Evidence

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

MY SPECULATION ONLY.

I thought that Janet was already upstairs, possibly on the computer. She was attacked and killed there. The blood found elsewhere was from the murderer.

That might account for why the co-worker was disturbed hearing a report of a murdered woman and concerned because Janet didn't respond.

I agree with this scenario. As we know the details right now, this is what I find most likely to have happened. I stated a while back that I believe that Janet was on the computer while someone tip-toed up behind her. She heard him/her at the last minute, and as she turned around, a knife-blow that was intended for her back hit her in the shoulder. She probably grabbed her shoulder as she stood up the best she could, and tried to get past the perp. The perp swung the knife at her again, and this time she put her hand up to protect herself, causing a wound to her hand. As she gets closer to the door to get out, or as she's fending off the second blow, she bumps up against the wall, causing the blood from her shoulder to stain the wall. I would assume that at that point, the perp grabbed her, perhaps threw her down, and got her the 3rd time. This is the scenario that makes the most sense to me.

LE would have swabbed the computer had it been there but we still don't know if it was. We also don't know if there are things that were swabbed that we don't know about because it seems apparent that pages are missing from the search warrant.

ETA: The above scenario is IF the statements we've been told about the 3 wounds are true.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I agree, but I believe that initially they may have been looking at a number of senarios, including burglary. Something must have made them rule that out when the released that this was not a random murder. Raven may not have been *capable* in LE's opinion to be seriously interviewed that evening.

Raven could also have said that he and Janet only had a laptop, and the laptop was stolen from his car a week ago. Or he could have produced a laptop, (most likely one that doesn't have so much questionable stuff on it), saying that it was in his car during the soccer game.

 

[Timex]

I can agree with the above scenario, as it would certainly fit into what we know at this time. However, just my opinion, but I think if LE felt they truely had Raven in a lie that night, they would have taken him in, no matter what his condition was. That would have been the best time to get him to "break".
They have to know if his story about soccer is true or not. Just no way they dont know this. If they have proof he was not, that, to me, would have resulted in an arrest.

 

[golfmom]

Raven could also have said that he and Janet only had a laptop, and the laptop was stolen from his car a week ago. Or he could have produced a laptop, (most likely one that doesn't have so much questionable stuff on it), saying that it was in his car during the soccer game.

Damn that laptop! it's going to drive us all crazy. :banghead:

 

[Timex]

Raven could also have said that he and Janet only had a laptop, and the laptop was stolen from his car a week ago. Or he could have produced a laptop, (most likely one that doesn't have so much questionable stuff on it), saying that it was in his car during the soccer game.

But if she was talking to someone on the computer at the time of the murder...LE would have to know he was lying if he told them such a story.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I can agree with the above scenario, as it would certainly fit into what we know at this time. However, just my opinion, but I think if LE felt they truely had Raven in a lie that night, they would have taken him in, no matter what his condition was. That would have been the best time to get him to "break".
They have to know if his story about soccer is true or not. Just no way they dont know this. If they have proof he was not, that, to me, would have resulted in an arrest.

Yeah, you're probably right. So the only possibilities are that either Raven didn't do it or he was good about covering his tracks. Could it be that he had two laptops? One that he hid, and one that he put in its place before they arrived?

Also, does the warrant mention there being a lot of blood on the walls & floor? Because if it was just a stain and not a huge mess like we might have been assuming, and the 3 wound statement correct, it could be that the perp wanted to use only the number of stabs necessary to cause death but without making a big mess of him/herself that would cause evidence/shoeprints, etc. to be dragged through the house and into their car, etc.

 

[Timex]

IF she was talking to someone online replacing the computer would be fruitless. LE would know it wasnt the same computer, since they would know who her last correspondance was with. This would have made Raven a SERIOUS supsect IMO...and given them more than enough for an arrest.

