The last day of 2013 took place an event which slightly altered the tranquility of Kathy and her daughters. It does not seem too important, and only what happened four months later makes us pay attention to it. But there is something disturbing. It is vague, nothing specific, but ...
On December 31, 2013, Kathy wrote on her
Facebook page:
Earlier this afternoon we heard a noise. I thought one our two cats had knocked over something. We didn't find anything disturbed so we thought it was nothing. Boy were we wrong. A little while ago Holly opens our front door to go outside to pick up the mail and finds both glass panes in our screen door shattered. We have taken pics and have carefully removed loose pieces of glass and the glass frames. All the shattered glass pieces have been swept up off the front porch. Guess I'll be heading to Lowes tomorrow to find replacements. Crazy how unexpected events happen.
Family and friends were interested and asked what had happened, and Kathy replied:
We're not sure. I think it wasn't latched and the wind must have caught it. The door frame is fine but the glass in both the top and bottom panes were shattered. Glass was all over the porch.
Foul play?, they asked her.
I don't think it was foul play. There was no rock or anything like that on the porch. There wasn't any damage to the wood door panes either. There were window clings that said Merry Christmas but I don't think anyone in this area would be bothered by that. I think it was a fluke wind that caught the door and broke the windows.
Kathy analysis is rational and well-founded, but the most she can get is to conclude that the absence of evidence of foul play (no rock, no damage in the wood) makes the wind explanation the most likely. Some of her friends and family seemed to be not very convinced. Perhaps what was said by Kathy was a form of reassurance, and perhaps to herself too.
(From Kathy´s Facebook, on December 16)
Look at two details of what was said by Kathy. The first is that if she was really convinced that it was the wind, she would have said from the beginning:
The wind broke the glasses. The second is that she and her daughters did not see that the screen door was not latched, she thinks it was not. But if It had not been latched, surely it would have followed without being latched after breaking, unless the wind blow that broke the glasses had also closed the screen door.
And there is another problem, the wind.
http://www.weather.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=LMK
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KFTK/2013/12/31/DailyHistory.html
http://www.kymesonet.org/historical_data.php
There were not recorded high winds that day at stations around Bardstown. In fact, both the averages and the gusts are below the monthly average in each and every one of the stations. So it was a day with less wind than usual. It is possible, of course, that there were strong gusts undetected, just in Botland, near Kathy´s house. But the data at our disposal are quite clear, and tell us it was a day without strong winds.
If a door or window is not secured, the wind usually warns before break. If there are people in the house, the sound of the door slamming must be heard by anyone before reaching the break. The exception would be a very strong and surprising gust of wind, very unlikely, but possible.
Was there foul play? I think as well that the most likely explanation is the wind or something similar, but I also think there is a reasonable possibility that someone broke those glasses on a voluntary basis, and it makes imperative a deep investigation.
Was this investigated by police? I do not know, but if they did not, perhaps they are still on time. They should seek permission from the new owner of the house and put a similar screen door, if it has been changed. Then wait for a day with stronger winds than in December 31 and leave the screen door not latched and watch what happens. Does the wind move the screen door? Breaks it? Are the pieces scattered on the porch? They can be compared with the pictures they took, and with the memory of Holly.
They should also break the glass with a stone and with an iron rod or similar, and see how they break and how the pieces of glass fall. They should also ask in shops and insurance companies if that day there were wind damages in other houses. Also check if there were complaints of broken glass or vandalism at that time. And then, with all the information, reach a conclusion.
Although there are many possibilities, I think the four most likely, without determining the order, are:
1) A gust of wind broke the glass.
2) Someone voluntarily broke the glass, but it is not related to the crime.
3) It was an attack on the family, a little manifestation of the evil which devastate the house months later.
4) It was a test. Someone was checking if he could come, damage and leave without being seen.
One more thing. In videos made just after the crime we can see that there is a damage in what looks like a wooden panel, next to the door, at upper right, as we see in this picture.
(Vidcap)
That damage was not there when christmas photo was made, so unless the damage was done by the police or relatives of Kathy on April 22, it is very likely that should happen in the first months of the year. This time Kathy wrote nothing about it, or at least I have not found.
It would be very important to know when the damage at the door occurred, and why was not fixed. Maybe it was very close to the date of the crime?
Two such damages in a few months, that is odd.
:bump: