Theories

We all have our own theories on what happened to Nancy. Feel free to post your thoughts here.

My theory: husband did it. Maybe it was not premeditated; maybe it was. Either way I believe something happened when she got home from that party, he killed her, and he dumped her body and pulled a "Mark Hacking" (she never came home after going out for a walk/run early in the morning a couple mi from home).

All too common these days, unfortunately.

I pretty much agree with Sleuthy. She returned from the party, he killed her. He packed her body in the car, drove to the dump site, dumped the body, returned home, proceeded to clean up any evidence he could. He may or may not have gone to the store to buy cleaning supplies. This part is unconfirmed and just speculation at this time.

I tend to think it was not premeditated, or he would have come up with a better story. I just hope for the sake of the children, that they slept through the commotion.

If he had to buy cleaning supplies to clean up the mess from the attack, you'd think he would need to clean himself up first too. That would explain needing to do laundry at 4am. You can use laundry detergent to clean floors, but you can't use floor cleaner to clean clothing.

I think she learned something at that party, possibly a detail about his alleged extramarital affair. They argued and harsh words and threats from her to leave with the children were exchanged, so in a fit of rage he killed her. He then loaded her body into the trunk, went and dumped it, and then went to the store either immediately after doing the dump, or went later after determining he wouldn't have enough products for clean-up.

Has it been determined the children were there? I kind of assumed they were gone for the night since they were away at the party. (or were the kids at the party?)

I agree reefshadow. Nancy had very recently returned from vacation and I believe that one (or more) of the neighbors may have seen Brad and the woman he was having the affair with together......possibly even saw them at the Cooper home and told Nancy about it. It was the last straw for Nancy and, after a few cocktails, she confronted him when she returned home from the party. Maybe Brad opted not to attend the party because he didn't want to face any neighbors that may have witnessed his infidelities.

I truly believe something was said, or something happened at that party that set the chain of events in motion. I think it was a spur of the moment event and was not premeditated hence the sloppiness in covering up the murder.

reefshadow said:

I think she learned something at that party, possibly a detail about his alleged extramarital affair. They argued and harsh words and threats from her to leave with the children were exchanged, so in a fit of rage he killed her. He then loaded her body into the trunk, went and dumped it, and then went to the store either immediately after doing the dump, or went later after determining he wouldn't have enough products for clean-up.

Has it been determined the children were there? I kind of assumed they were gone for the night since they were away at the party. (or were the kids at the party?)

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I believe she attended the party without Brad and just an assumption because nothing else has been said, that he was at home with the children.

I also believe he's the person who killed her, shortly after she returned home from the party. I believe the jogging story was to make it look like someone else did it, and that's why he put her body where it was found. If he did stop at a store for detergent/bleach I think it was after he'd dropped her body off, on his way back home. I'm not sure what to speculate as to how Nancy was killed, but it seems LE believes there's some forensic evidence in the house or they wouldn't have spent so much time there & removed items.
:cow:

As I stated in an earlier post before the subforums were created, Brad would be the obvious suspect, but there also could've been a murderous band of gypsies camping on that cul-de-sac.

Not only is that part of town a popular cruising site for people drinking and driving or smoking dope, but I used to have unprotected, hoodtop sex in area neighborhoods under construction and the fact that it took a couple of days for her body to be discovered proves that BrittAbbey Ct. wasn't high-traffic or regularly patrolled.

Magister said:

As I stated in an earlier post before the subforums were created, Brad would be the obvious suspect, but there also could've been a murderous band of gypsies camping on that cul-de-sac.

Not only is that part of town a popular cruising site for people drinking and driving or smoking dope, but I used to have unprotected, hoodtop sex in area neighborhoods under construction and the fact that it took a couple of days for her body to be discovered proves that BrittAbbey Ct. wasn't high-traffic or regularly patrolled.

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The policed stated that this was an isolated incident and not some random act of violence. Which to me means that Nancy knew her attacker, it wouldn't have been a group of kids hiding out smoking dope.

angiej said:

The policed stated that this was an isolated incident and not some random act of violence. Which to me means that Nancy knew her attacker, it wouldn't have been a group of kids hiding out smoking dope.

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That's what they said, and I really can't see what motive a group of kids out smoking dope would have to kill her, plus they'd have to snatch her as she jogged by them. She supposedly didn't even have anything with her for them to steal.

panthera said:

That's what they said, and I really can't see what motive a group of kids out smoking dope would have to kill her, plus they'd have to snatch her as she jogged by them. She supposedly didn't even have anything with her for them to steal.

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I completely agree there isn't a motive for kids having sex or doing drugs to kill Nancy.

One of the hats I wear, and my favorite, is freelance writer. So indulge me a bit. Young, professionals seem to have it all...gorgeous homes, BMW's, Louis Vitton handbags. But something is missing. It's amazing how many times people get to what they consider the "top" and something is still "missing". All the "things" you think will make you happy aren't doing that anymore. So you look around you and think "it must be my spouse" and find a million things you don't like about the person.
This I think was where BC's head was. This was what made him vulnerable for an affair. He was living in his "love fantasy."
Nancy for whatever reason was no longer "wanted." Perhaps he and the "affair woman" both decided to dump their spouses. Maybe, lets say, hers left but Nancy wasn't as easy to get rid of. Now they begin to talk about getting rid of her. The fantasy takes root in his mind. What ever happened on Friday Night was the straw that broke the camels back. There was some kind of confrontation between Nancy and Brad, possibly the adulteress was in attendance also. Whether physically there or not it was all about Brad having to have the one thing that he thought would make his life complete. The mistress. Sex with her was still exciting. (As they say Hot Fudge Sundaes are great but eat one every day and you still get tired of them..Nancy was his Hot Fudge Sundae..he was tired of her) A scuffle broke out and he killed her. Now he alone, or with some help, cleans up and gets rid of the body. Everyone is thinking "Did he leave the kid's alone". No one has thought of it , but in a good novel the girlfriend might have been there with the kids. If one of the kids mentioned that it would be no surprise that the judge gave the grandparents custody
That's one of my theories..LOL

angiej said:

The policed stated that this was an isolated incident and not some random act of violence. Which to me means that Nancy knew her attacker, it wouldn't have been a group of kids hiding out smoking dope.

