When investigators say this is a targeted attack what do they really mean? We've had lots of theories regarding the individual who committed this crime. He's an incel, lives at home, never dated, jealous of Greek life, has a superiority/inferiority complex, etc.
I don't know whether the assailant is 20 or 40 years old, has ever kissed a girl or had a good job, lives in his mom's basement or outside the city. He could be any or many of those things. But why did he choose to enter a home and kill four people? Did he let 2 people live or was he not aware of them?
I don't know whether LE are framing the word 'targeted' as a descriptor meaning one of the deceased received more injuries than the other three. That doesn't necessarily mean they were the actual target though; it just might mean they were harder to kill. Perhaps E sustained more injuries since he might have confronted the killer. And maybe it wasn't even confrontational. Maybe he just got up because he heard a noise and then had to go pee and because he was a big guy, the killer had to inflict more damage on him.
K's family said she had a stalker and I believe that's what's fueling the theory that she was the target even though LE have not verified that claim. It could be a strategy, however, to keep the killer off balance.
Some theories of 'why' are: assailant was disrespected, is small and unattractive and takes his self hatred out on women, drug deal gone bad, theft turned deadly. But what if it is something completely different? What if it doesn't have anything to do with sexy girls and frat boys and menial jobs, lack of sex appeal, no future, etc.
What if it's ideological in nature? Religious or political. IMO
Whatever the reason behind the killings I hope all investigating bodies hold their cards close to their vests, provide updates when needed and keep some of their spokespersons on a short leash.
Whatever parents and family members of the deceased say, they say out of grief, because every minute the murderer isn't caught feels like a month and every day feels like a year. I hope they are getting some counseling.
Murder investigations take a long time. The first few hours and days of an investigation a lot of information is amended and discarded as new clues are unearthed. Out of chaos comes order. It's a fact that sometimes first responders create a kind of forensic nightmare for the investigators because their first priority is to save lives. A living victim can provide more evidence than trace evidence ever could.
An interesting link of a defense attorney who used to be an EMT:
Crime scene preservation of evidence and documentation can bring the guilty to justice and ensure an innocent person is not wrongly convicted
www.ems1.com