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

[dotr]

From the press release:

A toll transponder similar to a Sunpass or E-pass in the center of the front windshield.

http://www.talgov.com/tpd/news/4295.aspx

Then when you watch the video, they say they can not confirm that the sticker is a toll pass.

Maybe perp " disguised " the car temporarily, surely aware, imo. that the car would be seen on cctv, or sitting outside DM's place.
Those details about the car sticker, mirror ect. would be ones perp would know LE would be specifically watching out for, imo.

 

[Yellow]

This troubles me that it has been a whole year and no resolution. I knew Dan as a classmate many years ago so I periodically check to see if they caught the person, I was watching ID discovery last night, a hit man murder of a rabbi's wife and it took them 5 years to link it to the husband who hired a hit man. after 5 years the hit man got a guilty conscience and confessed. If it is a Hit, which it looks like it may be, maybe he or she will confess to someone or someone like a friend, girlfriends etc will report them. Oftentimes the hitman often gets less time than the mastermind bc they strike a deal (like in the case I mention above)

I hope they have some stronger physical evidence or perhaps even a partial license plate. The case is just so strange, could it be random? I could see if the murder was inside, it could be him interrupting a burglary. It seems not random. Who though would know that Dan would be alone? What if he had the kids with him or a friend? It had to be someone who knew his inter workings and routine well or at least had access to such info (maybe by watching him?). I highly doubt someone being annoyed by a blog post would go to such lengths. Also, the blog post annoyers were likely not from FL so who would take off work, drive to FL and kill someone just bc they are mad about a blog post? If it was someone local maybe but no one would drive to FL to kill someone over a blog post

Hopefully the increases reward of $100000 will get someone to talk. If it is a hitman, I think that will get one of his associates to talk if he or she bragged about it

Though what kind of hitman drives a Prius? Seems like it would not be a professional, especially since they did not seem to fire multiple times to ensure death. It seems like it was only one fire so that person wanted to get out of there. It had to have been someone who blended in, like maybe they wore a postal uniform or fedex uniform, or were otherwise fairly decently dressed so as not to stick out. I doubt it was a kid bc a kid would stick out (or group of kids robbing houses)

 

[Yellow]

I was watching another show today on ID discovery about a guy that was gunned down at work. There were suspicious things with the wife and an insurance policy, and a gay lover, but it turned out that it was just two guys who knew the man carried cash and wanted to rob him. The crime was unsolved for 3 years when they got a codis hit on some DNA on the victims clothes

I wonder where dan was before the murder. If he went to ATM, could someone follow him home? I think it is hard for most people to rationlize how someone could murder to steal $200 but it does happen, especially if someone is a drug addict,

I guess what speaks against this scenario is that perp was there before dan got there. And nothing was stolen I don't think unless it was a robbery gone bad

But there is at least hope it will be solved, either by hitman gaining a consciences, finding the car or a codis hit (if there was DNA which it seems like there is not since LE I think would say that to scare perp)

 

[samara.matisse]

I am sure the police have already gone these routes, but since I haven't seen it mentioned specifically in the thread, here goes:

1. I do not see where any mention is made of the person DM was speaking to when he arrived home. We don't know exactly what he said, nor to whom he said it. I think this information would be critical in establishing the timing (did call end before or after gunshot? Did DM seem apprehensive? How long did the call last, and did he tell the caller where he had been, where he expected to go later, etc.) And unless the person on the other end of the phone is under a gag order, why hasn't he or she come forward?

2. FastEddy - If I understand you correctly, you said a bit upthread that maybe the car was rebuilt after being totaled. I think car looks far too intact to be rebuilt, unless it was done professionally. In Indiana, a rebuilt or patched up car is gonna have a rainbow of car parts, like a beige driver's side door paired with a red body and a blue trunk lid. I think the mismatched mirror was someone going to a pick-a-part to find a mirror and having it attached. I also think this speaks to the car potentially not belonging to the perp. Maybe the perp "borrowed" the car from someone else, thinking it would blend in because it's a popular brand there. Perhaps the owner let the perp "borrow" it under duress.

3. It may not have been a "professional" hit but it may have been a hit nonetheless. Someone alluded to this further upthread. Most hitpeople are not professionals. They are not very bright. We're talking people who agree to kill someone else for $500. That's amateur. Which might account for the jaw shot DM received, but maybe not. The window being up or partially down, where the shooter stood, all those things affect the bullet's trajectory. Your jaw is pretty big. Press a finger to it and imagine that's a bullet impact. Imagine a bullet going through in a straight line, or angled in some way. I don't think the autopsy report has been released, so we don't know the extent of the trauma DM sustained. When you realize all the outcomes from one shot, it's either a miracle he survived as long as he did, or a total shock that he didn't live (or might have, if he'd gotten medical attention sooner).

