MA - Vanessa Marcotte, 27, murdered, Princeton, 7 Aug 2016 #6

[Evey]

It still seems to me he made a fire to get rid of evidence. The photos show there was a fire at the dirt location or as BW said, fire pit.

Are the gullies moist or swampy? He may have thought the dirt location was the best spot for the fire, if the fire was his focus and also out of site as FM has described, around the corner a bit.

Does a pit show preparation? I feel he went ahead of time set it all up took her in his SUV backed up into that area and by then she was either dead or would be soon and he was clearly familiar with it. Knowing now exactly where she was how close now was she to the house closest?

 

[Evey]

I wonder why her bf hasn't made any statements and if he has anyone he suspects?

 

[Kickoff61]

Does a pit show preparation? I feel he went ahead of time set it all up took her in his SUV backed up into that area and by then she was either dead or would be soon and he was clearly familiar with it. Knowing now exactly where she was how close now was she to the house closest?

On google map, there is a driveway to a house very close to the entrance of the path on the other side of the road. I still have a hard time believing the vehicle was parked at the path entrance for this entire time.

 

[Kickoff61]

I can't answer that because I didn't notice the gully until the fall when the foliage had dropped, and it had rained since the summer, so even if there was, that wouldn't mean there was in August. It was an exceptionally dry Summer.
You made a good point about why he would have stayed on the path though. If there was water in the gully, that could have been the reason.

Thanks. I see. Often gullies have streams of water in them.

 

[Madeleine74]

On google map, there is a driveway to a house very close to the entrance of the path on the other side of the road. I still have a hard time believing the vehicle was parked at the path entrance for this entire time.

I agree! I think the vehicle was moved at some point and obscured.

 

[Kickoff61]

I wonder why her bf hasn't made any statements and if he has anyone he suspects?

I don't think this killer was someone she was closely connected to, even if she had met him or knew him. So he may have no idea.

 

[Kickoff61]

I agree! I think the vehicle was moved at some point and obscured.

Yes, it seems more likely the vehicle was there at the entrance for (part) of the time. IF the vehicle they are talking about is in fact him.

 

[Kickoff61]

Whether someone was walking or driving, to 'time this' at the 'path entrance' just beyond the 'guardrail' is very difficult.

 

[Kickoff61]

It seems more likely the sicko had to be waiting at the path area OR as said before, this did in fact happen elsewhere on her route and she was brought there.

I do not believe the 1,000 tips were all from BSR and there could be plenty from other areas on her route. If that were the case, this did not happen in the beginning of her route, but made to look that way. But again, just speculated scenarios because so little is known about what they discovered.

 

[Rocky1]

I don't think VM knew her killer. I think there's a monster loose in that general area or who has ties to that area and she was in the absolute wrong place at the wrong time.

The statement made by someone (LE? someone else?) that "it doesn't make sense, she was a beautiful girl" is odd to me. It's not like psychopath killers only go after ugly people to kill. Murder never makes sense except to the psycho who is doing the murders. And even some of them have no insight into why they kill. She was alone, vulnerable, in a spot where she wasn't in sight of lots of people all at once and she became prey for this monster, who had the advantage in every way.

I don't think there was a news agency that didn't say she was a "beautiful girl" They do that to sensationalize the story.
They all did the same with KV in Queens. Chris Hanson called her a "petite 105 pounds of fleet footed perfection." A "beautiful daughter" over and over, and a "raven haired beauty."

 

[compassionate]

Fantastic work, Forensic Mass, thank you!

 

[Kickoff61]

Earlier on the DA said they were making progress. I wonder what stopped the progress?

 

[Kickoff61]

Even with someone waiting there....Thinking more about the 'timing'. Due to that guard rail there on the map....what are the odds she would be running by the exact entrance to the path (where guard rail ends) at the same time when no traffic is coming either way? to be attacked at that spot?

