TX - Terri 'Missy' Bevers, 45, killed in church/suspect in SWAT gear, Midlothian, 18 Apr 2016 #47

[SteveS]

The search warrant stating she suffered multiple puncture wounds found on her head and chest consistent with tools the suspect was carrying thought the building was issued the day after MB was killed. They didn't know a gun was involved until the autopsy was performed.

This sequence is correct. (At what point they knew she had been shot, I don't know if we know that. It may have been obvious from the outset.)

But it may not be saying what you have in mind with those details, because as gliving noted, the autopsy was done as a priority and autopsy results were said to be back and available to LE the morning of day 2, BEFORE the day 2 SW (which was done around 6 pm on day 2). The news report on the afternoon of day 2 says "In a written statement, Chief Kevin Johnson said the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office completed an autopsy on Bevers Tuesday morning. "In the interest of the ongoing investigation, we are not releasing any details ... at this time," he said."

This leads to an interesting possibility about the odd SW wording. What if the person writing up the SW had just read the autopsy report before doing the SW? Obviously the autopsy would be tasked with describing the body and its wounds precisely. So in the SW they simply parrot the autopsy wording that there were "puncture wounds to the head and chest" (which explains the origin of that odd terminology), adding that the video fits in some way, and that's how we get to where we are.

 

[Tippy Lynn]

What you say is possible, but it is speculation nonetheless.

RSBM:
MurderData.Org dataset lists weapon used as handgun/revolver

From the Media and Timeline Thread:

TX - Terri 'Missy' Bevers, Dallas 18 Apr 2016 Media & Timeline *NO DISCUSSION*

Man Wanted In Random Malibu Park Shootings Arrested: Report The suspect's arrest came a day after an early morning burglary at a Calabasas community center, where someone smashed a vending machine and stole food, sparking concerns the crime was committed by a rifle-toting burglar spotted in the...

www.websleuths.com

 

[Tippy Lynn]

Is this FBI report accurate? The murder weapon was a handgun?
View attachment 300002

 

[Hexe]

This leads to an interesting possibility about the odd SW wording. What if the person writing up the SW had just read the autopsy report before doing the SW? Obviously the autopsy would be tasked with describing the body and its wounds precisely. So in the SW they simply parrot the autopsy wording that there were "puncture wounds to the head and chest" (which explains the origin of that odd terminology), adding that the video fits in some way, and that's how we get to where we are.

I haven't seen in my life a single autopsy report in which the gunshot wounds would be described as puncture ones.

 

[SteveS]

I haven't seen in my life a single autopsy report in which the gunshot wounds would be described as puncture ones.

I don't read a lot of autopsy reports. Do you?

I am not a peruser of autopsies, and wouldn't know if they ever mention puncture wounds for anything. I'm guessing they might, but it's just a guess.

From what I understand
(1) an autopsy would be describing the condition of the body and any trauma in observational and technical terms
(2) in medical coding, what a gunshot does, when a bullet enters a body, is to be coded as a "puncture wound" -- so whether that's familiar terminology to us, it's apparently proper terminology for certain medically-related purposes

 

[Hexe]

From what I understand
(1) an autopsy would be describing the condition of the body and any trauma in observational and technical terms

Yes.

(2) in medical coding, what a gunshot does, when a bullet enters a body, is to be coded as a "puncture wound" -- so whether that's familiar terminology to us, it's apparently proper terminology for certain medically-related purposes

No. A medical terminology for a gunshot injury is, well, a gunshot injury. A puncture injury is also known as a stab wound, that is an injury inflicted by a sharp, pointed object, entering the body during more or less perpendicular movement. They are, basically, a subtype of sharp force injuries.

So nope, not even a semi-decent medical examiner would describe a gunshot wound as a puncture wound. It would be like farmer describing a cow as a kind of goat.

 

[SteveS]

Yes. This how-to website on medical coding says what I just said. But maybe medical coders do things differently from autopsies and MEs, I dunno.

"A gunshot wound is a penetrating wound or a puncture wound. It is also a traumatic wound."

It also gives a long explanation of the terminology and coding that is involved in various types of puncture wounds caused by gunshot.

