Investigating possible scenarios for foul play now. I think motive for this is more of a rabbit hole than motive for him walking off. Here are the ones I think most likely.
1. The obvious. Someone Ray prosecuted in the past got revenge after having plenty of time to think about it upstate.
2. More obvious. Someone Ray was going to prosecute silenced him.
3. More likely in my mind than others seem to think. Patty Fornicola had him whacked.
4. Lifetime movie stuff. One of his ex wives had him whacked in anger or jealousy.
5. Outside chance, more Lifetime movie content. Someone connected to Patty Fornicola wanted him dead.
6. Possible. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and met with some random act of foul play.
7. Something related to him having an affair.
Im sure there are some other good ones.
Taking some of these down.
1. In the last 115 years in the US, less than two dozen prosecutors/ex-prosecutors have been murdered. I can think of 4-8 that were "revenge" killings, at best. In no case was the body hidden. It is very unlikely that this would be the situation and would involve RFG being exceptionally stupid to get into the situation where the body could be hidden.
2. I agree with Eddie 99. Most of the time, the prosecution will move forward, as it did with all pending cases handled by the DA's Office in 2005.
3. PEF could have said, "Get out of
my house, and don't take
my car," any time she wanted. If the motive was financial, why hide the body? She won't inherit until RFG is declared dead, which she would have difficulty starting, or until a body is found.
4-5. Too many details, his change in demeanor, money being sent to unknown accounts, that do not fit. That applies to 1-3 and 6 as well.
6. Lewisburg is not a high crime area. If random, why hide the body.
1-6 have all of these problems, which are nearly insurmountable.
Here is one that is possible:
7. An affair is possible. RFG could been at some clandestine romantic rendezvous with a woman. During a heated argument, in a fit passion, she kills him. He suffers a health crisis or has an accident and she does not her husband to know she was having an affair, so she hides the body.
Here is another one, but it has some problems:
8. RFG was involved in some illegal activities, e.g. he was being bribed or was blackmailing someone. The person decided to kill him rather than give him money. The problems are that killing a prosecutor means that the another prosecutor takes and the murderer would have to attempt to bribe him. If there was extortion, where is the incriminating evidence that RFG was holding over him.