NY NY - Stacy-Ann Sappleton, 26, Queens, 10 May 2004

Camper

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I find this to be a very strange case, that is just evolving in the news.

Here is a link to news on Stacy-Ann Sappleton, 26, of Tecumseh, Ontario, found dead.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4954066/

Anyone reading here from Canada or NY, comments or followups on the news from your area of the world.

She never told her mom she was going to NY to visit her inlaws. The fiance was still in Canada, why did he not go with her? The cab she took to the house must have identified her clothing, the cab driver got her to the 'potential new in-laws front door', BUT the in-laws never saw her.

Big duhs going around in my mind, screwy.
 
Whoa! Now that is strange and mysterious case!

I feel weird about this, too, Camper! If she made it to the door of her in-law's home, did they see her? I'm baffled!

:eek:
 
ThoughtFox said:
Whoa! Now that is strange and mysterious case!

I feel weird about this, too, Camper! If she made it to the door of her in-law's home, did they see her? I'm baffled!

:eek:

I think the in-laws were at work, and left the front door unlocked so she could let herself in. No one was home except the groom-to-be's brother, who was sleeping in the basement. Supposedly the mother-in-law and the girl had an appointment that afternoon to meet with a photographer and look at the hall for the wedding. I will look for a link with more info when I get back from picking up kids.

I'm wondering if maybe she startled the brother sleeping in the basement, he thought she was an intruder and shot her? Maybe he just doesn't want to admit what happened yet.

Just my speculation.
 
Good Theory Juliana. Or maybe the fiance's brother made advances toward her and she resisted firmly or insulted him. Maybe fiance's brother is psycho and family never knew. :eek:

Here is something interesting found on the same page as the story Camper linked. Maybe a weird coincidence... or maybe a Son-of-Sam type killer who hides near dumpsters?? :confused:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4961683/
 
I am wondering what time of day she arrived, IF IF brother was still sleeping! He could just work a night shift and arrived in early am to sleep or, hmmm.

You could be right Babcat, sounds like not a good plan to be around trash dumpsters in the wee hours.

Wonder how they cleared the cab driver? Also wonder how much cash she may have had with her, grasping at straws here.
 
It certainly will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

Where are her clothes, purse, and luggage?

Did she make it inside the house?

Cab driver probably called in and took another fare right after. That may be how he was cleared.

It is strange that she went to work on her wedding plans and didn't tell her mother.
 
could find some New Yorkers to keep us posted on this case.

Great thoughts joanie 10.
 
Camper...

That's an absolutely precious signature. Too too cute! :clap:

How is that Kyle doing?

How close is Queens to the Bronx where the garbage worker was shot? I don't know the distances or layout of NYC very well at all. I wonder if the same type of gun (caliber etc.) was used. It's really suspicious that her clothes were missing. That doesn't sound much like a Son-of Sam type. It sounds more like a sexually based crime. I'm leaning more toward the fiance's brother on this one if the police are certain the cab driver is clear. The driver drops her off at the home... not just at the corner of the block as I read it. And no one was home but brother. It isn't looking good for brother unless he's been fully cooperative, given blood sample, taken polygraph etc. If he has done all those things and he is looking clear... super weird case for sure. My next focus would be a very near neighbor to the fiance's parents who may have been "helpful" in appearance... "Come on inside. You can wait here. I'm sure they will be home soon." That kind of thing.
 
Kyle is gorgeous, walking like a champ, approximately 30 word vocabulary. Still has lots of hair, and a 'little boy haircut' one year old now!

I am wondering if someone monitors the cab calls, and picks on people coming from the airport, with money travelers checks etc.? I am still interested in what time of day she came in, if brother was sleepin, was it really early am before the streets started bustling?

Posted by Juliana "I think the in-laws were at work, and left the front door unlocked so she could let herself in. Was this info in the link, I am feeling too lazy to look right this minute?
 
