Found Deceased VA - Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, Charlottesville, 17 Oct 2009 - #14

[KR2tonenow]

This last read leads me back to the events of that night...still believing the people who were with MH that night..had to see something,know something or are deeply involved...
If they were so confident that MH was having no problem in getting a ride...why did they wait at the concert..after it was over? Why,after not being able to talk to her the rest of the evening, all night and never try to call her home to make sure she was alright?
It was the next day when her dad called to find her. The waiting after, as they said they did, has always bothered me...if they thought she was ok why did they wait for a long time?
I know the H's have expressed the great friendships...but lots of times, people. can be jealous or really deceitful...
I don't believe she was hitch-hiking...it's just not done around here that much...
I can't remember when I last saw a hitch-hicker....How about you? When was the last time??Years, for me and I drive for a living....
I believe she was killed by someone very close to the family..someone who helped in the search...someone who watched the grief of the H's and pretended to care...
If I get yelled at for saying this it's ok...I still believe the circle of people who were around MH hold the key...if they are totally innocent....I believe they still hold the key because I believe the killer has inside dealings with the friends and family.
I just don't believe MH would go with a complete stranger...I think it is someone that know MH.
Not random,not spur of the moment...planned,and executed.

Interesting, always thought it strange that MH's friend boyfriend, or brother got a ride home that night. In MH's car. IDK. It seemed callous to me that they would go on there merry way not even worried for their friend. GEEZ!

 

[Walker]

Actually I had thought that as well, or of course the 's vehicle. I still think back to an ID witness stating Morgan was talking to a group of guys near a RV. I believe this RV has not been located and your theory on satanic rituals should be looked into and also take into consideration S and M, (Sexually violent acts).

MH disappeared on the night of a new moon before Samhain (or Holloween).

MH's case can be compared to the disappearance of Kelly "Wednesday" Hall.

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - TX TX-Kellie "Wednesday" Hall 29, Msg 04/25/09, Beaumont/Austin

The Morgan Harrington case always seemed somehow similar to Kellie Hall's case: is there any similar significance to October 17, the date MH disappeared? KWH disappeared on 4/25 & MH on 10/17: both dates close before important Wiccan (and nature religion) celebrations; that is, Beltane April 30 & Samhain October 31. Both dates were close to new moon, which occurred on April 25 & October 18 respectively.

...

Some posters were offended at my suggestion that MH had a Goth aspect; for example, the bracelet she was wearing that night, and which her mother now wears, seems "Goth" to me. KWH definitely was into Goth, and wrote about it on her journal. Both MH & KWH were wearing all black on the night of their disappearances; KWH only wore black clothing. Both women were avid music fans.

BTW: The term "Goth" describes a certain artistic aspect, and the term is not intended as in any way pejorative.

...

MH and/or KWH may have been killed by some cult-like group, similar to the Manson Family who possibly referenced witchcraft, as you have suggested. However, their motive is certainly not clear. Why would some nature religion fanatics (for example) target KWH?

There are some eco-terrorist groups in the VA area, who have used violence in their protests against such practices as Mountain Top Removal. Among these groups are Earth First! and Mountain Justice.

The first Saturday before the first new moon before the Satanic holiday could be a satire on the Roman Catholic choice of the celebration of Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring.

Earth First! and Mountain Justice use "nature religion" celebrations as their calendar.

Example: http://www.earthfirstjournal.org/search.php?term=justice

HOWEVER that these two case are directly related is highly unlikely. The coincidences are interesting, however.

