GUILTY NC - Valerie Hamilton, 23, Charlotte, 15 September 2010

[trigger]

Hamilton suspect to appear in N.Y. courtroom. I wish we could see it live.


http://charlotte.news14.com/content.../hamilton-suspect-to-appear-in-n-y--courtroom


The 34-year-old Harvey was expected to appear Tuesday morning in Niagara County Court in nearby Lockport. The appearance was postponed until Tuesday afternoon because paperwork was unfinished.

http://www.reflector.com/ap/statea/suspect-nc-womans-slaying-due-ny-court-134577

 

[jcamille]

I wonder why they didn't include his car?

Here's the only scenario that I can come up with that has her going to all 3 locations with him (without taking her purse and keys - how did she get into her apt.?)

12:30-1:30 - they leave the bar together to continue the evening (no problem so far). Perhaps, they go to another bar or she says hey, there's a hot tub at my appt complex? Wanna go there? He says sure, but I need to swing by my house and get my swimsuit - I don't live far from here.

1:30ish -They take his car to his house. (10 min drive from Thomas St.)

(But why did she not take her car to her apt???)

Around 2:30 a.m. - they go to her apt. so she can change into her swimsuit (25-30 min drive from his house). She leaves door unlocked because the pool/hot tub is not that far from her apt. (I don't know this for a fact, just a scenario).

3 a.m. - They are in the hot tub - she calls her friend because she may be getting vibes that this guy is weird and if her friend comes over, he will leave.

3:30ish - As it's getting later, she tells him that she has to go get her car, he takes her back, she puts her keys and purse in the car and turns to say goodnight and
then he grabs her.

OR - she does take her car to her apt., but he drove it back to the parking lot near Thomas Street with her keys and purse in it to stage the scene.

I still don't know how she ends up at Econolodge, unless he took her there right after he kidnapped her.

 

[jcamille]

I think she rejected his advances at some point and that sent him over the edge.

 

[Bratislava]

I think he stopped by his house to get drugs, alchohol, or paraphenalia. He may not have planned to kill her, but he certainly probably planned to give her drugs and see what he could get away with. That is consistent with his rape and drug heavy past. JMO.

 

[trigger]

Here's the only scenario that I can come up with that has her going to all 3 locations with him (without taking her purse and keys - how did she get into her apt.?)

12:30-1:30 - they leave the bar together to continue the evening (no problem so far). Perhaps, they go to another bar or she says hey, there's a hot tub at my appt complex? Wanna go there? He says sure, but I need to swing by my house and get my swimsuit - I don't live far from here.

1:30ish -They take his car to his house. (10 min drive from Thomas St.)

(But why did she not take her car to her apt???)

Around 2:30 a.m. - they go to her apt. so she can change into her swimsuit (25-30 min drive from his house). She leaves door unlocked because the pool/hot tub is not that far from her apt. (I don't know this for a fact, just a scenario).

3 a.m. - They are in the hot tub - she calls her friend because she may be getting vibes that this guy is weird and if her friend comes over, he will leave.

3:30ish - As it's getting later, she tells him that she has to go get her car, he takes her back, she puts her keys and purse in the car and turns to say goodnight and
then he grabs her.

OR - she does take her car to her apt., but he drove it back to the parking lot near Thomas Street with her keys and purse in it to stage the scene.

I still don't know how she ends up at Econolodge, unless he took her there right after he kidnapped her.

TY Yes that could have happen, going to her apt. At first I thought no way, but her call to her friend at 3am?? I guess we have to wait for more answers to this whole story. I wonder if she had hung out with him before? Him burning that car has me puzzled. WHY?

 

[trigger]

I think she rejected his advances at some point and that sent him over the edge.

Yup just like JVS.

 

[belimom]

... (snipped)...Him burning that car has me puzzled. WHY?

The answer that makes the most sense is that she was killed in the car. But I honestly have no idea. I'm all over the place as far as - did she go willingly? did she then get bad vibes? did all go well until the very end? did she not go willingly? did she leave her car there or did he drive it back? So many questions... I'm sure the video surveillance says alot.

One thing in my mind: if things were 'going well', I don't think she would've asked her friend to join them in the hot tub. (Well, maybe...)... But more than likely she was getting bad vibes or she wanted him to go away and he just wouldn't leave.

:waitasec:

 

[jcamille]

Here's the only scenario that I can come up with that has her going to all 3 locations with him (without taking her purse and keys - how did she get into her apt.?)

12:30-1:30 - they leave the bar together to continue the evening (no problem so far). Perhaps, they go to another bar or she says hey, there's a hot tub at my appt complex? Wanna go there? He says sure, but I need to swing by my house and get my swimsuit - I don't live far from here.

1:30ish -They take his car to his house. (10 min drive from Thomas St.)

(But why did she not take her car to her apt???)

Around 2:30 a.m. - they go to her apt. so she can change into her swimsuit (25-30 min drive from his house). She leaves door unlocked because the pool/hot tub is not that far from her apt. (I don't know this for a fact, just a scenario).

3 a.m. - They are in the hot tub - she calls her friend because she may be getting vibes that this guy is weird and if her friend comes over, he will leave.

3:30ish - As it's getting later, she tells him that she has to go get her car, he takes her back, she puts her keys and purse in the car and turns to say goodnight and
then he grabs her.

OR - she does take her car to her apt., but he drove it back to the parking lot near Thomas Street with her keys and purse in it to stage the scene.

I still don't know how she ends up at Econolodge, unless he took her there right after he kidnapped her.

Or here's another thought - maybe she drove.

They went by his house, then to her apt., then SHE took him back to Thomas Street Tavern to drop him off at HIS car - by that time, it would be 4 a.m. or so and NO ONE would be anywhere around to see what happened.

Then, he could have kidnapped her (hence, leaving her purse and keys in her car in the parking lot). But that does not explain her leaving her apt. unlocked.

 

[less0305]

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/25060037/detail.html



"We don't know for sure whether or not an abduction occurred, or if the victim may have freely went with Mr. Harvey, but we do know the victim to be in those three locations," Monroe said.[/I]

snipped for space...

I worked for a large police department several years back and there was a case of a young woman abducted from her car (bump and grab) after she got off work after midnight from a popular chain restaurant. She was a college student and the three thugs that grabbed her kept her for several days, taking her to numerous places, in numerous cars, doing horrible things to her... She KNEW in her heart they would kill her eventually and so she devised a plan immediately to leave evidence every place they took her or put her. She pulled buttons from her sweater and left them behind a bush, she pulled her own hair out and left it in vehicles, tore part of her clothing, scratched herself to leave blood - IIRC, she even bit her own tongue to leave blood because of the way they had her hands bound at one point and she couldn't scratch herself. By the grace of God, she got away and after something like 5 days she was safe and alive. Her leaving evidence everywhere was the entire case!!! No one could believe how incredibly smart and brave she was, but she wanted to make sure that if any way possible she would be able to help convict her killers. That scenario went through my mind when they said they KNEW she was in all three places. Maybe as a leo family member, she purposely left evidence to be found and used should she not survive.

 

[cleo612]

Harvey waives extradition, will return to Charlotte


CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The man arrested in connection with the death of 23-year-old Valerie Hamilton appeared in court Tuesday afternoon just an hour before Hamilton was buried in Concord.

In a five-minute hearing Tuesday in an upstate New York courtroom, Michael Neal Harvey said he would not fight extradition and would return to the Charlotte area.

Harvey, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and handcuffs, was sent to the Niagara County Jail to await transfer. It was not immediately known when he would be extradited, but Charlotte-Mecklenburg authorities are already in New York.

More at link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39290022

 

[Lori59]

Harvey's relatives say Harvey was afraid to call 911 because he and his roommates had called 911 so many times before. Records show 29 calls from his 15th Street house in the last three years -- some of them involving an ambulance and possible drug overdoses.

On Tuesday, the man who Harvey was staying with in New York when he was captured told WIVB-TV in Buffalo that Harvey told him he did not kill Hamilton.

"He didn't do it. He came here and was scared. I know the whole story and everything else," said Paul Maikranz. "He was out with the girl Wednesday night. They went to his house and, you know, they were doing things and his roommate walked in, so they went and got a hotel room.

"He said he woke up the next morning next to a dead girl. I said, 'What?' You know what I mean? And that was what it was."

Maikranz was also arrested Monday for harboring a fugitive, but was released after cooperating with authorities.


http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/09/21/1708686/harvey-waives-extradition-will.html

 

[Hucklepie]

The Charlotte Observer is reporting that there weren't any signs of physical murder on her body (strangulation, gunshot, stab wounds, etc.) but there were signs of drug use. Apparently Harvey is claiming that he didn't kill her, but she died of an overdose and then he hid the body, or something like that. It doesn't add up to me. Of course, it's giving the awful people who comment terrible things on news stories lots of new blame-the-victim fodder.

 

[Lori59]

Police said many people saw Hamilton with Harvey the night she disappeared. Detectives said Tuesday that they have found evidence of drug usage and that Hamilton needed “immediate medical attention” before she died. Harvey didn’t seek medical help, police said, despite being prompted by several witnesses to do so.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/25060037/detail.html

It says many people prompted him to seek medical attention....what stopped them from helping her if this is all true?

