WI Michelle Guerrero, 44. Riddled with Bullets in Breezeway of her Home. Milwaukee. 2009

[PastTense]

It was a cold night in February 2009 when Michelle Guerrero clocked out of work at her manufacturing job and got into her black truck just before 11 p.m. It was a routine she’d done many times before, except this time, the 44-year-old’s family would never see her again. “All she was trying to do is go from one job to another, and she was brutally murdered,” said Detective James Hutchinson...

Guerrero’s partner found her body riddled with bullets on that February night; investigators said the shots in the head and chest were significant. “Two of those shots were found to be close, meaning this person was right up on the victim when they fired the shot,” said Hutchinson.

Her body was found in the breezeway of her home, with contents from her lunchbox spilled all over the floor. Investigators said all the leads they’ve had haven’t turned up much, and they’ve never determined who fired those shots...

The detectives also haven’t ruled out that Guerrero may have been robbed, based on what was taken -- her cellphone, a keychain on a lanyard, and her wallet -- but investigators learned an item that Guerrero always wore was missing from the scene. “It was found pretty quickly by her partner that her ring was missing,” said Hutchinson."
Cold case: New information sought after Michelle Guerrero ‘brutally murdered’ in 2009

 

[scriabina]

How terrible. Do you think it could be a hate crime? The victim's partner was female and her ring was stolen, perhaps to make a statement against gay marriage? Trying to think outside the box since investigators couldn't find she had any enemies or lived a risky lifestyle.

 

[Itsmevkb]

This statement by police in the article is interesting - “The partner, based on the alibi, could not have been the person to pull the trigger,” said Hutchinson. “That being said, we don’t close our mind in these investigations.”

I understand the robbery theory as that sort of makes sense, someone sees her pulling in and getting out of her truck and decides to take advantage and rob her. But, it also sounds a bit like over kill for a robbery of a few things. The engagement ring was taken but not any of the other rings and then the rest sounds like fairly low level stuff - a phone, keychain and wallet. Do you really shoot someone multiple times in the head and chest while standing right over them for just that? Not to mention, by the time you've shot them once in either of those places, odds are they are dead and not fighting you.

Is the tendency for criminals to fire off a shot, realize they've maybe killed someone, grab a few things and run or to stand there and keep shooting when there are other houses close by and potential witnesses? Sounds more to me like this was done by someone who knew her and the robbery was to throw that off.