 

[nostoneunturned]

ok ..nothing else going on so let's roll with that thought...satanic worship...How was she picked to be the "sacrifice" ?Personal knowledge of MH? Random? Seduced? (hey,we are getting together after the concert to have a party..wanna come?)
The lack of any mention to ritual objects or mention of having strange lights or trash or other dead objects left behind on ACFarm..leads me to think that it wasn't some weird practice...but who knows for sure...I do know one thing,"the devil " sure has full run of this place...every day more and more horrific stories about people killing each other..some kid severed his mother's head and carried it across the street in a bag..then went to church and played his instrument beautifully .....(I thought CASEY was a monster)
The only way I can see this case being solved is to start the investigation into MH's affairs....create a timeline...for say 3 weeks before Oct 18 and track every move that can be tracked..(cell pings,atm use,student id swipe on her card...any credit card,etc...focus on anyone she came in contact with..interview everyone..
I believe she knew the person(thought she did).
MH doesn't appear to me to be a person who would not fight...I believe she fought back at the person...anyone with scrapes "a sudden fa'll"or scratches among the people known to MH??
Random ?? That night would have been full of people walking around...with the school, the concert, the places to eat and everything..she went missing after 8 (i think) after arriving(stated by friends) ...what drew her away from the group? Who had she spoken about, spoken to...there are clues...they just are laying where no one has looked yet.
When an infant goes missing ..they start at the house and go from there...I say they need to do the same thing...start where she lived...check neighbors..etc..roomies..friends..
Just throwing out ideas in the hopes of finding the person or persons involved.Justice for Morgan and some closure for her family.
I know, nothing will heal the gaping hole in their lives..but they would take comfort in knowing the person,when caught could never do such a thing again.

 

[Kateyes]

I just want to add that I am really frustrated with the seemingly lack of progress in finding the perp(s) in this case. I read this thread but don't usually comment as I can add nothing to what has already been posted. Yet, I am frustrated that an arrest has not been made in this case. I agree with nostoneunturned in two of her posts on this page - that someone close or known to DH is the perp, and that LE should go back to where DH lived, and start from there, and talk to everyone she knew, check out everyone she was in contact with, etc. I get the feeling that the answer to who murdered DH is somewhere very close, but LE hasn't put the pieces together yet, for some reason we don't know.

 

[ThePhantom]

I don't think she knew her killer.

 

[gnomony]

I don't think she knew her killer.

I agree. I don't see any evidence that she knew her killer, and logic suggests that someone who knew her and set out to do her harm would have had hundreds of easier approaches more certain of success than what seems to have transpired.

Of course, we are spinning our wheels here. We won't get any traction in our theorizing until we get some more material to work with.

 

[ThePhantom]

So true -- like, for example, an accurate autopsy report. It will surely tell us many things about which we can now only speculate.

 

[rossva]

Which in Virginia, will not be released.

So true -- like, for example, an accurate autopsy report. It will surely tell us many things about which we can now only speculate.

 

[gnomony]

Which in Virginia, will not be released.

Noted. However, once LE has the results, including toxicology, etc., we may notice movement.

Sometimes LE needs more info simply to rule things out and to be able to demonstrate to a jury that what they think happened is the only thing that reasonably could have happened. That can require disposing of a lot of other "what ifs."

 

[Walker]

I just want to add that I am really frustrated with the seemingly lack of progress in finding the perp(s) in this case. I read this thread but don't usually comment as I can add nothing to what has already been posted. Yet, I am frustrated that an arrest has not been made in this case. I agree with nostoneunturned in two of her posts on this page - that someone close or known to DH is the perp, and that LE should go back to where DH lived, and start from there, and talk to everyone she knew, check out everyone she was in contact with, etc. I get the feeling that the answer to who murdered DH is somewhere very close, but LE hasn't put the pieces together yet, for some reason we don't know.

Don't you mean MH? DH refers to MH's father, at least on this thread. But both statements could be true. Might be someone who resented or hated her father.

