Is there anyone that believes Ross is innocent?

[geevee]

Hi Neesaki.

Reply button fritzing again, but lol, count me in on not finding RH an especially sympathetic defendant, even if completely innocent of malice murder.

Yes, he's definitely an unsympathetic defendant but I also don't believe he's guilty of malice murder. Negligent sure, but not intentional.

 

[MsJosie]

I am going to try quick and say...I cannot reply, posts disappear in front of my eyes and the site keeps crashing......so until later bye all.

 

[PaperDoll]

As of today (subject to change, lol) I think he is innocent of the charge of malice murder. I don't believe he had any intention of harming Cooper, and that in fact he loved Cooper enough to stay in what clearly was his unhappy marriage with Leanne.

I also believe RH is profoundly immature, that it's likely Leanne felt as if she had to "mother" him as well as their son, and that RH resented her as a result. IMO his resentment of Leanne was likely what motivated his decision to not take photos of Cooper arriving at daycare anymore, beginning 2 weeks before Cooper's death.

Same thing about his complaints to online GF's that Leanne didn't like his going out to play, and for that matter, maybe resentment was what drove him to have online GF's to begin with.

In the two weeks before Cooper's death, RH stopped taking those photos, Leanne went home to visit family, and RH escalated his sexual contact with a 16 year old. I'm willing to bet it was in that timeframe he researched prison life, and that he did so because he was aware his sexting with a minor was illegal, but had no intention of stopping himself.

What I see is a RH becoming increasingly "defiant" towards Leanne, increasingly preoccupied with his online life, and increasingly willing to engage in increasingly risky behavior.

Imo all of that was about his unhappiness with Leanne, their marriage, and his juvenile response to not getting what he felt deserved at work, and had nothing to do with how he felt about Cooper.

And yet Cooper died in his care. Not once did Ross even remember thatsomething wasn’t right about that morning. Not once did he maybe even think about Cooper while drinking his coffee he got from CFA. He didn’t forget that because that was important to him.He knew he ate at CFA that morning and he knew he had Cooper that morning .IMO it would be a production to unload all ofCoopers things, including Cooper himself and bring him to day care and he didn’teven remember not taking him?I’m not buying it. don’t care how unhappy Ross was in his marriage, he wasn’t even divorced yet and somehow he found a way to text MINORS, really? He couldn’t wait until his divorce was final and then find someone his own age or roughly?????Maybe Leanne was unhappy with Ross and wanted a real man in her life, a man to step up to the plate and be a husband. I believe with all my heart that Ross didn’t want Cooper around anymore because he is a BIG responsibility, MOO and it's a good opinion at that! lol :sigh:

 

[leelee114]

I don't think for one second Ross was the sort of man who would stay in a marriage for his son. People who make that decision deeply value the concept of raising a child in a stable and loving two-parent family and they work hard at it. Ross's actions weren't those of a loving husband and father they were the sort of actions that prevent a couple from being the foundation of a stable family and turns them into two bitter people who just happened to be married.
Ross strikes me as someone who wanted to hit the reset button on his life. He likely didn't go forward with a divorce because he didn't like the idea that because of Cooper he would be tied to his wife for the rest of his life. And I sense he especially didn't like the thought of all the money he would have to pay to keep up a child he never wanted. For Ross to have the life he wanted Cooper had to go. IMO if Ross was never arrested he would be a divorced single man hitting on underage girls and using his son's death as nothing more than a ploy for sympathy while not losing a wink of sleep over his dead son.

 

[NCTeacher]

About the carseat- I have three sons, my youngest was ten months old when Cooper died. At 10 months old it was be incredibly difficult, if not impossible,to force straps around his shoulder at the lowest level of the carseat. I don't think it would be physically possible, even with violent force, to force straps of that level around a 22 month old. I think if the straps were on the lowest level, they most likely were not strapped around his shoulders and Cooper was fastened with the buckle only. Has this issue been explained at trail yet?

