JLM Charged in Morgan Harrington murder

[klily444]

Pure speculation on my part, but I did post a while ago that perhaps one of JLM's loved ones found the shirt, didn't know what to think, and rather than confront him, placed it in a visible location for LE to find and prove/disprove.

Extremely unlikely, I know, especially since it was placed near JLM's place of employment at that time. Still, if we're talking Was it at all possible? it's a (admittedly unlikely) theory.

They could have found DNA from JM and DNA from someone related to JM on the shirt (even tho they didn't know it was JM at the time) and that is why the retired investigator put out that strange letter.

 

[jamicat]

Yeah, this has puzzled me, too. Her purse and phone were found in the RV lot but that probably occurred before she met/was confronted by JM and have absolutely nothing to do with him (I don't believe there has been any forensic link released concerning these items, i.e. DNA). You would think he would know what might be on the shirt - blood, seminal fluid, etc. having been the murderer. Maybe he just didn't understand DNA recovery and its use as evidence.

I have read theories concerning her shirt, most are comments on articles and many point to third party involvement. Who knows?

MH was not in optimal shape even before getting picked up. Very possible she lost her purse and phone before JM got to her. I suspect there might be other DNA on that shirt. No reason why JM had to have been the one who displayed it, and also others could have handled it before LE got to it. Also others might have left DNA from hair, mucous, whatever from being around MH while she was in the shirt and before she got into a vehicle. She was acting erratically and could have attracted any number of whackos. That she caught the attention of one who was a killer is the tragedy.

 

[ExpectingUnicorns]

Yeah, this has puzzled me, too. Her purse and phone were found in the RV lot but that probably occurred before she met/was confronted by JM and have absolutely nothing to do with him (I don't believe there has been any forensic link released concerning these items, i.e. DNA). You would think he would know what might be on the shirt - blood, seminal fluid, etc. having been the murderer. Maybe he just didn't understand DNA recovery and its use as evidence.

I have read theories concerning her shirt, most are comments on articles and many point to third party involvement. Who knows?

I tend to give consideration to the possibility that Morgan's phone was tossed in the RV lot after her fatal encounter with JM. Why else would the battery have been missing other than for malignant purposes?

 

[hambirg]

Sorry I'm not caught up. What happened right before the shirt was placed? From a profiling
POV JM is more likely to taunt MH's parents than LE. What were they doing shortly before that time? What's the context with Morgan's parents?
Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Tink56]

The defendant always has the final say but the attorney needs to explain all the options and the pluses and minus of each, what other point would there be for appoint someone an attorney. If this wasn't the case the people who were not intelligent, not well educated, not well off, and/or not very knowledgeable of the ins and outs of the legal system would get a much harsher treatment by the justice system.

If your saying that the attorney should not advise the client to go to trial just because its what is best for the attorney, even though it might not be best for the defendant then i misunderstood you obviously this would be wrong as I pretty sure illegal. Because he is not doing what is best for his client. But if you are saying, which I thought you were, that the Defense attorney should advise his client not to fight the charges even if it is in his best interest to fight them ... out of compassion for the victims family then I don't think thats right even though I'm sure thats what most of us would want to do.



What i'm trying to say is that dealing with these trial which do suck and are long and drawn out is a necessary evil that has to be endured even though it is almost always as you say "cruel and unusual punishment".

I "think" we are on the same page. If a defendant wants to go to trial, I definitely agree there should be a vigorous defense by competent counsel.

From observation and anecdotes, I know there are defense attorneys who reluctantly bring plea bargains to their clients.

And, IMO, the legal system is "broken" in many ways. I won't even go into all of the issues facing the smooth and/or rational functioning of the system. IMO, there is way too much gamemanship from jury selection specialists to delays to withholding evidence.

Probably it is premature to worry about all of this, but I was rankled by the suggestion that JM presents a good opportunity for national recognition for his attorney (and, of course, taxpayer income for representing JM). AND, I think the concept of circumstantial evidence is often maligned, when, in fact, it is often much more reliable than eye-witness testimony, etc. Back to my corner....( :

 

[zebra]

T-Shirt in Harrington Case: A Link, a Clue, or a Taunt? http://wvtf.org/post/t-shirt-harrington-case-link-clue-or-taunt

(Article examining possible reasons why Morgan's killer left her shirt on 15th Street - including Gil Harrington's opinion. Also provides details on the shirt's discovery & the JLM connection).

 

[mama2]

I have looked at websleuths for years but just registered. Please help me here... what shirt are you referring to and please give me a link so I can catch up. Thank you.

 

[ExpectingUnicorns]

I have looked at websleuths for years but just registered. Please help me here... what shirt are you referring to and please give me a link so I can catch up. Thank you.