 

[arielilane]

This last read leads me back to the events of that night...still believing the people who were with MH that night..had to see something,know something or are deeply involved...
If they were so confident that MH was having no problem in getting a ride...why did they wait at the concert..after it was over? Why,after not being able to talk to her the rest of the evening, all night and never try to call her home to make sure she was alright?
It was the next day when her dad called to find her. The waiting after, as they said they did, has always bothered me...if they thought she was ok why did they wait for a long time?
I know the H's have expressed the great friendships...but lots of times, people. can be jealous or really deceitful...
I don't believe she was hitch-hiking...it's just not done around here that much...
I can't remember when I last saw a hitch-hicker....How about you? When was the last time??Years, for me and I drive for a living....
I believe she was killed by someone very close to the family..someone who helped in the search...someone who watched the grief of the H's and pretended to care...
If I get yelled at for saying this it's ok...I still believe the circle of people who were around MH hold the key...if they are totally innocent....I believe they still hold the key because I believe the killer has inside dealings with the friends and family.
I just don't believe MH would go with a complete stranger...I think it is someone that know MH.
Not random,not spur of the moment...planned,and executed.

I just want to add that I am really frustrated with the seemingly lack of progress in finding the perp(s) in this case. I read this thread but don't usually comment as I can add nothing to what has already been posted. Yet, I am frustrated that an arrest has not been made in this case. I agree with nostoneunturned in two of her posts on this page - that someone close or known to DH is the perp, and that LE should go back to where DH lived, and start from there, and talk to everyone she knew, check out everyone she was in contact with, etc. I get the feeling that the answer to who murdered DH is somewhere very close, but LE hasn't put the pieces together yet, for some reason we don't know.

Yes, I think we should start at the beginning with the people that attended the concert with Morgan Harrington.

 

[Walker]

Yes, I think we should start at the beginning with the people that attended the concert with Morgan Harrington.

Rereading the first MH thread was interesting in light of what we now know.

Could MH have returned to the arena after being seen hitchhiking? In other words could the first witness have been right?

http://www.nbc12.com/global/story.asp?s=11369879

This as a local woman talked to us about a fight she saw that was important enough for her to call investigators.
The woman says she was in the John Paul Jones Arena parking lot the same time police say Harrington was still on the arena grounds. She wanted to remain anonymous for her own safety. She called police Monday night after she saw Harrington's picture on our 11 p.m. news.
"I heard them being very loud and it sounded like maybe like she got smacked or something," said the woman.
The fight deeply concerns the grandmother. She says it unfolded behind her car parked outside the arena the night Metallica took the stage.
"It was my grandson's 17th birthday and my son had gotten him tickets to go to the Metallica concert," said the woman.
At about 9:30 PM, on October 17, the same time police say Harrington had still been on the arena grounds, the woman pulled into a parking space to pick up her son and grandson from the show. A loud noise startled her.
"The two people were in like a hand lock she had her hands on his arm and he had his hands on her arm pushing back and forth," said the woman.
She says girl started walking back toward the arena and the young man headed for the road, but ran back to the girl. She says she looked just like Morgan and it appeared the couple knew each other.
"The girl I saw had her hair pulled back and had a large earring on," said the woman.
At one point, she spoke to them.
"I said don't be doing something tonight that you'll be sorry for tomorrow."
But says the two walked off together toward the road.

What was the exact time Metallica started? And what time did LOG leave the stage?

This woman was definitely early to pick up her son & grandson, unless maybe they needed to leave for some reason, such as illness or some family emergency.

This testimony seems convincing:

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Found Deceased VA-Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, Charlottesville

Morning y'all...another day and no Morgan...almost a week now.

I'm from the general region and was listening to the radio this morning. A popular DJ on an alternative station, which would broadcast from Charlottesville/VA Beach/Richmond and north all the way to MD/PA state line covered the case. They cover a variety of issues but spent some time theorizing on this case, especially since their fan base is young, 20 somethings and into more alternative/hard rock music.

A young woman called in and said she had been in attendance at the show with her boyfriend and his buddy. They tailgated in the lots a bit, had some beers and because of this missed the opening acts. They headed into the arena at 9:30 to get in to see Metallica start.

Woman said that she is 100% positive she saw Morgan on the steps of the arena at this time. They struck up a quick convo with "hey, you know if Metallica has went on yet?" etc. " They know it was Morgan because the boyfriend also said "Hey, Pantera's not playing here tonight- wrong show!", in what I assume would be a joking manner (pointing out that Morgan's tshirt was for another heavy metal band).

