Post Verdict -Working Out The Unresolved Questions

[geevee]

the thing that's confusing about the evidence is that Leslie Yudi (sp?) sat in JA's car with her for about an hour while in Utah. Wonder if it smelled of smoke then or if this means she got rid of stuff after Utah?

I was going to mention this as well, if I recall her testimony correctly she said she neither noticed nor smelled anything unusual about the rental car when she was in it.

If JA has kept 3 cans full of gas throughout her return trip it would smell more of gas than smoke, I'd think (I checked last night, after filling them in SLC she only stopped for gas for the tank, no separate transactions or extra gas for the cans after SLC), so she either took a major detour requiring all of the gas can contents for tank and burning, or she carted 3 full cans of gas all the way to Yreka from SLC. I can't imagine the car not smelling overridingly of gas even if it had a smoky smell as well.

 

[gcharlie]

She needed every last drop of the gas in her car and the jerry cans to make it from Pasadena out of Arizona without stopping and then all the way to West Jordan. IMO, the gas was used to get her to West Jordan and were empty when she arrived. This would explain why Leslie Udy did not smell gas in the car. I don't believe that there was enough gas to use as an accelerant and get her to her destination.

 

[Tuba]

We also know there was a shorter route from Mesa to West Jordan than her trip to Nevada but she wanted to get out of Arizona worse than Cody wanted out of Dodge. She took the first diagonal, Hy.93, into the Lake Mead Hoover Dam corner of Nevada before heading off into Utah. What was she doing during the lost time? I just don't believe she went over a hundred miles out of her way because she didn't know where she was. For one thing, we know she needed extra time for clean up & dumping, destroying evidence. Even in her version of the fog, she said she had to do that before check point.

 

[gcharlie]

We also know there was a shorter route from Mesa to West Jordan than her trip to Nevada but she wanted to get out of Arizona worse than Cody wanted out of Dodge. She took the first diagonal, Hy.93, into the Lake Mead Hoover Dam corner of Nevada before heading off into Utah. What was she doing during the lost time? I just don't believe she went over a hundred miles out of her way because she didn't know where she was. For one thing, we know she needed extra time for clean up & dumping, destroying evidence. Even in her version of the fog, she said she had to do that before check point.

Agree with you wholeheartedly on this one.

 

[Tuba]

What's up about JA when will the new trail start I have heard nothing lately unless I missed something seams like NancyGrace leaves us hanging on with cases just like
baby E. being missing we hear nothing about her anymore and some cases she drags on and on I just wish she would keep us updated if only a few mins on her show

This new trial, since sentence was left hanging, is set to go forward based on decisions & scheduling, August 26. Meanwhile, the two sides are shoving offers to resolve back and forth.

 

[geevee]

Do we have the gas receipt (or any receipt) for Mesquite, NV? I thought I knew when she was everywhere but I can't find any notes on that stop or the time of Winnemucca. And I keep forgetting about it when trying to do a timeline. arg

 

[geevee]

Don't know when this showed up, haven't looked there in two days or so.

8/2/2013 REL - Reply - Party (001) 8/9/2013
NOTE: DEFENDANTS/ MOTION TO VACATE AGGRAVATION PHASE VERDICT

 

[geevee]

Is there any way to read the reply? I don't see a way to read anything except the docket itself.

 

[gcharlie]

Do we have the gas receipt (or any receipt) for Mesquite, NV? I thought I knew when she was everywhere but I can't find any notes on that stop or the time of Winnemucca. And I keep forgetting about it when trying to do a timeline. arg

There was no time on the Winnemuca receipt, only the date. The same thing appears to be true for the Mesquite purchase as well; this was for $46.11 and should have been right around 12 gallons.

I'm going to have to take back something that I posted earlier; with this gas purchased in Mesquite, she may have had extra gas still in one of the three gas cans.

