GUILTY FL - Dan Markel, 41, FSU law professor, Tallahassee, 18 July 2014 - #1 *Arrests*

[fasteddy8170]

This thread has been dead for a while--almost a month. Once again, I'm surprised by that. In any case, I got to thinking recently . . .

According to 2012 statistics, there were approximately 15,000 murders in the USA that year. Yes, too many--the good news is murder is becoming less common in the USA every year. But, that means 1250 murders happen every month.

Now, it's been roughly 3 months since Dan was murdered. That means 3,750 murders have happened since then. I ask you: Of those murders, how many of them concerned a victim who was coming home to his house in an upper-scale neighborhood in broad daylight, who was shot in his car, and the murderer seemingly didn't take anything from the house (i.e. burglary/robbery)? I'm gonna guess the number of murders falling into that category in the last 3 months is less than 5. Granted, I have no way to prove it but I know enough about unsolved murders to think I'm pretty close. That's less than 5 out of 3,750 murders . . . For the non-math majors, the percentage is .13% chance of a murder occuring with those facts.

In a nutshell, I think that shows how rare Dan's murder is. I have absolutely no inside info or anything but this leads me to believe that whatever led up to his murder is rare as well. I keep coming back to one question: Do you know how much, uh, guts it takes to shoot someone in their driveway in broad daylight in an upper-scale neighborhood, with the murderer waiting IN THE DRIVEWAY when the victim comes home? It almost doesn't sound believable. But it is, unfortunately.

 

[chicagofa13]

I just heard about this murder. I'm betting the Prius was a rental. For me, this hit points in one direction. I feel very sorry for his family and his children.

 

[fasteddy8170]

<modsnip>

As for it maybe being connected to Dan's murder, I don't know. I know where you're going considering Dan was from Toronto and this shooting was in Toronto. But I'm inclined to believe the shooting of those two men was an isolated incident. I mean, of course I wasn't there but something tells me they might've almost run the bicyclist off the road or something like that. No, I'm not trying to blame the victims here. But we have to really understand how truly unique random shootings are. A high, high, high majority of murders occur for reasons, most often financial or sexual or emotional.

I can see a scenario where the two victims were having a couple drinks. Maybe the one shouldn't having been driving, etc. He almost hits the bicyclist who probably had an attitude in the first place (it's Canada, why is he carrying an illegal gun?). Then the guys have to turn around. The bicyclist sees them and wants revenge. I live in an area where there are a high number of bicyclists so I know how close you can come to hitting them. At night? Maybe with a couple beers in you? Makes it even more probable. Just sayin'. Still, a horrible case.

While I'm typing I have a couple questions. I hope somebody has the answers.

-Who was Dan talking to on the phone when he was shot? Not that it means much, just wondering.
-Do we know the caliber of the gun?
-I've read he was shot "under the jaw". Does this mean his head was pointing forward when the bullet struck him? If so, I'm thinking this means that it's highly possible Dan didn't even notice the shooter coming up to his car--that gets my mind working, I'll have to contemplate that.
-Was that Dan's usual Friday schedule? I'm not sure how any of us on here would know that--only someone who knew him really well would be able to give us the info. And I'm not sure anyone who knows him well is on here. But, the answer would be interesting.

I have some other questions but I'm gonna sit on them for now.

 

[dotr]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FpVBhT5RrM

October 12 2014

"Murder mystery Shooting of law professor Dan Markel outside suburban home baffles police"

 

[chicagofa13]

I found it odd they chose to depict the shooter as dark skinned in the reenactment. Was there a description? If so, I missed it.

 

[fasteddy8170]

I've seen that video before. I am hesitant to believe the animation fits with the facts. For one, they have the Prius being in the driveway, which I really don't believe is accurate, since I think it has been established Dan saw someone in his driveway BEFORE he pulled into it. The way the incident is portrayed in the video it makes it look like the Prius followed him home, which opens up ALL sorts of new avenues. But, once again, I don't think the video is accurate in that respect.

So, given that, I think the reason the shooter is portrayed in a darker way is so there is contrast between him and the background in the animation.

 

[LambChop]

I found it odd they chose to depict the shooter as dark skinned in the reenactment. Was there a description? If so, I missed it.

