GUILTY SC - Yana Schenker, 75, & Shalamar Byrd, 38, slain, Aiken County, 11 Aug 2010

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Missizzy said:
Great reminder, IWannaKnow. Is there evidence of any connection between Yana and that tack shop? I wonder if she ordered anything by mail or a catalog.

I noticed that it was reported that the reason behind her move to Aiken was her love for animals. I've only seen mention of a single horse on her property. Were there other pets or livestock on the property? I'm just not understanding what the love for animals has to do with living in Aiken.

Yana's obituary suggests donations to Equine Rescue of Aiken. Did Yana volunteer with this organization and was she instrumental in founding it? I'm just curious as people I know that do horse rescue usually have more than one horse at a time. It looks like this must be the website for the rescue group:

http://www.aikenequinerescue.com/

This rescue group was founded in 2006, so a few years after Yana moved to town. There's info about the founder/owner and photos of 36 beautiful horses available for adoption. There's also information about donations and volunteer opportunities to work with the horses.
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Hi Izzy! Aiken is famous for world renowned Throrough bred horse races and training. My friend and hubby go to the races each year and she has filled me in on the details. It is fancy....lot's of garden parties and such. Lot's of money in the horse business.

OT I know a little about the horse biz as my daughter had 3 Saddlebreds and showed competitively. It is very expensive. It was almost 300.00 back then for him to be shod every 6-8 weeks and 12.00 per day to board him! We sold the horse and bought her a Hyundai when she turned 16. I was glad. I have no regrets but wew just weren't an affluent family like most of the other horse owners who boarded at the barn.

The barn owner/trainer kept vet supplies in a locked case in the barn. IIRC, she kept some type of horse sedative in case a highly spirited horse needed to be calmed while being groomed, shod, etc. This is why I asked if Yana kept equine meds at her home. For some reason I think I remember horse tranquilizers being used in some type of illegal drug but cannot remember what it is.

all MOO

wm
 
I noted that the son and daughter-in-law live in California. Here's the website for the DIL. I wonder if Yana might have been involved in her organization and that's why the amount of traffic to the house:

http://bravenewworldredux.com/index.htm

http://bravenewworldredux.com/about.htm (a profile on the DIL)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/TriPower-MutiSports/116928305911 (here, she comments on a forced trip to SC suddenly--it seems that she's a triathlete)

The couple W and T married in August 2009. This is terrible that the murder occurred during their first anniversary month. I'm sure a funeral for Yana was not what they imagined for the anniversary. So very sad.

I also found that Yana's former husband is a ham radio operator and writes very passionately about the use and safety of colloidal silver on numerous forums. His name is Dr. WJS also called Bill.
 
Hi WM!!! I noticed in some of the forums where Yana's husband writes, there's info about obtaining colloidal silver as a veterinary prescription. I don't know much about this subject so I'm kind of out of my league.

From what I can tell, colloidal silver is quite controversial with alternative practitioners promoting it and traditional practitioners calling it quackery. Once again, I am not debating its efficacy as I am unfamiliar with it. I just wonder if Yana might have been involved in the sale of this supplement/medication? I'm very intrigued about the reported "traffic" to the home.
 
Did you ever see a picture of the Blue Man from using that? Totally bizarre. He looks like a blueberry.
 
Belinda said:
Did you ever see a picture of the Blue Man from using that? Totally bizarre. He looks like a blueberry.
Click to expand...

I saw it Belinda.....Freakish! He took too much of it because it helped his arthritis, IIRC.

MOO

wm
 
Well, if that sketch artist is anywhere close, she should be recognizable if anyone is looking for her...

http://www.wrdw.com/crimeteam12/headlines/101379279.html

AIKEN COUNTY SC.-- The Aiken County Coroner's Office has released a sketch of the woman whose burned body was found in a field on Storm Branch Road earlier this month.

She is a white female, about 5'8," 140 pounds, has hazel eyes, and reddish blond hair.

sketch25.jpg
 
And this:
http://www2.wjbf.com/news/2010/aug/12/update-two-burned-bodies-found-aiken-county-linked-ar-700216/

We’re told the bodies were burned to hide evidence. The first was found at a home on Paddocks Bend Lane after the alarm company alerted crews of a fire inside the home. Autopsy results show a woman, in her 70s, was strangled to death then set on fire.

Within minutes, fire crews were called out to a wooded area off of Storm Branch Road where they found the charred remains of another woman, believed to be between 25 and 35-years old.

Witnesses tell 26 News, the woman was found partially clothed, her body burned from head to waist.

