...and the application for the arrest warrant lists 1900 385th Ave as the location of the crime, indicating that the murder took place there and not in a cornfield 12 miles (or so) away. I know, I'm confused too.
I think that the FitBit data, uploaded to the cloud, ended before the cornfield where the body was found, resulting in the last digital "ping" (acknowledged by LE) in the area of the hog farm. This could be because CR simply turned the phone off enroute to the disposal site. There are technical reasons why, in an area with diminished cell phone coverage (fewer towers), a digital geolocated signal source could be less than pinpoint. This was discussed up-post.
Maybe CR drove past the hog farm looking for a place to dump a body.
On one MSM interview with the lead DCI investigator, he said that CR tackled MT. Maybe when CR accosted MT he took her down, causing her head to hit the pavement, causing immediate unconsciousness and resulting in death (consistent with the affidavit application) from a closed head injury (and with accompanying head laceration - consistent with CR's known statement). However, this COD is not consistent with the prelim autopsy report, as confirmed on a reported MSM interview that the murder weapon was a knife.
It's also possible that CR was threatening MT with a knife, and in the struggle when she went down, hitting her head, he fell on top of her with a knife in his hand, driving the knife into her chest, immediately killing her, and causing nicking of the sternum and/or ribs. Not his intent to kill her there and then, but stuff happens. There was MSM report that forensic
anthropologists would be consulted in this case. Documentation of this kind of sharp force injury would be consistent with their skill set.
Findings of bleed associated with a closed head injury, after 4 to 5 weeks of decomp, while maybe detectable could be equiviable as a COD. Bone nicking from a knife would be a much firmer finding and a better choice to list as the leading COD.