There have been a few people saying that the alleged date of death was May 29th, but I think what was actually said was that Rachelle couldn't remember the exact date, only that she thinks it was before MM's birthday, which was on May 29th.
There seem to be conflicting press reports as to how long in the fridge, so I don't think we can really get an accurate picture of the date, other than between March 12 (from the godmother saying that was the last date she saw Rachelle (and I think Bella on that day, too)) and the date the body was found.
I also think MM's reaction to the text *could* be reasonable if he felt that Rachelle was accusing him of killing the baby, and that was his way of saying, "she's making things up, as far as I know the child's safe with DCF"
We don't know exactly what went down in MM's first police interview and whether or not MM was actually aware that Bella's body had been found or if MM might have thought this was all about Rachelle making accusations out of spite? Had MM and Rachelle had a falling out over those few days? Is that why they weren't together on the day Rachelle met Mr S and confessed to him/accused MM of the murder? JA's version says that MM was in hospital when Rachelle confessed, but I'm not clear on whether he went to hospital before he was pulled in for questioning or whether he was sent to the hospital by police when they had a doctor check him out during his questioning?
I doubt that MM is as thick as he looked in the arraignment. I'm sure that if he's not too doped up that he's perfectly capable of reading, thinking, holding a conversation, etc. According to his own friend he's capable of shutting a 2 year old baby into a cupboard and listening to her cry for up to an hour (and so is Rachelle), so I don't get the feeling he's a very 'nice' person or 100% innocent of abuse of Bella. But so far we only have Rachelle's word that he was the actual hand of death and that he held Rachelle against her will to keep her from speaking up. We've seen Rachelle interacting on video with Bella, heard that quality in her tone of voice that suggests she's capable of turning on the child if the child isn't responsive enough for Rachelle's desires, we've heard Rachelle's sister say that (paraphrasing) Rachelle could turn vicious. We haven't seen that side of MM, so right now it's just very easy to see her in that abusive role that it is to see him in it, but that doesn't mean he didn't do it.
As an aside, can you imagine going to the fridge for a drop of milk for your tea and there's a dead baby looking up at you? One of the reports said that the body was put in the fridge before MM went out for the black bag, not that she was put in the bag prior to the fridge. Hopefully that would mean there should be forensic evidence in the fridge. I also think sniffer dogs might be able to tell where the scent of death is in the house...is it on the mattress and then in the fridge? Is it on a rug or in a closet? What was the significance of MMs birthday? Was he in the apartment consistently and are any of the people involved ever clear-headed enough to be able to get dates together? How can Rachelle not remember the date her daughter died? It should be a date that you can't get out of your head, ever. But, anyway, a lot more will come out in the trial.
As far as I can tell, the next hearing on October 20th is basically to see if the coroner can establish cause of death and to get further judge approval for holding the pair of them until actual trial dates?