I’m just catching up from yesterday - really great post from Searunner and thanks Rocky for the outline of the knowns vs unknowns. I agree with almost all your points except for how long he was with her. My guess is that she didn’t reach his vehicle until ~1:30 - and I think he probably turned her cell phone off at 2:11, after it was all over, so only around 45 minutes. MOO
Regarding if VM was the specific target, I’m slowly changing my way of thinking. I initially thought she was targeted directly but I’m not sure he would have had the opportunity to interact with VM enough to know her schedule. I’ve been dwelling on the fact the CO had only been in the US for 3 months before this attack and he started working soon after moving here. He did not have a chance to get familiar with the area.
SO - where was he comfortable? What was he familiar with?
As others have suggested I totally think this was not his first attack and I am strongly considering that he was behind the Northborough attack as well. Here’s what I’m thinking:
-May 2016: CO moves to Worcester, gets a job working for Fed-Ex contractor within 2 weeks, works 4am-11am, weekdays, some weekends; this does not leave much time for him to explore the community
**Assuming - MOO – that he is a repeat predator and has done this before in PR, he probably immediately starts to look for places where he can easily attack women
-June 2016: Big assumption here - if, as hypothesized, he works out of the Northborough FedEx warehouse, he would first feel familiar with the area around his workplace. He scopes out the roads, nearby parks, and attacks a jogger in the vicinity of his work; she escapes; he’s forced to find a new location
-August 2016: He’s been driving the Princeton route for approximately ~3 months; has noticed women walking/jogging on BSR; it’s rural, fairly secluded, and there is a good pull-off near the cart path; he decides this is the area of his next attack
On the day of VMs attack, maybe he was tied up with family obligations in the am (church?) and wasn’t able to leave Princeton until ~12:00, putting him on BSR at 12:30/12:45ish. I don’t think he could have been there for very long or else there would probably be additional witness testimony. He opens his trunk, talks or pretends to talk on his cell, and waits.
MOO