Quick Links to Information in this Post

• What is a Gunshot Wound?
• Entrance and Exit Wounds
  • Entrance Wounds
  • Exit Wounds
• The Damage It Causes
• ICD-10-CM Coding Guidelines
• Coding Example
  • Puncture Wound – Locate and Verify
  • External Cause – Locate and Verify
• Conclusion

Taking the Pain Out of Gunshot Wounds in ICD-10

Assigning the correct codes for gunshot wounds in ICD-10 requires that you understand what terms to look up and the guidelines related to external causes.

www.medicalcodingbuff.com

 

[Hexe]

Yes. This how-to website on medical coding says what I just said. But maybe medical coders do things differently from autopsies and MEs, I dunno.

"A gunshot wound is a penetrating wound or a puncture wound. It is also a traumatic wound."

It also gives a long explanation of the terminology and coding that is involved in various types of puncture wounds caused by gunshot.

ICD 10 is a set of codes used for medical records of living patients and for medical insurance stuff. That's something entirely different than what is required in forensic medicine. Treatment (and insurance) wise it does not make a lot of difference if a penetrating wound in patient's body was done by knife or by bullet. The codes allow to write into patient's documentation the most important info in a nutshell. In forensic medicine it makes a huge difference, therefore the description of injuries has to be as precise as it is possible. The investigators and later the prosecution need to know what made that hole in the dead person. A doctor does not have to know what made a hole in his living patient, he needs to know what is damaged.

 

[cenazoic]

It might be interesting to see the state of Indiana’s autopsy protocol, in part:

“Step 4: External Examination of Body.
…the following is generally examined, or noted, during this phase of the autopsy…any puncture marks to include those of needles; and, specific injuries noted, such as stab wounds, gunshot wounds or blunt instrument injuries.”

 

[SteveS]

So it sounds like puncture wounds to refer to gunshot wounds would be proper medical terminology when used in certain circumstances, but would be unlikely to be used in an autopsy. Which would mean that LE's use of that particular wording was motivated by something other than "borrowed the wording from having just read it in the autopsy."

The mystery continues. Perhaps "deliberate obfuscation" is the answer after all, as we had surmised from their other actions.

One thing we do know is that LE tends to cherry-pick information provided for SWs, so that what they include must be factual in some way, but may not be their best theory at the moment, or even what they think is their clearest evidence, and some vital info may be deliberately excluded to be helpful for getting that particular SW. Perhaps that in some way was at play here in this wording?

Or, perhaps also we just aren't parsing the SW finely enough. It says:

"Terri Bevers’ had multiple puncture wounds found on her head and chest are consistent
with the tools the suspect was carrying throughout the building."

If we want to get picky, they don't say that those wounds were the COD. Nor does it says those particular wounds were necessarily severe. Nor does it say anything about any other COD, or whether there were other wounds. It only says some "puncture wounds" were "found on" her. There's certainly plenty of room left for her to be killed by gunshot as FBI records are saying, no matter how we tend to see this SW wording.

 

[SteveS]

One other piece of info I wandered across while wrestling through the old docs is the Ellis County Sheriff's Office crime scene report. It is a heavily redacted report obtained via FOIA which contains info from one of the officers who was on the scene that morning, and then followed up later. It includes these interesting pieces of info in his notes:

1 "On Wednesday, April 20, 2016, I conducted an Etrace search with the ATF on the handgun found at the body site location." The rest of the para, probably anther 40-50 words, is blacked out.
2 The next para tells about him looking for "suspicious sales of ammunition and or guns" that might have occurred early on the 18th, and contacting the Walmart person who might have such info.
3 Later in the report, he relates several paragraphs of information about when he spoke with the Walmart supervisor on Apr 21, but all the content is redacted except her name.

He also mentions contacting both the ATF and the Secret Service.

We think the only firearm found at the scene was the one in MB's vehicle. The ownership of that was known and obvious, and very broadly, her truck would have been at the "body site location." (But maybe that is not what was being mentioned here?)

For our edification, the officer chasing possible sale of ammo, or a gun that might have been used, that certainly points to investigating a shooting. They would have known immediately that MB's gun had not been fired.