4. If DM was in fact targeted for getting too close to the truth in the local Florida judiciary, I doubt the police would work too hard to uncover it because there's a likelihood they are peripherally involved. It might be beneficial for a police officer to look the other way, especially if there's the threat of danger. You release a tidbit of information once or twice a year to assure the public you're working on it, and then it fades away.

All this to say that I feel like key pieces of the puzzle have been withheld, and not normally the type of info that is reserved because it helps ID the perp.

 

[dotr]

Sometimes wondered if the person DM was speaking to on the phone, was the perp!

 

[samara.matisse]

Sometimes wondered if the person DM was speaking to on the phone, was the perp!

I don't know if I think it was the perp, but it seems awfully suspicious, doesn't it? I think the police might have said "DM was on the phone with a fellow professor, discussing course schedules, when he mentioned someone was present in his driveway," or "DM concluded the call to his friend by saying 'Someone's here in the driveway, I gotta go.'" Something to indicate that the caller either wasn't the perp or possible accessory. I think it makes a difference whether DM initiated the call, or received the call. But maybe it's because I really liked Serial and was fascinated by the cell phone stuff.

 

[dotr]

Fwiw, more profiling of Prius drivers.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorz...s-love-tyler-perry-tesla-devotees-smoke-weed/

Some snipped tidbits..

"Those professing an interest in the Toyota Prius gas/electric hybrid car are more likely to read the Atlantic or the New York Times, be concerned with eco-friendly subject matters and have an affinity for technology, specifically Apple AAPL +0.83%, Facebook FB +4.55%, Twitter and bioengineering"


"Specifically, Gravity’s data mining determined that, compared with the “global set” of users (i.e. the general population) Prius enthusiasts are:

1.2 times more likely to enjoy physical exercise.
2.5 times more likely to like yoga.
1.3 times more likely to be partial to McDonald’s.
13.6 times more likely to love Apple.
Slightly less likely to be interested NASCAR and football, but 6.3 times more likely to be concerned about sustainability.
9.1 times more likely to be a fan of Tyler Perry (Madea drives a Prius?)."

 

[colette]

I tend to think he was on the phone to his girlfriend. Maybe they had plans later, letting her know he was home ect. They probably are not releasing that to protect to her.

 

[fasteddy8170]

Everybody's brought up some good points since the revelation of the Prius information.

I mentioned this last year when this all started: The police have never revealed how long it was between the time Dan said, "Somebody's in my driveway" and the shots. To be clear: He was on the phone when he was shot. The timeframe matters because with that info, we could determine whether Dan saw the somebody in the driveway when he was still out on the main street OR he didn't see someone in his driveway until he was already in the garage. It may seem trivial but it's not: If the person's already in the driveway then that rules out a road rage incident, and leads more to the idea of a botched robbery or somebody actually waiting for him to come home.

However, if the timespan between Dan's statement and the shot is very short, then that means he was already in his garage. And that could mean he was followed home--then it could be road rage among other possibilities.

One of you mentioned something insightful: If somebody was in the driveway, why didn't Dan stop in the driveway as he was pulling in? Well, I guess that could lead someone to think Dan didn't see the person until he was already in the garage--no reason to stop in the driveway if you didn't see someone in the driveway until you're parked in the garage.

However, not stopping for someone in the driveway could mean something else. It could mean Dan knew the person in the driveway. If it's a stranger, I think Dan is more likely to stop and not open his garage door. However, if it's someone he knows, he might wave as he drives by, open the garage door, figuring he'd talk to the person after he got off the phone.

Frankly, it's all a little difficult to decipher without an idea of the timespan between Dan's statement and the shot. You almost have to end up analyzing the mundane statement, "Somebody's in my driveway," to figure out what Dan might've been thinking when he said it. My impression is if a UPS driver was in the driveway, he would've said, "Hey, the UPS guy's in my driveway." Or if the cable guy was in the driveway he would've said, "The Bright House guy is in my driveway."

That he said: "Somebody's in my driveway" infers he didn't know who the person was and the person wasn't dressed in a way that had anything to do with any profession.

On the other hand, he might've said, "Somebody's in my driveway" and been nebulous because Dan didn't want the person on the phone to know who was in the driveway. Thus, "somebody" is a way to make it sound like Dan doesn't recognize the person when he actually did. Knowing who Dan was talking to would be helpful in figuring that part of this all out.

