This seems to be the year of stupid, stupid murderers--first Chris Watts, then this guy. We can't all be above average, can we?
So he wasn't good looking, in shape, interesting, rich, brilliant, charming, artistic, or creative (you need at least ONE to attract the opposite sex, imho). He had anger issues, road rage issues, and he vandalized co-workers vehicles--so he had a few personality disorders, too (one of which was being a psychopath). Plus, he was married with a kid. There's no way she had an affair with him. Why would a stunning, single, educated, successful, upper-class-background, twenty-something, childless woman want anything to do with him?
Yes, back in the day, in graduate school, when I was considered easy on the eyes, I dated a poor, unattractive, skinny, short, guy who had a very different background than I did. He grew up in a trailer in rural North Carolina, said "ohl" (one syllable), not "oil" (two syllables), and was bi-polar--and I fell madly in love with him until he dumped me. However, he was also charming, intelligent, hard-working, on his way to being highly educated, and extremely creative. He's a brilliant poet who's gone on to publish 3 or 4 books, and at the age of 48, he married a woman who is 20 years younger, brilliant, and gorgeous. So, yes, superficial "mismatches" happen, but there's usually a good reason/explanation behind them.
What boggles my mind, having followed true crime for years, is the timing of this (lunch time, broad daylight, in the middle of a workday, with a departure time the same as the victim's). This, paired with the premeditated nature of the crime, seems crazy.
The only explanation seems to be what some of you have already mentioned--this was the best he could do under the circumstances--but that leads to the question of WHY he would want to put himself in this extremely risky (to his freedom) position in the first place? Is getting caught stealing money (just using that as an example) so bad that you would kill someone and risk life imprisonment or the death penalty over it?! This isn't some career criminal with a history of extreme violence--this is an accountant who would probably have gotten probation. What the heck could have possessed him to want to do this AND to actually do it in such a risky way?
We may never know, but I can see how living an hour away from work with a wife and kid would have meant that he couldn't follow her around (and perhaps she rarely went out on the town), and he couldn't lurk around her apartment complex at all hours, hoping for a lucky break under the cover of darkness. He'd still have to break into her apartment or ambush her in the parking lot, which would be noisy and attract attention. Plus, his wife would have been calling him the whole time, wondering where the heck he was and what he was doing. She is probably nursing the baby at night, so she would know.
So, I can't begin to imagine how he convinced her to meet him at her apartment (unless he surprised her--I've read two very different accounts of where he was--outside her door vs. inside her apartment when she arrived).
What could he possibly have done to get her there? I would never meet a work colleague of the opposite sex at my apartment to "talk." That would be way too awkward, would lead to office gossip, and, besides, there are cafes everywhere for that, if necessary. But think about it-- how often have any of us been asked to have a "personal" talk away from the office with a work colleague of the opposite sex that you weren't close to or romantically interested in? I've never been asked to do this, and I can't think of anyone who has.
If I sensed that they were attracted to me, and that was what the talk was about, then I would politely decline or maybe say, "why don't you give me a call this evening." A phone call would be the "most personal" one-on-one arrangement that I would offer a male colleague, and only if it seemed absolutely necessary (and if I felt "safe" around him, in general). If a phone call wasn't good enough for him, that would set off alarm bells in me.
I wouldn't ask a man from work to help me move furniture, either. These are professionals, not college kids, and there are maintenance guys at an apartment complex that could help with that, or perhaps a trusted male or female neighbor. And if furniture is being delivered, those guys can help you move things around. Besides, I can move around 90% of the furniture in my family of four's home myself, and I'm a weakling. How often would a single woman in a small apartment need to move around super heavy furniture after she's gotten moved in and settled? And even if it were the case, why would you ask a professional work colleague? It just seems tacky and unprofessional to do this, not to mention the fact that the colleague could possibly get hurt if the furniture is that heavy--just a bad idea all around.
I'm astounded that no one had a doorbell cam that saw him in this day and age--surely they would have brought him in for questioning much sooner if they had footage. But thank goodness he did stupid things that got him caught.
I feel so sick and terrible for what she must have gone through--can you imagine? You've worked hard all of your life in school and at work; you're a good person; you're law-abiding, gentle, and caring; you don't hang out with criminals or engage in risky behaviors of any kind, and one day you go home for lunch and your co-worker brutally and painfully slaughters you with a knife after, perhaps raping you--and that's it. It's over for you. A complete stranger has ended your life in a horrific way, your family and friends are devastated and will never be the same...and for what?! Ugh! It's so unfair.