If she averaged 30 mph with the mountainous terrain, she would have used about 23 gallons of gas to get from Pasadena to Mesquite. We do know that she drove the rental car to two meeting while she was in Utah and then filled her tank in the early hours of 6/6. The fill amount was either 10.6 or 9.58 gallons. Given the driving she did, it would seem that she emptied that third can between Mesquite and West Jordan with some of the gas going into the gas tank. I don't think all of the gas went into the tank, otherwise her fill at the Tesoro station on 6/6 would have been for considerably less gas.

I may have to rethink the whole idea of her having used gas to burn evidence. It would be an incredibly risky thing to do from both a safety point of view and attracting attention, yet nothing is out of the realm of possibility with CMJA. The other possible explanation would be that she did some wandering between Mesquite and West Jordan, putting on enough miles to need the third jerry can and almost a full tank on the 6th.

Specs for a 2008 Ford Focus indicate a 13.5 gallon gas tank. Mileage 24/35. Full tank range approx. 315 to 455 miles (.5 gal reserve)

Pasadena to Mesa 390 mi.
Mesa to Mesquite 290 mi., total 780 mi.
Mesquite to West Jordan 330 mi., total 1,110

 

[geevee]

There was no time on the Winnemuca receipt, only the date. The same thing appears to be true for the Mesquite purchase as well; this was for $46.11 and should have been right around 12 gallons.

I'm going to have to take back something that I posted earlier; with this gas purchased in Mesquite, she may have had extra gas still in one of the three gas cans.

If she averaged 30 mph with the mountainous terrain, she would have used about 23 gallons of gas to get from Pasadena to Mesquite. We do know that she drove the rental car to two meeting while she was in Utah and then filled her tank in the early hours of 6/6. The fill amount was either 10.6 or 9.58 gallons. Given the driving she did, it would seem that she emptied that third can between Mesquite and West Jordan with some of the gas going into the gas tank. I don't think all of the gas went into the tank, otherwise her fill at the Tesoro station on 6/6 would have been for considerably less gas.

I may have to rethink the whole idea of her having used gas to burn evidence. It would be an incredibly risky thing to do from both a safety point of view and attracting attention, yet nothing is out of the realm of possibility with CMJA. The other possible explanation would be that she did some wandering between Mesquite and West Jordan, putting on enough miles to need the third jerry can and almost a full tank on the 6th.

Specs for a 2008 Ford Focus indicate a 13.5 gallon gas tank. Mileage 24/35. Full tank range approx. 315 to 455 miles (.5 gal reserve)

Pasadena to Mesa 390 mi.
Mesa to Mesquite 290 mi., total 780 mi.
Mesquite to West Jordan 330 mi., total 1,110

I'm glad you're working on that section of the trip gc, and thanks for the confirmation about no times for either purchase. And I agree on the riskiness of setting a fire, it would draw attention in the dark of night.

Here's what I have for SLC, Winnemucca and Sparks:

SLC - 25.30 gal. in 3 transactions
drove 352 miles to
Winnemucca - 12.175 gal. in 1 transaction
drove 163 miles to
Sparks - 5 gal. in 1 transaction
drives 254 miles to
Yreka

I think the mileage her car gets pans out to only refiilling the tank after SLC for the gas used on previous leg. She still has enough gas to get the car 98 miles to Redding, I think, leaving it flat on empty as the receipt states.

 

[Tuba]

I wonder if C.M. clipped the North West corner of Arizona once more as she left the Nevada checkpoint for Mesquite & points beyond. I think she did do some purposeful wandering during that stretch and I think, based on certain resources I have IYKWIM, that she found her disposal site(s) in Utah. En route to the checkpoint, while in Arizona I doubt if she did much more than wash her bloody hands. In fact, stopping only to get a bottle of water from the trunk, that clean up seems to have been quick & slap dash. It would have seriously annoyed her that she couldn't seem to escape Arizona. She had to make a diagonal detour to get out the first time and then the highway from Nevada into Utah crosses Arizona once more. And here she didn't want any personal trace in Arizona at all!

 

[Tulessa]

Me either, lol.

And there is so much to be taught about Astrology. (My people, the Cherokee) depended upon it.

