I'm in the camp that believes SA murdered Ms. Halbach, though I disagree with the prosecution's narrative. Why? Due to the gross lack of evidence required to support his narrative. One that, by the way, was in part, the result of a coerced confession of a mentally challenged teen.
So, ignoring the lurid faux narrative that, afaics, arose from none other than a sexual predator's mind
[see footnotes], the most damning evidence, imho, are the cremains. While I believe the key & slug may have been planted to bolster the prosecution's case, I do not believe the cremains, her SUV, or his blood were planted.
Moreover, while not presented to the jury, SA does have a history of behavior that arguably fits with the crime. For example, the cat incident, running his cousin's car off the road, brandishing a gun, and wholly inappropriate public sexual displays. Furthermore, a younger relative had come forward prior to Ms. Halbach's death, alleging he sexually abused her. That I understand, the case never made it to court bc they were trying the murder case. In other words, SA has long shown chronic inappropriate behavior towards women, to include coming to the door in a towel, as reported by one of Ms. Halbach's co-workers.
As for Ms. Halbach's murder? I have long felt he followed her, made a pass, she refused his advances, and in anger, he struck out, accidentally killing her. That is, I do not think she was murdered in his trailer or garage, or even shot, or that her murder was in any way, shape or form, premeditated. Rather, it was the heat of the moment blitz attack coming from someone with little, to no, impulse control. To my mind this explains the smears of her blood in the trunk of her car. Importantly, as has been noted elsewhere, SA has a very low IQ. Within the context of this case, this means he would not think everything through. So, in attempt to hide the evidence (
her body), he burned her remains in his back yard and hid her vehicle as opposed to crushing it. This is congruent with someone who does not think very far ahead.
And finally, the retired FBI profiler in the '
Real Crime Profile' podcast, that I linked above, provided a very plausible explanation regarding why the cremains were found in multiple locations, as well as why there was no smell of burning flesh, etcetera. These, by the way, were the biggest problems that I, personally, had with the case. Especially the cremains found at the Radnant quarry. However, if, as this man suggests, her remains were not completely destroyed, I could see him putting those in the burn barrel, as well as trying to empty the barrel in the quarry. It would also go a long way to explain why one of the cadaver dogs hit on the golf cart (
i.e., he used the cart to carry the barrel to the quarry).
That being said, while I have no problem considering considering alternative scenarios that do not involve SA, in all, and unless Zellner finds something that actually exonerates this man, I will continue to believe he is the killer.
And finally, while I do believe he is the killer, I also think he did not get a fair trial.
Footnotes:
1. The prosecutor admitted he was a sex addict [see page 15 of OLR disciplinary hearing]
2. The prosecutor showed a persistent pattern of sexually harassing women [see page 10 of OLR disciplinary hearing]
3. The prosecutor put on an offensive media show while completely ignoring the feelings and privacy of the Halbach family.
4. Sexual addictions do not spring up over night, the prosecutor's protestations notwithstanding.