Hello, Websleuthers--
I have been following this thread since early on & have also read here in the past on various cases. However, I haven't posted before now. I just wanted to pipe up with some of my thoughts...I am no expert on anything crime-related, except I have been deceived by a "psychopath" for some years before I began figuring things out & basically moved/hid/etc to keep my family safe. On this topic, I can only reiterate what we know to be true--these kinds of very sick people are master manipulators...they get you because we don't expect humans to be so deceptive and cold, so cruel and perverse. In fact, it has been my experience that these types of people are very immature emotionally and get their rare feelings of pleasure from tricking others and marveling at their own brilliance in outwitting the innocent.
In this case, I did not suspect PO from early interviews, but after he was taken into custody for the probation violations I looked closer and found myself feeling relieved--as I think it likely that the perpetrator is off the streets. The interviews, lack of empathy, Freudian slips, clothing/build/voice similarities, LE's actions, all are compelling to me. But I think the most compelling thing for me in this case is probably the opportunity element. When you consider the small amount of time in which this crime was committed, combined with the location of the girls and their being found so quickly--a neighboring person fits very well, I think.
I think the reason for LE being so careful of their wording and everything else is because they want the death penalty in this case and they do no want to do anything to compromise that.
But I also think DNA evidence might not be as forthcoming in this case as we would wish. I don't like thinking about particulars of this or any crime, but I am wondering about DNA in the case of SA. (I do think SA almost certain in this case.) Is it unusual for there to be a lack of DNA evidence in such cases?
Thank you for listening to my ramblings.