The whole image of the shooter is gray which indicates they don't know who the shooter was. I do not believe it indicates any color other than it is an image of an unknown person and no description of what they are wearing. In order to see the image you would have to assign a color to it and gray would be interrupted as an unknown. jmo

 

[chicagofa13]

The whole image of the shooter is gray which indicates they don't know who the shooter was. I do not believe it indicates any color other than it is an image of an unknown person and no description of what they are wearing. In order to see the image you would have to assign a color to it and gray would be interrupted as an unknown. jmo

Thanks. On my phone the shooter comes up as very dark brown , not gray. But your explanation makes sense.

 

[dotr]

This seems to be the only recent news item mentioning DM.

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/2014/10/15/dispatch-system-shuts-down-again/17291861/

"It's just the latest shutdown for the system, which was implemented just more than a year ago to improve times in which law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical services respond to emergencies. Most recently, an internal agency review found that a glitch in the system contributed to the delay in responding to Dan Markel's Betton Hills home, where officers and Leon County Emergency Medical Services personnel found the Florida State University law professor shot in the head on July 18"

 

[fasteddy8170]

dotr, I agree: Things have been REALLY quiet regarding Dan's murder. I happened upon something within the last few days, so I'll let all of you digest it.

A friend of mine a couple weeks ago told me about a new app for his phone (he did this not knowing my interest in disappearances and unsolved murders). The app is call Waze. Are any of you familiar with it? It crowdsources traffic problems. So, using the app, people can let other people with the app know what is going on with traffic patterns--jams, slowdowns, police traps, etc. Well, the main point about it is it does it real-time--meaning, if you have the app, you can sit at home and watch as other people with the app drive around your city, state, wherever. As long as the phone is on and the Waze app is turned on, you could virtually "stalk" someone if you knew the person's username on the Waze map. Yeah, I know: creepy. But the app is popular and getting more popular by the day.

I got to thinking: If Dan had this on his phone, somebody could've been tracking him using the app and known exactly when he would get home as the killer watched him on the Waze map go from location to location that morning. Because that's always been the big question to me: How did the killer know Dan would come home right at that time?

There's another part to this: Waze was created by an Israeli tech company. In fact, when Google bought Waze, it was the largest sale of an Israeli tech start-up in history, and still is. Also, if you do a search for "Waze" and "Jewish", you come up with a ton of hits, a lot of them from places like Jewish Journal.

So, being that Dan was Jewish, had been to Israel a few times, and was a lawyer, I think it makes it more probable Dan would know about Waze more than the average American. (Yes, I checked: There are many people in the Tallahassee area using the app) And if he knew about Waze, then I think it's at least possible he might've had the app on his phone and used it.

Now, how would he know if he had that app, I'm not sure. But conceivably, somebody could've used that app to track him if Dan had it on his phone. I know: Big time long shot. But the combo of facts struck me.

 

[dotr]

Might DM's assailant have traveled a great distance to silence him?

"After graduating, Markel spent time in Israel as a Dorot fellow, a program that brings prominent young American Jews to Israel for a year of study, after which they return as lay leaders in their community.

He later returned several times to Israel on family visits and teaching assignments.

In Tallahassee, he joined the Conservative Shomrei Torah Synagogue, though Markel&#8217;s friends describe him as a &#8220;klal Israel guy,&#8221; one who did not pay much attention to denominational divides."

Read more: http://forward.com/articles/203623/...behind-puzzling-question/?p=all#ixzz3GKY0njQc

 

[fasteddy8170]

For the record: What I said above is not meant to mean I think another Jewish person killed Dan. I'm Irish Catholic and have Waze on my phone so whoever killed him could be of any ethnicity or religious persuasion--hey, anybody can download the app. Plus, it's free.

dotr, a great distance? Well, there has been the hypothesis out there that the Prius was rented--has its owner ever been found? I don't know. As somebody somewhere said: A Prius and a murder don't seem to go together. Yes, that's a huge stereotype but there's a bit of truth in it.

As far as the app goes, you can track somebody in another state if you want, as long as you know the person's username. If coming from another state qualifies as a "great distance", then the answer is, "Yes", somebody could've come from another state if in fact this app was part of the crime. Like I said above though, lots of if's and maybe's in my theory.

 

[fasteddy8170]

I've been following what's been going on regarding the academic fraud in the athletic department at the Univ of North Carolina and I can't get the theory out of my mind that Dan might've been murdered over something similar. Florida State is one of the most powerful athletic schools in the USA. And when I see UNC committing academic fraud, I can't help think FSU is doing the same. I mean, if you follow FSU, you know all about Jameis Winston and his antics at the school--of which he has gotten away with most of it. Sports, especially football, is big bucks for these schools. And if someone--say, Dan Markel, a man truly devoted to education--who has a well-known, popular blog was planning to write an article about academic fraud at FSU, that would REALLY rub people the wrong way.

