GUILTY FL - Steven & Michelle Andrews, both 28, murdered, Fort Myers, 27 Dec 2005

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The physical evidence (at least what they have released to the press so far) is verrrrry iffy. No conclusive DNA, no fingerprints, no nothing. At least from what I have seen.
 
Garnan said:
The physical evidence (at least what they have released to the press so far) is verrrrry iffy. No conclusive DNA, no fingerprints, no nothing. At least from what I have seen.
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My mind is a little rusty so correct me if I'm wrong but I thought they had witnesses that saw Fred leaving the area around the times of death....
 
Garnan said:
The physical evidence (at least what they have released to the press so far) is verrrrry iffy. No conclusive DNA, no fingerprints, no nothing. At least from what I have seen.
Click to expand...
They do have evidence, but I'm a little confused about the DNA. I think that the DNA matches (or that Fred could not be excluded). His motorcycle was caught on a gas station video. I know that he cut out the lining of his jacket and tried to destroy it. They have a bunch of incriminating evidence (to include, him using his pass key to get back to his house at 3 a.m. or something like that). I just hope that they will be able to put it all together.

To me, if Fred really were innocent, he would have insisted on moving forward with the trial as soon as possible. Instead, his lawyers have asked for delays.

I guess that we will have to wait and see what LE does have on Fred. He is the most obvious person to commit the crime. I think that he followed his girlfriend to her office and saw her meet and have sex with Steve. That enraged him enough to drive to Steve's house to murder him and his wife, who would have been a witness to the crime.
 
Garnan said:
The physical evidence (at least what they have released to the press so far) is verrrrry iffy. No conclusive DNA, no fingerprints, no nothing. At least from what I have seen.
Click to expand...

There is conclusive DNA evidence against him from under Michelles fingernail. If I remember correctly there was a phone by a chair that the child used and the theory was that the murder called 911 and handed the phone to the child before he left.
Garan have you read even a little about this case? #401 has a very good link IMO
 
I have actually read quite a bit about it. From the evidence that has been disclosed to the public, it is all refutable. The eyewitness is not reliable. There is no dna that is for sure him, some that can't exclude him, but can't exclude lot's of others.

Michelle was brutally beaten, choked and finally smothered. Steve was killed with one shot to the head. So who is the target here? Why so much anger against Michelle? It just doesn't add up to me. I need some clear cut evidence.
 
From what I've read, Steve was shot while both he & Michelle were asleep. The gun shot awakened Michelle who fought valiantly for her life explaining the "overkill" on her as opposed to Steve. A large quantity of Fred's flesh and blood under many (if not all) her fingernails would also be hard to call circumstantial.

While much of the witness statements and such could be called circumstantial, if all the circumstantial evidence points to you and your DNA is also under the fingernails of one victim, that's pretty compelling.
 
I thought that they had also found the cut out lining of Fred's jacket in the trash, covered with blood. I might have to go back and check the specifics of that but I could swear I read that a while back.
 
In post 363, Nanandjim provided a link with details about the crime. Unfortunately the link is no longer working but apparently it included information about a bloody jacket liner that Fred had disposed of in a trash can at his work. That's HUGE in terms of evidence. I don't think that the prosecution is going to have any trouble at all with this case nor should they, IMO.
 
JerseyGirl said:
In post 363, Nanandjim provided a link with details about the crime. Unfortunately the link is no longer working but apparently it included information about a bloody jacket liner that Fred had disposed of in a trash can at his work. That's HUGE in terms of evidence. I don't think that the prosecution is going to have any trouble at all with this case nor should they, IMO.
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Unfortunately, Fred poured gasoline or some type of fluid on the liner to destroy any blood evidence. However, just the destruction of the jacket liner indicates guilt to me.
 
Ah, I didn't recall that. You're right - destroying it does indicate guilt to me as well. Maybe this case will be more circumstantial than I originally thought. One of these days when I have some spare time, I'd like to refamiliarize myself with the evidence to get a better feel for how this trial might go. I truly hope that justice is served in this case.
 
Here's the latest article on the case. It says that the judge is allowing evidence from a realtor who states that a man (identified as Fred) entered her office a few days before the murders and asked for the Gateway code. She told the man that she didn't have it. Her testimony may be disregarded by the jurors, but I'm glad the judge is allowing it.

http://www.bonitanews.com/news/2007...mony_admissible_gateway_trial_judge_r/?latest
 
I can understand the woman being apprehensive about coming forward but I'm actually shocked that she had no intention of sharing what she knew. I'm glad that "word got around" and that LE ended up coming to question her. That's a very important detail, IMO.

Thanks for the link, nanandjim.
 
An update:

No trial till next spring!


http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/aug/07/gateway_murder_case_delayed_until_spring/?breaking_news

snip

With witness interviews still to be scheduled, the attorneys agreed to postpone the trial of 29-year-old Fred Cooper from next month until late March or early April in 2008


Originally published — 4:50 p.m., August 7, 2007
Updated — 10:41 p.m., August 7, 2007


The opening of the trial in the Gateway double-murder case was pushed back more than six months during a court hearing Tuesday, among other housekeeping items dealt with during the half-hour session.
 
Fred Cooper was in court on November 30th. The judge is concerned about media coverage:

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007...gateway_double_homicide_court_/?breaking_news

snip

Fred Cooper, the accused killer in the 2005 Gateway case, was in court Friday morning for a lengthy hearing of more than 20 defense motions, many of which are standard in a death penalty case.
Among other things, Cooper’s attorneys revived their efforts to get the case moved out of Lee County. They’ve argued repeatedly, and so far without success, that widespread publicity has rendered it impossible to find an impartial jury.
Judge Thomas Reese said he plans to first try to find fair jurors locally. But he left open the possibility of moving the case should that prove impossible.
Reese also noted that Cooper, who was clad Friday in his red jail-issue jumpsuit and chains, is welcome to attend court in regular clothes.
 
Idahomom,
Thanks for the update. IMO, the evidence that we know about in this case assures us of a conviction for Cooper. I think the trial will get a guilty verdict if honest and alert jurors are picked.
 
Okay excuse me if I am wrong on this, but the stuff about him not being read his rights while being questioned confused me. I thought they only had to read you your rights if you were arrested. I have been questioned before about what I may or may not know about a theft ring (wrong crowd when younger and I was waaaay on the outside of all that) and my rights were not read. Do they have to read you your rights if you are just being questioned about what you may or may not know? Sounds like LE did the right things here, when they started getting to the meat of things they did read him his rights even though he was still not under arrest. Correct me if I am wrong on this.

Also, so what if they used the gf to get him to come to the station.
 
curious1 said:
Okay excuse me if I am wrong on this, but the stuff about him not being read his rights while being questioned confused me. I thought they only had to read you your rights if you were arrested. I have been questioned before about what I may or may not know about a theft ring (wrong crowd when younger and I was waaaay on the outside of all that) and my rights were not read. Do they have to read you your rights if you are just being questioned about what you may or may not know? Sounds like LE did the right things here, when they started getting to the meat of things they did read him his rights even though he was still not under arrest. Correct me if I am wrong on this.

Also, so what if they used the gf to get him to come to the station.
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i think they must read you your rights if you are a suspect or if they plan to take you into custody. even if police do everything 100% by the book it is standard practice to ask that incriminating statement be thrown out.
 
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