 

[Yellow]

Was Dan killed in the driveway or garage? If garage if you saw a stranger in your driveway, would you have opened your garage door? I would not, sometimes people do not lock their interior doors so I would never open my garage door if it was possible for a stranger to follow me in my own home. Maybe a man would feel differently but certainly no women would provide an opportunity for a strange man to take her to a hidden space. No women, for instance, would open the garage door if a strange man if standing there because of fear he would grab her and take her to a remote spot or attack her in the garage. A man's radius of fear could be different because they do not have the same sensitivity toward rape generally speaking.

So if it was in the garage, he either opened the garage door remotely before he saw the person or it was someone he knew or thought he knew or perhaps he thought he would be ok since he was in a locked Car. Either way it does not sound like he was fearful of anything happening to him. Maybe the person popped out from behind a bush right when he pulled up? I agree w above poster, the time when he said someone was in garage is crucial

 

[Cutie]

He was on the phone with a person he didn't know very well. Not a family member, significant other, etc. Not the perp. (I know this secondhand from someone very close to him.)

 

[nancydrew71]

I think most on here, read too much into this. This is not a made-for-tv movie. He pulled in his driveway and someone pulled in after him. Probably someone he cut off and the guy was mad, had a gun and killed him. Anyone ever see Markel drive? Could have been an aggressive driver.

 

[Kip]

I tend to think it's not a case of road rage. Merkel was returning home after dropping his children at nursery school. In most cases of road rage, the reaction is immediate, and if one driver follows the other, he's usually right on the other driver's tail.

If this was road rage, to have been driving in that area at the time, the driver likely lives or works close by.

 

[fasteddy8170]

Road rage is a motive that's been brought up since Dan was murdered. I've dismissed from the beginning for the following reasons.

At no point during the conversation did Dan tell the other person on the phone that somebody was harassing him on the street. If there was a road rage incident, the person in the Prius would've tried to get Dan's attention right away, and I'm sure Dan would've mentioned something during his phone call. But he didn't.

To further back that up, when I read Dan's words, "Somebody's in my driveway." That sounds to me like it's said with an expression of surprise. This furthers the idea that at no time did the Prius driver--if it was a road rage incident--try to get Dan's attention while they were out on the main streets. Also, Dan made no mention that somebody was following him.

One more thing, only one bullet was fired at Dan. If this was a "rage" incident, my impression is there would've been several shots. I mean, if the Prius driver is going to follow Dan the whole way home, wouldn't the driver then make FOR SURE that Dan was dead? If any of you have any doubt about this, look up "Timothy Davison" on here. Now THAT was a true road rage incident--multiple shots into his vehicle. That case is still unsolved by the way.

Plus, now that we know more about the Prius, we know that it had a SunPass sticker on it. There's no reason to have one of those in the Tallahassee area--there are no toll roads there. I don't know--maybe it's just me--but it seems to me that locals would be more likely to suffer from road rage than outsiders. I admit that's kind of just an instinctual thing but I believe it's in line with common sense.

I'd also add that the percentage of people cruising around with guns in their cards is very low. So, not only do we have a person prone to road rage, but who also has a gun in his car with the capacity to kill someone . . . while driving a Prius, that's certainly a unique demographic.

 

[Russian Blue]

Road rage is a motive that's been brought up since Dan was murdered. I've dismissed from the beginning for the following reasons.

At no point during the conversation did Dan tell the other person on the phone that somebody was harassing him on the street. If there was a road rage incident, the person in the Prius would've tried to get Dan's attention right away, and I'm sure Dan would've mentioned something during his phone call. But he didn't.

To further back that up, when I read Dan's words, "Somebody's in my driveway." That sounds to me like it's said with an expression of surprise. This furthers the idea that at no time did the Prius driver--if it was a road rage incident--try to get Dan's attention while they were out on the main streets. Also, Dan made no mention that somebody was following him.

One more thing, only one bullet was fired at Dan. If this was a "rage" incident, my impression is there would've been several shots. I mean, if the Prius driver is going to follow Dan the whole way home, wouldn't the driver then make FOR SURE that Dan was dead? If any of you have any doubt about this, look up "Timothy Davison" on here. Now THAT was a true road rage incident--multiple shots into his vehicle. That case is still unsolved by the way.

Plus, now that we know more about the Prius, we know that it had a SunPass sticker on it. There's no reason to have one of those in the Tallahassee area--there are no toll roads there. I don't know--maybe it's just me--but it seems to me that locals would be more likely to suffer from road rage than outsiders. I admit that's kind of just an instinctual thing but I believe it's in line with common sense.

I'd also add that the percentage of people cruising around with guns in their cards is very low. So, not only do we have a person prone to road rage, but who also has a gun in his car with the capacity to kill someone . . . while driving a Prius, that's certainly a unique demographic.