Just a theory. But every time I read one of these college fraud stories, I think of Dan. Because I am almost certain his death wasn't a random one.

 

[south fishy]

I too find it odd how quite this case is and how little interest there seems to be in justice considering Dan's line of work. Has anyone in his family spoken out at all? Do we know if they are imploring LE to make headway?

 

[fasteddy8170]

south fishy, you made a very decent observation regarding Dan's family. It's certainly a contrast from what we're used to. If this were a 25 year old woman shot in her driveway in the middle of the morning, her family would have posters up, fliers out, a website set up, etc. Hey, every family gets to grieve and handle something like this in their own way--I can't imagine what it's like. It could be the family is allowing the police some time to follow their leads, if they have any. I have to believe at some point if nothing is turned up, the family of Dan will get more vocal.

The big issue is the Tallahassee PD, which has taken a hammering in recent months concerning exactly what I mentioned before: Florida State University. That PD has been accused of covering up a lot regarding the behavior of athletes, so these athletes can continue to play sports. And not only the PD but FSU campus security as well--working in favor of the accused and not the accusers. Once again, this is why when I hear about a school like UNC and its problems, I think of FSU and what happened to Dan.

While I'm at it, I've done some digging into the whole thing about maybe some online troll had it in for Dan regarding going to law school being a waste, etc. I've gone back months and years on some of those blogs reading the articles and the comments sections. I gotta tell ya: Lawyers can be a divisive and polarized bunch! Yep, lots of nastiness in some of those blogs regarding law students not getting jobs after getting out of school, etc.

But it all seems a bit empty to me. Especially when you consider some of the most fervent ones are lawyers who seem to already have jobs in law. I'm not saying I'm totally dismissing it but the chances that some online person, upset with Dan, drove to his house and shot him seem very, very remote. Granted, I'm not a lawyer, I didn't go to law school, so I can't truly say I understand every nook and cranny of the topic of law school and getting employment afterwards. But Dan really didn't write that much on the subject, especially not right before he was murdered.

Yes, someone at some point picked him out as the target of their tirade. But if you look, there was a lot of anger at A LOT of different people within the law professor community. And I think the rest of those people are still alive. So, I can only shrug and say: I guess it's a possibility but I wouldn't even bet $20 on it.

I'd still like to know who Dan was talking to on the phone that morning. And what the caliber was of the bullet. And whether his path that day was the one he usually took on Fridays.

I'd also like to know something else: When did final grades come out for the prior semester before Dan was murdered? Yes, you see where I'm going with this: Did the grades come out in July? Could it have been some disgruntled student? Hey, I guess we gotta keep posting questions like these here until somebody "in the know" in Tallahassee comes onto this board and maybe has a bit of "word on the street".

 

[chicagofa13]

I'm looking a lot closer to home on this one.

 

[colette]

I'm looking a lot closer to home on this one.

I'm with you on that one.

 

[fasteddy8170]

Close to home? Well, I know we're supposed to tip-toe around that topic on this particular thread. But . . . I'm inclined to believe if someone close to Dan was responsible for this, it would've been solved by now--no matter if the Tallahassee PD is inept or not.

In addition, if Dan's family believed someone "closer to home" was responsible for this, I believe they'd feel like this was an attack on them as well, and they'd be out there in public, in front of cameras, etc. more than they are. I don't see or hear Dan's side of the family making any statements accusing someone "closer to home", as is very common in cases where that is the suspicion.

I also think about this: Many murders are solved in under 3 months time. Why? Because most of them are committed by someone who knows the victim--thus, it's easier to draw line a line from fact to fact to fact to the guilty party. Not to mention all the people who can't keep their mouths shut.

But it's now over 3 months. That leads me to believe whoever did this isn't close to Dan. At the closest, it is probably somebody on the fringes of his public circle--this is why I mentioned the issues at FSU. Somebody where it isn't easy for police to draw a line from shooter to victim.

I'd love to say more but I know the Moderators deem this topic to be touchy. So, I'll leave it at that.

 

[dotr]

Close to home, could literally mean, close to home, imo.

 

[chicagofa13]

I respect your opinion fasteddie. I just have a different feeling. Since we can't discuss, I'll just wait and see.