NC - Kathy Taft, 62, Raleigh, 6 March 2010 - #4

[susubaby]

Definate kudos to the LE of Raleigh. They are very, very smart, and they do know what they are doing and do what they do for a reason. I feel very confident that they do have the right person too. Although, the gaps in some of D's recollections of the night and timeline still don't make sense to me, I really do trust in the RPD and LE that they DO know what they are doing and that they have made the arrest of the correct person. We are very lucky to have such a hard working LE. I just hope that the answers about that night will come out so that the family and friends of KT will really be able to gain some closure to this horrible nightmare. Hopefully this will be a first step for everyone. And, I hope this guy will realize that he is busted and that it would not only help the family heal but his own soul as well if he just told the truth and admitted what he had done. I, too, am very thankful and proud of our LE. Can't wait to hear what they have to say tomorrow.

 

[fran]

For the NC residents, I just want you to know, from a long-time Websleuther, I've observed the NC LE, state-wide, over SEVERAL high profile cases followed here on WS.............YOU ALL have an outstanding LE working FOR you! sincerely, imho.

At times they have taken SEVERAL years to arrest the NOT suspect (inside joke, sorry), but when they do make an arrest, it's because they FEEL in their HEART, they CAN get a CONVICTION. period, end of story....

Sometimes, all of the dots just aren't there. They just have to patiently wait for the dots to surface. At times, the NOT supect is his own worse enemy.

This case was actually harder to crack, as the perp was NOT an acquaintance. When it's a family member/supect, they're usually under the radar within minutes (unbelieveable, I know, but they usually give themselves away), of LE becoming aware a crime ie murder has occurred. But a 'stranger' murder is much more difficult to solve. Thank goodness this guy was stooooopid enough to commit in his own turf!

I know he's innocent UNTIL proven guilty, but from what I've seen of this case, I'm fairly confident, LE HAS THEIR MAN!

I listened to the victim's ex cell-interview with your local media.............they may have been divorced, but he still had some type of feelings for this woman, because he could almost NOT complete the interview, he was so emotional. Just imagine how her children feel.....

Kathy Taft seemed to have been an exceptional person and a benefit to your community, your state, and most importantly, to the children. It's a shame she met such a tragic and untimely demise. But at the least, she will have justice in the end and her family and friends, and your state, can feel assured your LE community works hard for you and doesn't stop until they've gotten their man (or woman!).

Sleep a little easier tonite my friends.

JMHO
fran

 

[ladyofthelake]

For the NC residents, I just want you to know, from a long-time Websleuther, I've observed the NC LE, state-wide, over SEVERAL high profile cases followed here on WS.............YOU ALL have an outstanding LE working FOR you! sincerely, imho.

At times they have taken SEVERAL years to arrest the NOT suspect (inside joke, sorry), but when they do make an arrest, it's because they FEEL in their HEART, they CAN get a CONVICTION. period, end of story....

Sometimes, all of the dots just aren't there. They just have to patiently wait for the dots to surface. At times, the NOT supect is his own worse enemy.

This case was actually harder to crack, as the perp was NOT an acquaintance. When it's a family member/supect, they're usually under the radar within minutes (unbelieveable, I know, but they usually give themselves away), of LE becoming aware a crime ie murder has occurred. But a 'stranger' murder is much more difficult to solve. Thank goodness this guy was stooooopid enough to commit in his own turf!

I know he's innocent UNTIL proven guilty, but from what I've seen of this case, I'm fairly confident, LE HAS THEIR MAN!

I listened to the victim's ex cell-interview with your local media.............they may have been divorced, but he still had some type of feelings for this woman, because he could almost NOT complete the interview, he was so emotional. Just imagine how her children feel.....

Kathy Taft seemed to have been an exceptional person and a benefit to your community, your state, and most importantly, to the children. It's a shame she met such a tragic and untimely demise. But at the least, she will have justice in the end and her family and friends, and your state, can feel assured your LE community works hard for you and doesn't stop until they've gotten their man (or woman!).

Sleep a little easier tonite my friends.

JMHO
fran

Thank you from all of us! Now we will rest!!

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

I wonder how many cold cases would have been resolved early on, if the victim was well to do and well connected with hi ranking officials?
makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Now i know why Tricia created this board.
without it, most of the victims on this board would have no one looking into solving there case.
In my book, that makes her something really special, a hero whos objective is to help those whom may not be receiving the kind of help, if any at all, as we seen displayed in this case.
What an angel she is!
There are over 25000 members on this board, i dont see any reason 5 or 10 thousand of us cannot buy a tshirt or a mug for 10 dollars each month.
The more she can bring in, the more she can do for the families and love ones of victims by providing for more resources they can use. If you have a business, and can afford it each month, pay the 50 dollars and advertise your business here, be the best 50 you spent in a long time.