 

[Tuba]

Contradiction, no effort needed to resolve.____A juror asked Arias if she would have come forward if she were never suspected of Travis's murder. She replied that she didn't know, could not answer that. She was also asked, separate instance, what she would do after leaving the Mesa house, if she had it to do over again. With no hesitation she replied, "I would drive straight to the Mesa police department & turn myself in." Well, which is it JodiBookPage? How dare you feed the jury this bafflegab, right to their face?!?

I think we know the answer to this contradiction. She was clear on the stand & in her interrogations that she made Herculean efforts to distance herself from any connection whatever to the crime, that it was her intent to do that.

 

[SweetT]

Now that we've had some time to digest all of the evidence and witness testimony from the trial, there still seems to be quite a few unanswered questions. I thought I'd start a thread where we could discuss and work out all the pieces that don't fit and things that don't make sense to us while we're awaiting the penalty retrial.

Tops on my list at the moment are the camera, pictures and the memory cards. The blue one does not appear to fit Travis' camera yet was found in the washer and introduced into evidence and nothing more said about it. Did it have pictures on it? Why don't we know anything more about it?

Det. Melendez said when he received the camera the memory card and its cover were in the camera slot where it belongs, but the Sony card that fits his camera doesn't look like it has a cover. Very confusing.

The 'unclothed' pics are another mystery to me; with the events that preceded his murder, it doesn't seem reasonable that Travis would invite her in and have that sort of encounter with her. We know he told at least one woman he was chatting with that he was afraid of JA's stalking behavior and even presumed she was reading their communications, would he forget all of that and invite her into his bed a week later? I find that difficult to believe.

And one glaring question about her trip - once she was out of Arizona and near Salt Lake City, UT, why did she refill the all of the gas cans? There was no financial benefit and with the extra weight of those 3 cans, it probably had a negative impact on her gas mileage, not to mention the smell and danger of carrying around so much gasoline. She had plenty of places to fill up, so why would she lug around gas when it wasn't necessary?

It doesn't seem that she had time to take a long drive into the desert to dispose of the weapons before meeting Ryan (will need to check the timeline on that part), but she obviously did it for a reason, I hope eventually we can figure that out.

Those are the questions bothering me presently, please post yours and let's get to work on finding some answers.

I hope this thread is alright with the mods.

I think she filled up because she had been driving around out in the desert destroying evidence and needed the gas.

 

[LambChop]

And there is so much to be taught about Astrology. (My people, the Cherokee) depended upon it.

I agree. My granddaughters are Mohegan but those are the rules here now so....

 

[SweetT]

I also think she used some gas to burn evidence, that is why the car smelled of smoke. She could have done it during the day and not be so noticeable as a night time fire, but I wouldnt discount a night time fire either if it was out of the way enough.

 

[geevee]

Here's the route map and legend from the link supplied on the bank statements and receipts thread:

I really need a visual when we're talking directions. I was going to mark all the points but we have some missing times and was hoping to fill in those gaps. Feel free to save the map and add labels or any info to it you want, the link to the google route is on the post linked below, if anyone wants to change or add locations to the map:

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9018022&postcount=80"]Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Arias Trial; Compare the receipts and the monetary transactions[/ame]


Also link to TigerBalm's post with a listing of the receipts/bank statements and link to PB album with pics of same:

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8857311&postcount=26"]Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Arias Trial; Compare the receipts and the monetary transactions[/ame]

 

[SweetT]

Could she have wondered off to flagstaff or even south toward mexico maybe even into mexico to make up that 149 missing miles? i WOULD BET those 149 miles is somewhere that she destroyed evidence. So could be even just 75 miles off route to do that.

 

[SweetT]

Tonto national forest would be a good area for destroying evidence too. If I were a killer I might go there to dump evidence. There is a lake there also, noone would think anything of a campfire.

 

[geevee]

Did she and Travis ever visit an area close to the NV corner, either as part of the 1000 Places To See or their church outings? I didn't pay a great deal of attention to those locations.

I'm just thinking she'd pick an area she was somewhat familair with, considering it would be nighttime when she'd be there getting rid of the weapons in whatever manner she did.