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The police said that nothing has been reported to suggest that this was a random act of violence or anything but an isolated incident, but they didn't catagorically state it was such. (The key is in the phrasing)

My example from my own childhood was that the area isn't regularly patrolled and is pretty much in a "pocket" of Cary, meaning that it's surrounded on at least three sides by the city and any access for county law enforcement would require them to drive through the city's jurisdiction, so they don't get out that way very often.

Once again, I've seen nothing to indicate that her body was well hidden, but she disappeared on Saturday morning and the body wasn't found until Monday evening, so this proves that anything could've been on that cul-de-sac. Holly Springs Rd. is a fairly major artery which could be used by someone passing through and I'm sure that the trucker who recently confessed to a multi-decade, cross-country killing spree left dozens of "isolated incidents", up and down the road.

angiej said:

I completely agree there isn't a motive for kids having sex or doing drugs to kill Nancy.

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Another thing that comes to mind is if where she was found was such a popular hangout, why wasn't her body found until Monday? It seems whoever put her there knew not many people went through the area, imo.

This has been running though my mind, what exactly tripped Brad's switch?
What made him cross the line? What made him not weigh the consequences of being a suspected murderer, and think it was worth it?
A phone call while Nancy was at the party. Maybe something as simple as a secretary confirming an appointment with an attorney on ?. A husband of Nancy's circle giving him a heads up the women were plotting against him. A phone call, that's my theory, that caused her death on that particular night.

I don't buy the painting the dining room and then organizing Nancy's home story. Way to much work for one day.
IMO

You know, once again, I admit that there's reason to suspect Brad, but because a couple of people decided to deride my suggestioin that it could've (theoretically) been some kind of serial killer, I decided to run a quick search of Google News while on a break from doing some work; Simply looking at the first couple of pages, I see two young women killed while jogging, with their bodies hidden in the vicinity of where they disappeared, neither of which have resulted in any arrests or any uncleared suspects.

Bridget Gearen: Killed last year near Galveston
Nicole Ganguzza: Murdered in June in Central Florida

This is not to say that Brad didn't do it, but both of these appear that may have been isolated incidents* and I'm sure that if I scrolled through additional pages, I'd most likely find others that have been written about within the last four weeks.
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*I edited-in the tentative language after reviewing Nicole's WS forum

Magister said:

You know, once again, I admit that there's reason to suspect Brad, but because a few people decided to deride my suggestioin that it could've (theoretically) been some kind of serial killer, I decided to run a quick search of Google News while on a break from doing some work; Simply looking at the first couple of pages, I see two young women killed while jogging, with their bodies hidden in the vicinity of where they disappeared, neither of which have resulted in any arrests or any uncleared suspects.

Bridget Gearen: Killed last year near Galveston
Nicole Ganguzza: Murdered in June in Central Florida

This is not to say that Brad didn't do it, but both of these appear to be isolated incidents and I'm sure that if I scrolled through additional pages, I'd most likely find others that have been written about within the last four weeks.

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Magister, I would buy into the possibility of a random killing if the Cooper's marriage had been portrayed as a very happy, trouble-free one by friends and family but it has not. BC is one unlucky son-of-a-gun if he & the wife were having serious marital problems, that everyone apparently was aware of, and then BOOM she ends up murdered.............what are the odds?

mahmoo said:

Magister, I would buy into the possibility of a random killing if the Cooper's marriage had been portrayed as a very happy, trouble-free one by friends and family but it has not. BC is one unlucky son-of-a-gun if he & the wife were having serious marital problems, that everyone apparently was aware of, and then BOOM she ends up murdered.............what are the odds?

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I agree with your point and I'm confident that if Brad is guilty, then he'll be indicted and convicted, but...

In the "the runner" subforum, it wasn't difficult to see how she could've (theoretically) been jogging near that location; We know that her body was found in an isolated area and there have been other unsolved murders of female joggers (nationwide). Again, if he's guilty, then he deserves the full treatment, but if he's not, I hope investigators are following the evidence.

Magister said:

You know, once again, I admit that there's reason to suspect Brad, but because a couple of people decided to deride my suggestioin that it could've (theoretically) been some kind of serial killer, I decided to run a quick search of Google News while on a break from doing some work; Simply looking at the first couple of pages, I see two young women killed while jogging, with their bodies hidden in the vicinity of where they disappeared, neither of which have resulted in any arrests or any uncleared suspects.

Bridget Gearen: Killed last year near Galveston
Nicole Ganguzza: Murdered in June in Central Florida

This is not to say that Brad didn't do it, but both of these appear that may have been isolated incidents* and I'm sure that if I scrolled through additional pages, I'd most likely find others that have been written about within the last four weeks.
---

*I edited-in the tentative language after reviewing Nicole's WS forum

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To be fair I saw this a few days ago while looking for information about Nancy.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1121731.html

Another woman went missing in Raleigh a couple of weeks before Nancy was killed.