GUILTY AL - Kathleen "Kat" West, 42, murdered, Calera, 13 Jan 2018 *husband arrested*

[theides]

bwt, that is true. From all reports I have seen, they seemed to be a happy couple. I recall one neighbor said he heard an argument once, but that is nothing out of the ordinary. But something certainly went haywire with him that night. I think some of opinion of him comes from his appearance in most of the photos we have seen, where he seem to be rather cold, and the offensive shirt he was wearing in the Christmas photo. Additionally, he seems to have just left his wife out in the street to die. Who does that?

BBM. That's a big part of why I see him as very cold. His actions after her death are what really bothers me about him. The way that he left her, the way that he responded after she was found (reports by LE and witnesses painting him as unperturbed by her death). I try not to judge someone by their grief reaction because shock and numbness are definitely possible, but when it comes out that they are charged with the person's death, it does change my perception quite a bit. Additionally, his social media antics following her death bother me. Posting screenshots of the names and faces of people who cast suspicion is his direction. Not a good look when it was you who did it (allegedly, innocent until proven guilty, etc). And finally, the route he and his attorney are taking to "prove his innocence." You would think if it was just a tragic accident then that would be the route they're taking. Yes it happened, but it was accidental and booze fueled. But that's not the route they're taking. They're going for how her "double life" led to her death. Which is BS. JMO.

 

[LadyL]

it's still a double life if her daughter and other people in her life did not know about it
there also might be more to it then we even know about ... that maybe hubby discovered
not that it matters - if he's guilty, there is no excuse

 

[PrairieWind]

LadyL, that is true. But there wasn't a double life as far as he was concerned. I agree there is a lot we don't know, and I wonder if he might have discovered a message to her from someone that visited her site that led him to believe something was going on that he didn't know about. Something made an apparently loving husband fly into a rage and kill his beautiful wife. It could be a reason, but as you said "there is no excuse."

 

[AngelaE8654]

I know it's popular to turn the husband into an evil monster on this thread, but I'll take a different tack. Everything I have seen has painted Kat & Jeff as a loving, happy couple. Her death was a terrible tragedy. We don't know the details of her death & until we do I'll at least consider that it was due to alcohol & that the husband is not some monster.

I tend to believe it was "alcohol driven" as well. They were married for more than a decade and from what I've heard, there wasn't any domestic violence reports from that home. I tend to believe they were drinking and things got ugly and now she's dead. I know the law is kind of weird in Alabama but he may not have intentionally set out to kill her; he may have gotten angry and bashed her on the head due to that fact. In most states, that would be "Second Degree Murder". I guess we'll see based on what comes out at trial unless he pleads.

Then again, the daughter was not at home that night. If this was planned, he'll get a First Degree Murder charge. It's pretty convenient it happened on a night the daughter wasn't home but perhaps they wouldn't have been drinking if she was home?

 

[Stratocaster]

I suspect when the trial starts, the prosecution will have a mic-drop moment. When LE makes a statement 'they knew exactly what happened that night' JMO they came to that conclusion a day or two before the arrest, when they received their results from forensics. I'm under the hunch it was cell phone evidence extraction causing the delay. I'm wondering if LE did the luminal/black light test at the house. Or maybe the crime took place in the bathtub, could explain why she's naked from the waist down, and an easy place to wash down blood.

 

[Stratocaster]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/army-veteran-accused-killing-wife-absinthe-bottle-home/story?id=53368454

...home sleeping

 

[Midge Montana]

I'd be very interested in seeing what his military career looked like. Including discharge.
As an MP, he is trained to kill. IF he served any time in combat, he may have PTSD. Even if he didn't serve in combat, it's not surprising to have a controlling personality in ex-military members. They have learned to have everything 'squared away' because constant thinking and analyzing, routine and uniformity have saved their lives at times.
NOT an excuse but I can tell you from experience that there are often anger issues present in those that have it.
You would not believe some of the silly, tiny, things that can cause a full-throttle blowup and anger outburst.
I've seen it happen when a person could not find the correct ink pen that they were looking for. It's not about the argument, oh no, it is much deeper and as the cop said, these things can escalate quickly.
Adding alcohol...oh boy. Add her career path. I am not surprised one bit that this happened.

Bumping. Have we seen or heard any specifics about his military career yet?

 

[PrairieWind]

I tend to believe it was "alcohol driven" as well. They were married for more than a decade and from what I've heard, there wasn't any domestic violence reports from that home. I tend to believe they were drinking and things got ugly and now she's dead. I know the law is kind of weird in Alabama but he may not have intentionally set out to kill her; he may have gotten angry and bashed her on the head due to that fact. In most states, that would be "Second Degree Murder". I guess we'll see based on what comes out at trial unless he pleads.

Then again, the daughter was not at home that night. If this was planned, he'll get a First Degree Murder charge. It's pretty convenient it happened on a night the daughter wasn't home but perhaps they wouldn't have been drinking if she was home?

I think the fact that the daughter wasn't home allowed them to be drinking heavily, If it had been premeditated, he would have done a better job of it.

 

[PrairieWind]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/army-veteran-accused-killing-wife-absinthe-bottle-home/story?id=53368454

...home sleeping

Thats very interesting. But I recall one of our posters here who had seen Jeff's FB postings and that he was saying the death was an alochol related accident. Doesn't seem to be consistent with his attorney's statements. He would have been better off claiming it was an accident and try to plea to a low manslaughter charge. He could be out of prison in a few years. Now, his story is completely unbelievable which will lead the DA and jury to believe it was truly a cold hearted murder.

