailhouse letter that nothing went according to plan, then perhaps she's telling the truth. Perhaps the kidnapping/ransom note was a previous plan they abandoned. Perhaps they fought over the plan...EB arguing that it wouldn't work. They'd get caught. AB arguing that they had to do something, and this was all they had! Maybe, in the end, AB panicked because they hadn't come up with an alternate plan, so he, on his own, reverts back to the kidnapping plan, grabs the note she had already written, and add's the fire at random. Maybe, just maybe, he did that to set EB up to take the fall for everything. And maybe THAT'S why we see her in the video pointing at SOMEONE angrily, and saying something to the effect of, "This is BS!" or " I'm NOT taking the fall for this!"

It's not out of the realm of possiblility, imo.

 

[tlcya]

lol, not exactly lockstep this time, we both came at it from the opposite angle

 

[tehcloser]

I have really tried to come up with something plausible that does not include AB knowing, and I have a huge pile of waded up paper here to prove it. But on each and every piece...the word FAIL is scrawled across it. Mainly because I can't just take bits and pieces of the case to make it fit, we have to include everything, and there's the rub.

 

[tlcya]

I do think we are onto someting tho. That singular person on the back porch, playing with a lighter.

Not two. But one. This makes me believe one individual set that fire and got that whole crazy plan in motion.

 

[tehcloser]

Or, one was sitting on the back porch playing with a lighter while the other one was farther out in the dark getting the pile ready to burn.............

 

[tlcya]

I have really tried to come up with something plausible that does not include AB knowing, and I have a huge pile of waded up paper here to prove it. But on each and every piece...the word FAIL is scrawled across it. Mainly because I can't just take bits and pieces of the case to make it fit, we have to include everything, and there's the rub.

well as you see above, I gave it my best, lol. Not exactly a glowing success of a theory.

 

[tehcloser]

Hey, TL, my hats off to you, you at least got through it...........lol.

 

[tlcya]

Or, one was sitting on the back porch playing with a lighter while the other one was farther out in the dark getting the pile ready to burn.............

one on the porch with lighter, other in an area of the backyard in the dark not visible to witness.

argggg this case is so frustrating.

 

[tehcloser]

It is, I have gone from TUMS to ALKA SELTZER.