Found Deceased TN - Eliza "Liza" Fletcher Abducted While Jogging - Memphis #4 *Arrest*

[Breathe]

Man, the way he walked into the court room like he couldn't have cared less. Cold. Ice cold.

 

[Slamalam]

I’ve seen posts here on the timing of a Capital murder charge. Does anyone know what constitutes that in TN? I think in VA, at least years ago, if there was kidnapping involved it was considered Capital murder. Thanks!

Also totally agree with, you could be prepared and have an arsenal of weapons on you, but if someone is determined to take you by surprise and has adrenaline and strength on their side, a weapon may not matter for the victim I’d be afraid it would be used against me. Feels like I would have to go running in full tactical gear so no one messes with me. JMO.

 

[Cryptic]

It looks like the suspect had abducted another prominent, and probably at least relatively wealthy, victim twenty years earlier (for which he received a twenty year sentence).

Man charged in abduction of jogger Eliza Fletcher kidnapped a prominent attorney in 2000

The man charged with kidnapping a Tennessee woman spent 20 years behind bars for a previous kidnapping.

www.cbsnews.com

This victim is apparently also wealthy (heiress to a billion dollar fortune, two generations ago). I wonder if both victims being wealthy is a coincidence, or is the suspect targeting wealthy victims? Two wealthy victims could be a coincidence, but statistically, it seems unlikely.

The suspect does not appear to be very sophisticated- at all (left sandals at crime scene, strong arm kidnapping in public, easily identifiable, washing clothes to eliminate evidence).

If he is targeting the wealthy, how did he identify the EF? She was apparently not running in a wealthy area, was not wearing clothing that signifies wealth, nor was she driving a high end car etc. Is the unsophisticated perp being guided by somebody else and thus has an accomplice of the silent and more sophisticated sort?

Perhaps a family member with extensive internet / social media search ability? The "brain" identifies the targets, then guides the "muscle" to them? The perpetrator then re-connects with the accomplice after his release from prison. Or, perhaps more likely, the accomplice approaches him again with promises of a "mega score".

 

[Elley Mae]

During Tuesday's hearing, prosecutors announced additional charges of murder, premeditated murder, and murder in perpetration of kidnapping.

The judge scheduled a second court date for Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 9 a.m. (10 a.m. ET).

Slain Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher remembered in obituary as a 'light to all who knew her'

Eliza Fletcher was jogging in the early morning when she was abducted. Memphis police announce they have located and positively identified Eliza Fletcher's body.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Thinker Belle]

MPD press conference happening now

 

[sandcastle00]

I watched his hand when he raised it. Steady as a rock. I’ve seen others shake, but not CA. I suspected he had his face mask much higher to cover the wound I believe Eliza inflicted under his eye. I was surprised by the “premeditation” charge though I’ve thought it wasn’t random. Anyone know if he was informed of murder charges before he entered courtroom?

Premeditation does not have to mean he planned it days or weeks in advance. It can be seconds or minutes in advance. They have him on video waiting for her to pass while he is in his car - I believe that can be enough to be considered premeditated. It wasn’t heat of the moment.

 

[Megnut]

Predator.

I wonder if his phone will track him to that area more than once. After working overnight, trawling for cross country runners trying to get in miles and beat the heat.

No one was safe.

Sadness and anger sit close today.

JMO

 

[Tagtexas]

I'm sure you all noticed that SA wasn't listed in any of his new charges.
Hopefully, they don't add that after autopsy, so that's one thing we can be thankful for.
For now, anyway.

I don’t think he expected her to fight so hard. It’s my thought that whatever he initially wanted to do did not happen. I feel she was killed in 3 minutes or less. Such a ridiculous, callous and senseless act of violence. RIP Eliza.

 

[Marysmith]

I’ve seen posts here on the timing of a Capital murder charge. Does anyone know what constitutes that in TN? I think on BA, at least years ago, if there was kidnapping involved it was considered Capital murder. Thanks!

Also totally agree with, you could be prepared and have an arsenal of weapons on you, but if someone is determined to take you by surprise and has adrenaline and strength on their side, a weapon may not matter for the victim I’d be afraid it would be used against me. Feels like I would have to go running in full tactical gear so no one messes with me. JMO.

Right?!
Eliza did nothing wrong and I cannot handle the people shaming her for running at that time.
But it’s made me rethink things. I was going to go to the ATM last evening at 9:30 but had to go inside a physical bank, that was closed, to do so and decided not to. I used to always think - I should be able to do whatever, whenever, but we live among people who are opportunistic predators.

 

[Thinker Belle]

fox13memphis.com

www.fox13memphis.com

Link to the press conference happening now

 

[Marysmith]

I don’t think he expected her to fight so hard. It’s my thought that whatever he initially wanted to do did not happen. I feel she was killed in 3 minutes or less. Such a ridiculous, callous and senseless act of violence. RIP Eliza.

