There is no evidence that points to anyone else. At least none that I have heard of. I don' think this case had a lot of evidence period, but what it has all points to these two defendants.
All I can say is their families must have some clout in the area for them to be getting so much emotional support. If I lived there, I would seriously want people who could commit crimes like this to be locked away for the safety of society but for some reason that doesn't seem as important to the citizens of that area.
I live in Palm Desert, so allow me to provide some context on how most of the general public feels regarding this case:
-Pape is from a very religious family that attends a very large, prestigious and wealthy church in the valley. This carries a lot of clout so I feel like lots of people want to support his family, so they publicly support both of the defendants
-Smith is known for being a military hero, and he is from a very wealthy family. He also has a lawyer who will talk to anyone and everyone about how he is innocent and it’s a horrible miscarriage of justice.
-there is an overarching theme of distrust towards LE in the area. Many believe the evidence collection was botched. This is why people will argue the business card was planted. This theme extends over to distrust of government/ da which is why so many people believe Javier Garcia to be the real killer. This suspicion alone cost his mom her reelection.
-most people feel uncomfortable with “two nice boys” having committed such a brutal and heinous crime. This is white privilege at its finest. If the two boys were a racial minority, everyone would be singing a different tune, guaranteed.
I know this is ridiculous but if you look on the comment section of articles on kesq.com you will find 9/10 defend the suspects, while degrading the district attorney, prosecutors, law enforcement, etc etc. I feel like people just can’t handle the fact that two seemingly normal all American boys could wipe out an entire family and just go back to playing video games.
The other thing to keep in mind about the valley—it is extremely small town for not being all that small. Everyone either knows everyone or somehow knows of them. This is most important when you consider the scope of his entire family—someone will either know him, his parents, his siblings, his ex wife, etc.
I hope and pray for a conviction, but based on the way I hear people speaking about the case everyday, I find it unlikely. Hoping the jurors see through it all.