I have a long- held theory on why this long rambling drive and the excuse that the baby had an earache happened and also why Terri was so willing to give up custody of her baby daughter.
I agree that a large part was to avoid deep psychological questioning by a forensic Psychiatrist. I have a friend who is a forensic Psychiatrist and his mind is the figurative " steel trap" we talk about in intelligence.
Terri's pathological actions and thoughts may go back to what Kaine said about Terri changing after Kiera's birth. He said she had PPD. Not that he thought she had PPD, but he said it as factual. As in " She was treated for PPD".
In PPD, usually there is a great fear or delusions of harming the baby or not being able to adequately " be a great mother" to the child. This type of fears and feelings may go on until the child is walking/ talking and no longer seen as an extension of the mother, but has developed his or her separate personality and a modicum of independence is forming.
IMO, IF Terri had PPD, it was partially hidden because Kyron was Terri's scapegoat. Blame the sweet little step- son to others. Be mean enough to him to cause infantilized regression in some of his growth and development milestones, maybe. ( If her statements can be believed).
MAYBE she harmed the baby girl in small ways that went undetected because Kyron was in school and his dad was at work. Maybe we'll never know, but my psychological training tells me that the woman did NOT want Kyron dead, want Kaine dead, want almost stranger sexual partner hookups during the day, but wanted the one baby in the house to be protected and cosseted and cared for well. I think the baby was in danger as well. Likely, no matter what she said, Terri wanted her " gone" very much.
I'm not trying to excuse what I think Terri did to Kyron in any way, but looking at ALL her known out of control behavior together, I think the little girl was likely also in great jeopardy on the day that Kyron disappeared and Terri was driving around with a supposedly ill baby. Terri MAY have already decided that Kiera was her ticket to " keeping" her home, so she was trying to decide whether to cope with the baby or come up with a way to get rid of her too at the same time as Kyron's murder.
As a nurse, I do not consider the mother of an ill baby requiring medication, even if OTC ear drops or Tylenol, driving the sick baby around in the woods and here and there to be normal at all. Take her to the doctor, then take her home and stay with her until she felt better and stopped fussing and crying.
Terri's actions were not logical or loving regarding either child in the focused time period in question. I do think some of this could be severe PPD, or maybe she was always just plain EVIL. Kaine seemed to see changes, though, unless he was making excuses for a woman who was always a step- monster, in which case I question seriously why he would father a child with her.
Kyron was SO afraid of her, a meek and small little guy, that
I don't think killing and disposing of his body would take half an hour.
Did DeDe work with a wood chipper??
I've never seen it mentioned, but in the PNW, those are likely more common than in my part of the country. I feel sick asking but..