 

[NCTeacher]

I don't think for one second Ross was the sort of man who would stay in a marriage for his son. People who make that decision deeply value the concept of raising a child in a stable and loving two-parent family and they work hard at it. Ross's actions weren't those of a loving husband and father they were the sort of actions that prevent a couple from being the foundation of a stable family and turns them into two bitter people who just happened to be married.
Ross strikes me as someone who wanted to hit the reset button on his life. He likely didn't go forward with a divorce because he didn't like the idea that because of Cooper he would be tied to his wife for the rest of his life. And I sense he especially didn't like the thought of all the money he would have to pay to keep up a child he never wanted. For Ross to have the life he wanted Cooper had to go. IMO if Ross was never arrested he would be a divorced single man hitting on underage girls and using his son's death as nothing more than a ploy for sympathy while not losing a wink of sleep over his dead son.

One quick point thought---Ross DID want Cooper. He and Leanna tried for YEARS to get pregnant with Cooper. He was beyond excited to be welcoming his son in the world, even posted ultrasound images on you tube. He bragged about his son online and his linked in profile. He liked to "show off" Cooper at work and at church. He liked to blow up his facebook with pictures of them together. But...

But I don't think he ever loved him. I truly think Ross suffers from sort of personality disorder or something in the psychological realm. I think he saw Cooper as an extension of himself that helped create this fanciful image of a Christian man, husband, father. I think he was internally torn about what to do to balance the picture perfect image he wanted the world to see and the teenage-girl chasing dirtbag he was on the inside. This is why he continued planning for life with Cooper (looking for property in a nice neighborhood/good school district and cruise ship) to keep working towards the image he wanted to create. I think it all changed the day he saw that public service announcement about not forgetting kids in hot cars and he knew he had his perfect out--one that would appear to be a terrible accident and not tarnish the image he worked so hard for, while simultaneously giving him his opportunity to fulfill the dark side of his personality with out any toddler to burden him. His son-bragging days stopped, no more pictures at the daycare, no more showing him off in public.

MOO, of course.

 

[Madge_Ick_Dike]

One quick point thought---Ross DID want Cooper. He and Leanna tried for YEARS to get pregnant with Cooper. He was beyond excited to be welcoming his son in the world, even posted ultrasound images on you tube. He bragged about his son online and his linked in profile. He liked to "show off" Cooper at work and at church. He liked to blow up his facebook with pictures of them together. But...

But I don't think he ever loved him. I truly think Ross suffers from sort of personality disorder or something in the psychological realm. I think he saw Cooper as an extension of himself that helped create this fanciful image of a Christian man, husband, father. I think he was internally torn about what to do to balance the picture perfect image he wanted the world to see and the teenage-girl chasing dirtbag he was on the inside. This is why he continued planning for life with Cooper (looking for property in a nice neighborhood/good school district and cruise ship) to keep working towards the image he wanted to create. I think it all changed the day he saw that public service announcement about not forgetting kids in hot cars and he knew he had his perfect out--one that would appear to be a terrible accident and not tarnish the image he worked so hard for, while simultaneously giving him his opportunity to fulfill the dark side of his personality with out any toddler to burden him. His son-bragging days stopped, no more pictures at the daycare, no more showing him off in public.

MOO, of course.

I agree

 

[momrids6]

And I am off on Monday. I'm going to see if I can get a seat. Definitely malice murder

 

[Lostinredtape]

 

[IBsleuthin]

At this point I do not care what the excuse is. A child died, end of story. What he was doing is irrelevant to me and a subject for a different day.

These types of cases should be prosecuted on the most basic of terms. 1). Was the child under your care? -Yes.
2). Did the child die while in your care?-Yes.

Verdict: Bye bye, have a nice time working in the prison laundry.

 

[agentorange90]

I know some people who went to school with Ross. By all accounts they say he seemed to be a normal guy and were shocked and felt that he is not guilty. I've read through all the evidence that has come up so far.

Evidence of guilt:

1)How could he possibly forget his son driving less than one mile to the office?
2)How did he not notice his son going to car at lunch and how did he drive 3 miles before he pulled over?

