The crime scene appears to be very ritualistic - whatever the defense is describing here can be seen by the judge, and it shocked first responders, so I don’t doubt that the description here is accurate. The prosecution said just before a gag order that the investigation was ongoing and (paraphrasing) likely others involved.
Oh, no doubt the killer did things at the scene that were signature - unnecessary, but fulfilled him in some way - but as strange as signature actions can be, they don't necessarily mean there's any kind of religiosity or cultishness behind them. Acting out of fantasy, though, yes. Postmortem handling, dressing, posing, unusual covering of the body, aren't present at most homicides, but they are all known behaviours that have been observed, documented and studied, particularly in the realm of sexually motivated homicide, which there is every indication Abby and Libby's murders were.
According to the defense memorandum, an FBI BAU profiler said likely practices Nordic beliefs - will try to hunt down the exact phrase momentarily and edit this.
These are allegations made by the Defense in support of their Franks Motion, which is CRITICAL to them. They need the evidence against RA thrown out because it is so damning to him.
This seems relevant, though this is crime, not politics.
After reading it, it doesn't seem so much like a Hail Mary to me as defense attorneys doing some whistleblowing in an attempt to figure out what is actually going on with LE here.
One of the branches was was several feet longer than Libby's body. I know there is a wealth of potential for what could be under that coat, but I don't see a branch potentially eight or nine feet long being one of them. They were found in the woods. It's not a stretch to presume that the branches came from the scene.
I hear ya, I really do. In my 20s, when I lived in the midwest, I found out my co-worker belonged to some weird supremacy group. It was very disturbing to find that out - still makes me sad to realize how some people can believe such vile things.
Some of those "random branches" had been cleanly cut with an electric saw, according to Defense.
If I laid out all the crimes that have happened in my tiny corner of Indiana over the last 50 years, Odinist cult killers or serial killer with a rune fetish might make the top 3 (in terms of weird, I mean). When it comes to Indiana, "leaps" aren't really leaps.
Even if they were, it doesn't mean that they were cut by the killer, on the day. People maintaining their properties cut brush and branches to keep things from getting overgrown and maintain access all the time. And on a big property, they're probably going to let it lie until they're ready to gather it together and burn it or dispose of it.
I think the implication is they were cut elsewhere and brought to the scene.
