Hi everybody, I have a theory about the April Tinsley case that I'd like to share. This is pretty much a copy-pasta of an email I originally sent to the hosts of True Crime Garage after listening to their episode on the April Tinsley murder. I really think I might be on to something, I hope so anyway.
The author of the barn message in 1990, and the notes from 2004 is not the killer, but it is somebody very close to the killer. Not only that, but the purpose of the barn message and the notes isn't to brag, or get attention, it's a warning. The person who raped and murdered April took her in broad daylight in a suburban neighbourhood, that means the suspect is someone who is very confident and brazen, a real risk taker, but one who clearly knows how to hide his tracks because he's never been caught, so he's smart. He leaves the sex toy because he knows it can't be traced back to him, and in 1988 he had every reason to believe that. The first DNA conviction in the US was in 1987, and it wasn't upheld by the Supreme Court in final appeals until 1994.
The public also didn't really know about or understand DNA until the mid 90s, mostly thanks to Jurassic Park.
In short, I think that April's killer is probably reasonably intelligent, which is one reason's he's gone uncaught for so long. But the notes are illiterate, almost childlike and I don't think that's faked. Why would a confident, risk taker who has no problem abducting a child in broad daylight suddenly resort to faking strange, illiterate notes years later?
The clue is in that first letter, where it says "If you don't report this to the police"..."if I don't see this in the paper or on the news."
Why would somebody who's aim is to abduct and murder children do something that is guaranteed to raise the entire community's threat level to full volume? I think it's because the notes are designed to have that effect, the author wants law enforcement and the media to pay attention because they want people to keep a closer eye on their kids, and be on the look out for suspicious individuals.
The author of the notes knows who the killer is, and is very close to him, my guess is that it's his mother or some other close relative, probably female, and the point of these notes is to try and prevent another abduction and murder by putting the community on high alert. This person feels unable to come forward, possibly out of fear, or because s/he can't bear to turn this person in to police. If the childlike illiteracy of the notes is genuine, this person is poorly educated, possibly below average IQ and with very poor reasoning skills, which is why this whole thing with notes makes sense to them, when a normal person would just make an anonymous call to Crimestoppers or something.
So, what about the used condoms and polaroids? S/he includes used condoms or polaroids to ensure that the messages are taken seriously and believed to be from the killer. The inclusion of DNA doesn't come with the notes until 2004, because by then, basic understanding of DNA is widespread thanks to shows like CSI and Forensic Files.
So, why the long gaps between notes? I believe this killer grew up in Fort Wayne, but no longer lives there. He visits home from time to time, but not very often. It's possible that he's returned more times than there have been notes sent, but the visits have either been very short, hence no notes, or for some reason the note sender believed he wouldn't have the opportunity to abduct another child. I also think this killer may spend a lot of time overseas, and may have committed similar crimes in other countries. This might also be why his visits "home" are so infrequent, and why there have been no similar crimes in the US, at least none that have been identified as such.
Finally, I'd like to point out something about the barn message because I think it's good evidence for my theory.
It's the first message, this person is desperate to warn people somehow, and probably somewhat panicked. They initially write the barn message in pencil, but realise it's not visible enough, another child might die if they don't get this message out. So s/he goes back and goes over it again in crayon. But again, s/he worries it's not enough, so does this a third time. Then there's a 14 year gap, and by the time the killer comes home again, s/he's decided to send notes instead. They know about DNA now, so find some to include with the notes.
I hope my theory doesn't sound completely crazy, thanks for reading.
~Sakura