GUILTY WA - Remains in bags, Alki Beach, Seattle, Jun 2020 - Jessica Lewis & Austin "Cash" Wenner *arrest*

[JudgeJudi]

If the investigators have a suspect(s) in mind but are looking for more evidence, here's a suggestion.

The black plastic bags holding the body parts in the Maguire case appear identical to those in this case. They were made from reprocessed plastic which meant that the chemical composition of the bags was distinctive. As plastic is cut to make individual bags, a blade leaves distinctive toolmarks along the perforated edge of each bag. As the blade dulls, those marks change. Bags cut within seconds of each other will have virtually identical marks.

If a suspect is arrested, investigators should check his home and car to see if there are similar bags to those holding the body parts. If the toolmarks on the perforated edge match those holding the body parts they will have another really good piece of circumstantial piece of evidence.

 

[Manwel]

It may seem an unlikely pairing, but it does happen. Read para. 2 of my post on p.7, #121 for one such case.

"What are they getting out of it?" Easy way to kill someone and minimise the risk of the body being discovered. However, the killer probably didn't take into account that gas emanating from the decomposing body parts would cause the bags to float to the surface of the water.

I believe that. I was trying to convince other people to look into this. Someone else claimed they couldn't think of anybody who did this. I found an example in Patrick Kearney, per another post. This particular thread included a few erroneous claims that guns aren't common among serial killers when the basic definition of serial killing is two or more distinct murders with the same weapon/method. Guns are actually a huge weapon of choice among technical serial killings in the U.S.

It seems there are often entertainment-based assumptions about serial killing because movies and TV make serial killers equivalent with "weird murder" and gun deaths just strike people as clandestine but commonplace. American culture is way too comfortable with gun deaths in general. That being said, it does seem to me like the FBI should review this distinction between "weird murder" and multiple gun killings. Remember the one man who went on a rampage to kill people associated with his failed divorce proceedings? He was angry at the people who assisted his wife so he went and killed all of them. This guy is technically considered a serial killer but it's not what we associate with a Dahmer type, right? But I suppose that's where the disorganized killer vs. organized killer comes into play. This rampage guy would be disorganized, but a Dahmer type would be organized.

Anyway, I think that's really what some folks are wondering about here. A disorganized killer would just go shoot people and probably leave it in the open. They dismembered and packed into bags. A disorganized killer afraid of getting caught would try to hide evidence, perhaps by tossing into water like this. But you would anticipate somewhere more remote, not out in the open like this, enough for kids to find and try to open. It all just makes me think of Dexter really. Like you said, this person didn't think about gases, no attempt at weights. Sooo, they probably never watched Dexter.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Sooo, they probably never watched Dexter.

....and they're definitely not a Websleuther either!

 

[JudgeJudi]

But you would anticipate somewhere more remote, not out in the open like this, enough for kids to find and try to open.

Exactly. I don't believe the bags were dumped near to where they were found.

A spokesman for the King County Medical Examiner's Office said they both died on June 10.

The remains were found June 19.

Seattle teens recording TikToks find bags with remains of couple who died of gunshot wounds

If you look at the video at the top of the page, you’ll see there’s quite a bit of movement in the water. IMO the bags were dumped some distance from where they were found and the strong current carried them to the area where they were found. It shouldn’t be too difficult for someone to calculate the approximate distance and location where they were dumped.

“Somebody knows something.” Family of murdered couple found in suitcase asking for answers, justice

 

[Moonbeam456]

I’m from Seattle and from all the comments I’ve read on various local articles and Facebook pages I’m going to lean towards this being a drug/money related killing with meth being involved. Unfortunately I think they both had gone through rough times in their lives and got mixed up with the wrong people.

 

[Marg from Oz]

I am still intrigued as to why they went to so much trouble to disect and wrap up the small body parts. There must be a reason for this. Otherwise you would just bury them.

 

[dotr]

I am still intrigued as to why they went to so much trouble to disect and wrap up the small body parts. There must be a reason for this. Otherwise you would just bury them.

If it turns out that they were shot because money or something else was owed, that would be just a blip in the news...
Dismembering and leaving the remains to be found, would create a great deal of publicity, but more importantly, it would scare, horrify and serve as a warning, to others who may be ''indebted'' to the criminal person or enterprise .
Complete speculation, imo.

 

[branmuffin]

I don't think this murder was a random serial killer. It could be some kind of hit meant to silence someone who was becoming a liability. It's possible one of the deceased is collateral damage.

