Obviously I don't know what really happened to HP any more than any of us do. I hope for HP's son's sake the case is eventually definitively solved but I'm not sure it will be. However, from the beginning it seemed like the idea reported in the press that JS MUST have had something to do with HP's disappearance/death came from HP's ex, JW.
JW made LOTS of very public accusations against JS, especially early on. And while JW and HP did share a child, JW had clearly moved on with his romantic life nearly NINE YEARS after the divorce. It wasn't clear to me though JW really thought HP should move on or at least that she should move on without his (JW's) explicit blessing. JW seemed to resent HP's involvement with JS. I also wondered if it was a romantic relationship in any way at any point.
Frankly, IMO and JMO, it seems to me JW continued to try to insert himself into HP's life to an unhealthy degree. I think we've all seen that happen with a divorced couple (regardless of which partner instigated the divorce.) In this case after HP disappeared, JW took items from HP's home including HP's work computer. (A female friend had a key, JW did not.) And only days later did JW turn the computer over to the police. Obviously JW had no right to do that. There's no doubt the computer belonged to JS, HP had it because she worked for JS. The computer contained private financial information belonging to JS and his company, and if there has been grounds to do it, LE would have needed a warrant to seize the computer. It was certainly clear to everyone including JW that JS wanted the laptop back. (And why wouldn't he? It was his and most of us would not want our private business records floating around who knows where.) But JW seemed determined to prevent JS from claiming his property. He may have thought he was protecting needed evidence in the case (JW, the caped super-hero aiding LE, justice and the American way-- but if he had noble motives, why did he wait days to give the computer to LE?) or he may have simply been determined to "punish" JS for his involvement with HP (JW the long-divorced ex-husband who still considered HP "his property." A man who would happily spend his time p_ssing on any male "competitors" while his own fiancée waited patiently in the wings.)
Shortly after HP disappeared, according to press reports JW was clearly quite angry JS wouldn't discuss HP with him, the EX husband. At that point no one knew HP was really gone for good & if I had been her and I wasn't gone, I would have been livid to discover my boss gave my EX any private information about me. I'd be willing to bet JW's intrusiveness was known at HP's workplaces. He did gush over HP's San Francisco Facebook-connected boyfriend ("I don’t have any worries about him, he’s a great guy.") But IMO the gushing came across as quite false. IMO it was designed to 1) make JS seem more unacceptable by comparison 2) make JW seem more open-minded than he was about HP's romances and her right to an independent private life. 3) And realistically, how likely is it JW knew the BF well enough to evaluate his character? It's not as though he and his ex-wife went on double dates!
I don't doubt JS is an unsavory character. I don't doubt some other members of his family may be too. We've seen some of that play out in other court cases. And if he was paying HP very much and was supplying job "perks," given her reported fairly basic "skill level," one has to wonder why. After the fact JW made a big stink about HP probably engaging in illegal activities for JS (but I'm pretty sure he happily accepted and expected to receive the relatively high child support payments HP paid & she needed a way to pay those.)
I also think there's a big difference between fraud/other "white collar" crimes and murder. We know JS and his colleagues engaged in the former per court cases but that doesn't mean he, his colleagues or anyone in his family killed HP or anyone else. Ex-husbands also kill (or have ex-spouses killed) and there ARE an awfully lot of accidental ODs related to fentanyl.
I don't know if HP liked parties, I've read mixed accounts on that point. There are a fair number of photos out there of HP that appear to have been taken at parties. But people do change. Her regular fairly heavy Adderall use is documented in court filings posted to Quora. Doctor shopping has become more of a challenge for heavy users of prescription drugs. And at the time of her disappearance many regular users were turning to street suppliers for Adderall and many street drugs contain Fentanyl.
MOO
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