AL AL - Brittney Wood, 19, Mobile, 31 May 2012 - #11

[AstroKitty]

For those with easily removable batteries: Does the battery say what type of phone or brand it goes into?

 

[KateB]

Oh lawd! Don't take a hammer to an iphone lol. Iphone is a smart phone. I have never owned anything other than an apple product (both computers and phone) so I'm not in the know when it comes to access to batteries.

I read over the case files and even an article posted on the 5th of this month: the internet exchange was from the now 13 year old victim and brittney. It was not anyone else. This is the person who was also raped by Dustin and tricked into thinking she was receiving a hamster.

Everyone's wheels have been spinning and it's getting things muddled a bit.

Dexter is the TV program on showtime here in the US. I had no idea anyone even watched that anymore.

This post by gliving, really unmuddied things for me. It was when I first realize I don't always read.every.word.

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - AL AL - Brittney Wood, 19, Mobile, 31 May 2012 - #11

Event is in 2008.

 

[KateB]

I am left handed, however I use my right hand to pull a trigger on a gun. My left hand is used to support the gun. So what hand he used if he was the one who pulled the trigger could really not mean anything.

This is an awkward question. Would a shot to the side of a one's head self-inflicted even require a support hand? And if you were in a one handed situation like that, which mightyou guess you use?
Sorry to even ask but it might help.

 

[Curious Me]

I am left handed, however I use my right hand to pull a trigger on a gun. My left hand is used to support the gun. So what hand he used if he was the one who pulled the trigger could really not mean anything.

It was a small gun being held up to the head area. I don't know if you'd use a support hand. I'll tell you some thoughts I just had, and hope you can give me your thoughts on it.

Hmm...wouldn't Donnie have to use his right hand. I'm thinking it'd be awkward otherwise. Try it. Reaching across with the left hand to shoot the right side of the head seems very unsteady. If he was left handed he'd probably hold it up to the left side. Did he shoot himself or did someone else shoot him?

 

[honesty]

This is an awkward question. Would a shot to the side of a one's head self-inflicted even require a support hand? And if you were in a one handed situation like that, which mightyou guess you use?
Sorry to even ask but it might help.

This is just me, some people may differ, but no I wouldn't need a support hand with this small of a firearm if I were just pointing and shooting, but if I were shooting for a target I would use support, I gave the reference of support in my prior post to give more of an idea of how I as a left handed person shoot any gun. Am I making sense?

If I were to shoot myself in the head I would still use my right hand to point the gun to my head and pull the trigger. For me a pistol feels weird if held in my left hand. Not saying that is true for every left handed person, but for myself that is how I feel the most comfortable using a firearm.

 

[honesty]

It was a small gun being held up to the head area. I don't know if you'd use a support hand. I'll tell you some thoughts I just had, and hope you can give me your thoughts on it.



Hmm...wouldn't Donnie have to use his right hand. I'm thinking it'd be awkward otherwise. Try it. Reaching across with the left hand to shoot the right side of the head seems very unsteady. If he was left handed he'd probably hold it up to the left side. Did he shoot himself or did someone else shoot him?

I couldn't see someone reaching to the other side of their head. But to use his right hand to shoot himself in the right side of the head is absolutely doable as is someone being in the passenger seat and shooting him in the head themselves. I would love to know if there was residue found on his right hand. But iirc he was cremated right?

 

[Curious Me]

Sharing with people, myself included, who haven't tuned in to this tv show yet. It's very popular.

DEXTER

"Based on Jeff Lindsay's novels Darkly Dreaming Dexter and Dearly Devoted Dexter this crime thriller follows Dexter Morgan. Dexter is a forensic blood spatter expert for the Miami Dade Police Department. He is the main support for his sister. He has a steady girlfriend, with two kids who adore him. He also has an active "night life". Based on a code instilled in him by his foster father, Harry, he hunts down people who have escaped justice and makes sure they don't get away with a crime again."

http://www.tv.com/shows/dexter/

 

[KateB]

I couldn't see someone reaching to the other side of their head. But to use his right hand to shoot himself in the right side of the head is absolutely doable as is someone being in the passenger seat and shooting him in the head themselves. I would love to know if there was residue found on his right hand. But iirc he was cremated right?

Unless someone has BrittsStepMom confirming the cremation, I'm not sure how that came to be known but it is been said that many times. After 18 months, all sources need a big second look. I think it came from social media team, but it is the least expensive and makes a lot of sense in hindsight.

 

[honesty]

Unless someone has BrittsStepMom confirming the cremation, I'm not sure how that came to be known but it is been said that many times. After 18 months, all sources need a big second look. I think it came from social media team, but it is the least expensive and makes a lot of sense in hindsight.

I was thinking I read that he was cremated, I could totally be wrong too though. It's been a while since I have been able to follow this case very close. You are correct about cremation being the least expensive and many people choose that option because of the low cost. It bugs me that I do not know if there was residue on his right hand. I would really like to know if his death was of his own hand or by the hand of someone else. I do not think we will ever know that answer though.

 

[Curious Me]

Get Donnie to go out to that vacant lot, make sure he's relaxed and unaware, maybe with his head leaned back and his eyes closed, maybe somebody else shoots him. ??? It could be he thought he was meeting someone there. We don't really know why he went there in the first place. He laid in the hospital, I'd imagine they tested to see if he was heavily drugged before he did it. ???

No report plus I'm not sure how close the gun was or would have to be if someone else could come popping up to the passenger side or if someone in the passenger seat could do it. Donnie was a big man and that was a small gun.