 

[evilwise]

Not all puncture wounds are gunshot wounds and not all gunshot wounds are puncture wounds. A rifle is likely to make a penetrating wound and a shotgun is likely to cause a massive trauma injury (along with superficial puncture stippling). To me, a thorough medical examination would likely describe a handgun injury both as a gunshot wound and as a puncture wound with a slug revived from it (and that slug's caliber or precise measurements of it)

So it does seem quite believable to me that the FBI database is accurate, that Missy was killed by handgun wounds and that law enforcement trying to provide an update while specifically avoiding describing the murder weapon might choose to describe them as puncture wounds. However, the FBI data is also very explicitly unverified data from voluntary contributions and is not intended to be used in the way we are trying to use it.

The discussion literally has been going around in circles and will continue to do so until law enforcement release more details, which they don't seem keen to do.

 

[DeDee]

I no longer possess the frame by frame image file of the church video but grabbed an image of the SPs hammer. It appears to be a bifurcated straight claw hammer opposed to a curved claw hammer. Since it is a straight claw hammer, I do believe a forensic pathologist may describe injuries made with the claw as lacerations. IDK

 

[beubeubeu]

Multiple shooting wounds, unusual outfit for a burglar, unusual behaviour for a burglar... poor research of a place to rob mixed with high level of sophisticated weirdness doesn't occur that often - and even those parts that seemingly point out as possibly poor research are mixed with some implications of excellent research of the location.

I've never said anything about this case before, despite of hearing abour it right after it happened so I apologize for being redundant, but it always striked me.
If the person on the surveillance was just a burglar and got surprised by Missy... wouldn't it be incredibly easy for him/her to say something to the accord of "Miss, please lock yourself in this room and hide far from the windows. There may be a dangerous intruder here. We'll let you know when it'll be safe to go out" and flee? It's not like they could be unaware what they're wearing. If it was all just to cover identity while burglarizing, then clearly cause surveillance was considered, and likely not only surveillance but also a chance of accidentally meeting someone "on the job". Perfect outfit to get away with no consequences. Possibly even no talking needed if the voice was known to Missy, some hand gestures should convince unarmed woman to hide.

It screams targeted, pre-planned murder IMO. Unusual plan and bizarre vibe, but also the perfect time to ambush Missy with no whitnesses and no gun on her. Any other time or location would be much more risky for the killer/s.

On the other hand...
Now as I'm thinking about it more - maybe I gave this person too much credit?
My "obvious" assumption was that the reasoning behind choosing such an unusual outfit for a robbery had to be:
- to be 100% sure that they're wearing the perfect disguise and no surveillance will help anyone to recognize them,
- to not leave behind any fingerprints or dna (no hair, no accidental sneezing residue anywhere),
- and also to use ALL the advantages that this outfit provides: so if somebody (but not LE) will show up there early in the morning, then the burglar would be able and ready to talk his way out of it by convincing the person or persons to act like they met real SWAT officer (so order them to hide somewhere "safe" or run away), getting some time to escape and disappear.

I can't imagine myself to somehow end up in the position where I "have to" burglarize the church and just casually walk around, no rush, looking here, looking there...
THE CHURCH from all the places and NOT trying to move as quicky as possible, NOT making sure that I'm spending the least amount of time inside while looking for valuables. And to spend an hour there? This is crazy.

But to act like that while waiting for a person that I want to commit violent murder on? Why lights on? While leaving all these doors open and obviously disturbed? It's not like it wouldn't look like a burglary gone wrong if the person would make their presence less obvious for those coming in while checking out what's inside those rooms and stealing some things. It's not like cameras would not caught them if they closed each doors shut after opening them.
It's very possible that person going into building that should be empty and seeing lights being on would go against their basic instinct and brush it off as weird, assume that someone forgot to turn them off or that something is malfunctioning. But lights on and all the random doors open? Some glass on the floor? That could make Missy run out of there asap.

That perp's way of thinking was bizarre no matter if they were after Missy or stealing.
It's like... first burglary done by a crazy person who got burglarizing experience from tv or targeted murder done by deeply disturbed individual who decided to do something straight from the (previously mentioned) Agatha Christie novel.

I can't add anything about the murder weapon, just that this part of crowbar definitely can cause terrible puncture wounds:


But again, puncture wounds on her head AND chest.
This is not normal.
At least IMO the "expected" behaviour from burglar caught on burglarizing by a single person while being totally in disguise would be to:
a) lock the person somewhere and run away,
b) convince the person to surrender, maybe tie them up and run away,
c) hit them once to get some time and run away,
d) maybe even hit the person hard enough (if they're willing to fight or are actively trying to stop the burglary) to risk maybe killing them but still - with the only goal there being to get away without being caught or recognised.

