respectfully snipped for space...
Michelle did state that he became a different person when he drank. Perhaps, he didn't show her this side of himself until she was fully invested in the relationship...this also makes me wonder: was Dale drinking that day? Perhaps, he was watching the PC episode and having a few beers. Perhaps the fight began when Michelle arrived and noticed that he had been drinking and, big leap here, refused to leave the children with him bc he was intoxicated.
I will say that there was a certain appeal to Dale. We texted frequently and talked on the phone and he made you feel like the apple of his eye...always, "good morning beautiful" etc etc. But didn't take more than a couple of times hanging out for the hinky meter to go off!!!:escape:
I think some people just have good radar, some don't and some are desperate and ignore their radar. The last two would be reasons why someone like Michelle would date someone like Dale, even though other people got a very bad feeling from him after meeting him once or twice.
Experience and street smarts also come into play. Some people just are not equipped to ferret out the scumbags of the world. And sadly, some are drawn to them due to feelings of low self worth or inadequacy.
In my opinion Michelle's disappearance appears to be a more personal crime (ie was perpetrated by some one who knew her), rather than a stranger/random abduction.
It occurred in a very narrow timeline. Statistically, random abductions are rare, so for it to happen in such a small timeframe, never mind at all, is unlikely.
The phone being discarded, intact, in a separate location. I would think most strangers would not take the time to do this since there is very little about the victim, herself, besides any evidence on the body, to ID the perp. So, why attempt to distance the phone (which could be used to ID the victim) from the actual victim? I would think only someone who knew the victim would do this, without even knowing he was making a BIG mistake.
The removal of the Glow decals. I do not believe a stranger would take the time to do this. If the stranger even took the time to attempt to disguise the vehicle, they would simply back the Hummer into a parking spot to delay a witness from IDing the vehicle. Removing the decals is the act of someone who knew Michelle and knew the connection Michelle had to those decals (HER business).
Replying to the brother's text was not the act of a random attacker. First off, why even reply? To delay. A random attacker would have no need to do this. Also, I do not feel a random attacker would feel confident enough to reply to a text without knowing the relationship his victim has with the person ending the text.
Taking the keys from the Hummer after parking it. I think that a random perp would just leave the keys behind. Taking them shows a subconscious desire to protect the vehicle from theft. This would be odd for a random attacker. Why else would you pocket the keys? You clearly can't keep the keys for yourself (they will always be a direct link to whoever parked that Hummer), but you do not want anyone else driving off with that vehicle, so you take the keys with you. I don't think that the person who parked the Hummer even realized they were doing this, it was just second nature. But a random attacker wouldn't care about the vehicle at all; he got what he wanted...Even if the keys are found discarded at another site, this will hold..
So, those are just a few of my thoughts on why this wasn't a random attack. Still thinking on reason/details that would make me lean toward a random attack. I haven't come up with any yet, but would be open to suggestions...
Not saying these details lead to DS being the perp, but they IMO do point to someone who knew Michelle., which narrows the suspect pool considerably.
Excellent, well-reasoned post. Wanted to bump it in case anyone missed it!
I agree...Dale loves attention. I think he was watching the PC episode that day and was not happy. In the episode, it's almost like he doesn't realize the judge is kinda making fun of him for dressing up. He smiles a little when she's talking about it....like she is just another female he can impress. I think he watched the episode and realized he was being made fun of...especially with the announcer comments (Captain America...he's not so super anymore...) and he got mad. I am sure he was drinking and blamed Michelle (even though the whole PC thing was his idea). She showed up to drop off the kids, and they probably had words, and he reacted out of rage.
This is precisely what I envisioned happening and I never met him! But I have met guys like him and I know how they react.
I take things like this with a grain of salt and I'll tell you why. My husband and his first wife got into a verbal fight and she jumped out of the car. Refused to get back in. He physically picked her up and put her in the car because he didn't want to leave her on the side of the road. Took her to her parents house and left. Cops came and tried to arrest him for kidnapping because he forced her back into the car. Luckily, they figured out she was insane and dropped the charges. So while I try not to blame the victim, I also know that there can be two versions of an event.
Some times couples feed off each other, and situations become worse then they should. I do not know either party and only have info on Dale's history. I know what he may be capable of. I know absolutely nothing of Michelle and what I saw on PC tells me she might have given as much as she got. Still not a reason for murder.
True, things like that can happen. But again, this is an example of taking one instance out of context and not putting it together with everything else to create the bigger picture.
Conversely, if the fact that your husband's first wife was insane never was analyzed as part of the puzzle, he may have been arrested. But it was, and we have to look at all the facts here as well.
In the scenario you gave us, your husband had not been dishonorably discharged for assault and battery, which caused injuries. He wasn't involved in a murder at a younger age, I assume. His wife never turned up missing.
Here, we have a gal who disappeared. She disappeared after going to Dale's house. Dale was dishonorably discharged from the military for beating up his ex, he was part of a group that murdered a man. People who know him claim he was controlling and something was off about him.
Clearly, the altercation she described cannot be compared to the case of an insane woman refusing to get back in the car in the middle of nowhere, or a couple feeding off each other in a mutually aggressive altercation. Michelle is missing. Dale is not. Everything from their past that indicates he might be violent now takes on much greater importance than otherwise.
In fact, I fail to see how anything he has been accused of doing in the past can be justified, minimized or downplayed at this stage of the game. Michelle is missing. And the last person to see her is a person with a violent past and the motive to do her harm. :twocents: