Opening Statements

[ncsu95]

I hope that we can all debate the evidence on here without it getting personal. We all can see things differently, and that's okay. I'm just glad we have the freedom and forum to have debates like this. I look forward to seeing the evidence and hope the proper verdict is reached based on the evidence, whatever that verdict might be.

 

[SleuthyGal]

let me ask you this: why would a woman take off her diamond necklace and put it in her husband's desk? She would put jewelry in a jewelry box or at least in her room. She wouldn't just leave it out somewhere, nor would she place her necklace in his desk. So that alone is strange.

 

[Just the Fax]

The opening statements from today have been posted on WRAL:

http://www.wral.com/specialreports/nancycooper/video/9245834/#/vid9245834

All barely 28 min of it. Wow was it short.

Go to 18:49

Brad gave the blue Soucony shoes the cops.
Did the ADA screw up or did the cops in their SW?????

 

[carolinalady]

let me ask you this: why would a woman take off her diamond necklace and put it in her husband's desk? She would put jewelry in a jewelry box or at least in her room. She wouldn't just leave it out somewhere, nor would she place her necklace in his desk. So that alone is strange.

I agree, his desk is a strange place to put her necklace especially considering the marital discord. I wouldn't have thought it strange if it were left on a counter or any other common area.

 

[SleuthyGal]

Go to 18:49

Brad gave the blue Soucony shoes the cops.
Did the ADA screw up or did the cops in their SW?????

So the cops had the blue Saucony shoes but remember they went back to the house (after he was arrested?) and then saw the mismatched ASICS.

 

[raisincharlie]

I can be included in that as well as some Olympic athletes I've noticed wearing jewelry while competing in track and field events. If Nancy wore that necklace at least 90% of the time, what are the odds she happened to take it off that night, let alone put it where it was found? MOO

With respect to the necklace - you hit the nail on the head. Given Nancy had her own room, why would she put her necklace in a desk drawer ? Doesn't really matter if she wore it all the time or not, seems to me the location is of much more significance. Makes as much sense as her leaving her cell phone and keys to her locked car ( on her lawyer's advice and with her purse inside the car) laying on a table near the living room (search warrant defined the location). The location where it was found is the significant point.

 

[Just the Fax]

So the cops had the blue Saucony shoes but remember they went back to the house (after he was arrested?) and then saw the mismatched ASICS.

Look at the SW snip I posted above,,,,,Brad said the Saucony shoes were missing?

 

[panthera]

let me ask you this: why would a woman take off her diamond necklace and put it in her husband's desk? She would put jewelry in a jewelry box or at least in her room. She wouldn't just leave it out somewhere, nor would she place her necklace in his desk. So that alone is strange.

That also stands out to me more so than if she would have worn it running or not. Since a circumstantial case is about the totality of the evidence leading to one conclusion, the necklace, dress, laundry, shoes, etc are all parts adding up to the whole. I honestly believe she was killed the night before he says she went running. MOO

 

[panthera]

With respect to the necklace - you hit the nail on the head. Given Nancy had her own room, why would she put her necklace in a desk drawer ? Doesn't really matter if she wore it all the time or not, seems to me the location is of much more significance. Makes as much sense as her leaving her cell phone and keys to her locked car ( on her lawyer's advice and with her purse inside the car) laying on a table near the living room (search warrant defined the location). The location where it was found is the significant point.

Exactly, and another good point about the cell phone and keys.

 

[johnfear]

Hmm. The necklace in the drawer thing. Didn't she have a thin-line marking around her neck according to ME Butts?

As for it getting in the drawer, there could be an explanation. Who gave it to her? If it was Brad, the explanation could be as simple as she threw it at him and stormed off. He placed it on or in the desk. I don't think that is a huge mark against the defense.

But, if they have witnesses to what they are saying the do in the opening statements, I think the video depos being online is going to be a huge defense problem. The "I hate you" stuff is going to bite him. (I believe he states that that was not the case in one of the depos.)

And, I agree with the whole let's not make this personal.

I have been a little perturbed that every body went after this guy as guilty from that get go. Not because I thought he was innocent. But because I haven't seen a shred presented that he did it.

Even now, I am just starting to get the picture from the legal perspective.

They are going to say he strangled her in the house, backed the car in the garage, got up at some crazy early time on Saturday, drove her out and dumped her, came home, cleaned up the evidence. So that time line puts her dying on Friday night, dumped on Saturday very early (I stand by this because of how much decomp had gone on by Monday according to the ME)

But, the opposite spin would be this: He didn't know. He thought he was saving/working on a marriage. He assumed she had gone to go jogging. He was trying to get some laundry and cleaning done because she hadn't been doing it. She could have been snatched out of the garage early Saturday.

There are a lot of ways this could go. But, the innocent route is looking a little longer and harder to navigate as I read all the back data, SW, etc. on the net.

 

[ncsu95]

let me ask you this: why would a woman take off her diamond necklace and put it in her husband's desk? She would put jewelry in a jewelry box or at least in her room. She wouldn't just leave it out somewhere, nor would she place her necklace in his desk. So that alone is strange.