 

[SouthEastSleuth]

I can agree with the above scenario, as it would certainly fit into what we know at this time. However, just my opinion, but I think if LE felt they truely had Raven in a lie that night, they would have taken him in, no matter what his condition was. That would have been the best time to get him to "break".
They have to know if his story about soccer is true or not. Just no way they dont know this. If they have proof he was not, that, to me, would have resulted in an arrest.

Totally agree. That's why I've harped so much on that soccer game. So easy to verify, or not. I mean come on, even IF it was some pick up game, with strangers, would it be THAT difficult to track those people down? And God, if it was me and I knew that there people I had been with that night, that could vouch for me, I sure hope they would come forward to do so, even if I didn't know one single name of those people.

The soccer game is such an easy check, IMO. It's not like he said I was out walking by myself for hours, to get some fresh air, and I don't know if anyone saw me or not.

Now, that said -

another theory I've always toyed with is this:

He could have murdered Janet, THEN gone to play soccer, just to CREATE an alibi. Again, what would be vitally important to know here is TOD...

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

IF she was talking to someone online replacing the computer would be fruitless. LE would know it wasnt the same computer, since they would know who her last correspondance was with. This would have made Raven a SERIOUS supsect IMO...and given them more than enough for an arrest.

IF the computer's been investigated yet. If there are a lot of murders in that area, and the lab is desperately backed up, so might be the person/people that investigate computers?

 

[Timex]

IF the computer's been investigated yet. If there are a lot of murders in that area, and the lab is desperately backed up, so might be the person/people that investigate computers?

For a full forensic investigation of the computer, yes...but just to do a quick check of the history to see where she was last doesnt take much, doesnt even take an expert to check her email etc.

If co-worker said to LE:

"I was IM'ing her and she just disappeared" it would be so very easy for them to tell if this was the computer she had been using. If that computer wasnt in use at the time the co-worker said she was speaking with her...it couldnt be the same computer.

 

[Timex]

He could have murdered Janet, THEN gone to play soccer, just to CREATE an alibi. Again, what would be vitally important to know here is TOD...

Except we are assuming she was online with the co-worker. She would had to have been alive longer than the above scenario would permit.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

He could have murdered Janet, THEN gone to play soccer, just to CREATE an alibi. Again, what would be vitally important to know here is TOD...

And as someone mentioned a while back, perhaps there was a shower facility/locker room where he could have cleaned up, especially if there wasn't much blood to be seen on him because the murder wasn't particularly messy.

If it was a true pick-up game where anyone can join in, it's entirely possible that it was a game where everyone was a total stranger. Raven knows enough about the soccer scene to know what pick-up games are played where, the usual make-up of the teams (regulars or strangers), and how the length of drive might fit into his alibi. If the pick-up game was of the type that anyone can just stop by, there's nothing saying that LE would be able to determine who was there that night. And since LE hasn't made a public plea for people to come forward, how would Raven's fellow players even know that LE was looking for people to firm up his alibi? I noticed, BTW, that a couple of the leagues were at the end of their seasons in April. Imagine how convenient it would be to go to a stranger pick-up game on the last night of the season?

 

[SouthEastSleuth]

IF the computer's been investigated yet. If there are a lot of murders in that area, and the lab is desperately backed up, so might be the person/people that investigate computers?

Funny you mention that. This article was in a local newspaper, just YESTERDAY! (Note: SBI is the State Bureau of Investigation in NC. I do NOT know if local LE offices have their own experts in this regard, but, I somewhat doubt it...)

An excerpt:

"RALEIGH -- SBI agent Eric R. Hicks spent last week scouring more than half a million files on one computer hard drive for evidence against a man accused of sending *advertiser censored* to kids. Because he always works two cases at once, Hicks also was searching 100,000 files in a child *advertiser censored* case.


As the agency's only computer forensic technician, Hicks' work is in such high demand that he handles only murder or child exploitation cases, and he still has a backlog of about 50 cases -- a year's work.