Juliana said:
I think the in-laws were at work, and left the front door unlocked so she could let herself in. No one was home except the groom-to-be's brother, who was sleeping in the basement.
I was thinking maybe they were at work, and the door was locked. No one answered, and she wandered...next door, across the street, down the block, somewhere to find a phone, perhaps, and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Or maybe it really was the cab driver....and they are trying to make him think he is clear so he'll make a mistake... ;)
 
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/story/193574p-167321c.html

"Blair told cops Sappleton had never been to Queens before, but police found evidence that she had lived in Hollis in the past. Detectives were investigating a series of short airline trips she took, as well as repeated phone calls to someone in Detroit, police sources said. "

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/20981.htm

"With the exception of the monster who beat and shot her and dumped her bloody body in the garbage, a witness police are talking to was probably the last person to see Stacy-Ann Sappleton alive. "


http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11644979&BRD=1861&PAG=461&dept_id=152368&rfi=6

This one has a photo of the future in-laws' home.

" Detective Kathleen Kearns, of the Queens South Detective Bureau, said it appeared the woman had been dead for less than 24 hours, raising speculation that she may have been held captive for two days. "

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/05/12/456851-cp.html

"Sappleton's mother, Marcia Thomas of Toronto, flew to New York when she learned her daughter was missing. She said Tuesday that her daughter had made three calls Friday after speaking with Blair - one to her home voice mail, one to her office voice mail and one to a cousin in New York, suggesting that she was safe for at least a time after getting out of the cab. "
 
I am wondering if LE brought in some bloodhounds? Surely NYPD has bloodhounds available. IF she made it into the house at all they would know, or be able to track her somewhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If they did not, shame on LE.

I was taken by the future grooms response when trying to get him to give more information, he said, 'no comment', hmmm. Yet in other articles he did give substantial information.

In looking at all of the links, sure sounds like they have their fair share of loonies in NYC.

Here is another link Newswolf sent to me, map of Queens.
http://www.queenschronicle.com/
Color coded, and have not taken the time to investigate Queens area.

Thank you so much Newswolf.

Bring in the bloodhounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
You're welcome Camper!

Mushyb, your find made me go register at the NYT. I'll snip but you do have to register to read there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/14/n...l=1&adxnnlx=1084631068-C8Yv2T+svpUG3/LvX28Wug

"The body of the woman, Stacy-Ann Sappleton, 26, showed signs of a fierce struggle with an attacker, the official said.
---
"The taxi driver told investigators that he had dropped her right in front of the house, where the front door had been left unlocked for her, the police said. But Ms. Blair said the police had taken the driver to the correct block and asked him if he had been there, instead of letting him lead the way to the place where he had dropped off his passenger"
--
"But Marcia Thomas, Ms. Sappleton's mother, was dubious. "If he had dropped her off at the wrong place, wouldn't she have called Damion back?" she asked. She said detectives had told her that Ms. Sappleton got off the phone with him at 9:18 a.m., and her final known call was made at 9:50 a.m.
Ms. Sappleton visited the house half a dozen times before, but never alone, the family said."
 
post a question for Midnight. IF bloodhounds were used it could be determined if Stacy-Ann actually got to the correct front door.

Then IF IF the dog goes to the 'correct' door, then open the door, if the dog goes into the home, is this allowed 'without' a search warrant, to see where and what the dog finds?

==================<><Here is the question as I posed it to Midnight

"Midnight

I am interested in a case in the Crimes in the News forum, my thread is 'Canadian Bride to be/Dead'

Here is my question:

IF IF a bloodhound tracks the victim, and the dog goes to the 'correct' door of the home near where she was dropped off, and the front door is opened, if the dog goes into the home through that opened door, is this allowed 'without' a search warrant, to see where and what the dog finds?

OR if the dog energetically goes into the home, is it at that point that a search warrant must be obtained?

IF NYC police did not or are not using a bloodhound, they are nuts in this case."
_
 
Here's an area map of NYC that shows you the layout of the different neighborhoods with Queens and the bronx showing they are side by side. I have been to NYC on several occassions and all of these neighborhood areas are pretty large. I tend to think the trash collector shooting isn't connected, he either was at the wrong place at the wrong time or with the mention of a cousin being shot the month before I'd think drug related, there's a lot of that there just as dumping bodies in trash bins are common. What I don't get about the girl is the article says she wasn't sexually assaulted but found in just her underwear?

http://www.go-newyorkcity.com/index.asp?RegionID=45&CategoryID=1
 
Good thoughts.

IF IF cab calls can be intercepted, from airport, whoever murdered her thought if they took all of her identifiable things and she was from out of town and came directly to the address area, who would even be able to identify her, hence they took all of her identifiable clothing and luggage.