Trying to find out whether either of them have had past experiences with LE. I've found arrest records for an Austin Wenner but I'm not sure it is the deceased. There's a record of an Austin Wenner being arrested for meth possession and giving false information to LE in 2013 in Washington and another arrest record and incarceration in 2017 for an Austin Randall Perry Wenner for heroin distribution and weapons charges in Oregon. The booking photo for the 2017 arrest really doesn't look anything like the deceased Wenner: no neck tattoo, blond hair, thin, etc.

I hope this whole nightmare is not a case of mistaken identity.

 

[JudgeJudi]

I am still intrigued as to why they went to so much trouble to disect and wrap up the small body parts. There must be a reason for this. Otherwise you would just bury them.

It could come down to where the victims were shot. If it wasn’t in an isolated place, the killer runs the risk of being seen by someone while carrying something the size of a body, even if it was wrapped up. He would then have to transport it in a vehicle and there’s every chance forensic evidence would be left behind, even if it was merely a hair. No-one would pay much, if any, attention seeing someone place a couple of suitcases in a car.

Then the killer again risks being seen when digging the hole. Some bodies are placed in shallow graves because the ground is hard or stony. The longer the killer is at the disposal site, the higher the risk of being seen, so time is important.

If it's drug-related, I still think Wenner's nickname "Cash" could be a clue, and that nickname would be known to others, possibly many others. I'm hoping an arrest will come sooner rather than later.

 

[JudgeJudi]

I’ve just been checking quite a few articles and in each one I’ve read it says “she” or “Jessica” leaves behind four children. I’m wondering why it’s not “they”. This now leads me to believe that the son Austin referred to on FB was in fact to another woman.

 

[branmuffin]

I’ve just been checking quite a few articles and in each one I’ve read it says “she” or “Jessica” leaves behind four children. I’m wondering why it’s not “they”. This now leads me to believe that the son Austin referred to on FB was in fact to another woman.

If I'm not mistaken, Jessica already had two children before she met Austin. The child he fathered was born in 2014, I think. If she has four children then maybe the last child was born after they were together. It could be a case of an on-again-off-again relationship. I haven't seen any verification of the situation, one way or another. Either way, there's four kids out there without a mom.

 

[dotr]

07/15/2020
Chinese video app Tik Tok unresponsive to requests to remove discovery of murder victims | Westside Seattle
''In a note to media outlets, Jaschke wrote:
Hello, I desperately need somebody’s help. I can’t get TikTok to remove the video from their website. I’ve flagged inappropriate content, tried to message the creators/ sound person, with no luck. Unless they follow me, a message is not sent.

It’s been a couple of days, and still no response.

We are getting ready to finally lay Austin & Jessica to rest. We would like the video removed from the website, as it’s already been up far too long. Out of the respect for the families & our loved ones, at this point it’s disrespectful, as everyone is aware of their identities.

I’ve reached out & told the media how much we appreciate the fact they were found so quickly with their help. And for them to not be haunted or scared, that to know Jessica & Austin were normal people just like us. And they were good hearted, and never deserved any of this.

NOBODY will respond back to the families from TIKTOK to have it removed immediately. Can somebody please help us? I don’t know what else to do. Thank you very much''.

 

[PayrollNerd]

07/15/2020
Chinese video app Tik Tok unresponsive to requests to remove discovery of murder victims | Westside Seattle
''In a note to media outlets, Jaschke wrote:
Hello, I desperately need somebody’s help. I can’t get TikTok to remove the video from their website. I’ve flagged inappropriate content, tried to message the creators/ sound person, with no luck. Unless they follow me, a message is not sent.

It’s been a couple of days, and still no response.

We are getting ready to finally lay Austin & Jessica to rest. We would like the video removed from the website, as it’s already been up far too long. Out of the respect for the families & our loved ones, at this point it’s disrespectful, as everyone is aware of their identities.

I’ve reached out & told the media how much we appreciate the fact they were found so quickly with their help. And for them to not be haunted or scared, that to know Jessica & Austin were normal people just like us. And they were good hearted, and never deserved any of this.

NOBODY will respond back to the families from TIKTOK to have it removed immediately. Can somebody please help us? I don’t know what else to do. Thank you very much''.

The sad part is, that video is everywhere and not just on that app. Removing it might initially help reduce the number the views but it will simply be viewed on a news link or FB or somewhere else.

 

[Lusitana]

07/15/2020
Chinese video app Tik Tok unresponsive to requests to remove discovery of murder victims | Westside Seattle
''In a note to media outlets, Jaschke wrote:
Hello, I desperately need somebody’s help. I can’t get TikTok to remove the video from their website. I’ve flagged inappropriate content, tried to message the creators/ sound person, with no luck. Unless they follow me, a message is not sent.