"We need help," Hicks said. "We need it bad." Hicks isn't the only one at the Raleigh crime lab who's struggling. The 17 geneticists have 36,000 DNA samples awaiting analysis and review before they can go into a database. The 19 drug chemists who travel to methamphetamine lab busts have a backlog of 15,000 drug cases."

The full article is here:

http://www.newsobserver.com/print/wednesday/front/story/2482570p-8886859c.html

 

[Jesstexas]

About the shoes - the first thing I thought of was that they took several pairs of extra shoes (besides the ones Raven was wearing at the time) to compare with bloody footprints found on the scene. (Complete conjecture on my part, I know, but the murder was reported by the media as being "brutal" and LE listed blood stains on the walls - if the scene was bloody and "brutal", I'd expect the killer to have left bloody footprints getting out of there.)


Something else that's bothered me about the items on the search warrant. There were two items of "paper" seized - both from the foyer (which to me, means the area just inside of the FRONT door). Were these items seized along with other "financial" type evidence, because they had blood spatter on them, or because they may have fingerprint evidence on them? (Like, if Janet answered the door bell - FRONT door - and opened it because someone was standing there with papers for her, struggle ensues and papers are dropped?)

 

[Timex]

One thing Im trying to figure out is...how long did the co-worker wait before going over to the house? I know we have been told she/he went when they heard of a murder there in the area...but was that 30 minutes after they had heard from Janet...an hour after...just how long after was it?

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Except we are assuming she was online with the co-worker. She would had to have been alive longer than the above scenario would permit.

Unless it was a situation where the person she was talking to didn't get worried until she saw it on the news, as was mentioned earlier. Janet couldn't have stopped chatting mid-sentence because until you hit "send", your words aren't displayed in the IM. She could have left off mid-conversation which might have concerned the co-worker but she might have assumed that Raven got home, and that Janet was either pretending that she wasn't online when he got there or that they were talking/arguing. I can see that making the co-worker hesitant about calling or stopping to see what was going on, (not wanting to get Janet "in (more) trouble" with Raven if they were arguing. Then upon seeing a murder on the news, she "just knew" it was Janet.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Funny you mention that. This article was in a local newspaper, just YESTERDAY! (Note: SBI is the State Bureau of Investigation in NC. I do NOT know if local LE offices have their own experts in this regard, but, I somewhat doubt it...)

An excerpt:

"RALEIGH -- SBI agent Eric R. Hicks spent last week scouring more than half a million files on one computer hard drive for evidence against a man accused of sending *advertiser censored* to kids. Because he always works two cases at once, Hicks also was searching 100,000 files in a child *advertiser censored* case.


As the agency's only computer forensic technician, Hicks' work is in such high demand that he handles only murder or child exploitation cases, and he still has a backlog of about 50 cases -- a year's work...

Wow, that could explain things. I would think that ongoing child exploitation would take priority over murder but I could be wrong. Would the computer have to wait for him or is a preliminary done on it to acquire basic information, (like Janet being online at the time of the murder)?

 

[Timex]

Right, thats why I was wondering how long it was.

If the last the coworker heard from Janet was at say 10:20, and LE was at the house by 10:58, then we are only seeing 48 minutes for Raven to have committed the crime, cleaned himself up, set the scene and call 911.

If the last the coworker heard from her was say 7:20...then we are seeing ample time for him to have accomplished all he needed.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I thought the papers in the foyer were noted as being taken from a closet? What makes me curious is why they would take those papers in the first place? Is it standard to take financial papers (or whatever else they might have been), was it something that piqued the searchers' interest, or is it based on the knowledge that Raven is an accused embezzler?

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Right, thats why I was wondering how long it was.

If the last the coworker heard from Janet was at say 10:20, and LE was at the house by 10:58, then we are only seeing 48 minutes for Raven to have committed the crime, cleaned himself up, set the scene and call 911.

If the last the coworker heard from her was say 7:20...then we are seeing ample time for him to have accomplished all he needed.

That's true. Another critical piece of information that would give us a much clearer idea of what we're looking at.