It's the shirt Morgan was wearing when she was last seen, mama2. As best we can puzzle out it may be the piece that holds the dna (other say Morgan's body is the source [according to her parents and others]) that connects Morgan's death to the 2005 sexual assault and attempted murder of the Fairfax woman.
The rare t-shirt was found displayed on a bush in Cville. (I believe, even before Morgan's body was found.)

 

[Evie Ivy Over]

see thats what worries me they teased this article on twitter saying they had something new ... the only thing in that article that was remotely "new" is if they are reporting the match came from the shirt only ... unless they are talking about the pointless two question "interview" they did with the dude that found the shirt.

When you think about timing, it really does appear very likely that the DNA is only from MH's shirt. LE had the shirt and kept it quiet until months later. IMO, the announcement of the shirt at around the same time the DNA analysis of the body was complete was intentional. They wanted the public to know they had DNA, so without anything from the body, they were left with revealing the possession of the shirt.

 

[cluciano63]

T-Shirt in Harrington Case: A Link, a Clue, or a Taunt? http://wvtf.org/post/t-shirt-harrington-case-link-clue-or-taunt

(Article examining possible reasons why Morgan's killer left her shirt on 15th Street - including Gil Harrington's opinion. Also provides details on the shirt's discovery & the JLM connection).

Jmo I just don't see it as a "taunt". JM did not want to be caught and it did not lead to the finding of Morgan's remains. Somehow it just ended up there, Imo, either someone found it in bushes and draped it over, as I am sure finding clothing is pretty standard in college towns, or he tossed it out the window and it got stuck there. Jmo

 

[LG3]

Jmo I just don't see it as a "taunt". JM did not want to be caught and it did not lead to the finding of Morgan's remains. Somehow it just ended up there, Imo, either someone found it in bushes and draped it over, as I am sure finding clothing is pretty standard in college towns, or he tossed it out the window and it got stuck there. Jmo

I have to agree with you there. IMO, he doesn't seem the "taunting" type, especially after how much he panicked after punching the taxi cab driver and then turning into the remorseful "nice guy" who drove him to the hospital to avoid arrest. Although, the shirt was found before he was linked to the Fairfax rape, his actions following the taxi assault incident does not strike me as those of a cocky, taunting man. I do really wonder though, if he was dumb enough to keep her shirt, then after a friend or two mentioned to him that he resembled the sketch, perhaps he panicked and threw the shirt into the bushes on his way to work? Perhaps he washed it and figured he had rid it of any DNA that could link to him? I think it was done in panic, not a form of taunting. I think he realized it was stupid to have kept and since even since growing dreadlocks and gaining weight, he was still being told he resembled the sketch, he got rid of that shirt, pronto. And I think he left it near the campus to make it seem like it might've been a college student. Black shirt, tossed into a bush in the middle of the night. Easy to do and not be seen. I think he knew he needed to get rid of it, and was smart enough to do so where it was convenient to campus. Nowhere near where he lived at the time, but not smart enough to think that one day it would be discovered that it was blocks from his work. He thought he was being smart. But not smart enough. JMO

 

[human]

How hard would have it been to put it into a plastic garbage bag with your leftover spaghetti and other garbage and simply have the garbage man haul it away?

Better yet, cut it into ribbons before throwing it into the trash

 

[AVIXEN]

I have to agree with you there. IMO, he doesn't seem the "taunting" type, especially after how much he panicked after punching the taxi cab driver and then turning into the remorseful "nice guy" who drove him to the hospital to avoid arrest. Although, the shirt was found before he was linked to the Fairfax rape, his actions following the taxi assault incident does not strike me as those of a cocky, taunting man. I do really wonder though, if he was dumb enough to keep her shirt, then after a friend or two mentioned to him that he resembled the sketch, perhaps he panicked and threw the shirt into the bushes on his way to work? Perhaps he washed it and figured he had rid it of any DNA that could link to him? I think it was done in panic, not a form of taunting. I think he realized it was stupid to have kept and since even since growing dreadlocks and gaining weight, he was still being told he resembled the sketch, he got rid of that shirt, pronto. And I think he left it near the campus to make it seem like it might've been a college student. Black shirt, tossed into a bush in the middle of the night. Easy to do and not be seen. I think he knew he needed to get rid of it, and was smart enough to do so where it was convenient to campus. Nowhere near where he lived at the time, but not smart enough to think that one day it would be discovered that it was blocks from his work. He thought he was being smart. But not smart enough. JMO

BBM

Blocks from his work as in the Martha Jefferson House or are you referencing another job? I was absent from WS for a couple weeks and never heard back from any of the reporters I contacted in reference to the exact time period JM was employed at Martha Jefferson House... just wondering if that was somehow pieced together and that is the job you're talking about. Any info would be awesome!

