Found Deceased Canada - Thelma Krull, 58, Winnipeg MB, 11 July 2015

[deugirtni]

The police have talked to a person of interest,

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canad...st-in-thelma-krull-case/ar-BBugaXL?li=AAggv0m

Interesting... that this female person of interest looks to be perhaps the same general age and condition, etc., as TK.. one walks free while the other is abducted never to be found. And yet after a year has passed, no further weird abductions of grandmas in the area.

 

[deugirtni]

Another quote from the press conference, reported here http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/manitoba/thelma-krull-1-year-since-disappearance-1.3672734

"I ask people who live in and around the area of Civic Park and the Valley Gardens Area, if you have a suspicion or a gut feeling about someone who lives in, works in or is somehow associated to this area, we want to hear about that," he said.

"Also if you have noticed any change in behaviour amongst anyone in that area since the time of Thelma's disappearance, we want to know."

My interpretation is they haven't found any evidence that she was taken away by a vehicle

Didn't they discover some tire tracks though? I thought I also remembered photos of police checking out tires on vehicles, which I thought at the time were on TK's street.. ? If they're thinking some looney guy who hangs about in the area, what would he have done with her body and how would he have transported TK with him without a vehicle, with nobody seeing a thing? Confusing.

 

[deugirtni]

Possible witness in Thelma Krull investigation comes up empty
.... On Tuesday, police said they identified one of the three people — a woman in a purple shirt and white hat — and spoke to her. However, "no new information has come to light as a result of the interview," police said. ....

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/woman-identified-in-krull-investigation-1.3675347

 

[deugirtni]

1 year after Thelma Krull's disappearance, friends and family gather to remember her
... Connie Muscat, one of Krull's friends, said the night was about unity.

"The biggest part … was just that we could … offer each other support so that there's no one out here just remembering this day alone," she said.
Community members, many dressed in purple to remember Krull, gathered at Kimberly Hill on Monday evening. (Cliff Simpson/CBC)

Muscat said she expected the vigil to bring people together but not much more than that.
"I'm not really sure that healing is possible at this point," she said.
"It's supposed to get easy one day. We haven't found that day yet, but we're hoping some answers soon will bring us some closure."...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/thelma-krull-disappearance-vigil-1.3674741

 

[Furry Pants]

Such a puzzling case. Even though I no longer live in Winnipeg, I grew up in Thelma's neighbourhood of Harbourview South and had been visiting there the week prior to her disappearance. I've been following (what little there is to follow) and have been curious to find out more details around Thelma's husband's alibi and whether or not he was officially cleared of being a suspect?

It just seems to me that as the saying goes, the simplest explanation is usually the correct one, and in this case wouldn't that point to her husband Robert? Unlike a stranger, he would not have had to undertake a high-risk public abduction of an adult woman in broad daylight. Rather he just needed to drive up, tell her there was a change in plans & to get in the vehicle, drive somewhere remote. He could have then gone back and placed her phone & glasses in the park, knowing it would point to her disappearance being involuntary, and that eventually she would be declared deceased and there would be an insurance payout? Obviously not impossible that the perpetrator was a stranger, but just seems husband had the much more likely (and common) motivation & means.

I would be fascinated to know whether or not he was asked to take and/or agreed to take a lie detector test.

 

[Satchie]

I think police haved looked at that scenario very closely, for eg looking for cctv footage of his car leaving their neighbourhood, or around the Valley Gardens park.

I'm struck by the officer at the press conference stating she may have experienced a 'medical event' at that location. I remember similar words were used by LE about the Calgary Liknes home: they said 'evidence at the scene indicates someone would be in medical distress.' In fact, there was a great deal of blood. So I think LE found something like blood at the park, something that would only be left behind by either an abduction or a medical event.

 

[Furry Pants]

I agree that's what the officer's statement implies, it just seems strange to me that they would keep that info. secret for a year? And I'm not familiar enough with where her house was located, but was wondering if maybe there are multiple entrances & exits like the street I lived on, perhaps the route Thelma walked was not the same route one would take when driving.

Anyways I'm sure you're right in that they've looked at him closely, just wish I knew more details about how he was eliminated as a suspect (assuming he has been).

Eta - I was wondering could the police simply be referring to finding her glasses & phone as being the possible evidence of distress (vs. finding blood etc.)?

 

[Satchie]

I agree that's what the officer's statement implies, it just seems strange to me that they would keep that info. secret for a year? And I'm not familiar enough with where her house was located, but was wondering if maybe there are multiple entrances & exits like the street I lived on, perhaps the route Thelma walked was not the same route one would take when driving.

