How did they determine the time of death ?
I'm trying to determine a time line . Ali's school I believe started at 7:25 she arrived at 7:54 .
Guessing to be to school at 7:25 one would have to at least leave the house by 7:14 if there were no delay's in the ride.
Possibly leave the house around 7:00 to get there by 7:25 , I'm assuming start time is the same today as then.
If all was normal when leaving for school say one leaves at 7:00 arrives at 7:54 ... that's almost an hour's time for an 11 minute ride ?
I believe the the Person who spoke with Barbara did so over the phone ?
Can't imagine Barbara going into the school in her pajamas .
And they talked about court as well, did they discuss the time, ?
Also wondering about why the body was moved and covered . Was it so no one would see the body and someone could then
establish an Alibi ?
View attachment 276173
All of this was pretty much answered by the series.
Ali was late to school because they didn't wake up on time. Ali referred to "waking her mother" herself. Her mother signed her in at 7:54 after they both got coffee on the way (Ali remembered she got chai), which also ate up time. Madison was able to speak to the office worker who found the documentation of 7:54 (there was a signature, parents had to sign you in back then, this was true of my school experience as well in the early 2000s, so the office worker said it's true they must have spoken).
The assumption that Barbara wouldn't go into a building wearing pajamas because she had been rich forgets that she personally wasn't rich, didn't come from a rich family, and based on the videos and images wasn't some overly manicured woman obsessed with her appearance. Quite the contrary, she seemed very down to earth and didn't prioritize makeup or fancy outfits. Wearing a buttoned coat over pajamas would largely hide the pajamas aspect as well, especially if wearing boots.
Given that Barbara's coffee cup was found outside the house, it was presumed during the walkthrough with the investigator that she did not make it inside the house upon coming home from dropping Ali off. Since she was not seen anywhere else in town after dropping Ali off, it's presumed she went directly home. Since the ride was only a matter of minutes, it's generally agreed that the murder would have occurred between 8:10 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. She wasn't found until some time after 11 a.m. by Conway and Ali because Conway signed Ali out around 10:50 a.m. That's almost three hours between time of death and discovery.
The investigator's walkthrough (and Ali and Conway's memories) suggested there was a scuffle by the door because the little statue was broken and the coffee cup, purse, and keys were on the ground near the door. The pool of blood was farther from the door and closer to the driveway, which may have been in view of the house next door (hence covered by the wood pallet). There was no discussion of blood spatter or drops by the door, which suggests she wasn't stabbed or hit in a blitz attack, despite the suggestion of a scuffle (though this does not negate the possibility that something could have been cleaned up). This all leaves me to believe either of three possibilities:
1) The killer brought the weapon with them, hid, then attacked her by surprise from outside.
2) The killer was already in the house and positioned themselves to attack her as she was coming in the door. They scuffle at the door and she goes running.
Both scenarios suggest a pre-meditated attack where murder was the only objective and the masking of the blood and the body were simply to buy time to get away and cover tracks. This person would be covered in blood from blunt-force trauma attacks with the hammer and the "stabbing" effect that was described in the police report. If on foot, they would ditch the weapon, or they went to a car waiting nearby and got rid of the weapon/clothes elsewhere. There would be blood in the car if this happened, unless they prepared to change clothes at the car and cleaned up before getting in. I believe an acquaintance would be more likely to attack in Scenario 1 from outside while someone "professional" would be more likely to find a way inside the house and wait in secret.
3) The killer did not bring a weapon with them and were let into the house by Barbara. In this scenario, the killer attacks out of provoked rage in the moment, not pre-meditated, and Barbara flees. Perhaps they hit her with a fist or shoved her, something that scares her enough to run. Fearful, she runs from the house. Out of violent desperation to cover up their behavior, the killer grabs a weapon, presumed to be a hammer, and chases her across the lawn. The weapon attack covers up bruising from a fist or a bad fall from a shove indoors, and her body is pulled to the side of the house out of view. The killer now has access to the house. They go inside and clean up out of sight, taking with them any bloody materials in a bag, and replace the weapon where it was found.
(Keep in mind that Madison suggested the outdoor cushions were more likely to be in the locked garage than outside, so the killer might have had access to the garage, possibly if hiding the hammer in plain sight.) Wearing gloves, they lock up, throw her purse, keys, and coffee cup on the ground to suggest no one ever went inside, and knock over the statue.
I honestly buy this scenario more because to me it explains more about the murder than someone sneaking up in broad daylight with a random hammer and a lot of anger for 8 in the morning. If it was the ex-husband due in court by 9:30 in New Haven, a 23-minute drive according to Google Maps, then he had approximately 30-45 minutes to clean up the scene and himself and leave the location by 9 a.m. to be "early" for his court appearance.
What I want to know more about is how thoroughly did the police search the house and test for blood in the bathroom or on any weapons in the home?
If you are Barbara facing the driveway from the house, she ran diagonally to her right, cutting across the lawn. If she was attacked outside, she would have had keys in hand. But she did not run with them to the car? Did she fight back? Did the attacker force her keys from her hand? Could there have been evidence on them?
Barbara could have tried to run for either of two houses, one directly opposite her or the one to her right. Presumably she started screaming during the incident. To me no one must have been home at either residence. The killer was clearly faster than her because she barely got across the yard. (To me this crosses out Conway who I can't imagine being fleet of foot.)
The process of sticking around to cover the crime up is the oddest part. That told the investigator the person who did it was either upset with their actions and wanted to hide it from themselves, or that they were trying to hide the body from others. But the house is too far away from the main road to be visible, and the orientation of the homes was such that only the residence to the left of Barbara's home (if you're facing them) might have had a window that looked onto the body/blood pool. The fact that they stuck around after committing a crime in broad daylight says a lot about who this person might have been. A professional would get in and out, not waste time. To me the crime scene was disorganized and the killer wasted time trying to cover up the disorganization.