I thought it was found in the table in the entry way. Where was this desk?

 

[ncsu95]

My biggest things are the woman that said she saw her jogging that morning. She said she actually spoke to her as she went by, and she went right by her. That woman went to the police to report this when the posters went up. She wasn't found by the defense.

My other issue is the garage thing. If the garage had so much crap in it that he couldn't put a car in it, then how was he able to clean it out without anyone noticing, all while covering up a murder, and where did the stuff go? Seems like it would have been easier to put her in something and sneak her out to the car quickly than to go through the trouble of cleaning out the garage...going outside to back the car into the garage, then leave the garage. That is a lot more noticeable with lights, garage going up/down, etc.

 

[Just the Fax]

My biggest things are the woman that said she saw her jogging that morning. She said she actually spoke to her as she went by, and she went right by her. That woman went to the police to report this when the posters went up. She wasn't found by the defense.

.

Yes, Ms. Zednick.
Perhaps she will be the defense star witness?
I forgot if she ever changed her mind or if another runner that looked like Nancy came forward?

http://www.wral.com/asset/news/local/2008/10/15/3744323/20081015142722449.pdf

 

[Albert]

If the garage had so much crap in it that he couldn't put a car in it, then how was he able to clean it out without anyone noticing, all while covering up a murder, and where did the stuff go?

I believe Brad indicated that he cleaned this garage while Nancy was on the beach vacation.

 

[SleuthyGal]

1. He said he cleaned out the garage a few days (maybe 2?) before Nancy got home from her vacation. We know this because Brad's deposition testimony goes into great detail about when he cleaned out the garage. The bug guy saw the garage a couple days before the murder and it was still crowded in there, with no room for a car. When did Brad make room for his car? Well likely sometime after he left the party up until he pulled his car into the garage (to load Nancy's body in it, IMHO). Oh and Brad claimed he made room for Nancy's car so she and the girls could stay cool. However, the side he cleaned out....was the side HE parked on and always had. We found a google map street view of the house from 2006 and his car is on the left side of the driveway and hers was on the right.

2. At the custody hearing the woman who thought she saw Nancy couldn't be 100% sure. Eyewitness testimony can often be some of the weakest because people remember things differently and can get important details incorrect. She was discredited and the judge didn't believe her (and said so in her ruling).

3. Nancy's diamond necklace was found *in* a desk. Not in her room, not on the foyer table...in (as in inside) a desk.

 

[ncsu95]

Yes, Ms. Zednick.
Perhaps she will be the defense star witness?
I forgot if she ever changed her mind or if another runner that looked like Nancy came forward?

http://www.wral.com/asset/news/local/2008/10/15/3744323/20081015142722449.pdf

Her statement is pretty clear. And it isn't something she remembered months later. She called the police on the 13th to report it...and kept calling the police. I was disturbed back then that she was basically ignored. I think she is going to be a big problem for the prosecution.

 

[SleuthyGal]

He thought he was saving/working on a marriage. He assumed she had gone to go jogging. He was trying to get some laundry and cleaning done because she hadn't been doing it. She could have been snatched out of the garage early Saturday.

He wasn't working on the marriage and by that point neither was she. These two (obviously) hated each other. While she was gone he had left the house a mess. It was such a mess that there were bugs crawling around when Nancy got back from her vacation (and remember she then called an exterminator). Nancy told her friends about the poor/dirty condition of the house, she told her family too (cf custody hearing testimony). This was in-line with how Brad always was. Nancy did 99.9% of the housework.

BTW, the only thing Nancy wanted/needed from Brad that last Friday was her household money. He was giving her cash because she had no credit cards. And he didn't give her the money. And he didn't get it on Friday night. And he didn't get it on Sat. either. It's the one thing she was most angry about, out of all the things going on. She was livid about not getting the money she needed. He was at the store twice Sat morning. There are ATM machines there.

Why didn't Brad give Nancy her cash? Why didn't he get it Sat morning? Why not Sat afternoon? Do you suppose it's because he knew she would never need money again? Because she was dead? Sure looks that way.

 

[Just the Fax]

1. He said he cleaned out the garage a few days (maybe 2?) before Nancy got home from her vacation. We know this because Brad's deposition testimony goes into great detail about when he cleaned out the garage. The bug guy saw the garage a couple days before the murder and it was still crowded in there, with no room for a car. When did Brad make room for his car? k.

SG, the exterminator was there on Wednesday (3 days before) and the garage was a wreck.
What day did Nancy get back from vacation?

 

[Just the Fax]

Her statement is pretty clear. And it isn't something she remembered months later. She called the police on the 13th to report it...and kept calling the police. I was disturbed back then that she was basically ignored. I think she is going to be a big problem for the prosecution.

Yes, CPD dismissing her was a huge blunder.
Kurtz will show it as tunnel vision and a rush to judgement.

 

[otto]

Who cleaned up the garage? Did Brad do it even though he never did anything around the house, or did Nancy do it? Where did the toys go? How does the fact that the garage was cleaned factor into her murder ... only to explain that Brad backed his car into the garage after murdering her?