The closure of the thread gave me time to put together my thoughts on everything, looking at all the various angles -
In the first week of the investigation -
1. around Tuesday one of the minors told what they knew, putting both adults in the frame.
2. around Wednesday/Thursday, whenever the Sheriff said they were cooperating, based on what the minor said and pressure from LE to come clean, KW *may have* said EK caused Mariahs death and she was coerced into going along with the disposal and abduction story through threats of violence. The reason I dont think she *may have* laid the blame on a minor, is the body disposal under duress from EK doesnt make sense to me in that scenario and I think she would have a hard time explaining that. I dont believe a selfish man like EK would pressure KW with violence to protect a minor wheres his motivation? Itll be very interesting to see if the autopsy lines up with what KW and EK say happened to Mariah.
3. around late Friday night LE arrested EK and now that KW admitted to the disposal, he admitted disposal but denied killing Mariah. He *may have* laid the blame on a minor. He hasnt said this happened before Sunday night because hes *possibly* steering clear of putting KW in the frame. He gave LE a general indication as to where he put Mariah's body during interrogation on the Saturday her body was found.
If he laid the blame on a minor there could be several reasons -
i. he thinks it may be believed because the minor may have anger issues
ii he wants to discredit everything the minor has to say about EK both in the incident and prior alleged abuse.
iii. he thinks minor cant be prosecuted because of his age
iv. he doesnt want to point the finger at KW because she has threatened to reveal his (alleged) SA of Mariah with battered wife defence for not putting a stop to it.
v. a minor did it which I dont believe.
I do not believe a minor killed Mariah. I think KWs son is telling the truth for the reasons I put in post (#210), he exposed the lie of the abduction before anyone else when he was protected by that, the parts he didnt know (who hit her and if she was dead) he didnt try to fill in giving credence to him being an ear witness, and I think the adults would probably have made up a lie about how it happened, called an ambulance and not disposed of her body. The body told the story that they needed to hide and it is such an extreme reaction to a childs death that it screams self-preservation to me. I don't think EK would have involved himself in the disposal of her body if a minor caused this, if the alleged SA is true he can only be blindly selfish.
Why I believe EK acting alone did not kill Mariah -
I dont understand KW protecting EK if he killed Mariah. I dont understand KW instigating the disposal of Mariahs body. Her behaviour in not helping in the recovery of her body shows she didnt want Mariah found. If EK threatened KW with violence why would she be the one instigating the disposal and why did she not draw on the protection of LE as soon as they showed up? Her young son seems to have felt safe and been brave enough to do that, even with a bloody nose.
So Im leaning towards an eventual charge for the death against KW, or both KW and EK.
EK agreeing to dispose of Mariahs body -
a. he killed Mariah, or
b. KW killed Mariah and secured his participation in the cover up by threatening to reveal (alleged) SA, or
c. theyre both responsible through negligence for Mariahs death.
Time of death -
My early suspicion that Mariah had already died before that evening, is solidified now by LE still asking for sightings of the family in the days leading up to Sunday, unsatisfied by what theyve been told by extended family, possibly because of the autopsy results, having been given a time of occurrence of the incident by everyone in the trailer and still not accepting it, and by my theory that the minor did not hear Mariah crying and merely guessed his sister was hit for them to be wanting to get rid of her (what a shocking detail for a child to absorb about his own mom). I believe KW knew that the minor heard her saying get rid of her and planted the idea in the head of the minor that Mariah was crying and she told EK to handle it. I am more than a little dubious of a timeline where Mariah cries, is injured and KW instantly says get rid of her. That reaction would be far too quick to happen together as described.
I'm thinking her death occurred during the night on the eve of Thanksgiving, or KW may have decided not to go to Raleigh because EKs ex was going to be there, so she stayed behind and it occurred between Thursday and Sunday while they were gone. KW went out there on the Sunday and picked them up.
The only thing that troubles me about that timeline would be the odour of decomposition. Did she move her to the shed in a suitcase?
Grandpa believes they all came back from Raleigh including Mariah because he automatically assumes if KW was there then Mariah would be too. It might not have occurred to him to ask if Mariah was with them if he has no suspicions that her death didnt occur that night.
What could have happened around 11pm Nov 26[SUP]th [/SUP]
The boys were in bed. The adults argue about what to do with Mariahs body, the minor gets up to see what its about, he is punched as a warning to stay out of it. EK goes out at around midnight after the boys have settled, to look for a place and wait a few hours for a time when he wont be seen. He goes to the abandoned house, steals the dressers just because they are there and KW wants some, and then at 3am he leaves to dispose of Mariahs body.
Cause of death
I think it could be ingestion of drugs or toxic substance. I didnt think this initially but I cant think if another cause of death was apparent why there is a delay which points to awaiting toxicology results.
From what KW said, trying to sift the lies from the truth, she did appear to have a visceral memory response to describing feeding Mariah and putting her to bed, I think its quite possible she fed her water to try and flush out what was in her system.
The investigation -
Its interesting that the child was able to give the Maple Hill detail early in the week but KW still didnt help LE with what she knew. Ill bet she was thinking hard how she could explain that. It seems they had to coax this out of EK. Everything else in the minors account could still be explained by her counter-story of telling EK to handle Mariah. My guess is that to shift the focus of their search, LE couldnt rely on something the child heard but wasnt sure of. They needed KW/EK to confirm it. I really cant believe KW didnt ask EK where he put her, particularly as EK must have been telling someone for the child to hear.
I think there hasnt been charge/s laid for her death yet because the admissions arent matching up. Both EK and KW would have had to disclose a cause of death to have been involved in her disposal. Requests for sightings also reveals doubt about their accounts. I hope KW and EK were kept apart during that week so they couldnt align stories as it unfolded.
There could be truth in the SA allegation against EK if hes not dobbing KW in it.
What a mess!!
Feel free to take it apart, put forward different views. The dynamics of an investigation and the family members is what keeps my interest.
