I both agree and disagree with you FC (as an attorney [yes, verified on WS] for the last 20 years--I am very good at doing both at the same time!)
Hindsight is always 20/20 to begin with. But, that being said, it is much much much more usual that the staties or the local LE run into drunk kids who didn't make the curve--which you must agree, is what MM's case initially looked like---than anything else up here. I know this because I have a 19 year old and a 16 year old and I HATE the idea of them driving around our back roads at night, every night. You can't get there from here--as the saying goes.
I do agree with you on LE digging in their heels later---to either cover for their own or because they can't admit they called it wrong in the first place. But you must also understand that we have VERY limited resources---no income taxes,
no sales tax, live free or die attitude means (a) we have no excess funds and barely any operating funds and (b) we let people take care of their own business to the extent we can. It is a very closed culture--even more so away from the only real "civilization" we have (Manchvegas, Concord and the Seacoast, IMHO).
I have worked in state government and seen the true cost of a very low tax base---no resources. Should they have done more? Absolutely. Do I think they did an average at best job in the beginning and nothing later? Absolutely.
But do I think they were either negligent or intentional in their work? No---just SOP at the time and too late later on. And absolutely too proud to change mid-stream. That is what I fault them for.
Additionally, what my legal training and two decades of experience with clients have taught me is never to believe one side 100%. I have, as much as possible, and even to the extent of pursuing Right-to-Know requests with the state, gone back to original sources on Maura's case because it is the
strangest thing I have ever heard of. But, to me, everything but the original documents and original reports are tainted with hopes, CYA, and other human frailties and, as such, suspect.
In fact, I am still waiting on some documents, after which time, I hope to pursue my pet theory further. Patience is not a strong suit of mine, but a required one, I find, in dealing with LE and mysteries.
I wish you the best with your future studies and hope you keep the passion, idealism and fire!!
All, MOO!
Finally, I think that Krista Dittmeyer's case shows you that, in fact, Holly Bobo would NOT in fact have been blown off by LE or treated as you, in frustration, noted. I know frustration...but....