To the topic a few pages back regarding the timeline and its benefit to either the P or the D:
Four components go into the timeline. I list in terms of most flimsy to least flimsy. JMO
1) "A car resembling RA's '16 Focus was noted on the HH Store video camera at 1:27 heading westbound toward the CPS building". First off, it's not certain that was RA's car - it only resembled it, which likely means a generic dark-colored mid-size sedan was seen. Though westbound, nobody knows if this car stopped and parked at the CPS. Even if it was RA's car it's not known whether he was arriving or departing, just moving westbound. The D may actually use this sighting to say this could've been RA leaving around 1:30 as per his recent LE interviews. This component is virtually no evidence if standalone to P, but might add a sliver of corroborative evidence if the other 3 are proven.
2) "Mr.Allen was on the trail between 1330 and 1530" per the CO's interview notes. MOO the phrase "between 1330 and 1530" does not equal the phrase "arrived at 1330 and departed at 1530" despite the leap others have taken. Also "on the trail sometime between 1330 & 1530" does not equal "on the bridge between 1330 & 1530". While he does tell the CO he went to the MHB at some juncture, it does not mean that he couldn't have went to the bridge at 1:00, was still lingering out on the trails at 1:35 before leaving - and nothing in the CO's report would be incorrect. Since RA now apparently says his time at the site was more like noon to 1:30, and at no point has he ever admitted to being present on the abduction end of the bridge 1/4 mile from the near-end, nor down below the bridge, I think for P this is slightly more flimsy than not (though his admission of wearing generally the same clothing as BG is intriguing)
3) the Betsy Blair witnessing - RA does not admit to seeing her, so this is solely trusting BB's recollection for content. Her window of time is tight and not disputable as she's observed on HH video driving in at 1:46 and driving out at 2:14. Given the rest of commute to/from Mears and parking the car, her total exercise time at the park would not probably have exceeded 25 minutes. Within that 25 minutes she apparently walks straight from Mears to MHB which would had to have been in the 1:53-1:55 range. Had she walked straight back to her car (passing A&L in the process which she says she did), she'd have returned to car around 2:01-2:02... but that would've been too early per departure camera sighting so she must have either done a second round-trip (unlikely as she doesn't mention that plus she'd have seen more info), walked elsewhere beyond Mears (I haven't heard that specifically either but it's more plausible), or just puttered around at/in her car (following a 12-14 minute exercise) before driving off 10-15 minutes later (seems unlikely but maybe on her phone or something). Regardless, it's not doubted that she saw someone on the MHB in that 1:53-1:55 window, but who she describes per D memo as an age 20's poufy haired fellow is not RA/BG. She is quite confident in this description however describing the YBG sketch as 100% spot on as to who she saw. She also is quite sure the lone vehicle she saw at the CPS lot was not a dark-colored sedan but matched a 1965 Comet which her father drove when she was a little girl (probably infers she's 60-65 years old now if BB was 5-7 yrs old when Dad got the new Comet?). These descriptions of both the man on the bridge and the car in the lot paint a bit of an outlier picture that I'm not sure would stand up if her recall is questioned, though she may be right. Overall probably more helpful to P than the first 2, but not ideal.
4) encountering girls at/near Freedom Bridge - this one carries the most weight since RA states he passed a group (though of 3) girls, while the group of 4 girls, 3 being interviewed with assumedly the 4th being quite young, likewise state they encountered a man. There is also a prospect of a digital time stamp - otherwise I don't see where either RA or the girls state what time this encounter occurred. While it's generally assumed there is no 2nd man nor any 2nd group of girls, it's important however that neither side has picked the other(s) out of a lineup. RA really provides no descriptives of the girls he saw other than the number of 3 and that one (babysitter? MOO) was taller than the others. The girls' descriptives of the man are quite assorted and wouldn't be considered strong confirmations, though one does state he matched the person in L's video (BG), assumedly after seeing L's video. Again however P will have to convince a jury that RA is in fact BG, otherwise the one girl's statement that he matched L's video only incriminates BG, who we all expect is guilty, but not necessarily RA. Two photos, taken by one of the girls (BW), one at MHB with a timestamp of 12:43pm and another supposedly of a bench east of Freedom Bridge w/timestamp of 1:26 were shown (per SW affidavit) to LE in 2020, three years after the murders. Whether LE was shoddy in asking for existence of any photos earlier or BW wasn't forthcoming with photos earlier is quite the mystery to me, but this becomes the most key piece of the timeline now. BW states the 1:26 photo was taken then right after that the group moved on towards Freedom Bridge when the encounter with man occurred. If to be believed (and if P can be convincing of that) of course then the timeline shifts toward that encounter occurring no earlier than 1:30 and possibly as late as 1:41 per GH animated video timeline. Of course this nullifies RA leaving the trail system at 1:30.
Questions the D will undoubtedly pose would include:
a) are the timestamps reliable this long after the fact? could anything have been manipulated?
b) is the 1:26 bench distinctive such that it couldn't be confused with another bench elsewhere on the trail? Is that bench still there today?
c) can it be proven beyond BW's recall belief that the encounter occurred after the 1:26 photo and not before?
d) is RA truly the man these girls encountered? would there be doubt of a 2nd man at 1:40 or 2nd group of girls at a different earlier time? Is RA positive there were only 3 girls in the group he encountered?
e) is this the same group of 4 girls BB witnessed (presumed so) on the overpass above as she drove below?
f) if e) is Yes, how/why did these 4 girls suddenly ratchet up their pace such that they covered the .25 mile from the encounter spot to the overpass in 3-4 minutes [12-minute mile pace] when earlier it had taken them 43 minutes to cover the .5 of a mile from photo spot #1 to photo spot #2? then another 15 minutes for the .15 mile from photo spot #2 to the encounter spot? Altogether the girls were at the MHB at 12:43 and 58 minutes later at 1:41 were encountering a man only .65 mile from where they started at 12:43. It's noted the PCA states the distance from MHB to Freedom Bridge is .7 of one mile. I don't believe there were any swings, restrooms, playground equipment, etc to distract from the hiking trail as to why it would've taken them so long to walk so little unless something about the stamps are questionable. And assumedly they didn't pause to take additional photos or we'd know about them.
g) along the lines of pace, it's then assumed the man they encountered at 1:41 covers that .7 of ground in a rapid pace to be already on the first platform and not noticeably breathing heavily by the time BB hikes up at 1:53-1:55
Overall, I think the RA as BG timeline provides a lot of places for D to poke doubt. In the end, the P will have to prove that RA is BG - but I personally don't think the timeline, vehicle, RA admissions, supposed witnesses, or encounters can get the P to that point unless they're sitting on previously unannounced evidence.
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