Anyways I'm sure you're right in that they've looked at him closely, just wish I knew more details about how he was eliminated as a suspect (assuming he has been).

Eta - I was wondering could the police simply be referring to finding her glasses & phone as being the possible evidence of distress (vs. finding blood etc.)?

I think LE choose their words very carefully when they make a statement on a case like this. There's a lot at stake, they'll be subject to huge criticism and loss of confidence if they're seen as engaging in crackpot speculation, while a murderer is sitting next to them in the conference room.. Yes, it's possible they're playing cat and mouse with their real suspect, but I'm quite confident that when the officer made the very forthright statement "It is our belief (that the distress she experienced at the park) was a result of either a medical situation she experienced, or an encounter and ultimate abduction by an unknown individual", they've got concrete evidence to back that up.

 

[Kaley Smith]

If the husband was ruled out early on as a suspect, they wouldn't ask him to take a lie detector test. Also, to those suspecting the husband, isn't it very rare for a man in his 50's with no history of violence or domestic abuse to suddenly up and murder his wife???

 

[Kaley Smith]

I live near that area, knew Thelma slightly and have not suspected the husband since Day 1. My suspicion all along is that she was abducted by someone who had seen her walk that route many times before or someone who had an axe to grind with her re. their Mr. Sub business in the past, or maybe she had uncovered fraud at her work in the finance department. I dropped the latter idea when a friend who used to work there said there is no way someone could make off with huge amounts of money at SPIKE. Too much red tape and checks and balances. As for residents at SPIKE, they do not have vehicles nor the mental capacity to hide or dispose of Thelma. Besides, she was in the office and did not work with them in the Group Homes so as to tick off anyone.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Welcome Kaley.....thanks for joining us on Thelma's behalf

:greetings:

 

[Kaley Smith]

Thanks Blondie! I have been thinking about this case so much ever since it happened.
I was putting up Garage Sale signs in the area, including on Concordia Ave, just a couple of Saturdays
before at exactly that time in the morning. I know the area around the Kimberley Hill extremely well.

As much as I love our police, I find the way they have handled this case rather odd. First off, they told
residents they don't feel there is any need for people in the neighbourhood to be concerned.
Not until a year after Thelma's disappearance do they issue a warning and mention
the possibility of an unknown abductor. Also, they wait a whole year before they reveal the cell phone
and ear buds were found as well as her glasses. Did they change their theory as to who did this?
and if so, a warning should have been issued when they suspected an unknown abductor.

I know for a fact that police videographers, and not just TV outlets, were filming all of us who showed up
at the KE school near the Hill last year for that march to support the family and to retrace Thelmas route.
That told me the police were not thinking she just disappeared of her own volition, and that it was most likely
an abduction.

Also, I'm not sure why they waited a whole year before they make a real effort to refresh us re the case
and ask again for our help in identifying that lady walker who was along the route.

The other thing that bugged me was when the police said there would have been a lot of activity going on
at Valley Garden Community Club and fields at that time. This told me they were not thinking logically nor
had they done their research. Anyone nearby knows that when school is out and summer comes, the local community
club is definitely not a beehive of activity as it is in fall, winter and spring. I can tell you with 100% certainty that things are pretty
much dead around there on a very hot, humid summer morning. In fact, the sad reality is chances are very high
that nobody saw or heard a thing except for Thelma and the perpetrator(s). There IS a fairly constant flow of traffic along Concordia going
to and from the hospital. If I were police, I would have questioned all workers and hospital visitors travelling along
Concordia around that time ASAP. (Maybe they did.)

I would love objective observer websleuths to comment. Also, when the police say the cell phone produced excellent forensic evidence,
what could that mean? Does it just establish timeline and location, or could there be fingerprints and blood on it? I'm quite sure there
was blood found on the ground from what local people have said. Also, truck tire tracks near the base of the hill.

 

[Kaley Smith]

I should mention that many in the area think Thelma came upon a drug deal of some kind
as there is a lot of that going on in Elmwood and East Kildonan. I don't suspect Thelma
was involved in anything, but she may have been a witness. Personally, I think those
neighbourhoods have more than their share of gang members and released sex offenders
residing there. (Have done some research on this btw)

 

[GigTu]

Randomly, I saw someone in a grocery store (in USA) that looked just like Thelma. Same everything except the hair dye was blue not purple, and this lady had on a frumpy dress. I engaged conversation about dishwashing soap to detect if this woman had an accent, but she didn't. I concluded it was not Thelma based on that. Then I started wondering what her (Thelma's) accent would sound like. I don't actually know.