​

 

[laces]

Just wondering how long the suspect has looked disheveled. Was he growing his beard and mustache, hair to change his appearance? Or was he just scruffy generally? Earlier pictures show him as clean shaven, more taken-care-of. He has about six weeks of growth going on, it looks like.

 

[Prancy]

Laces, he may have been heading down a spiral. It would be interesting to know if he had distanced himself from family and friends in recent weeks. I know there is a post here from last night that talks about him falling away from the band, not showing up for practice, etc. The video that was filmed at the Pour House, but has been removed, shows the opposite. In that video you could tell the band was very well rehearsed as they were quite proficient in their performance.

It's difficult to comprehend the stark difference in the image of the young man playing music with his friends, laughing, and seeming to be so normal and the person who would rape and batter an innocent woman in her own bed. What a horror. How do you make sense of it? As his family told WTVD, they don't know what to say.

 

[CocoChanel]

Laces, he may have been heading down a spiral. It would be interesting to know if he had distanced himself from family and friends in recent weeks. I know there is a post here from last night that talks about him falling away from the band, not showing up for practice, etc. The video that was filmed at the Pour House, but has been removed, shows the opposite. In that video you could tell the band was very well rehearsed as they were quite proficient in their performance.

It's difficult to comprehend the stark difference in the image of the young man playing music with his friends, laughing, and seeming to be so normal and the person who would rape and batter an innocent woman in her own bed. What a horror. How do you make sense of it? As his family told WTVD, they don't know what to say.

Gosh, I don't know what to say either, and I'm just a newbie poster on a website who has many degrees of separation from this crime. I cannot imagine how difficult this will be to process for those closer to this tragedy. I would expect that for KT's family it will be a tremendous sense of justice that someone has been identified to go to trial. Of course, living through the trial itself will be very difficult. For JW's family & close friends, if they had witnessed some decline in his social behavior recently, this may not be a total shock to them. Yet who could ever expect someone close to you to be capable of this horrific deed?

Other than KT's ex-husband, have we heard any comments from her family in the press yet?

 

[Just the Fax]

Just wondering how long the suspect has looked disheveled. Was he growing his beard and mustache, hair to change his appearance? Or was he just scruffy generally? Earlier pictures show him as clean shaven, more taken-care-of. He has about six weeks of growth going on, it looks like.

I was thinking the same thing laces.
Betcha that beard started sprouting 3-6-10

 

[wheaten]

still not getting why dh would have suggested to hospital that kt might have been sexually assaulted. guess we'll have to see what the press conference brings

 

[Just the Fax]

still not getting why dh would have suggested to hospital that kt might have been sexually assaulted. guess we'll have to see what the press conference brings

At first, some thought perhaps D 'staged' a sexual assault and alerted the hospital to look for that.
Well, now we know that is not true.
D obviously had nothing to do with her sister's rape.

Since D thinks she heard something, probably telling the hospital staff, she may have been thinking about what could have happened in retrospect, especially after the doctor discovered KT was severly beaten and it was not 'surgical complications'.

 

[Prancy]

still not getting why dh would have suggested to hospital that kt might have been sexually assaulted. guess we'll have to see what the press conference brings

Yes. I'm looking forward to the PR, but I don't think they will give mamy details on their take of the situation. I hope they have it figured out and if he doesn't confess, they can put it all together for trial.

Let's hope they can get D's story as accurate as possible and iron out anything that she is not positive about, etc. For example, if the def. committed these crimes at 4:00 a.m. and left soon thereafter, but D says she heard footsteps just before 9:30, then there could be a problem, especially, if def. went some where around 8:00 a.m. that morning and stayed until after noon at which there were numerous independent witnesses, thus providing him an alibi for the time period D claims he was in the house. He could claim he committed part of the crime, but not all, if you know what I mean.

If he is indeed guilty he must pay the ultimate price. I don't know KT's family's stance on DP, but if they all don't want it, then I don't think the state will pursue it or if KT was an opponent of the DP. What do you think?

