Okay, finally finished catching up on these two threads. I have a few (
ok, more than a few) thoughts and questions between and below.
Interests
AG was said to own 4 computers. Not surprising in this day and age. Also, what is known from a page written by a friend ( link ), she took a few web design courses (i.e., dreamweaver, photo elements, flash, etc), so she may have started out with a clunker, and moved up. Either way, I do wonder, outside of providing scripting advice for his site, if she had a private blog or web site. After all, to provide such, she'd have to understand how scripts work... have played around with them, tried different things within the context of a web page. While she may have set something up on her local computer, you can't really test stuff unless you throw it out on a server somewhere. Or host your own. I don't see her doing the latter. That would take setting up and managing a full-blown web server (i.e., installing apache, etcetera).
Notably, she seemed pleasantly surprised the man knew what baryon was, which indicates she appreciated intelligence. From the friend's post, it also sounds like she had a great sense of humor... regularly sending him jokes and Maxines. ( link ) I would argue she identified with the latter. Moreover, it seems clear she appreciated beauty as well. For example the link she sent her friend of the since removed youtube vid of Andre Rieu's rendition of Amazing Grace. ( link, h/t Hazel ) The political and computer article links she sent indicate she was very much interested in the world in which she lived.
This same friend characterized her as "so private" noting she avidly followed his late brother-in-law's blog but did not comment. I admittedly do not see that as necessarily private or reclusive for that matter. In fact, if anything, it tells us that she recognized inherent internet dynamics. For example, once it's out there, you have no control of where it goes, who reads it, and/or what they choose to do with it. This woman lived alone. To refrain from making statements on someone's personal blog is prudent. Esp if that someone is discussing an illness, providing all sorts of clues wrt not only who they are but where they live, as well as their daily routine. While there are plenty of wonderful people who surf the net, there are predators in search of their next victim as well.
Oh and, btw. The email bit the friend mentions is old school golden rule netiquette. Always bcc and always ask permission to forward email!
Regardless, all this together, indicates she was an avid internet user. Which leads me to wonder if she actively followed any online communities? For example, social networks, web forums, usenet, on-line virtual worlds? Even if she did not publicly engage, she could have privately reached out to anyone in those communities.
Social life
AG regularly engaged with her community... the coffee klatches ( link ), weekly "boxing day" rendezvous ( link ), golf ( link ), tennis ( link ), a computer club ( link ). This is hardly someone who was a recluse or hermit. Still, she also valued her privacy and therefore spent most of her social activities out. Also, if she was the hoarder some claimed ( link, h/t LilyMacBloom ), she could have been embarrassed to have visitors to her home. One thing that is interesting is that PK (btw, welcome, PK) notes they recently "spent time together tidying various rooms in her home, clearing old books, removing garbage, etc." ( link ), which would arguably support his visitor theory. But we'll get to that in a bit.
Some seem to think it's strange that her friends did not know who her other friends were. I would proffer that she loathed gossip, and likely viewed talking about other friends as that. Also, people who value their privacy, as she seemed to, will generally value their friends privacy as well. To do otherwise would seem hypocritical. And, as her friend so noted, she loathed shallow and hypocritical people. Which again, from her friend's report, and from her pov, seemed to be in abundance.
All things considered, she does not really seem to be kaczynski-like hermit material. Even though, from reports, she clearly had her quirks (i.e., the hoarding).
Body location
Reports indicate AG was found in her garage. ( link ) The dogs were inside her home. PK indicates that it would be uncharacteristic for her to be in the garage without the dogs. ( link ) I'm guessing the garage door was open. After all, there would arguably be no reason to bring them with her if it were closed. That is, unless she heard a sound in the middle of the night and went to check it out. In any event, I am also guessing that is why he thinks she knew and/or expected a visit from her attacker. After all, why leave the dogs in the house? Answer? So you don't have to hassle with them when your visitor comes by.
Body disposition
Hrab repeatedly characterizes this crime as vicious, the worst he's seen in a decade, and importantly, with a "sexual component." And this was from day one ( link ) and well before there was time for an autopsy. We know that she was stabbed multiple times. But, he never comes out and says what the "sexual component" is.
Imho, there are a numerous reasons the detective might make such a statement so early in the case. Which could involve everything from whether she was found completely nude, specific pieces of clothing had been removed and/or used to murder her, to posing, to genital mutilation, to rape/sodomy with a foreign object left in the body, to seminal discharge, etcetera. In other words, for him to so quickly characterize her murder as having a "sexual component" there had to be unmistakable signs. After all, sexual assaults, in general, are simply not definitively detectable without a pathology exam.
Considerations
This was a woman who arguably deviated from her routine. That is, she was in her garage, without her dogs, when she met her attacker. Imho, this strongly supports PK's theory that she was expecting someone. But who? A secret paramour? Someone in her immediate circle of friends? Someone she met online? Otoh, perhaps she was awakened by a noise and in her groggy state went out to the garage and was blitz attacked before she could think to bring the dogs with her.
I am admittedly skeptical of the latter, simply bc, imho, if there were someone in the garage the dogs would be pushing their way through the door ahead of her.
Either way, imho, her electronic records could provide important clues. So, I hope, at the very least, LE has computer forensic analyst looking at the computers as well as pulling her phone records. I also hope they re-question everyone, friends, neighbors... try to find out if she complained about disturbances. And, of course, dig deeper into her friends and neighbors lives to ensure they did not overlook anything in the process of "ruling them out." And this would involve everything from running full background checks, verifying how/when they met, verifying their alibis (to include pulling cell phone records for ping activity), etc. You know, thorough police investigation stuff.
Loose ends (aka, the questions)
PK, can you possibly enlighten us wrt why LE immediately noted the "sexual component"? That is, what, in your opinion, about the crime scene led them to that conclusion? Also, do you know if there were any sites she frequented? If she said anything about them. Particularly, if she ever pointed out posts/web sites she liked or sent links that were not your normal news, research articles, youtube pages? And finally, what reason did she give for the tidying bit? Or did she? That is, did you get the impression she was preparing for company? Even if she did not actually coming out and say something? Bc, the tidying bit seems like it was also a deviation in her routine.
That said, thanks in advance for providing whatever you're comfortable with and/or at liberty to disclose!
Whew! Okay, that was long winded!
... right behind the Camaro in the garage.
