Thanks for the above comments on my "Afterthought". You all are correct. I was misled by an early impression related to the word, "passenger compartment". To me, what is being called the passenger compartment would normally be described as the interior of the car. The "interior of the car" would include the entire seating area, so the term "passenger compartment" struck me as a more specific designation, the front passenger area.
I'm going with the third party theory on this. Again, there is the anomaly of NR's unmarred complexion. I'm assuming that if he engaged Miss Josephson, she fought back and scratched his face. This does not appear in his mug shot.
But, of course, there are other possibilities (disabled victim with chemical or blow to the head), so the above is just a working theory, so to speak. We need not limit ourselves to what is recorded around her entry into the rear seat of NR's vehicle. I believe NR was the lone occupant when he arrived. After they left, Miss Josephson may have still believed she was in an Uber for a while. I say he stopped and picked up one of his friends, and that is how the third party entered the car.
Although no third party "theory of the crime" has been offered by the authorities, they are not saying anything about their study of the case. Much of what they already know or believe may not be known to the rest of us until the trial of NR, and that's going to take a while. In the meantime, NR himself may confess everything and name the other guy, if there was one. The only deal the prosecutor could offer, I assume, would be the state's not seeking death. He'll almost certainly receive a death sentence, if it is available, so NR would be receiving a true benefit from such a deal, and he might be motivated to betray an accomplice.
There's also the matter of the mystery passenger in NR's vehicle at the time of his arrest. We have no idea what she has told police, and unless we are blessed with a blabber mouth insider, that too will be a secret until trial. But I have to say, if a third party is named or discovered in review of evidence and interviews, that person would become subject to immediate arrest, and the whole case would have to be reformulated. At that point, we all would find out.
For anyone concerned that NR might get off easy if another person is convicted of the murder, rest easy. In NC, an accessory before the fact is subject to the same punishment as the principal, and I doubt SC is any different.
I too lean towards a third party although it is total speculation. My reasons include that he cannot drive and control her (once she realizes something is wrong that is, hard to say what point that occurred at) so he either has to probably stop to do so or has a third party. I also agree that third party may have been picked up after or may have been in the car when she was picked up.
The lack of scratches is definitely another reason.
And then based on a prior case, it seems like this is "their" method of operation possibly, two perps...
I also think he had at least three stops that night after she got in the car. First, he had to stop to get control of her or for a third person. He cannot drive that whatever it was, 60 or 70 miles with her free in the backseat and able to attack the driver.
He also had to have injured her or attacked her most likely in the vehicle or he went to a residence. I am basing this on the blood in the car of which we do not have total detail but it sounds like it was fairly ample and in more than a few areas including the trunk. Plus, once he dropped her body in the rural location, he did not put it back in the trunk or the car and get blood in the car then, that would make no sense. I therefore surmise the attack and likely death occurred prior to leaving her body in the rural location and even likely in Columbia.
Leaving her body is the 2nd stop and then he had to clean himself up (3rd stop or wherever he called home but chances are someone was at "home" or also resided at the home but perhaps that did not matter if it was the accomplice). I would assume though more likely he had to clean up and headed somewhere to do so, whether a residence in the rural location, an acquaintance's home, a residence he resided in in Columbia or somewhere else. We know so little, not even where he stayed for the most part and who else may have lived there.
That is at minimum--there are also likely clothes to get rid of that he was wearing and more. he at some point picked up bleach and wipes, etc. after the fact and after all of this was back in the same area the next a.m. Maybe LE has his clothing and more, it is hard to say. It is reasonable to think once he was arrested and the car tested for blood and it was hers that warrants were served on any residence(s), etc.
On the other hand, he could have somehow subdued her himself. He very well could have pulled into a residence garage or parked somewhere, she could not have gotten out with the child locks on and then, sorry to say it, but once parked, he would be able to turn around and knock her unconscious or even enter the back seat and control her and the assault likely also took place at this point wherever it was.
So I can see it with a third person and I could see it without one.
Perhaps if he was entering the back seat she had her feet towards him to kick at him and was reaching for the other door away from him and he started stabbing, she may have never had a chance to scratch his face from thereon out.
I hate typing these details because it just reminds me how tragic this was and what she likely went through.
Even though I can see either scenario, I took lean towards another party involved or present, at least part of the time.
jmo.