 

[Kickoff61]

I know there are many scenarios to how this could have happened, but when looking at these factors , with the guard rail especially and the issue of vehicle parked there long, with house driveway close by etc, there are still indicators she could have been attacked elsewhere on her route and left at the path, making it look to be at the beginning of her route. That is not impossible at all. That would leave a vehicle there for much less time, if he was driving that SUV.

 

[Rocky1]

Even with someone waiting there....Thinking more about the 'timing'. Due to that guard rail there on the map....what are the odds she would be running by the exact entrance to the path (where guard rail ends) at the same time when no traffic is coming either way? to be attacked at that spot?

I think it was just luck that no cars were coming.
If he was hiding in wait, (which I think he was because as you say timing the car being at the path at the same time she ran by doesn't add up) ,my question is where? If you look at the map, and the entrance, he could have been behind the tree, but if he was, he wouldn't be able to tell if there were cars coming or not from that point because it's set back. That's why I think he was in the gully. He could not only see her coming, but could see both ways if cars were coming too.

 

[Kickoff61]

I think it was just luck that no cars were coming.
If he was hiding in wait, (which I think he was because as you say timing the car being at the path at the same time she ran by doesn't add up) ,my question is where? If you look at the map, and the entrance, he could have been behind the tree, but if he was, he wouldn't be able to tell if there were cars coming or not from that point because it's set back. That's why I think he was in the gully. He could not only see her coming, but could see both ways if cars were coming too.

But isn't the gully where the guardrail is?

 

[ThinkHard]

I really do not believe there was confusion btw the store and the mountain barn.

That really doesn't add up to me at all. While I know people HERE in this thread have mixed them up...locals and especially the police certainly would not have!

Additionally she was supposedly at the store around 12. The ping was at 2:25 from the Mnt Barn.

She also supposedly went to the store before setting out on her run.

To me this says she went somewhere and said it was the store sometime around noon....then came home....then set out again....then the ping came.

So I really really don't see how they would have confused those two things....I think her family would know the difference btw her taking the car on an errand before her run and the ping that came on her run....and I think locals and local LE know the difference btw the market and the Mnt barn.

 

[ThinkHard]

Also regarding the matted grass....if one SUV drives over tall grass that grass is not going to stay permenantky matted....it's going to pop back up again after the wheels go over it.....only if cars repeatedly drive on it, or the car sits in the same spot for a period of time will the grass under those wheels stay matted down.

The point is perhaps he did drive down there....but just driven over the grass early on in the path and perhaps deeper in there is evidence of a vehicle sitting for longer. Perhaps these marking are even why they are certain the dark SUV sightings were involved.

Maybe more intense analysis of this area is why they could be certain an SUV had been down there...maybe they leave different tracks or have different wheels...plus the sightings...just a thought.

 

[Rocky1]

Earlier on the DA said they were making progress. I wonder what stopped the progress?

At the second press conference,The Da said they were making progress. Making progress could have meant that they found out he was a male, and she fought hard. Then other types of progress could have meant, we got the FBI involved with the case, or, the autopsy is now completed, or we have interviewed her friends etc.
One other thing to keep in mind, is, I am sure they would have said that just to make the people of Princeton, and her family confident they were going to catch this guy, by saying things like "we are working around the clock on this case."
D.A. Early is a nice guy, however, I got the sense by the way he was stumbling over his words during those press conferences, that they didn't have much to go on.

 

[Kickoff61]

Also regarding the matted grass....if one SUV drives over tall grass that grass is not going to stay permenantky matted....it's going to pop back up again after the wheels go over it.....only if cars repeatedly drive on it, or the car sits in the same spot for a period of time will the grass under those wheels stay matted down.

The point is perhaps he did drive down there....but just driven over the grass early on in the path and perhaps deeper in there is evidence of a vehicle sitting for longer. Perhaps these marking are even why they are certain the dark SUV sightings were involved.

Maybe more intense analysis of this area is why they could be certain an SUV had been down there...maybe they leave different tracks or have different wheels...plus the sightings...just a thought.

That could be.