 

[deugirtni]

Randomly, I saw someone in a grocery store (in USA) that looked just like Thelma. Same everything except the hair dye was blue not purple, and this lady had on a frumpy dress. I engaged conversation about dishwashing soap to detect if this woman had an accent, but she didn't. I concluded it was not Thelma based on that. Then I started wondering what her (Thelma's) accent would sound like. I don't actually know.

I know that Americans tend to think/say that we (Canadians) have accents. Would you identify a 'Canadian accent' if you hear it? Other than that, I don't think there is a different accent for the western provinces, but if there is, someone from the west will pipe in. Personally, I don't think TK just took off to start a new life, I think her body is waiting to be found somewhere. moo

 

[bluesneakers]

I know that Americans tend to think/say that we (Canadians) have accents. Would you identify a 'Canadian accent' if you hear it? Other than that, I don't think there is a different accent for the western provinces, but if there is, someone from the west will pipe in. Personally, I don't think TK just took off to start a new life, I think her body is waiting to be found somewhere. moo

I would, but I also know lack of a Canadian accent doesn't mean someone isn't Canadian.

I agree we're just waiting on her body being found now. I wish I didn't.

 

[GigTu]

I know that Americans tend to think/say that we (Canadians) have accents. Would you identify a 'Canadian accent' if you hear it? Other than that, I don't think there is a different accent for the western provinces, but if there is, someone from the west will pipe in. Personally, I don't think TK just took off to start a new life, I think her body is waiting to be found somewhere. moo

i don't really think she ran off either because I don't think she'd abandon her grandchild. But I do secretly hope so just so she's okay.

 

[musicaljoke]

I would, but I also know lack of a Canadian accent doesn't mean someone isn't Canadian.

I agree we're just waiting on her body being found now. I wish I didn't.

If you ever watch Jeopardy, Alex Trebek is Canadian and speaks with the same verbal inflection as most English as a First Language people west of Quebec. So it depends on where you live and grew up, to determine whether or not you feel that he has an accent.

However, I don't believe we've been told when Thelma or her family arrived in Canada, so we can't guess whether or not she has any distinct inflections in her speech.

 

[Kaley Smith]

If you ever watch Jeopardy, Alex Trebek is Canadian and speaks with the same verbal inflection as most English as a First Language people west of Quebec. So it depends on where you live and grew up, to determine whether or not you feel that he has an accent.

However, I don't believe we've been told when Thelma or her family arrived in Canada, so we can't guess whether or not she has any distinct inflections in her speech.

Americans think we have an accent. I am quite sure Thelma did not just run away somewhere to start
a new life. It's just not like her.

I don't suspect immediate family because of the grandson's birthday and for other reasons. I don't think there were women
who had it in for her either. Thelma was very likeable, but not a flirtatious type of woman who flaunted
herself. Someone connected to the family is a possibility, though I still can't imagine a motive. However,
I do not know her inner circle of friends except by all reports she was a loyal and good friend.

From Day 1 because of where this happened and due to Thelma being an avid walker with a few favourite
routes, I have suspected she was abducted by someone who observed her walking before, or by a man
who was attracted to her at the Speedway for example. It could well have been an abduction by an evil stranger
where a guy or guys saw a window of opportunity and took it. Thelma would have fought back. The reason a fairly
wide area was searched thoroughly, from the hill to the community club, is I think she might have tried to run away,
and possibly she did break away for awhile.

People I know in the area think it's more likely she came upon a drug deal or some crime, but I think my scenario
is more likely. I've done research on sex offenders in the area, and there are a lot of them. There are other cases
where women have been approached, though they have been younger, like 17. Also, some rapes in the area through the past
few years were done outdoors by strangers. They remain unsolved. One victim was a 17 yr old woman in East Kildonan
a year before which also happened in the morning, an odd time in my opinion.

 

[slowpoke]

snipped:

Eta - I was wondering could the police simply be referring to finding her glasses & phone as being the possible evidence of distress (vs. finding blood etc.)?

In the metronews article, it says "He [Sgt. Wes Rommel] also said Krull’s glasses appear to have gone through some sort of “distress”.
I wonder if that could mean that the glasses were in a twisted or broken state when they were found.

Were the glasses and phone found on the grassy area? I wonder if the grass and dirt looked disturbed there. If Thelma physically fought with someone on the grass, might there be visible signs on the grass, appearing trampled, or with gouges or pulled-out tufts of grass?
http://www.metronews.ca/news/winnip...vide-update-on-thelma-krull-disapperance.html