Crime scene information

[golfmom]

All I keep hearing in my head is ...

You spin me right round, baby
Right round like a record, baby
Right round round round

I'm dizzy trying to figure out which way is what!

 

[anneshirley]

That's what I mean--brain's been turned to mush from having children--I used the wrong word.

But do you see how their front yard seems to be lower than the porch? If my home were set like that, and I had steps going up to the front door, I'm thinking that I'd probably use another door to get in. Maybe the back door or a side door that didn't have steps.

Jenifred,
I agree with you. My house is designed like that and we don't use the front door--it's rare if we use it--and certainly all our friends know to use the side door.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

http://www.ravenstree.com/images/Kaiden%20Images/IMGA0406.JPG

Microsoft TerraServer Imagery

Okay, looking at these images again, I am 99% sure that that is the front porch and it faces the street. Look at the driveway in the satellite image. It goes along the right side of the house. There's some sort of paved area in the photo that would go along with that. It does not appear that the driveway wraps around the house but I can't say that with certainty. If it doesn't, I would assume that visitors would knock on the front door, and not on the side or the back, (if there even is a back door).

I'm trying (still) to figure out where the creek is, and the path that a random attacker might take to get out of there without being seen. It looks as if the side with the driveway would be the area where one would be most likely to be seen. And it seems as though there are houses fairly close by in every direction. Oh well, I'll have to look at it more later. I'm going to read a few more posts, and then get some things done. I'll be back later.

(There is a band of trees in the back of the house that seem to extend for some distance to the south and especially the north. But without knowing how thick & full of leaves they might have been at the time, it's hard to say whether or not someone could have escaped that way without being seen although it does seem possible. All of sudden, I'm wondering if there are any troubled teens in the area or anyone with whom Raven may have had some sort of confrontation.)

 

[anneshirley]

http://www.ravenstree.com/images/Kaiden%20Images/IMGA0406.JPG


All of sudden, I'm wondering if there are any troubled teens in the area or anyone with whom Raven may have had some sort of confrontation.)[/QUOTE}

Or...someone who the couple may have befriended through the neighborhood or soccer league. Did raven coach anywhere? did Janet at any point? Janet was shy, but very loving...might there have been a troubled teen or a friend who just got a little too attached to the family, especially janet? I guess this goes back to the stalker theory...
just an idea...

 

[golfmom]

:waitasec: Which house are you guys looking at?

I was told that if I was in the white car it would be the second driveway on the right.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Jenifred,
I agree with you. My house is designed like that and we don't use the front door--it's rare if we use it--and certainly all our friends know to use the side door.

We've always used the front entrances to our homes whether we've had steps or not. It was always based on where we were able to park our cars, and whether or not there's paved area near the doors so as to minimize the amount of dirt tracked in. If their driveway only extends as far as that front porch, then it's possible that the front porch would be the closest door, thus the door that's used regularly.

It doesn't look like there would be more than a few steps. It looks as if the ground slopes downwards toward the right, (which I believe is the street - in fact, it would HAVE to be the street based on the satellite image of the house - their driveway in that image does not twist and runs along the right side of the house. If you look at the direction where that paved section is in the photo behind them, it clearly seems to indicate that the street is to the right.) In any case, it looks like a normal house front to me, and I don't think that the steps would necessarily have been an issue one way or the other.

Bottom line? I still have no idea if their friends would have knocked on the front door or the side door. LOL. I assume that they would have used the front based on the limited photographs we have of the property but I could be wrong. Either way, I still think that the blood on the back door was from the perp exiting. I don't think that Janet was attacked at the door. The door most commonly used would only come into play if she did indeed leave a door unlocked for any company that she might have been expecting or if the door was left open when Raven left for the evening. And we don't even know if they're the kind that usually locked their doors or not so it might not tell us anything in any case.

Isn't it funny how we go crazy trying to figure these things out when LE won't tell us anything? It's like the less I hear, the more curious I become. :banghead:

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

:waitasec: Which house are you guys looking at?

I was told that if I was in the white car it would be the second driveway on the right.

Yes, that's the one. And the first driveway on the right would be the house in the background of Raven & Kaiden on the front porch. A short distance from the porch and to the right appears to be a paved area. That would be his driveway as seen in the satellite view.

 

[golfmom]

Yes, that's the one. And the first driveway on the right would be the house in the background of Raven & Kaiden on the front porch. A short distance from the porch and to the right appears to be a paved area. That would be his driveway as seen in the satellite view.

OK do you see that little white L in front of the house? Do you think that's a pathway to their *front* door?

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

OK do you see that little white L in front of the house? Do you think that's a pathway to their *front* door?

In the satellite view or the photograph?

 

[golfmom]

In the satellite view or the photograph?

sorry ... satellite view

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

OK do you see that little white L in front of the house? Do you think that's a pathway to their *front* door?

Looking at both, it certainly does seem that it could be a pathway leading off of the driveway. It's not the porch because the porch has a roof. Also, if that is the path, it is far enough to the left that we can't see it in the photographs because it would have been closer to where the photographer (Janet) was standing when the photo was taken. (ETA: or it could be next to where Raven is standing ... that might be where the steps are.)