I agree, I don't think it is road rage or random. With this new information about the car and a witness who saw it I don't think LE thinks it is road rage either. They said that perhaps the car was used by the killer without the knowledge of the owner, taken and returned. I think that sets us up for a different sceanario.

 

[kemo]

When I read about this case I think of Dr. Anthony Garcia and the Creighton Murders.

 

[Kip]

When I read about this case I think of Dr. Anthony Garcia and the Creighton Murders.

While this isn't my gut feeling about what happened, I do think it's a real possibility. I've seen this happen before - not to the extent of murder, though - where someone is fired or not promoted or not recommended for another position. Many people are upset but work to improve themselves. Other people are upset at first but seem to get over it. They do well for a while. But the underlying flaws that caused their superiors to not back them are still there and eventually cause more professional setbacks. These people get moody and brood and often blame the first superior in the chain of failures for starting them on their downward spirals.

 

[Daun1234]

fasteddy said:maybe a totalled car.
look at photo:

http://taxprof.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c4eab53ef01b7c7b11d98970b-popup

passenger side bent like in collision?

 

[fasteddy8170]

Daun1234, I'm hesitant to make any physical assessments of the car outside what the police have done. I personally don't see what you're talking about but that doesn't mean it's not there. My opinion is the picture isn't the best quality and what could appear to be a dent could be nothing. However, there could be a dent there.

As for my comment about the car being totaled, I guess it's more of a "Sherlock Holmes" type of thing than anything else. Since the picture was revealed I've been keeping an eye out for any Priuses on the streets, specifically their tow holes on the front bumper. I have yet to see one where the cover of the hole was missing. As somebody previously stated: It's possible the Prius in the picture lost its tow cover due to nothing but a mistake--the World's an imperfect place, screws are falling out all the time.

However, since I haven't seen a Prius missing one yet, it would mean to me, at least anecdotally, that tow covers falling off isn't common--so I wouldn't want to base any conclusions on that.

Thus, the logical conclusion--at this point--is that the tow cover was removed because the car was towed. Whether it was towed a month before Dan's murder or a year, no one can say. Why it was towed? Let's take a look at that.

The mirror--if a tow cover missing is unique, then mismatched mirrors on a car have to be even rarer. Given the infrequencies of these two traits, I think it's logical to assume that the missing tow cover and the wrong mirror are related to each other. So, how could they be related to each other? I'd say a wreck--a wreck in which the car was damaged to the point that the car couldn't be driven.

Well, it doesn't take much for a car of that age to be totaled, especially if it couldn't be driven after a collision. My guess is the Prius wasn't technically "towed". Instead, a flat bed operator might've used the tow hole to pull the car up onto the truck.

My suspicion kind of goes this way: The mirror wasn't bought by itself. Instead, the entire passenger's side of the car might've be damaged--thus the car being totaled. And the new owner bought it with a salvaged title. Then, reconstructing the vehicle, the owner found a passenger front door that matched in a junkyard, not caring that the mirror was from a lesser model of Prius. Sure, the passenger mirrors on different levels of Prius are different, but the exterior colors would be the same--silver/green on a base model would be the same shade on the premium one. And truthfully: Who notices different colored passenger mirrors on vehicles?

I also look at this way: If the mirror was damaged alone, how much can the difference be between a new black side mirror and a new green/silver side mirror? It can't be a lot. So, there wouldn't be much of a financial motive for the Prius owner to choose the black over the green, out of pocket. Thus, there must be some other reason that the passenger side mirror is black and not green. But if the owner needs more: An entire door--then a black mirror attached to a pristine passenger door looks like a pretty good deal if a door with a green mirror can't be found.

Having said all this, maybe the police have gone about this the wrong way. Instead of looking for the car involved in Dan's murder, maybe they should be looking for the Prius that donated the door/mirror to the Prius in the picture. That original vehicle would've been totaled as well. And if it was totaled, then there's a good chance a police report was filed, given the severity of a wreck like that. So, you find a 2006-2009 green/silver Prius that was totaled in a wreck where the driver's side was severely damaged but the passenger side wasn't, and the police may just figure out who bought the door off it.

 

[fasteddy8170]

I see a suspect was caught in the murder of that woman in Hollywood. It seems she was killed over a dispute over money and services not rendered.

How this relates to Dan Markel's murder is this: I think this shows that when a person is murdered by someone close, the police can hone in on who did it pretty quickly a high percentage of the time. This is the exact reason I continue to believe that Dan wasn't murdered by someone who knew him well or was close to him--since the case is still unsolved. Dan's murder still has the feel to me of a random murder due to fun/delusion or someone who knew Dan tangentially who Dan didn't know in return.