Maybe I should start a separate thread, but not sure, so just putting inline here.
My profile: this is my first post and first trial watching on WS. Married 20 years (happily). Wife is stay at-home-mom for two school-age daughters. Live in Apex. Work at a tech company in RTP.
My interest in the NC trial: Hoping our justice and legal system isnt making (another) big mistake. Hoping an innocent mans life isnt ruined. I dont know the families, the neighbors, nor any of the friends/colleagues. However, watching the process of this trial unfolding in our county/state, I am currently disheartened by the LE (for an apparent lack of evidence), the media (for always reporting the biased angle), and even a lot of my friends and family (for rushing to pass judgment on BC without knowing the facts).
My current position: I hope he did it. That is the only way this has a logical ending. However, Im having a hard time believing that is what will happen. From following WS for about a week now (and not getting much real work done! :sigh: ), and trying to read up on some of the past threads, I am currently on the not-guilty side, and leaning toward actual innocence at this point. However, I could easily be swayed with just one piece of solid evidence.
So here is the reason for my post. There seems to be some rather dedicated sleuths out here, however, most of you are looking at all the evidence and testimony with the he did it mindset. Fair enough, you are entitled to your opinion, and Im not necessarily trying to change your opinion. What I want to ask, is to suspend everyones reality for a short time, and just pretend he didnt do it? Lets get everyones brainpower focused on trying to find a different course of events that day. Lets assume (I know this is a stretch for most of you :winko: no offense intended, just a joke), but can we assume that Brad isnt lying about anything, and that there is some other explanation for what happened to NC that day? Maybe all of you have gone through this exercise in the past, but I just dont understand how so many people here can be so convinced that he did it. I dont watch the trial, and actually, have never seen footage of BC talking, so I dont have the emotional reaction to whether he is a good guy, bad guy, whatever. But from what I read, this guy seems not much different from a lot of people I work with, and to a point, myself included
except for the maybe he killed his wife part. I get that he is quiet and reserved (as a lot of engineers are); I get that he is messy around the house/yard; I get that he has a clean car that he uses for work; I can see how being in a troubled marriage can shut you down and seem emotionless ; I can see how I would take my childrens passports if my spouse was threatening/planning to leave the country with them; I can see withholding an allowance if my spouse is making her own money (I know Ill take some heat for this one, so let me explain
this isnt like a childs allowance, this is more like a family budget. If my child makes extra money, good for her, she still gets her allowance. But my wife
if she earns money, it goes into the pot like my income does
it doesnt change the cash outflow
the budget is still $300. Not sure how much she was getting paid for painting
if less than the $300, then she was due some money; if more than $300, then she was obligated to contribute to the other family expenses
IMO); I can certainly understand a man not having a clue what his wife wore last night
.as others on this board, and me without the emotional attachment/detachment of seeing live footage/live responses/facial expressions of those involved, I have been able to reasonably justify most of what Brad did during those days. I have not perceived him as a controlling husband (in terms of the passports and allowance), nor a bad person. I cannot condone his affair, but have not been in a situation of living in separate bedrooms, middle of a divorce
perhaps affairs were tolerable/agreed upon in this marriage.
Ok, (I know, long post, sorry)
so if I am Brad, and Im telling the truth (in my alternate reality here)
you all know the story come home early from party, put kids to bed, NC comes home around midnight, wake up at ~4:15 (or whatever) to take care of daughter, go to store twice during the 6:00 hour. No funny stuff with the phones
just normal usage, checking VM, surfing the web, wife calling me, etc. Come home with HT items. NC tells me shes going jogging that morning
maybe she is, maybe she isnt I dont really care anyway. Few hours go by, Im pretty upset she didnt come home to watch the kids, and now people are questioning where shes at. I have no idea. Better start helping to look. Cops are getting involved. This is where I cant continue thinking like BC. Ive never been in a failed marriage, and my wife has never gone missing, but I can believe he is freaking out about now, and probably not acting like himself
cant think straight, total brain shutdown or maybe brain overdrive, complete panic once he realizes that something terrible may have happened and that he may be the primary suspect. He knows the odds that everyone assumes it is the husband, he knows NC has been trashing him to all their neighbors, he knows they will find out about the divorce papers. From what I can tell, he cooperated pretty good in his situation
Im sure he could tell LE had a negative attitude towards him. He was in a very difficult situation. So, again, if you consider he is telling the truth, how would you act at this point? I am sure I would struggle to remember every minute detail of the past several days. Im sure that kind of interrogation is extremely stressful, and I would be upset that LE is not believing me.
I should go back and listen to the defense opening statements. What theories did they share? Id really like everyones opinion on what else may have happened, and if you think any of the defense theories could be possible/accurate. Can we all seriously, not snarky, try to theorize other possibilities? Who are the alternatives? Who is the owner of the vehicle that created the short wheelbase tracks? What kind of vehicle was that? Do we even know if those tracks were from the right timing? Could there have been a construction vehicle/van trolling that area (remembering that white van that was reported as trolling Apex a few years ago)? Why was Nancy undressed
instead of jogging, maybe she went for a quickie, took all her clothes off, and her lover went overboard? If BC knew, or suspected, she was having an affair, he would definitely resent her even more now that she went and got herself killed, and hes being blamed for it. Im guessing no possibility of a suicide, so (if its not Brad) it would have to be random, lover, or lovers jealous significant other. What other evidence is unexplained? What about the daughter saying that she saw the mother that morning? I know its hearsay, but I sure wish LE would have questioned the daughter. Ive even considered everything is true up to she went jogging (including daughter seeing her that morning), BC followed her, and murdered her out there
then, there would be no evidence in the car, no struggle at the house, etc. Why didnt the prosecution go down that path? Too risky to kill her in broad daylight?
IMO, I havent seen any facts (phone records/towers, shopping receipts, pictures of the house), enough circumstantial evidence (missing ducks, laundered (or not) dress, 2 left shoes, old love letters), or coincidences (cleaning the house, dump site near the neighborhood, different shoes in the 2 HT trips) that are that condemning. And Im having a hard time believing that he was so perfect in his non-premeditated murder, dump, and clean-up. I can just imagine that were inspecting a couple days worth of a man whose life was falling apart, hes trying his best to stumble onward through each day, and this terrible thing happens that completely turns him upside down. Until some real evidence, I definitely think that this scenario is possible.
Sorry for all the built up comments! Really enjoy reading everyones opinions, and thought it was about time to start contributing my own. Thanks!