According to woman who called show, Morgan was clearly agitated at this point and said something along the lines of "you know what, f you" whatever. The group proceeded into the arena and never saw her again.

I find it interesting that the woman witness puts Morgan outside at 9:30 and angry/agitated as opposed to crying/upset.

 

[MeoW333]

I don't know how Morgan's Mother could know that Morgan's bones were broken before the murder -- unless -- the medical examiner perhaps told her his opinion of how Morgan was killed. I still keep wondering if a tractor or some other farm vehicle did not inadvertantly drive over Morgan's body when there was some snow on the ground (prior to the big snow). I am assuming the medical examiner could tell what kinds of breaks these were and how they might have happened.

Do you have a link to a news article where Gil mentioned that Morgan's bones were broken prior to being murdered?

Maybe Gil was speculating or had heard it from LE

 

[MeoW333]

Rereading the first MH thread was interesting in light of what we now know.

Could MH have returned to the arena after being seen hitchhiking? In other words could the first witness have been right?

http://www.nbc12.com/global/story.asp?s=11369879

Snipped
Walker, i think it's very possible she did return to the JPJ area after "hitchhiking" or getting a ride somewhere with someone. You may be onto something with that.
The question is, why would she return?
Do you have any theories on why she may return in the case that she had left her friends (who were at the arena) and had no plans to see them until the next day?

 

[MeoW333]

I think about this case on a daily basis as well. I think your view on a females involvement is interesting. Maybe she was the recipient of Morgan's necklace? I would have to assume that LE has checked all area pawn shops or have them on the look out for the necklace and camera. The necklace (and possibly camera) could have been a gift from Morgan's killer, or if a female was present she may have wanted to keep the necklace for herself. IDK. So many possibilities...The shirt really bugs me too. The only reason I can come up with is that the perp wanted to push LE in one direction. If he dumps Morgan's belongings close to campus, maybe LE will stay close to campus with their searches?? I do not understand Morgan's killer taking that risk, and if he did in fact dump her purse, credit cards and ID in another area, that's just adding to that risk. Why would a killer do that? Why not burn or get rid of any evidence that would lead LE to Morgan's killer? Why did they want it to be found?

This is a good post, i think there is a possibility of Morgan's necklace getting to another female (whether either given by the killer to a girl, or in some other way).

Your theory on where the shirt was dumps seems to hit the nail on the head, the perp(s) would dump the shirt there in order to divert attention away from another area that might have been closed to be searched. By dumping the shirt where it was, the perp would expect LE to comb that area next.

I agree with you that burning the evidence would have been the smartest thing to do, however this killer is green, he's new to killing and likely isn't the most professional of killers. He could have even rid of Morgan's body deep in the mountains somewhere or off a boat into the Atlantic, where it would be even less likely found, yet he didn't.
It's doubtful he's killed before due to the fumbles we've see him do in Morgan's case.
In the killers mind possibly he thought he was scattering evidence away from the murder scene, yet in reality he was actually just tossing it to preserve it for LE. Now if he was smart he would have burned all evidence.

The body seems to be hidden well enough, he didn't just leave her in the street, then we see the opposite with her belongings (the id, purse, shirt scattered near the arena and also those apts). It's almost as if the killer had help, the items found conflict.

The shirt & other items are tossed as if they wanted to be found, yet the body is hidden well enough it is not found right away.

Maybe if there is more than one person involved, one is feeling remorse? I don't know.. however those close to the perp (if they do know what happened and i'm not sure how they can't know) they aren't talking at all to LE.

 

[MeoW333]

I agree. I don't see any evidence that she knew her killer, and logic suggests that someone who knew her and set out to do her harm would have had hundreds of easier approaches more certain of success than what seems to have transpired.

Of course, we are spinning our wheels here. We won't get any traction in our theorizing until we get some more material to work with.

IMO, i disagree. The amount of rage the killer projected and committed onto Morgan's is personal. Maybe he was an acquaintance of Morgan, someone she didn't know well, yet maybe he had a festering obsession with her that when he saw a chance, he went off.
As for her camera i wouldn't be surprised if the killer taped the whole thing and is holding on to the camera to relive the murder/assault and that's why the camera has not been found.