 

[LG3]

BBM

Blocks from his work as in the Martha Jefferson House or are you referencing another job? I was absent from WS for a couple weeks and never heard back from any of the reporters I contacted in reference to the exact time period JM was employed at Martha Jefferson House... just wondering if that was somehow pieced together and that is the job you're talking about. Any info would be awesome!

Sorry, I should've specified. That was hearsay and speculation on my part, based on what other WS'ers have posted about him having worked there. I do not know of the exact time frame he was employed at the Martha Jefferson House. Either way, if he frequented the Corner area where her shirt was discovered, at any point at night (which being a local and a regular on the nearby downtown mall bar scene, is very possible IMO as well as his affinity for college girls) it's very possible he tossed her shirt there. Even if he didn't work at Martha Jefferson House at the time, it would not be difficult at all for him to place the shirt there. My main point was that he did it at a moment of panic and to decoy, not taunt. Sorry for the confusion and for my speculation

 

[LG3]

How hard would have it been to put it into a plastic garbage bag with your leftover spaghetti and other garbage and simply have the garbage man haul it away?

Better yet, cut it into ribbons before throwing it into the trash

Yeah, IMO, he was regretting having held onto it, and rather than destroy it, wanted it to be a decoy found on the college campus, which was not his usual stomping ground (the downtown mall) JMO. He saw it as an opportunity to hopefully have people assume it was a college student rather than a local.

 

[hambirg]

How hard would have it been to put it into a plastic garbage bag with your leftover spaghetti and other garbage and simply have the garbage man haul it away?

Better yet, cut it into ribbons before throwing it into the trash

Exactly! How hard would it have been to toss that shirt in a dumpster. . .one probably right in his own apartment complex? No! It was spread out on a bush in a student area, right near frat row. If that's not a taunt, then JM is the dumbest SK that has ever lived! If anyone can bring forth a LOGICAL answer to why JM would do that, I'm all ears. If anyone has a logical REASON why that shirt couldn't have gone in any random dumpster, burned in a burn barrel, thrown out on the side of a well travelled road, I'll be waiting. Heck, he could have thrown it in a Vitamix and fed it to some roses, but that's NOT what he did. Why?

 

[LG3]

Exactly! How hard would it have been to toss that shirt in a dumpster. . .one probably right in his own apartment complex? No! It was spread out on a bush in a student area, right near frat row. If that's not a taunt, then JM is the dumbest SK that has ever lived! If anyone can bring forth a LOGICAL answer to why JM would do that, I'm all ears. If anyone has a logical REASON why that shirt couldn't have gone in any random dumpster, burned in a burn barrel, thrown out on the side of a well travelled road, I'll be waiting.

Because at the time, the media was saying MH was seen in the parking lot with basketball players (though they were obviously cleared of any wrongdoing) Her phone and purse were found at JPJ Arena where she was last seen. JM was probably hoping that if her shirt was found on campus, it would redirect the suspicion to a college student. Think about the last text from HG's phone: "Lost at 14th and Wertland" where she couldn't have possibly been, but again, a place on UVA campus. JM was kicked out of two colleges. He likely has a lot of resentment towards college students, hence his preference for preying on young college girls. He is a Charlottesville local, not associated with UVA or the campus. IMO, rather than burning the shirt or throwing it in a dumpster, he wanted to make it look like it was a crime that involved a college student. I don't think he thought rationally about DNA. I think he wanted to make it seem like it was a student who murdered MH.

 

[Heroine]

http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/dna-key-to-matthew-charges/article_65314f72-5a62-11e4-967d-001a4bcf6878.html#.VEiA2ukxKJg.twitter

His Sept. 24 arrest near Galveston, Texas, provided a key break in the case of Morgan Harrington, 20, who disappeared from outside John Paul Jones Arena in October 2009, state police said.

I don't quite understand what this means, but I thought you guys might be interested. Nevermind I think I just figured it out. lol

 

[cluciano63]

I don't think he thinks all that well. I am not sure he even "plans" his crimes, except that he might be open to any opportunity. I think he is highly impulsive and maybe doesn't think ahead too much-after all LE seems to have indicated that the inside of his car held plenty of evidence/suspicious items. And he had a week to clear it out, detail it, etc, also surely was aware he was the subject on the video being shown constantly. He had to know they would reach him sooner or later, yet did nothing much to "prepare" for that, Imo.

 

[Concerned Mama]

http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/dna-key-to-matthew-charges/article_65314f72-5a62-11e4-967d-001a4bcf6878.html#.VEiA2ukxKJg.twitter


I don't quite understand what this means, but I thought you guys might be interested.

DNA swab?

eta: Ah, nevermind. I see your added comment now.