Things that would raise doubt if I were a jury:

1)I'm wondering if they did a psychiatric or psychological evaluation. Does he have any past history of mental illness or bipolar disorder? That would give me some clue to explain his actions. Does he have a history of ADHD? From his actions it seems he has some disorder like ADHD and he is also an addict(sexual addiction). Anyone who knows an addict knows that that their impulses and addiction can take complete control over their life. If he is bi-poloar this could explain attempting pull of this murder.
2)Did they administer a drug test and was he taking any other medications possibly to treat a mental disorder?
3)By his actions and the evident of him showing he was an addict it seems plausible that he could have had a total "zone out" and forgotten his son in his car. He obviously showed he was distracted by his sexual exploits. Is not some evidence the prosecution brought forward show this guy was distracted? He stated he was stressed from work and working in IT IS very stressful. I'm just saying this cast some doubt in my mind of his guilt.
4)I watched the account of him alone in the interrogation room. He seemed visually distraught to me.
5)It would seem he would show some signs of mental illness to attempt to pull off this type of accident. By all accounts his outward life showed he was fairly stable.
6)So why is he agreeing to speak with investigators if he is guilty? I would imagine he would immediately accept his right to remain silent. He showed he was not a calculated person to me by spewing his story to police after his arrest. I would think if someone meant to do this on purpose they would be a very calculated person. Then he continues to tell how he watched a video.

Overall I think this is an over-zealous DA and PD. I would say guilt on counts of child cruetly and sexual contact with a minor. I just need more evidence.

 

[Chewy]

This case really angered me, mostly because for years I used to argue with people on another forum that by not prosecuting every case of a child left in a car, eventually a parent would realize that it was a very easy way to get away with murder. Every time a parent loses the child in an accident due to neglect I think they should be prosecuted for neglect. Think about what the normal reaction would be? The parent wails and then people say "They have suffered enough." Well if people have that reaction wouldn't it tempt someone who wanted out of a minimum 18 year financial commitment to a child to just pretend they forgot?

How easy is it for a parent to pretend their child got out of the house and drowned in the pool in the backyard? Enough with this nonsense. Prosecute them. If you truly killed your child by accident in such a manner, I would think you would want to be imprisoned because of the guilt. The only reason for not wanting to go to prison would be that you have other children who need you.

I knew that something like this would happen. I argued about it for years and years and people kept saying "who would do such a thing?" Well here ya go.

Also who wants to take a baby as young this child on a cruise? You'd have a miserable time and waste a lot of money for something the child wouldn't even remember. So you know why he was searching for a cruise? Because if the child falls overboard and you are down in Mexico or in international waters, the jurisdiction issues make it difficult to investigate.

He was probably trying to find a way to get away with murder and realized that the child was too young to be left unattended long enough to fall overboard. It would be clear that someone would have to drop him over the side and he probably realized he wouldn't get away with it because the ships have security cameras everywhere. The investigation of the cruise just makes it super clear to me that he was trying to figure out a way to kill the baby and get away with it.

 

[Madge_Ick_Dike]

That is a really shocking point about the cruise. I think you might be right. Awful to think about Every picture of cooper just breaks my heart

 

[SmartSassyBBW]

Guilty on all counts! The trial has ended. Sentencing on Dec 5.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RainCheck]

At this point I do not care what the excuse is. A child died, end of story. What he was doing is irrelevant to me and a subject for a different day.

These types of cases should be prosecuted on the most basic of terms. 1). Was the child under your care? -Yes.
2). Did the child die while in your care?-Yes.

Verdict: Bye bye, have a nice time working in the prison laundry.

This is how I feel about every single hot car death case! This one was particularly heinous because it was thought out and then executed, but I want to see all people who forget children, pets, the elderly and disability in hot cars put into prison!

 

[MrX]

I haven't searched threads, so forgive me if someone already went down same path, but I can't shake feeling that Ross's motive remains unknown. I can't accept that he killed Cooper in order to be with any of the women presented at trial. There was simply no reason - this wasn't like Scott Peterson, where Laci and Conner presented a clear and imminent obstruction to his life with Amber Frye. Ross was free to pursue his "other life" - if anything, Cooper was useful in that regard, keeping Leanna occupied.

I think Ross's plan was to "discover" Cooper at lunch - that he had Alex or Winston's number called up and ready to hit "dial" if they drove away too fast. That would be consisted with jury noticing him using left hand for door and bulb-toss. Cooper must have been kicking up a fuss, so he didn't even look in car. His hesitation in parking lot was to make sure other person didn't hear Cooper. His later "discovery" of Cooper, after work, looked all the more "fake" because he was improvising - the plan was to do his act for Winston and Alex.

Where none of it makes sense is that he would have to be a psychopath, yet I have seen no evidence of anyone witnessing that type of behavior from him in the past. Remember - after Scott Peterson was arrested we heard from people who knew he never wanted a child, etc.

I'd love to hear if anyone has a theory (other than his sexting) of how and why someone would do this without being "noticed" as being "not right" in 30+ years.

