ST says in this interview that he believes Fleet White opened the window.
Beginning around 2:55
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz_DBZYkPuo
Thank you, DeDee, for the clip. Im going to explicate it a little further, though, for anyone who doesnt take the time to listen to it.
Sts main concern is how pristine the crime scene photos are. ST speaks about the window and suggests the problems in determining for a court of law, whether the witness recollection could be backed up. The problem, according to ST, is that FW was in the basement early and
may have opened the window,
may have moved the suitcase (my emphasis on the word
may), and the photos the BPD took inside the home are not time-stamped.
The photos taken were as much as 6+ hours after the 911 call and in some cases taken after the warrant in the evening of the 26th. Their investigation team discussed the fact that not time-stamping the photos was a mistake. So, imo, JR could simply say that FW must have opened the window, or even moved the suitcase. No-one could say otherwise, and the photos cannot prove the original state of the window or suitcase.
I go with what Linda7NJ says about a witness who has no stake in lying to Boulder police. A witness would tend to speak of what he saw that morning, without needing to invent anything. FW was interviewed no less than 18 times very early in the case. According to the reports Kolar reviewed, these reports indicate what FWs statement to the police was about the window. Those interviews took place 12/27/96 to 1/4/97.
For my money the only reason the discussion of the window holds any relevance at all is because of the emphasis used by LS, of intruder entry and exit. And the most important part is that the window is broken, so whether closed or open, doesnt really matter as much as one might assume, since an intruder could have simply opened the latch through a break and entered. Or broken the window that night. (But if broken that night, where's all the glass??) Whats important is was it a window which was left unrepaired from JRs previous summer entry? JR doesnt know. PR doesnt know. After giving the interviewer a long story about how she and LHP picked up the glass and vacuumed the area carefully (because the kids played down there), she still cant remember if they ever had the window repaired. Cue music to Mearas helpful youtube link: Song by Brady "Nobody Knows"
The basement was said to be a maze. Moo, the minds of certain Rs were also a maze after the crime, and their instincts were to cast suspicion as many places as they could, see what sticks, IOW.
Its a foreign faction.
It's an inside job. Suspicion flung on the Pughs. Maybe the Pughs pretending to be a foreign faction?
I dont think he meant to kill her, she was wrapped in a blanket. Suspicion subtly on an underage male.
Killer left all these funny little clues. It was a master criminal who could leave such inexplicable clues like the chair placement. According to JR, this master criminal tied complicated knots.
There are so many more inconsistencies which have been brought up over the years that Ive developed my own theory of how these statements came to be. Primary inspiration was from two sources
Mindhunter by JD and
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis J. Carroll.
All MHO