If that's a walkway as it appears to be, (I don't know what else it could be), then it would seem that the front door would be the most sensible choice from the driveway.

 

[golfmom]

Looking at both, it certainly does seem that it could be a pathway leading off of the driveway. It's not the porch because the porch has a roof. Also, if that is the path, it is far enough to the left that we can't see it in the photographs because it would have been closer to where the photographer (Janet) was standing when the photo was taken. (ETA: or it could be next to where Raven is standing ... that might be where the steps are.)

If that's a walkway as it appears to be, (I don't know what else it could be), then it would seem that the front door would be the most sensible choice from the driveway.

Unless there is a side door right next to the driveway.

 

[juliagoulia]

Anyone want to guess how their house is situated? Does the porch run east-west or north-south? I can't tell if the street behind Raven, Janet, and the friend is a street or their driveway.
http://www.ravenstree.com/images/Kaiden%20Images/IMGA0404.JPG
http://www.ravenstree.com/images/Kaiden%20Images/IMGA0406.JPG
http://www.ravenstree.com/images/Kaiden%20Images/IMGA0403.JPG

This might help in understanding which door they used to get in an out of the house. Did they go through the front door (I'm assuming that they didn't because it looks like it's a deck with stairs--IMO)? Did they used the back door, or even a side door as their main entrance to the house?

The search warrant indicated that there were blood stains near the side door located on the south side. (http://www.wral.com/slideshow/4444879/detail.html?qs=;s=4;w=800). Either Janet was first attacked at that entrance, or the murderer got sloppy on his exit.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Unless there is a side door right next to the driveway.

But the path, if that's what it is, appears to go from the driveway, along the front of the house, and then to the right at the center of the house, which is probably where the steps are. I can't tell with any certainty where that driveway stops. Neither image is helpful in determining that. On the left of the photograph, however, it appears like dirt with some trees and bins and just beyond it appears to be grass. IMO, it does not appear that the driveway goes beyond the front of the house so it wouldn't make sense to me to walk along the dirt to go into the side entrance of the house when you can walk on a paved path, and avoid tracking too much dirt in. But again, it's impossible to tell for sure so this is all just speculation based on what we CAN see.

Okay, I'm going for real this time. See you later on.

 

[golfmom]

The search warrant indicated that there were blood stains near the side door located on the south side. (http://www.wral.com/slideshow/4444879/detail.html?qs=;s=4;w=800). Either Janet was first attacked at that entrance, or the murderer got sloppy on his exit.

Thanks Julia! that cleared it up for me.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

The search warrant indicated that there were blood stains near the side door located on the south side. (http://www.wral.com/slideshow/4444879/detail.html?qs=;s=4;w=800). Either Janet was first attacked at that entrance, or the murderer got sloppy on his exit.

We're just trying to determine the likelihood that someone would have knocked on that door, and whether or not a knock at that door would have led Janet to be suspicious enough to not answer it. But your statement above does prove what we've been saying - that the photo on the porch is most likely facing the street.

IMO, I don't think it's likely that a friend would have come knocking on the side door. And if the driveway ends at the front walkway, I don't think it's likely that Raven would have left from the side door, forgetting to lock it on his way out.

 

[golfmom]

We're just trying to determine the likelihood that someone would have knocked on that door, and whether or not a knock at that door would have led Janet to be suspicious enough to not answer it. But your statement above does prove what we've been saying - that the photo on the porch is most likely facing the street.

IMO, I don't think it's likely that a friend would have come knocking on the side door. And if the driveway ends at the front walkway, I don't think it's likely that Raven would have left from the side door, forgetting to lock it on his way out.

JerseyGirl, I hate to disagree with you because I heart you mucho, but I think that porch is on the south side of the house.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I just realized that this might be part of the reason why they say it wasn't random. If the side door is not accessible directly from the driveway, and the person left from the side door, wouldn't they have run through the trees in the back to escape? Yet they found currency near the creek that runs along the front of the house. If someone dropped that on their way out, they must have been leaving towards the street. If the currency is related to this, then the person either parked in her driveway or left by foot going towards the street. (?)

 

[golfmom]

I just realized that this might be part of the reason why they say it wasn't random. If the back door is not accessible directly from the driveway, and the person left from the side door, wouldn't they have run through the trees in the back to escape? Yet they found currency near the creek that runs along the front of the house. If someone dropped that on their way out, they must have been leaving towards the street. If the currency is related to this, then the person either parked in her driveway or left by foot going towards the street. (?)

OK, I relooked at the image again and I am certain the porch has to be on the south side. You couldn't view a house in the background in the pictures otherwise.

And I am totally creeped out by what you just wrote. The murderer had to be on the southside of the house and yet crossed around the front ? ? ?
I can't imagine anyone dropping $10 in change and not noticing unless there were extenuating circumstances ... if you know what I mean. So the silver to me seems like something that would be linked to the murderer.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

JerseyGirl, I hate to disagree with you because I heart you mucho, but I think that porch is on the south side of the house.

No, the side door where the blood was found is on the south side. Which would make the porch on the west side if that's the front door.