 

[lisette]

Like so many that later go on to commit heinous acts, he was described as being kinda quirky in always offering random comments and trivial information that he had come across on the internet. He liked to be the center of attention.I was thinking about what Leanna said about him wanting to be the one to push Cooper in the swing and go down the slide with him. I now think it was so that HE would be the one in the videos and pictures.I think that these characteristics often indicate a deeper issue and, at times, it does manifest itself in horrible ways when, earlier in the life, it just seemed like an unusual type of personality that others laughed off...Can't think of any other specific instances at the moment, but I remember reading about cases where it was common for people to say something like: "Yeah he was an unusual sort but I never thought he would do something like that!" JMO

 

[MrX]

Those aspects of his personality do touch on some of the traits of sociopathy. What was missing was any history of violence, although I think his reaction to Officer Foglia demonstrated a frighteningly short fuse when his actions were questioned.

It's impossible for "normal" people to grasp, but I'm starting to feel like Cooper, himself, was the motive. Ross used him as a "prop" to shine a light on himself, and, as Cooper started to walk and talk, Ross seemed to lose interest. What if it was as simple as Cooper doing something new, basically "being Cooper," and Ross tried to steal the spotlight and was rebuked (by Leanna or someone else)? That could be enough to trigger a psychotic rage.

I think Leanna saw signs and that is why she can't admit that it was anything but an accident. To do so is to face her own perceived culpability for not leaving and taking Cooper far away. I suspect she will eventually come to grips - perhaps she will become a "real" advocate for facing the reality of dangerous mental illness.

 

[LinasK]

I haven't searched threads, so forgive me if someone already went down same path, but I can't shake feeling that Ross's motive remains unknown. I can't accept that he killed Cooper in order to be with any of the women presented at trial. There was simply no reason - this wasn't like Scott Peterson, where Laci and Conner presented a clear and imminent obstruction to his life with Amber Frye. Ross was free to pursue his "other life" - if anything, Cooper was useful in that regard, keeping Leanna occupied.

I think Ross's plan was to "discover" Cooper at lunch - that he had Alex or Winston's number called up and ready to hit "dial" if they drove away too fast. That would be consisted with jury noticing him using left hand for door and bulb-toss. Cooper must have been kicking up a fuss, so he didn't even look in car. His hesitation in parking lot was to make sure other person didn't hear Cooper. His later "discovery" of Cooper, after work, looked all the more "fake" because he was improvising - the plan was to do his act for Winston and Alex.

Where none of it makes sense is that he would have to be a psychopath, yet I have seen no evidence of anyone witnessing that type of behavior from him in the past. Remember - after Scott Peterson was arrested we heard from people who knew he never wanted a child, etc.

I'd love to hear if anyone has a theory (other than his sexting) of how and why someone would do this without being "noticed" as being "not right" in 30+ years.

There was Life Insurance that wasn't discussed. To me, this is #1 motive in many cases. Other motives just as relevant for him, were just like Scott Peterson, ditch the child and wife and start over with new, younger women and be single to fool around as much as you like, and ditch your job. No responsibilities, and money to live on. Easy way.

 

[LinasK]

Those aspects of his personality do touch on some of the traits of sociopathy. What was missing was any history of violence, although I think his reaction to Officer Foglia demonstrated a frighteningly short fuse when his actions were questioned.

It's impossible for "normal" people to grasp, but I'm starting to feel like Cooper, himself, was the motive. Ross used him as a "prop" to shine a light on himself, and, as Cooper started to walk and talk, Ross seemed to lose interest. What if it was as simple as Cooper doing something new, basically "being Cooper," and Ross tried to steal the spotlight and was rebuked (by Leanna or someone else)? That could be enough to trigger a psychotic rage.

I think Leanna saw signs and that is why she can't admit that it was anything but an accident. To do so is to face her own perceived culpability for not leaving and taking Cooper far away. I suspect she will eventually come to grips - perhaps she will become a "real" advocate for facing the reality of dangerous mental illness.

That's why a passive way of killing- he didn't actually do the "killing", the sun did/ the car did. He just set up the conditions, like Susan Smith did when she rolled her car into a lake with her sons strapped in it. In his case, it was also perfect for a life insurance payout and potentially getting off scott-free, because it looked like an accident. Very hard to prove otherwise.