This article:
http://www.aikenstandard.com/Local/0813FireHomicides

Says: "Officials found the burning body of a 25- to 35-year-old white female. She had also been asphyxiated. Her remains had also been burned, Carlton said."
 
When I saw this sketch, I was a bit surprised. Early on, I was surfing with various search strings like "horses for sale", "horses boarded" etc... and came up with a strange hit to a missing woman in Florida. I have no idea why it appeared. It was for Brittany Jeniveve Tavar. She went missing an entire month before the Aiken murders (7/6/10). Brittany had two dogs who also went missing, and the first one was found 7/10/10 in Hopkins, SC (not too far from Aiken). The second dog was found 7/20/10 in the same area. The prime suspect in Brittany's disappearance is a transient she had taken in and who was 'going to start a business with her' - Joseph Dean Roberts. Roberts was pulled over in Wyoming on 7/11/10 and was driving Tavar's RAV4 SUV. Someone connected with the Tavar disappearance was close to Aiken, SC because they dumped her dogs in Hopkins - a month before the Aiken murder/fires. The sketch of the unidentified victim from Aiken is really close to Tavar's picture IMHO. What do you guys think???
 

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OK.... trying to directly link the image I made of missing Brittany Tavar and the Aiken, SC Fire UID. (Hope it works!)

AikenFireUIDvsBrittanyTavarMissingFromFlorida.jpg
 
Wow!! They surely look alike to me! What an amazing job Reannan!!
 
Great sleuthing Reannan!

Yes, there clearly is a resemblance.

I have been following the Brittany Tavar case -- the WS thread is here: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109945

While the location and her looks fit with the UI victim in this case, the age seems a bit off (but that could be due to the condition of the body), and, more importantly the timing. Joe Roberts would have had to have come back to South Carolina after being out in the Pacific Northwest region, and he would still had to have had Brittany's body with him after all of that time. It just doesn't make sense to me. I don't think he would have stashed her somewhere alive for a month, and, if he had already disposed of the body, why come back to the Carolinas and set her body of fire, within sight of others?

It's worth discussing though.
 
I totally agree Snoopster! That is why I dismissed the Tavar connection last week. The dates are off. However.... we do not know where Tavar has been since 7/6/10. Her home was left with the AC running and the cats fed as if they were going to be alone for a while. That makes it seem like she knew she was going to be gone for at least a few days! The dogs were taken because we know they were found in Hopkins, SC - about 70 miles from Aiken. Why would the perp kill Tavar and take the dogs? Why would Tavar have gone with the perp? If the UID burned body were Tavar, where was she from 7/6/10 until 8/11/10??? Joseph Dean Roberts, the man who is being looked for in the Tavar disappearance was definitely in Wyoming by 7/11/10. The Aiken fires happened on 8/11/10 - exactly one month latter. Doesn't make sense, but hard to dismiss. Tavar reported Roberts to be her 'nephew'.... hmmm..... Tavar essentially lived off of a trust fund from her parents that was administered by her brother, who has offered the $25,000 reward for information. Tangled and twisted information from a million sources = headache soup!!!!!
 
This is very sad, very bizarre and very mysterious.

I was going to say that, sadly, my guess would be that Tavar was conned and willingly left with the perp, but would have been killed before or around the time her dogs were abandoned, but then I remembered Stockholm Syndrome, and I think it could be possible that she ended up assisting her kidnapper(s) in an effort to stay alive.

The composite is very similar looking to her, and they do get ages wrong all the time. Especially with charred remains.

My gut does tell me that this was a robbery gone wrong situation where one of the participants had a problem with the murdering of the victim, and was then murdered herself.

It seems like LE is working off the theory that 2 women were strangled in one residence, one carried away and burned 7 miles away, the other left to burn inside her home. Why go to the trouble of carrying the second victim away? Perhaps he had to get out of there fast due to the smoke alarm? He had to have known there would be a smoke detector. And what evidence at Yana's house is he trying to cover up by burning her? She was asphyxiated. Oh yes, under her fingernails. This man was scratched up. Maybe someone noticed.

I wonder what has led LE to believe both victims were killed inside the home. Were other items stolen? If robbery was the motive, and the second victim was an accomplice, it would make more sense to use her to carry items out, and kill her later. Maybe she fought to save Yana, instead of making a run for it.

Perhaps it occurred to the killer that if his second victim were identified, he would also be identified, so he hastily carried her body to the car, and took her somewhere where he had a little more time to gather his thoughts, check her clothing/body for anything that would lead to an ID, and make sure he got the fire off to a good start.

I shouldn't even be posting this, because I have more questions than anything else. I am just... absolutely puzzled. I really hope they identify the other victim, and catch this perp (or perps) quickly. They are brazen and extremely dangerous.