What kind of burglar decides to go out of their way to stab the person multiple times in the head and chest? MULTIPLE times. One such puncture caused by hammer, crowbar or a gun is more than enough to cause a person to fall down and surely enough to stop them from chasing the burglar. Yet Missy got multiple puncture wounds and possibly was also shot.

There is no way that it was "just a burglary" gone wrong. Outfit is bizarre, behaviour is bizarre, murder is violent.
It does not sound like some well planning highely sophisticated, cold blooded murdered in action and such an unstable person with possible grudge against Missy should be identifiable for investigators long ago. It's still unsolved so... burglary done by deeply deranged person?

 

[DeDee]

Nice, yet terrifying post, beubeubeu.

On May 5, 2016, the DallasNews reported:

"The killer may have used a cellphone to record the slaying, according to the affidavit." Ok. So, SP is filming with their cell phone while stabbing and shooting Missy? Is this possible recording an inference to a hired hit as it could be offered for proof that the deed is done? Is the GoPro headlamp capable of making a recording? (It may not be GoPro but the brand was mentioned once upon a time.)

The news article also contains the Updated version of the Creekside Church surveillance video where it begins with the SP exiting the kitchen and touching the Eastern wall with the right hand for balance. SP likely has an injured right leg, as the article states. Next, we see SP opening an unlocked closet in the Western hallway and exiting with a hammer. I believe the killer knew the hammer placed in that particular closet was meant for their nefarious purposes. Foreknowledge. Who could have placed a hammer in that closet for SP?

Slain fitness instructor Missy Bevers received 'creepy and strange' message days before death, search warrant says

I agree it is odd that some closet and room doors are left open, especially the Dutch door near the SW doors Missy entered. However, we were told there is more video not shown to the public but that SP behaves basically the same way throughout their milling around so there's a chance the SP closed the doors. We just don't know.

Broken glass may not have been visible to Missy as it could have come from the glass table in the W hallway near the locked closet door when the assault occurred. If MB made it all the way to look down the Eastern corridor, she could have noticed the broken glass doors at the NE corner but we're not certain she made it that far into the church before being attacked.

In the Southern hallway, when SP walks toward the W hallway, they are lit up like a Christmas tree with a headlamp, flashlight and the lights from above. Second image shows the headlamp shining on the wall as SP enters the sanctuary. For full impact of SP's confident behavior, may I suggest viewing the videos in slow motion?

 

[FromGermany1]

One other piece of info I wandered across while wrestling through the old docs is the Ellis County Sheriff's Office crime scene report. It is a heavily redacted report obtained via FOIA which contains info from one of the officers who was on the scene that morning, and then followed up later. It includes these interesting pieces of info in his notes:

1 "On Wednesday, April 20, 2016, I conducted an Etrace search with the ATF on the handgun found at the body site location." The rest of the para, probably anther 40-50 words, is blacked out.
2 The next para tells about him looking for "suspicious sales of ammunition and or guns" that might have occurred early on the 18th, and contacting the Walmart person who might have such info.
3 Later in the report, he relates several paragraphs of information about when he spoke with the Walmart supervisor on Apr 21, but all the content is redacted except her name.

He also mentions contacting both the ATF and the Secret Service.

We think the only firearm found at the scene was the one in MB's vehicle. The ownership of that was known and obvious, and very broadly, her truck would have been at the "body site location." (But maybe that is not what was being mentioned here?)

For our edification, the officer chasing possible sale of ammo, or a gun that might have been used, that certainly points to investigating a shooting. They would have known immediately that MB's gun had not been fired.

I remember the ATF being at the church, and we thought of a possible bomb threat ......

 

[FromGermany1]

Nice, yet terrifying post, beubeubeu.

On May 5, 2016, the DallasNews reported:

"The killer may have used a cellphone to record the slaying, according to the affidavit." Ok. So, SP is filming with their cell phone while stabbing and shooting Missy? Is this possible recording an inference to a hired hit as it could be offered for proof that the deed is done? Is the GoPro headlamp capable of making a recording? (It may not be GoPro but the brand was mentioned once upon a time.)