 

[Stratocaster]

Thats very interesting. But I recall one of our posters here who had seen Jeff's FB postings and that he was saying the death was an alochol related accident. Doesn't seem to be consistent with his attorney's statements. He would have been better off claiming it was an accident and try to plea to a low manslaughter charge. He could be out of prison in a few years. Now, his story is completely unbelievable which will lead the DA and jury to believe it was truly a cold hearted murder.

Exactly, I think he's tap dancing now. Please for the sake of their own children, I hope this case doesn't go 'OJ Simpson' on us. Hope the truth is revealed, and justice is served for KW.

 

[DexterMorgan]

The bottles of liquor they bought seems to show that they can drink the night away without a problem. Plus date night automatically sets the mood to smiles and hugs and we will argue about the bills some other time but not tonight.

So he obviously snapped due to something dealing with infidelity. Especially since that topic is the only thing that will destroy an alcohol fueled date night.

So alcohol wasn't the main problem. Imo. It was the jealous Oscar Pistorious , flying into a jealous rage that was the problem. Jmo for now.

 

[PrairieWind]

I'm a drinker, but I don't think I have ever had Absinthe. I had no idea it was that expensive! Holy Cow. Guess I won't be trying it anytime soon.
I would really like to know how much money she made from her online activities. I'm not sure its relevant to this case, but just out of my own curiosity. Although, if she was making a lot, there could have been some jealousy since his job was not very high paying.

 

[Stratocaster]

The bottles of liquor they bought seems to show that they can drink the night away without a problem. Plus date night automatically sets the mood to smiles and hugs and we will argue about the bills some other time but not tonight.

So he obviously snapped due to something dealing with infidelity. Especially since that topic is the only thing that will destroy an alcohol fueled date night.

So alcohol wasn't the main problem. Imo. It was the jealous Oscar Pistorious , flying into a jealous rage that was the problem. Jmo for now.

I saw one picture online from the inside of their house, and there's a fully stocked liquor bar with all the trinkets. These two were veteran drinkers IMO.

 

[GrilledCheezy]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/army-veteran-accused-killing-wife-absinthe-bottle-home/story?id=53368454

...home sleeping

From the article:

"She also confirmed that Kathleen purchased a bottle of Lucid Absinthe that cost $74.99 and her husband purchased a $35.99 bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey."

They each paid for their items separately? That seems odd to me. When my husband and I go to the liquor store, one of us pays for everything; there's no divvying up the purchases. This makes me wonder if she had a business account for tax purposes and was planning to use the absinthe as some sort of prop for a photo/video session and write it off?

 

[UWrabbity1]

Wow. I'm stunned at the attorney's defense. The defense is the husband got drunk, fell asleep and happened to wake up at 5 when his wife was discovered? How convenient. At the same time he's blaming her online photos and supposing some stalker could've murdered her. How could a random stalker: get to their house, get her outside, undress her, hit her over the head with a bottle (leaving the bottle there) and have neither the neighbors nor the husband hear anything?That's ridiculous IMO.

Same with PrarieWind - if he had claimed manslaughter under intoxication then I think he could've at least gotten a plea or less time. This will blow up in his face. Finding it odd how hard the lawyer is fighting the bond amount. Guess the husband really wants to get out of there.

 

[InsightfulSage]

From the article:

"She also confirmed that Kathleen purchased a bottle of Lucid Absinthe that cost $74.99 and her husband purchased a $35.99 bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey."

They each paid for their items separately? That seems odd to me. When my husband and I go to the liquor store, one of us pays for everything; there's no divvying up the purchases. This makes me wonder if she had a business account for tax purposes and was planning to use the absinthe as some sort of prop for a photo/video session and write it off?

I thought the separate purchases were odd too, but I wonder if it is just a poorly/oddly written article. Perhaps they paid together but the absinthe was obviously her pick & the whiskey his?


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[DexterMorgan]

I thought the separate purchases were odd too, but I wonder if it is just a poorly/oddly written article. Perhaps they paid together but the absinthe was obviously her pick & the whiskey his?


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Maybe hubby told her that $80 is expensive and she decided to use her own independent money.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Btw. A comatose drunk that passes out is not going to wake up and immediately smoke a cigarette.

I also wonder if he was sober enough to get fully dressed when smoking that cigarette ?

You pass out after several hours of drinking on date night. But your wife is naked and you was able to find your pajamas? Smh

 

[Whiskers16]

I thought the separate purchases were odd too, but I wonder if it is just a poorly/oddly written article. Perhaps they paid together but the absinthe was obviously her pick & the whiskey his?


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I don't think it's odd. My husband and I regularly pay separately, for instance we go to a home improvement store and he wants some new tools for himself and I want a new shower head for my bathroom. We don't have any shared bank accounts or credit cards. If we go to dinner we would alternate who pays.

 

[Stratocaster]

Btw. A comatose drunk that passes out is not going to wake up and immediately smoke a cigarette.

I also wonder if he was sober enough to get fully dressed when smoking that cigarette ?

You pass out after several hours of drinking on date night. But your wife is naked and you was able to find your pajamas? Smh

There's a three hour window from the Absinthe spoon sugar cube photo, until midnight. Something went horribly wrong in between. I hope there's incriminating evidence. Can't stand listening to defence verbal diarrhea, I'm thinking LE has control of this one.