 

[jcamille]

Police said many people saw Hamilton with Harvey the night she disappeared. Detectives said Tuesday that they have found evidence of drug usage and that Hamilton needed “immediate medical attention” before she died. Harvey didn’t seek medical help, police said, despite being prompted by several witnesses to do so.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/25060037/detail.html

It says many people prompted him to seek medical attention....what stopped them from helping her if this is all true?

Maybe he spiked her drink with something and it made her sick and she was throwing up. That would make sense when the police say that they found evidence that she had been in all 3 locations.

But that doesn't explain the 3 a.m. phone call to her friend. It seems that her friend would have said that she sounded really drunk or she said she was sick. Also, if she had been drugged, she may not have been in the frame of mnd to concoct a cover story to try to get her friend to come over.

This is very strange.

 

[Lori59]

Here's a video of Harvey leaving the courthouse claiming that Valerie overdosed in her sleep. Family and friends on video also. Aunt says he was going to take Valerie to hospital and doesn't know what happened that he didn't and instead hid her body. His residence is VERY close to 3 major hospitals...Carolina's, Presbyterian, and Mercy.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/Preliminary-autopsy-results-released-in-Hamilton-death-103476779.html

 

[Lori59]

Maybe he spiked her drink with something and it made her sick and she was throwing up. That would make sense when the police say that they found evidence that she had been in all 3 locations.

But that doesn't explain the 3 a.m. phone call to her friend. It seems that her friend would have said that she sounded really drunk or she said she was sick. Also, if she had been drugged, she may not have been in the frame of mnd to concoct a cover story to try to get her friend to come over.

This is very strange.

Trying to figure the 3 locations out.....if they left Thomas Tavern and went straight to his house which it seems to be the case..witnesses saw her there. If they then left there and checked into Econo Lodge, perhaps the desk clerk saw them both. And then her body being left at the Storage unit. With her car being left at Thomas St. Tavern, it makes since to me since his place and the motel are close to that area and her apt. is in south Charlotte approx. 25 min. away. If they headed to her apt. it just seems to me she would have picked up her car. Aside from the hot tub reference ..has it been determined they ever went to her apt.? Would the Econo Lodge have a hot tub? I feel things went bad after the phone call at 3:00.

 

[jcamille]

I was near uptown today and decided to stop by Thomas Street Tavern and take some more pictures of the smaller lot that is to the right of Thomas Street Tavern where her car was found in front of Visionz salon/barber shop.

For a frame of reference, Visionz has the orange oval sign and Thomas Street Tavern has the orange colored umbrellas in front. I took these pictures standing in front of the barbershop looking towards Thomas Street Tavern.

If you are standing on Thomas Street looking at Thomas Street Tavern, these pictures and this parking lot is on the right side of the bar, whereas the pictures i took on Sunday are of the left side of the bar.

I also took pics of the signs in the lot that refer to towing. This is one of the most heavily towed areas in Charlotte. In fact, towing companies are literally engaging in predatory towing - lying in wait to swoop in and boot or tow a vehicle. I still can't believe her car sat there for two days without it being towed.

 

[Lori59]

Her apartment... it does have a hot tub.

http://www.arboretumapts.net/

 

[jcamille]

If they headed to her apt. it just seems to me she would have picked up her car.

Unless of course, she was too sick.

Aside from the hot tub reference ..has it been determined they ever went to her apt.?

I seem to remember that they said there was evidence that she had been there and that's why they searched her apt. and the woods surrounding.

The apt. was found with the door unlocked which is highly unusual for a woman, but it bolsters the possibility of her being too impaired to pay attention. Her friend would probably have known if Valerie's apt. complex had a hot tub, when she asked her to come over.

Would the Econo Lodge have a hot tub?

I really hope not. It's in such a low rent area that if it did have a hot tub, I wouldn't get in it.

I feel things went bad after the phone call at 3:00.

I do too. He probably started questioning her as to why she asked her friend to come over and she probably told him that she wanted him to leave or take her back to get her car or whatever, and that's when it went downhill.

 

[dr dona]

guess we're going to have to wait and see how this plays out. Perhaps she did die of an OD. If she experimented just for the heck of it----she had been drinking and a dose of some drugs could result in loss of consciousness, vomiting and a fatal aspiration. And, u never know exactly what is in street drugs- potencies vary significantly. I just pray the ME and LE continue to do a thorough job and find out what caused her death. If the accused did not murder her but gave her drugs and also didn't call for help than he should be appropriately charged. Nothing will ever bring this lovely young woman back..I do sincerely pray for her family and all her friends. This young lady seemed to be loving, kind and talented. May time bring the family peace and healing.