As for an autospy report, the best thing would be if none of the details are released to the public. LE is the only one that needs to know certain things about this case, having the public find out specific details could potentially hurt the case.

As for easier approaches for potential to do Morgan harm, if Morgan was walking alone outside and there's been no witnesses to come forward seeing her abducted etc, i guess this was a good opportunity for the killer to take advantage of Morgan, who was in a disadvantaged situation.

 

[gnomony]

A thought about that tee shirt...

In the Brooke Bennett case in Vermont, LE alleges that the accused, Michael Jacques, planted evidence (underwear and a handkerchief, as I recall) that contained the victim's DNA and the DNA of another male. In fact, the allegation is that he induced another young girl to collect semen from her boyfriend for that purpose. Pretty wild stuff, but the whole case is wild.

So, any chance the perp in Charlottesville managed to get someone else's DNA onto that tee shirt? There probably are numerous ways he could have done it. If he was sure his own DNA was not on the shirt (maybe he made her remove it without his even touching it), leaving it where LE would find it would be a clever ruse.

In my experience, however, most crimes turn out to be pretty simple and pretty unimaginative. Most murderers are not clever. Even Michael Jacques' intricate plot was pretty easy for LE to see through. I hope we'll find out before too long...

 

[SkewedView]

IMO, i disagree. The amount of rage the killer projected and committed onto Morgan's is personal. Maybe he was an acquaintance of Morgan, someone she didn't know well, yet maybe he had a festering obsession with her that when he saw a chance, he went off.

Respectfully snipped by me.

There are numerous cases out there where savage rage was used in brutal attacks on strangers, particularly in sex crimes, so I have to admit I've never seen where this argument comes from in so many cases. Now if there were some sign of shame or if the damage inflicted were of some bizarre 'message' type nature (like the guy in Mexico that cut out the eyes and lips of his teen lover), that would make me look harder at a personal crime angle. As it stands in this case though, her ending up outside was so unpredictable that I just don't see a stalker type being there and able to take advantage of it, JMO.

 

[ThePhantom]

And let's not forget, there's also the very real possibility that the perpetrator might have been on some kind of drug that increased his agitation and propensity towards violence. I don't think he knew her. I think he was on the hunt -- prowling around the vicinity of the concert awaiting a victim -- knowing there would be plenty of intoxicated prey from which to choose. It's like a scene out of every parent's worst nightmare -- their child being in the wrong place at the wrong time -- vulnerable and unable to protect themselves from a true monster. The thought of what horrifying torture Morgan might have endured is deeply disturbing. But -- I have to wonder -- if, in fact, the police truly felt a dangerous predator was on the hunt, would they not at least emphasize to all young people that they must be especially vigilent until he is caught? Or, would such an action create a public relations problem for the surrounding area

 

[SkewedView]

And let's not forget, there's also the very real possibility that the perpetrator might have been on some kind of drug that increased his agitation and propensity towards violence. I don't think he knew her. I think he was on the hunt -- prowling around the vicinity of the concert awaiting a victim -- knowing there would be plenty of intoxicated prey from which to choose. It's like a scene out of every parent's worst nightmare -- their child being in the wrong place at the wrong time -- vulnerable and unable to protect themselves from a true monster. The thought of what horrifying torture Morgan might have endured is deeply disturbing. But -- I have to wonder -- if, in fact, the police truly felt a dangerous predator was on the hunt, would they not at least emphasize to all young people that they must be especially vigilent until he is caught? Or, would such an action create a public relations problem for the surrounding area

I've found that it is unfortunately uncommon for LE to publicly admit to things such as sexual predators, serial killers etc until the media and/or public pressure forces them to do so. They always have some excuse as to why, but I've never really seen one that makes much sense to me. *shrug* At any rate, I don't take LE's silence on the matter as being indicative of anything one way or another. JMO