I agree with you. I think she was mortally wounded in the 4 minutes it took to subdue her to get in the vehicle.

 

[CSIDreamer]

Memphis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Philadelphia, etc. All very dangerous cities now.
JMO

Louisville

 

[bestill]

MPD press conference happening now

Do you have a link?

 

[Seattle1]

Eliza Fletcher disappearance: What we know from police affidavit and about the man arrested

Police released an affidavit in the arrest of a man in Eliza Fletcher's disappearance. Here's what we know

www.commercialappeal.com

9/4/22 -- UPDATED 9/5/22

Here's what we know about Fletcher's disappearance, Abston's arrest and the search for her:

• Fletcher was last seen at around 4:20 a.m., Friday, Sept. 2, jogging near the intersection of Central Avenue and Zach H. Curlin Street.
• A GMC Terrain was seen 24 minutes before the abduction surveillance footage.
• A surveillance camera captured a man violently and quickly approach Fletcher before forcing her into the passenger side of a GMC Terrain with passenger-side tail light damage.
• "A male exited the black GMC Terrain, ran aggressively toward the victim, and then forced the victim Eliza Fletcher into the passenger's side of the vehicle," the affidavit read. "During this abduction, there appeared to be a struggle."
• Investigators found a pair of slides at the scene. Police said DNA from the footwear matched Abston based on a sample taken after he was previously convicted of a crime. Other surveillance video showed Abston wearing similar slides days earlier.
• Abston's cellphone placed him near the intersection around the time Fletcher disappeared.
• U.S. Marshals found the GMC Terrain on Saturday at an apartment complex in southeast Memphis.
• Police ended an interview with Abston still not knowing where Fletcher is.
• Fletcher is believed to have been seriously injured during her abduction.
• Abston spent just more than 22 years in state prison after being convicted of kidnapping an attorney. He was released from prison in November 2020.

Abston has prior abduction conviction​

In 2000, when Abston was 16 years old, he was charged, tried and convicted of abduction.

In June 2000, Abston kidnapped Memphis-based lawyer Kemper Durand at gunpoint. Court records say Durand was forced into the trunk of his car before being forced to drive a Mapco gas station to withdraw money from an ATM for Abston.

At the station, an armed Memphis Housing Authority guard walked in and, when Kemper yelled for help, Abston and Marquette Cobbins ran away.

[..]

"Kemper then further described how during those hours he spent in the trunk of his car, he heard the two men talking," the obituary read. "The man who was now about to be sentenced had pleaded with his friend to 'stop the car, let this man out, give him his keys and go!'"

[..]


"My feelings about being the victim of this crime, and the feelings of those around me, are that I was extremely lucky that I was able to escape from the custody of Cleotha Abston. I had been taken from the trunk of my car, where he and his co-defendant had placed me for a number of hours, and made to drive to the Mapco station," Durand wrote. "The purpose was that I was to use my ATM card to get cash for Cleotha Abston. It was very fortunate that an armed, uniformed Memphis Housing Authority guard happened to come into the Mapco station while Cleotha Abston, Marquette Cobbins (the second defendant), and I were using the ATM machine. It is quite likely that I would have been killed had I not escaped."

Also in his impact statement, Durand wrote that it took over a year for Abston to sign the guilty plea, citing the refusal as "jailhouse braggadocio."

Durand also detailed Abston's lengthy history in the juvenile court system prior to his conviction for the kidnapping, the earliest of which, Durand said, dated back to 1995 when he was no older than 12 years old. Abston also appeared in juvenile court records in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999 for charges including theft, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a weapon, and rape, according to Durand's statement.

Durand died in early February 2013, seven years before Abston would be released in November 2020 at age 36. In the two years since his release, there are no further documented charges against Abston in Shelby County.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Man, the way he walked into the court room like he couldn't have cared less. Cold. Ice cold.

Darkness. Pure evilness. The latest example of pestiferous criminals lurking in our society for which we seem to be unable to create a viable pesticide to rid ourselves of such vile behavior and actions. Especially against women, children, the elderly and the weak….

 

[JoeFromLB]

The Fox13 link keeps breaking up for me and it's just the two anchors talking.

 

[NoseyRecluse]

Much better audio on the WVLT video, but I still couldn't hear why the Henderson v Abston last name, but it seems that legally his last names is Abston? Did I get that right? I was shocked that he had no wounds, no scratches on his face or arms. I'm assuming he either knocked her out immediately or she was gone before he drove off.

I guess it's a good thing that I don't understand how his mind works. I have been turning this over and over in my mind, trying to imagine likely scenarios. I'm at a loss. I am so sorry to anyone who knew and loved her.

 

[bestill]

Presser

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2881283132180748

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[bestill]

"No reason to believe that it was more than an isolated attack"
District Attorney

https://twitter.com/x/status/1567178620128432131