So are you hypothesizing that Dr S had been out walking the dogs... She de-activated the alarm to return back into the house (or had the alarm off for the quick minutes it took to walk the dogs) & that's when the perp entered into the garage right behind her? And if so, it would stand to reason that a hammer was involved as it's a tool seen in most garages.
The fight/attack could've started right there & continued into the house. If the perp purposefully kept the dogs in the garage, their barking would've been muffled due to the solid construction of newer homes in FL.
But if the hypothesis is true, why was the garage side door tampered with? Well, the perp may have known Dr S didn't alarm the house for a quick walking of the dogs but she may very well lock the door. Therefore, the perp could've broken in and was waiting in hiding for the Dr's return.
I will reiterate that the dogs hold the key--the DNA key. I also wonder if LE has looked into local hospital or Dr's to see if there's been a patient with odd injuries?
Frightening indeed! All of it!
Not sure if she walked the dogs or just let them into the yard. In a family photo, which I posted before with blanked out faces, you can see that the dog laying on the floor is not wearing his collar. The dogs are wearing collars with tags in NG's video. No tag in the family pic.
In the same family pic you can get a glimpse of the inside entry area. It is clean and neat, no dog leashes/collars or anything. There is a closet visible to the right of the front door. I doubt the dog stuff would be in there. Too big of a closet, you would not mix dog stuff with other things.
So, the dog leashes/ collars were either in the utility room area or in the garage. In the MSM videos you can see the open garage, lots of stuff, even a screen-door and a wooden framework leaning between the van and the wall. That's a tight way to get out with two dogs, that are most likely leashed by now, so they would not run out on the street.
If Dr Sievers walked the dogs that morning - "If" - she would have most likely exited trough the front door and not through the garage. Garage door would be closed the entire time.
However, she would have gone towards the utility or garage area to pic up the collars/ leashes. She might pic up a couple of plastic bags or even a scooper. The scooper is questionable however due to the size of the dogs and the resulting handling issues.
So either she did not walk the dogs and let them into the fenced backyard, then most likely no contact with anyone outside the house. She lets them out through the lanai or garage side-door, dogs not wearing any collars.
Or she did walk the dogs, and she might have run into someone else, chat etc..She is walking away from the house, someone is entering the house through the garage side door. That someone, if happened to also walk a dog for example, would not necessarily carry a crowbar or a hammer with him or her. So how would that individual get in?
Dr Sievers returns home through the front door, either manages to take the collars of the dogs and walks towards the utility room/garage to put the dog stuff away and then has an encounter with the intruder.
Notice that if she walked the dogs,
the connection door between utility room and garage would most likely be unlocked and stay unlocked until she would lock everything later - or not. Notice also that the broken in side-garage door was not dead bolted. Why not? Dr Sievers may have let the dogs out into the fenced backyard through that door, did not deadbolt it after letting the dogs in (or let them in through the lanai) and that's why it was not dead bolted (2 locks). For same reason it may also be, that the connection door between utility room and garage stayed unlocked.
That connection door is in general of great concern, as it is not necessarily part of the security parameter and anyone managing to access the garage has now access to the interior of the house. It is an important security issue.
This is just one of the possible scenarios accounting for opportunity, access and time of attack.
-Nin