 

[JWD]

WARNING - GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION of SUICIDE:

Even a heavier pistol wouldn't require a second hand to hold it steady. The person committing suicide in the area Donald was shot in--steadies the gun in their hand by pressing it hard against the side of their head, usually the temple.

The only way to use both hands would be to turn the pistol upside down, which wouldn't keep the handgun perfectly flush to your temple. Therefore, you'd run the risk of the barrel skidding upward, the bullet grazing your forehead, and possibly living--perhaps in a vegetative state.

I have retired cops in my family, own a criminology textbook, and (unfortunately) knew more than one person well who killed themselves with a handgun, and another person who survived being shot in the head at close range with a pistol by someone else.

My husband can write and do other things with both hands but feels more comfortable using one hand for writing and the other hand for operating tools. The hand he picks a handgun up with is the same one he uses to pull the trigger with, and that never changes. The same applies to me and I am extremely right-handed.

Respectfully, in Donald's case, I didn't ask which hand he picked up a fork with or used to swill beer or wrote with. I asked about pictures of him holding a gun or a remote control because I'm only interested in his trigger finger. That's a piece of evidence worth pursuing IMO.

 

[honesty]

This is MOO, I am of the opinion that DH did himself in. I believe he knew his days of freedom were numbered and we all hear stories about what happens to child molesters once they are in a prison setting. But the thing that keeps me from believing that 100% is the small size of the gun caliber. Most men know about guns and calibers, and would know that small of a caliber may not do the job. But someone with little or no knowledge of firearms might would use this small firearm if that is all they had access to.

I keep wondering what this letter Brit supposedly wrote, I hope the investigators have the letter and are just keeping it close to their vest that they have it.

 

[Curious Me]

I was thinking I read that he was cremated, I could totally be wrong too though. It's been a while since I have been able to follow this case very close. You are correct about cremation being the least expensive and many people choose that option because of the low cost. It bugs me that I do not know if there was residue on his right hand. I would really like to know if his death was of his own hand or by the hand of someone else. I do not think we will ever know that answer though.

We'd know if someone else gets charged with it. They're reinvestigating it. I'd sure like to see the documents like an autopsy or ME report. Yes, gun residue, how close the gun was to his head and all that factual stuff would be interesting. BBM

 

[nothingnew]

This is MOO, I am of the opinion that DH did himself in. I believe he knew his days of freedom were numbered and we all hear stories about what happens to child molesters once they are in a prison setting. But the thing that keeps me from believing that 100% is the small size of the gun caliber. Most men know about guns and calibers, and would know that small of a caliber may not do the job. But someone with little or no knowledge of firearms might would use this small firearm if that is all they had access to.

I keep wondering what this letter Brit supposedly wrote, I hope the investigators have the letter and are just keeping it close to their vest that they have it.

I think DH did it himself also. Isn't there a history of suicides in his family? I know I read that his brother had killed himself the year before (ok, I think I know) & then there was another male in the family like his dad or granddad?

 

[KateB]

I was thinking I read that he was cremated, I could totally be wrong too though. It's been a while since I have been able to follow this case very close. You are correct about cremation being the least expensive and many people choose that option because of the low cost. It bugs me that I do not know if there was residue on his right hand. I would really like to know if his death was of his own hand or by the hand of someone else. I do not think we will ever know that answer though.

Since he lingered for three days, I wonder how much can be done with the hospital x-rays. Those would still be available. And what could be determined from that view of the wounds.

 

[honesty]

We'd know if someone else gets charged with it. They're reinvestigating it. I'd sure like to see the documents like an autopsy or ME report. Yes, gun residue, how close the gun was to his head and all that factual stuff would be interesting. BBM

I was not aware it was being looked at again. Thank you for catching me up to speed on that. In Alabama is a autopsy required in a situation like this where its obvious that someone did not pass from illness or natural causes? I too would like to documents just for the sake of knowing if it was suicide or homicide.

 

[KateB]

I think DH did it himself also. Isn't there a history of suicides in his family? I know I read that his brother had killed himself the year before (ok, I think I know) & then there was another male in the family like his dad or granddad?

I'm interested in the source for that if you run across it again. That would help reinforce either dual fake suicides and/or the family tendencies to suicide.

 

[JWD]

Someone recently posted upthread that his brother died in 2011 and they wondered if it was due to suicide. It was idle speculation, not a statement of fact.

Alabama does not require an autopsy if there's no reason to suspect foul play. There were unbiased witnesses (strangers) to the gunshot suicide of someone I knew. And the person had a history of being treated medically and with therapy for depression--which had taken a turn for the worse.

In Donald's case, I'd think they'd do an autopsy.

 

[Nacho]

For those with easily removable batteries: Does the battery say what type of phone or brand it goes into?

I have a samsung galaxy 3 and the battery says Samsung, nothing about the model though.

 

[*Lash*]

This is just me, some people may differ, but no I wouldn't need a support hand with this small of a firearm if I were just pointing and shooting, but if I were shooting for a target I would use support, I gave the reference of support in my prior post to give more of an idea of how I as a left handed person shoot any gun. Am I making sense?

If I were to shoot myself in the head I would still use my right hand to point the gun to my head and pull the trigger. For me a pistol feels weird if held in my left hand. Not saying that is true for every left handed person, but for myself that is how I feel the most comfortable using a firearm.

You're making sense to me. I am a right handed person that shoots with my left hand. I use my right hand to chamber and left hand to pull the trigger. You're not alone I'm not sure why either. It too just feels the most comfortable to me.