The news article also contains the Updated version of the Creekside Church surveillance video where it begins with the SP exiting the kitchen and touching the Eastern wall with the right hand for balance. SP likely has an injured right leg, as the article states. Next, we see SP opening an unlocked closet in the Western hallway and exiting with a hammer. I believe the killer knew the hammer placed in that particular closet was meant for their nefarious purposes. Foreknowledge. Who could have placed a hammer in that closet for SP?

Slain fitness instructor Missy Bevers received 'creepy and strange' message days before death, search warrant says

I agree it is odd that some closet and room doors are left open, especially the Dutch door near the SW doors Missy entered. However, we were told there is more video not shown to the public but that SP behaves basically the same way throughout their milling around so there's a chance the SP closed the doors. We just don't know.

Broken glass may not have been visible to Missy as it could have come from the glass table in the W hallway near the locked closet door when the assault occurred. If MB made it all the way to look down the Eastern corridor, she could have noticed the broken glass doors at the NE corner but we're not certain she made it that far into the church before being attacked.

In the Southern hallway, when SP walks toward the W hallway, they are lit up like a Christmas tree with a headlamp, flashlight and the lights from above. Second image shows the headlamp shining on the wall as SP enters the sanctuary. For full impact of SP's confident behavior, may I suggest viewing the videos in slow motion?

View attachment 360150

View attachment 360145

Who does need a headlamp (plus a flashlight) to break some door glasses? To distort his eye area in the video recording? He is somehow overdressed/overfitted a bit, it seems. A devilish weirdo - can we say so? SP lives out his fantasies while doing a job for money, PERHAPS. IMO

 

[ilovewings]

This is beginning to look like one of those perfect crimes that police tell us don't exist.
There he/she is, in plain sight for all the world to see--- in a SWAT outfit no less-- and yet this person is unable to be identified---I wonder if they have a cold case unit looking at this case- sometimes it takes new sets of eyes to look at a cold case and see things that were not emphasized initially or missed altogether earlier in the case. Most of us who follow true crime have seen quite often that lots of clues are missed early on in a case, but later seen by new sets of eyes. I hope that is going on with this case. This lady and her family deserve justice.

 

[SteveS]

Next, we see SP opening an unlocked closet in the Western hallway and exiting with a hammer. I believe the killer knew the hammer placed in that particular closet was meant for their nefarious purposes. Foreknowledge. Who could have placed a hammer in that closet for SP?

It's possible perp found one or more tools in that closet and used them. Do we even know what sort of a closet it was? (Was it a closet at all?)

But I'm not convinced that's what we're seeing. We don't know what perp had in his hand(s) when he entered that closet, and he may have had the same things entering as exiting. And to me it looks like they had cargo pants/pockets on both sides that they were slipping items into and out of as they went along. I'm thinking it more likely perp was just carrying and using tools they brought with them.

On May 5, 2016, the DallasNews reported:

"The killer may have used a cellphone to record the slaying, according to the affidavit." Ok. So, SP is filming with their cell phone while stabbing and shooting Missy?

In this affidavit, LE is using dramatization and speculation to justify the broad SW they were requesting. It doesn't mean they REALLY believed it in the least.

The affidavit would have been the one submitted for the Apr 21 SW request of any and all ATT records in the area. They wanted permission to go on a VERY BROAD fishing expedition for data to see what they could find that they might be able to use, so they mentioned every possibility as assumed to have happened by perp (no matter how far-fetched) that they thought might help them get a yes.

The request was massive. It was for any and all phone and data transmissions (a "tower dump") for every cell tower extending 5 miles in every direction from the church, between 3:00 and 5:00 am.

 

[moslym3]

The request was massive. It was for any and all phone and data transmissions (a "tower dump") for every cell tower extending 5 miles in every direction from the church, between 3:00 and 5:00 am.

Every time i think about this "tower dump" i quietly wish and hope LE also requested the same timeframe 3-5am on the two Mondays before and after the murder. Then i hope and wish they handed that data over to some really smart data scientists who could identify any outlier phones - phones that are "new" to the area. Depending on how dense of an area this is, I could imagine that there would only be a few dozen "stranger phones" in the area at that time. Great way to generate a few persons to explore. Especially at 3-5 in the morning when presumably the fewest phones are active.
All my speculation.