It’s been a couple of days, and still no response.

We are getting ready to finally lay Austin & Jessica to rest. We would like the video removed from the website, as it’s already been up far too long. Out of the respect for the families & our loved ones, at this point it’s disrespectful, as everyone is aware of their identities.

I’ve reached out & told the media how much we appreciate the fact they were found so quickly with their help. And for them to not be haunted or scared, that to know Jessica & Austin were normal people just like us. And they were good hearted, and never deserved any of this.

NOBODY will respond back to the families from TIKTOK to have it removed immediately. Can somebody please help us? I don’t know what else to do. Thank you very much''.

Might be a better shot to contact the kids directly and politely ask them to take it down. I totally understand the family, but there is nothing explicitly graphic on those videos, so can TikTok really do anything if it doesn't break any guidelines? Contacting the kids is the right thing to do, but if they don't want to delete it then I don't think there's much they can do.

 

[branmuffin]

Might be a better shot to contact the kids directly and politely ask them to take it down. I totally understand the family, but there is nothing explicitly graphic on those videos, so can TikTok really do anything if it doesn't break any guidelines? Contacting the kids is the right thing to do, but if they don't want to delete it then I don't think there's much they can do.

Perhaps TikTok is like Facebook. Once you upload it it's difficult to get rid of the video because others copy it.

 

[Lusitana]

Perhaps TikTok is like Facebook. Once you upload it it's difficult to get rid of the video because others copy it.

Oh yeah, that video is everywhere.

 

[dotr]

Family mourns couple who were fatally shot, found in bags on West Seattle beach
''Family members are mourning the deaths of a couple who were fatally shot and found in multiple bags on a West Seattle beach last month — while also voicing concern that cutting police funding, a move that’s recently gained momentum among activists and city leaders, will hinder detectives’ ability to investigate unsolved cases.''

''Jaschke added that the deaths have made her reflect more deeply on the recent push to cut funding to the Police Department. Fearing unsolved cases will fall by the wayside if the department loses resources, she said she’s hoping city officials will think twice before taking action.

“It’s not just Jessie and Cash that are victims of violent crimes,” she said. “Families want answers and need answers to get some kind of closure, and we’re going to take something like that away from people who have been hurt.”

 

[Charlot123]

Not that this is likely, but..
what if the shooting deaths were just a means to an end, ie. the "pleasure" being to dismember human beings,''pack'' them and leave the bags at a beach to shock and horrify not just the person who finds them, but the whole community? speculation, imo.

To me, dismemberment and wrapping means. some premeditation, maybe prior experience, but also, poor knowledge of physiology. Otherwise he’d never dump the bags into water. So, he either dismembered and buried in earth before, or hid somewhere where bodies were not found.

But I think it is not the first time, as two bodies are a lot of work. Experience but no knowledge, who could it be?

 

[mrazda71]

I would err on the side of not a simple drug debt/falling out ... I feel that would more likely be a shoot and run type.

Interesting that Jessica was shot multiple times and Cash only once (?) ...

That's a lot of work covering up, killing, dismembering, packaging, dumping, clean up & covering tracks.

Wish we knew more facts about the family set up ... were they living together? Where did her kids live? Were they homeless? Were they missing/reported missing?

 

[Manwel]

Family mourns couple who were fatally shot, found in bags on West Seattle beach
''Family members are mourning the deaths of a couple who were fatally shot and found in multiple bags on a West Seattle beach last month — while also voicing concern that cutting police funding, a move that’s recently gained momentum among activists and city leaders, will hinder detectives’ ability to investigate unsolved cases.''

''Jaschke added that the deaths have made her reflect more deeply on the recent push to cut funding to the Police Department. Fearing unsolved cases will fall by the wayside if the department loses resources, she said she’s hoping city officials will think twice before taking action.

“It’s not just Jessie and Cash that are victims of violent crimes,” she said. “Families want answers and need answers to get some kind of closure, and we’re going to take something like that away from people who have been hurt.”

Nobody is asking to reduce funding for murder victims and major criminal investigations. This case involves the FBI. People DO want reorganized funding so someone trained in de-escalation and psychology shows up for a domestic disturbance, not a cop whose training is 100% focused on their own self-preservation.

In other countries, you don't call the police to deal with a mental health crisis and get beat cops who are angry they have to deal with "someone's issues." You get specialists who arrive. That's what it's about. It tires me to no end that people misunderstand the request because they've been calling the cops for everything under the sun for so long that they don't know better.