I know this is such an old thread but I just follow this case so closely to make sure he stays put away. I lived next door to this freak. Warning: very long and detailed but I remember it like it was yesterday....
I lived next door to this guy in a nice neighborhood. It was NOT where you would expect to live next door to a stalking, rapist murderer. I and my brother lived there but we were both often gone at opposite times and I was there by myself when I was there. Josh(murderer) lived with his dad and step mother. He would often stop by and drink with my brother and play video games... LONG story short he had the reputation as this "crazy" "dumb" red neck. He was younger and crazy.That is... Unless you were a possible potentional victim of his you wouldn't necessarily see those dark creepy eyes. Though one night I saw him attacking his ex gf in the middle of the street slinging her all over the place.... But she was continuing to fight with him. Turned out he had a kid and had nothing to do with her.
One night my cat stared at the window like crazy and I ran to the window and thought I saw a human shadow but then went away. I dismissed it at first but still had that instinct gut feeling something wasn't right. The next week I noticed my Windows were unlocked and they weren't before. The following week my cat did the same thing again and I ran to the window and again didn't see anything but heard something before and after. A week or so later ..same thing. Ran to the window and I saw someone running away, like a flash and they had a white shirt. I am crazy I know but I actually went outside with a taser and knife (i now own a gun after this and believe in them 100%) and there he was conveniently in his garage. I asked if he saw anyone and he said "oh saw someone in a van drive through just now". Yea right. I knew then this freak was most likely the one doing it. Tried telling my brother and he dismissed me as crazy and said it was the "cats" across the street. I said yea, just a HUGE CAT RIGHT...
A few days later I pulled up late at night and was getting something from my trunk. My driveway was on a culdesac so his driveway was VERY visible almost at an angle. He magically appeared next to me and COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY CREEPED ME OUT. He had the devil look and I immediately went into defensive mode and switched gears letting him know I was not some push over (which he already had an idea of as he knew I was more the tom boy type though I'm only like 4"11 and 105 lbs soaking wet.) it was ODD because he was SUPPOSEDLY this friendly neighbor and here I was letting him know I KNEW HE WASNT THIS FRIENDLY NEIGHBOR BUT A CREEP. I was scared SHITLESS but I didn't let him know that and quickly went in after facing him. Weird thing was he literally appeared out of no where. I have no idea where he came from which I know was not from the direction from his house so I assume he was hiding in my yard.
A few weeks later , cat did the same thing . Only this time instead of looking out the window giving him opportunity to take off running I had beforehand looked what I could see from outside if I was close to the blinds to see the blind spots. So i got down in the blind spot along the corner off room and, literally army crawled on the floor , grabbed a HUGE KNIFE AND TASER And yanked open the door . Only this time, my brother was home, passed out drunk. Just great. As I opened the door I was screaming for my brother at the same time and THERE WAS JOSH. STANDING AGAINST my window in front of the bushes. He immediately kept saying "I'm looking for my dog, I'm looking for my dog". I literally held the knife up to his face as he approached me and almost stabbed him and to this day I WISH I DID BECAUSE maybe those girls would have lived. I told him he was full of **** that the whole time I lived there I NEVER SAW HIM WITH A DOG much less ever even saw A DOG PERIOD. I called the police and they did NOTHING. My boyfriend was a deputy at the time and he dismissed it too like I may have been overeacting or something I dunno but I just remember NO ONE DID ANYTHING. My dad even said he was probably "just a peeping tom". But my brother was drunk and blamed it again on the cats across the street and completely defended the Josh guy.
I was so angry not to mention scared at the time but now realize who in the world would have believed this crazy ****. You know ... I dunno. Anyways. By the grace of God I moved out a couple of days later because we were fighting and I was just freaking out.
Anyways, after I moved a couple of months later , the second time I saw his devil demon eyes was when I was at a bar one night (i don't often drink btw at least anymore - I was young then early 20's). And he appeared and stared me down from across the room with THOSE eyes. LUCKILY my friends knew he was crazy and we immediately left TOGETHER as a group. They saw his eyes too and had the same feeling. I Will NEVER forget that look either.
Hindsight, looking back, before all the window stuff or his creepy behavior I remember him outside one day taking apart the inside of his old truck. He was chunking the carpet and placing plastic in it and removing the seats. I remember thinking to myself "why is he putting so much effort in the inside when the outside is a big MESS and needed the work"....
Also, he met a girl from up north once who I think had a warrant from up north or something . Anyways, I remember he left with her for a trip to New Orleans and we'll she NEVER came back. I remember asking what happened to her and he said oh she went had up north for court I believe . When I left from living with my brother she had asked him if she could store some boxes and he let her. To my knowledge , at least months later she never came and got her stuff back. To this day I WISH I knew her name but I don't and I don't know what happened to the stuff after I moved .
Anyways, the neighborhood I lived in had a fence on the entrance side blocking the road. But if You we're standing in josh's backyard and looked over the fence the woods where the bodies were dumped was right across the street. When I saw on the news where they were found just a few short months after I moved I immediately called an anonymous tip. I just knew . I knew what he was capable of. ONE thing I have learned is ALWAYS TRUST YOUR INSTINCS. sure enough his DNA was found in the second girls body whom only had been there for a day or two after someone's dog ran and found her. The other body he was not charged with because she was to decomposed even though she was only there for a short time also.
What made me angry is the news media tried to portray one of the girls as a prostitute. Whether she was or wasn't , matters NOT. Yes, he may have picked her first because she was easy access and he thought he would surely get away with it but the fact if the matter is he would have killed anyone girl or woman if the timing was right or he stalked them long enough like he did me and felt like he would get away with it. The other girl was not a prostitute And I suspect he may have met her at a bar.
Oh and one more weird thing . I was you,g back looking at pictures from when I was young with friends and in two pictures I noticed him in the background with a cowboy hat on... Now that is CREEPY.
Hope I didn't vote everyone to death.
Was LE unable to link Douglas to her murder? I've been Googling, and not finding anything. It's almost like she's been forgotten...