That time of the morning, you would think that someone in the neighborhood would have at least seen her, question is would they come forth to be helpful? How receptive are New Yorkers to helping people in trouble, er, hmmm.

Blood hound is the best bet ASAP, imop! Sure would like to find a poster in the Queens area to keep us informed as well.
 
That area is known to be bad whereas Manhattan has a lot of tourists, I stayed in manhattan but ventured into Queens and the Bronx during the day on the subway and taxied around. In most cities nowadays I think you'll find most people won't speak up if it's drug related or gang related and they have a lot of that there, besides most people that aren't in good areas stay in at night and out of alleyways and dumpster areas for fear of just that kind of thing. If you live in that environment they're just practiced survival skills.
 
Camper,

No... The dogs cannot enter the home without either the permission of the occupants or a search warrant. The dogs can alert at the door, telling their handlers that the scent continues with cues that they use. But just being at the front door and alerting, if it is not the home of the in-laws (who most likely would cooperate), could cause the evidence to be suppressed if their was no permission granted to be on the property at all. These laws differ from state to state about how much latitude is granted police in dog searches.

In a case like this one, you don't want the permission of the occupants. You want a search warrant, signed by a judge, that states specifically what you are looking for and how you intend to proceed. You want to dot all the "i"s and cross all the "t"s. Permission to enter by the occupants can be a legal mess if something of evidentiary value is found. A good defense attorney can get the evidence thrown out on a claim that the police misled the occupant about what they could search for.

No average joe killer holds a woman captive for even twenty four hours and then dumps her dead without her clothing with no signs that there was sexual assault. There seems to me to be only one scenario that fits that set of circumstances. The person who killed Stacy Ann was a woman.

Stacy Ann had been to this neighborhood a number of times before, since they had dated seven years, but her mother said "never by herself." I can relate to that. When my husband does the driving and has the directions I pay no attention to where I am or which way we are going. Much of his family lives in Pittsburgh and we have been married fifteen years. Though we've lived out of state most of that time period, I know I've been to Pittsburgh nearly once a year every year. I would no more know where I am going if I went there today than I did the first time we went. Pittsburgh is a big city, and Queens is a big city, and I was raised in a small one.

I'd be looking into Damien's past. His last known reaction to the press "I've got nothing to say"... sounds arrogant and not the least bit helpful. How many times was he is Queens without Stacy over the last few years? Did he have a serious girlfriend, a long term relationship, that broke up because of Stacy? Or maybe even not because of Stacy but because of his entrance into the marines, where he then met Stacy. Is there an old flame from the old neighborhood that could be a fry short of a happy meal and has pined away about him all this time? Or possibly he had come to Queens alone, without Stacy, recently, and rekindled the old flame... even if just for a night. It could have been something that was just a small indiscretion to him when he'd had one too many beers. But if the old flame is unstable it could have signaled to her that they were once again an item.

Damien is only 28 and Stacy was 26. If they have been dating for seven years they were quite young when their relationship began. So any relationship with a girl he may have had before that time would almost surely have been a high school sweetheart. It is not unusual for high school sweethearts to part ways come college time but remain friendly. And it isn't unusual for the former high school sweetheart to stay in touch with his or her first love's parents. Perhaps Damien's parents mentioned Stacy's trip, alone for the first time, to his old girlfriend from high school. They would probably think nothing of mentioning this. To them it would have been more than seven years ago the woman and Damien parted ways. If they had no reason to believe the woman was mentally unstable they might have told her the whole interary... including the unlocked door waiting for Stacy's arrival. It would be very low risk for the old girlfriend to simply come over and enter the unlocked door and wait for Stacy. If Mark had awoken and come upstairs... if the parents had arrived home early... it would most likely seem as if nothing sinister was amiss. After all, this is an old family friend. In a stroke of luck for her, no one interupts. Stacy comes in and is momentarily startled to see someone she doesn't know but might recognize from old photos (prom pictures etc.). She is most likely aware the family has remained friendly with this person so she isn't alarmed. The woman charms Stacy with "congratulations" and blah blah blah and convinces Stacy to go with her to see a nice bridal shop or something like that. No struggle in the home. Stacy is completely unaware that she is to become a victim. The woman drives her somewhere where she pulls out a gun and now has control of her.

Just a thought... a long thought... :D
 

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