I agree with you Kamille! Dale is just ONCE AGAIN with his actions proving he cares about no one but himself. There is no reasonable explanation why he wouldn't let the twinners see Michelle's family....ESPECIALLY on their birthday! UNLESS of course he is GUILTY and knows they could tell what daddy did....With the Internet these days....those children will know SOON ENOUGH what kind of Dad they have. JMO
I stumbled upon this thread by mistake and because I got so appalled with the constant verbal lynching of Dale Smith both here and the media in general that I thought it's just about time somebody interjected a level of fairness on behalf of a man about whom no evidence, either physical or credibly circumstantial has been released to the public by the authorities, and who has not, at least to this day, been charged with any crime related to the disappearance of Michelle Parker.
So let me start by saying that I have no opinion about Dale Smith's innocence or guilt. Opinions can only be extrapolated from facts in evidence, and I'm not aware (and neither is anyone else in the general public) of any significant ones in this case that can legitimize accusing anyone (yes even Dale Smith) of something as grave as murder as some here, in a not-so-veiled way, keep on doing, day in and day out.
I'm gonna try now to address some "accusation" that gets constantly repeated here.
- On Dale being the suspect.
Anyone who had motive and opportunity and does not have a credible alibi is automatically a suspect. It cannot be surprising that somebody like Dale Smith, whit is violent history and criminal record is named a suspect from day1. However, there is a qualitative and quantitative difference between "could have done it" and "I feel he did it" or even worse "I know he did it". the first is based on the facts you know the latter is based on something else that wold require going into deep psychological theories to explain and not appropriate here, let's just say that the fact that you are in front of a microphone does not mean you have something worthwhile to say and sometimes the worse thing to do is for you to speak into it, and I'll leave it at that.
- On Dale being the ONLY suspect.
Many thousands of people fall pray of crime each year, and so many are unfortunately abducted and never seen again. Most crimes remain unsolved and most people never get prosecuted for their criminal behavior. The inability of the police to have more then one suspect is not in itself evidence of any person's guilt.
- On the many ways Dale could have done it (and so it must have done it?)
Anyone who came in contact with Michelle Parker, both known or unknown, on the day she disappeared could have harmed her. If you pick a culprit out of your hat, reasonably or not, you can then, almost in all cases, extrapolate that various ways a crime could have been reasonably carried on. However, absent facts to support your theory the all exercise is of course meaningless, to imply that therefore a particular person/s did it is absurd and unfair.
- On Dale not "cooperating" with the police.
No attorney, even an incompetent one, would advise a client to give statements to the police should they believe they are suspects in a criminal investigation, or for that matter in any circumstances. The reason for this should be obvious to everyone or can be easily Googled. However it is also true that we have a moral and legal obligation to report any crime we might be aware of. The ethical and legal obligation here are murky and have been debated before. I do believe you should report a crime no matter the implications.
What is not debatable is that when you have become the person everybody is pointing fingers to, when you are the subject of an extensive criminal investigation, when you are practically accused publicly of criminal activities even before a single shred of credible evidence is made public, then Dale, me or anyone else would be best advised to keep our heads down and speak only wen absolutely necessary and only in the presence of counsel. And that is exactly what he's doing and that is what just about everybody else would do in the same circumstances. That he is vilified even for doing so is yet further evidence of why he should talk as little as possible if at all.
- On Dale not "Manning up" and confess.
Dale Smith said he is innocent; Assuming is telling the truth and having no conclusive evidence ('tii now) to the contrary I will check my Crystal Ball for help on this one and make a comment whenever possible. After all some here have already checked their own "Crystal Ball" and made this answer clear for everybody to hear. If your "Crystal Ball" is right then I agree that he should confess and do the right thing, however it is clear that confessing to something that can possibly get you strapped to a gurney as someone injects you with a lethal dose of a nasty chemical goes diametrically opposed to the most powerful instinct known on this earth: self preservation.
- On the many ways Dale could have done it (and so it must have done it?)
Anyone who came in contact with Michelle Parker, both known or unknown, on the day she disappeared could have harmed her. If you pick a culprit out of your hat, reasonably or not, you can then, almost in all cases, extrapolate that various ways a crime could have been carried on. Absent facts to support your theory that all exercise is of course meaningless, to imply that therefore a particular person/s did it is absurd and utterly unfair.
- On Dale been awarded custody of his own children (and how bad that is)
This really hits home for me, as a divorced father, I unfortunately have first hand experience of how estranged fathers in general are thought to be somewhat less of a parent then custodial mothers are. All things being equal and in the opposite situation I'd bet that would not be nearly as many hostile comments toward the mother then there are here for the father, if any at all.
Generally children belong with their parents. To take children away from a parent, to deprive any persons of what is one of the most essential right of any human being, the right to care and love for one's own children, you need grave and serious allegations backed up by evidence (alas, evidences again!), such as abuse and neglect. In this case a Judge, having looked at the totally of the evidence has awarded custody where it should have been, the father. That should have been enough for most reasonable people, apparently though not for some here, along with knowing Dale Smith is a murderer they also know is a bad father, of course.
.- On Dale not allowing enough visitation time to the Grandparents.
I cannot begin to understand the pain and anguish Michelle Parker's parents must be going through. As a parent myself, my heart goes out to them and I do understand why under enormous pressure people may say and do things they would not otherwise. However, if the idea is to have access to one's grandchildren, it becomes counterproductive to publicly vilify the same person one needs to cooperate with in order to have reasonable access to the said grandchildren.
As it seems, very often they go on record accusing Dale, in a not-so-veiled way, of murder, violence, drug use and more. Just today the grandmother said on TV the Dale's children (yes the are his children) seem not to be happy (or something to that effect), the significance and the implications of that statement being whatever anyone would choose it to be, are surely to be interpreted by Dale's as yet another attack, this time at his custodial rights. Thus, this is not a climate from where legitimate steps can be made at arranging meaningful visitation time for the grandparents, actually I am surprised any visitations are taking place at all in this poisonous environment. To further say that this unfortunate situation with the kids speaks of further "proof" of Dale being a murderer is quite frankly void of any shred of empathy or sense of fairness.
Lastly, while it is legitimate to debate criminal cases, evaluate evidence, and form opinions on what those evidence mean, Dale's guilt here can only be alleged by a prosecutor from evidence gathered by the police, and decided by a jury of his pears, anything short of that that speaks of his guilt or innocence is utterly meaningless and adds absolutely nothing to the effort of law enforcement in finding out what happened to Michelle Parker and who might be responsible for it. Not that this will ever stop the ones that are smarter then anyone else from letting us know otherwise. But still ...