 

[Just the Fax]

Prancy, i'm pretty sure D implied she heard 'footsteps' before she finally went up at 3am. It seems like D may have told the cops she fell asleep on the couch at 11PM and woke up when she heard the noise...around 2am? If not, she was probably at GG as rumored. The cops seem pretty sure she was attacked between 11PM and 2AM (from their statement "late Fri or early sat + the flyer handed out during that time)

 

[Prancy]

Prancy, i'm pretty sure D implied she heard 'footsteps' before she finally went up at 3am. It seems like D may have told the cops she fell asleep on the couch at 11PM and woke up when she heard the noise...around 2am? If not, she was probably at GG as rumored. The cops seem pretty sure she was attacked between 11PM and 2AM (from their statement "late Fri or early sat + the flyer handed out during that time)

Perhaps and perhaps she meant she heard them earlier, however, Larry Stogner reported that she heard footsteps just before finding her sister injured. I'll try to find the link. Maybe Larry misunderstood what she meant and misstated in his lead-in to her interview.

 

[Just the Fax]

Hopefully the press conference will be revealing and not one of those "I can't comment on that". If disappointing, no problem. The Wayland Dr search warrant should be full of very detailed information. The probable cause that he is the perpetrator must be very detailed and convincing for a judge to allow the search of his apartment. That SW should be returned to the clerk's office Monday and available for the media.

 

[Just the Fax]

Perhaps and perhaps she meant she heard them earlier, however, Larry Stogner reported that she heard footsteps just before finding her sister injured. I'll try to find the link. Maybe Larry misunderstood what she meant and misstated in his lead-in to her interview.

You know I trust what the local media says,
In this case, old Larry was mistaken.

I think there was confusion....she said she heard the footsteps...then found her and called 911.
I think the 'then' was 7-8 hours later.

 

[Prancy]

You know I trust what the local media says,
In this case, old Larry was mistaken.

I think there was confusion....she said she heard the footsteps...then found her and called 911.
I think the 'then' was 7-8 hours later.

See paragraph 11 in this article. It says D said that she called 911 immediately after hearing the footsteps. That's what Larry said too. Perhaps they misquoted her, but the video in which she describes hearing footsteps and knowing someone was in the house, seems like she is describing 9:30 a.m. too, perhaps that is where Larry got it from. He and Ed Crump seemed a little surprised and even acted as if police did not have that info as they said that police would be looking into it. Maybe she got in front of the camera and got mixed up.

I don't know the whys, I just hope the DA's office works out all the confusions and gets the details in order in case they have to try this case. The def. could concoct any number of scenerios to try to use the inconsistency to his advantage, that's all I'm saying.

 

[Prancy]

This is another thing I don't understand. With 6 weeks to think about how you might react if you are arrested, he apparently didn't give it much thought. Wouldn't you already have consulted with an attorney or at least had one in mind to call Just in case?

We know he waived that because they could not have interviewed with him for several hours if he was waiting for an attorney or refused to talk without one. He was obviously saying something. Who would talk without an attorney in those circumstances? That is wild, unless, they feel guilty and want to come clean or they are a sociopath and think they are so smart that they don't need a lawyer and that anything they say will be believed and totally clear them of the charges.

 

[Track292008]

My hunch is that DH heard the footsteps just before 3 a.m. and that sound is (perhaps) what caused her to wake up. At that time she "checked on" KT by listening outside KT's bedroom door, heard what she thought was snoring, went upstairs to bed, and woke up again at 9:30 at which point she opened KT's bedroom door, found her, and called 911.

MOO.

 

[Prancy]

Track, maybe that's what she meant and she just got confused in front of the camera.

Here's link for our local paper. It says that def. hung out at a local place called the Berkley. I used to go there a little to hear local bands. The owner of the place said he wasn't keen on the guy but never took him as the violent type.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/04/17/441086/man-arrested-in-taft-murder.html

It says def. is listed as umemployed. I guess he'll get a public defender, unless his parents come up with some big money to hire him a private attorney. I wonder what they'll do.

 

[Just the Fax]

This is another thing I don't understand. With 6 weeks to think about how you might react if you are arrested, he apparently didn't give it much thought. Wouldn't you already have consulted with an attorney or at least had one in mind to call Just in case?

We know he waived that because they could not have interviewed with him for several hours if he was waiting for an attorney or refused to talk without one. He was obviously saying something. Who would talk without an attorney in those circumstances? That is wild, unless, they feel guilty and want to come clean or they are a sociopath and think they are so smart that they don't need a lawyer and that anything they say will be believed and totally clear them of the charges.

It's one thing to break in homes to steal for food and drugs....killing and raping a sleeping 62 year old woman bandaged like a mummy is off the charts weird.

Apparently, he was up at the Litchford detective division from noon until 10:45PM. I'm sure they confronted him with the 'iron clad' DNA and asked for a confession. I guess it will be a while before we know exactly what went on in that interrogation room.