I'm bookmarking, and I'll keep checking back for updates. Thanks guys for all your work. Wish I could be of more help.
 
I called the Aiken County Sheriff's office today and spoke with a detective. I asked if they had considered the Brittany Tavar case, and he was not familiar with it. He also said a better sketch of the strangled/burned UID will be released shortly. It would be a long shot for it to be Tavar, but they really do resemble each other. Stay tuned.....
 
Spacegirl said:
This is very sad, very bizarre and very mysterious.

I was going to say that, sadly, my guess would be that Tavar was conned and willingly left with the perp, but would have been killed before or around the time her dogs were abandoned, but then I remembered Stockholm Syndrome, and I think it could be possible that she ended up assisting her kidnapper(s) in an effort to stay alive.

The composite is very similar looking to her, and they do get ages wrong all the time. Especially with charred remains.

My gut does tell me that this was a robbery gone wrong situation where one of the participants had a problem with the murdering of the victim, and was then murdered herself.

It seems like LE is working off the theory that 2 women were strangled in one residence, one carried away and burned 7 miles away, the other left to burn inside her home. Why go to the trouble of carrying the second victim away? Perhaps he had to get out of there fast due to the smoke alarm? He had to have known there would be a smoke detector. And what evidence at Yana's house is he trying to cover up by burning her? She was asphyxiated. Oh yes, under her fingernails. This man was scratched up. Maybe someone noticed.

I wonder what has led LE to believe both victims were killed inside the home. Were other items stolen? If robbery was the motive, and the second victim was an accomplice, it would make more sense to use her to carry items out, and kill her later. Maybe she fought to save Yana, instead of making a run for it.

Perhaps it occurred to the killer that if his second victim were identified, he would also be identified, so he hastily carried her body to the car, and took her somewhere where he had a little more time to gather his thoughts, check her clothing/body for anything that would lead to an ID, and make sure he got the fire off to a good start.

I shouldn't even be posting this, because I have more questions than anything else. I am just... absolutely puzzled. I really hope they identify the other victim, and catch this perp (or perps) quickly. They are brazen and extremely dangerous.

I'm bookmarking, and I'll keep checking back for updates. Thanks guys for all your work. Wish I could be of more help.
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Excellent post Spacegirl! Lots of good thoughts here.

You mention that LE indicated that they believe that both victims were killed in the house. I missed that. Where did you see that?
 
Police seek to identify burned body
8/24/2010 11:10 PM

http://www.aikenstandard.com/Local/0825Sketch

The victim is described as a white female, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and 140 pounds with hazel eyes, reddish blonde hair, and she had red toe nail polish.
Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton said the woman had a fair complexion and had a "very pronounced jaw."

Post-mortem swelling has disfigured the woman's face slightly, but she had full lips, he said.

The woman also had dental work done and had well-groomed eyebrows.

Calrton said she took care of herself.

She had a medium athletic build, he said.

There were no signs of a tattoo, but the body had been burned badly in some places, he added.
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I think Yana Peters Schenker was the victim of a robbery that went terribly wrong. I think the younger woman knew Ms. Schenker and the murder suspect. I think the younger woman's role in this drama was to introduce Ms. Schenker to the murderer, for some reason or pretense. Who knows what it was for, horse training, vet medicine, odd jobs? The younger woman may have been in on the crime of robbery or just been duped by the murderer. Yes, I would like to know who owned the horse boarded at the property too. This may very well link the younger woman to Ms. Schenker. Ms. Schenker is an easy mark for the initial robbery plot. But things don't go as planned, for whatever reason. Ms. Schenker is killed and maybe the younger woman too, at this time.

However, I could see a scenario of a team robbery. Ms. Schenker is killed to complete the robbery and eliminate potential witnesses. The couple leaves with the "goods". The murderer surprises the younger woman by killing her near the burn site while wearing her recently obtained bounty and keeps all the loot for himself - one less witness to a murder. A double homicide.

Another scenario, is that the younger female is completely innocent. Introduces the parties and to her surprise the murderer kills them both. I would think if both were strangled, there would be evidence of a struggle, at least by the second individual, if both were killed at the Schenker home. Under this scenario, the ring is placed on the young female's finger as a red herring, changing her from an innocent victim to a criminal accomplice. Designed to throw investigators off the primary trail of the murderer and in some way lend to an alibi proposed by the murderer, in the future.

The nexus of the younger woman to Ms. Schenker and the murderer is the key!
 
Lovejac said:
I really hope this brings some new leads.
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Hmm...in the comments at the end of that article someone seems to strongly feel that the sketch is very inaccurate of the victim. Interesting.
 
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