The Murder of Janet Abaroa #1

[OrdinaryLife]

They are all out west, Utah and Colorado, I think. I have received referral hits on my 'blog from a mountaineering site where a friend of Janet's sister-in-law -- presumably a relative of Raven's -- was asking for advice on the sister-in-law's behalf about getting cheap airline tickets to Durham.

I find it sad to think that RA's family may be distant, in so many ways.

 

[misterallgood]

From the warrant: "Swabbings from vehicle..." under where it asks for color, the word "multi."

There are only swabbings taken when there appears to be something to swab.

 

[golfmom]

From the warrant: "Swabbings from vehicle..." under where it asks for color, the word "multi."

There are only swabbings taken when there appears to be something to swab.

Check out the last page where it says something about silver (coins?).

 

[misterallgood]

Check out the last page where it says something about silver (coins?).

I noticed that. "Found outside." What would prompt collecting that? The coins being obviously new, I'd think, perhaps having fallen from a purse or vehicle.

 

[golfmom]

I noticed that. "Found outside." What would prompt collecting that? The coins being obviously new, I'd think, perhaps having fallen from a purse or vehicle.

My question is ... Is this supposed to make the crime scene look like a robbery gone wrong?

 

[PrayersForMaura]

My question is ... Is this supposed to make the crime scene look like a robbery gone wrong?

I couldn't read the writing... does it list that the silver coins were found near a creek out front?

Also, look at this photo.... eerily odd. http://www.ravenstree.com/images/Kaiden%20Images/IMGA0192.jpg
I wonder if that is the bed where Janet was found dead??

 

[Barbara2]

I couldn't read the writing... does it list that the silver coins were found near a creek out front?

Also, look at this photo.... eerily odd. http://www.ravenstree.com/images/Kaiden%20Images/IMGA0192.jpg
I wonder if that is the bed where Janet was found dead??

If you have a photo editing program you can save any of the pages to your computer and blow them up larger so that you can read it. The last column says "Value recovered item" and the number in the column is 10 so I'm assuming that means they found $10 worth of coins.

 

[golfmom]

More misc. info to add to our collection


Interest 1 Janet is interested in the Harry Potter series. After reading all 4 books once, she is moving through again.

Interest 2 GOLF... It's a "getting older" sport : ) Actually, I am really interested in the way the game is played. A ball that fits in my fist can get hit accurately over 200 yards (or that is the point anyway), amazing. I have only played once, but with my new set of clubs, and a need to hit around with clients, anything is possible. Any suggestions, email me!


Interest 3 Puzzles and games anyone? While Janet is loving the very difficult puzzles both on the PC and on cardboard, I have really enjoyed car, motorcycle and sport games on the PC. Microsoft Millennium and having a VooDoo card makes games so awesome.
http://web.archive.org/web/20010408040506/www.ravenstree.com/interest.htm


Monday, January 29, 2001 :
I am so blessed to have my best friend as a wife. Janet is the most special girl. I love her so much. Today I went to play basketball. Before I left, she made me and my friend Les breakfast. What a sweat and tender young girl. I love everything there is about her!
The gospel is true. I bear testimony to you, brothers and sisters, that as you commit yourselves to the Lord and to being true to yourself, blessings will come. Remember to have faith, remember to be strong, remember that no matter who you are, or where you are, that Heavenly Father knows you. He knows your heart. He knows your name. Be kind to others, be true to yourself.
http://web.archive.org/web/20010420162129/www.ravenstree.com/RavensPerch.htm

 

[golfmom]

I've got to run out for awhile, but I'm frantically looking for a news link that actually said Raven hired an attorney last week. Why I didn't save it when I saw it :doh:
If anyone runs across it ... please, please, please post!

 

[Barbara2]

I've got to run out for awhile, but I'm frantically looking for a news link that actually said Raven hired an attorney last week. Why I didn't save it when I saw it :doh:
If anyone runs across it ... please, please, please post!

There are two mentions of his attorney but not when she was hired. I'm guessing that he already had the attorney because of the embezzlement charges.

Raven Abaroa has been unavailable for comment, and his attorney, Julian Mack, declined to comment when reached by The Herald-Sun on Monday.

http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-603813.html

Raven Abaroa, 25, had worked at Eurosport in Hillsborough, where he allegedly embezzled thousands of dollars and was charged with five counts of embezzlement on Feb. 2, according to court documents.

The alleged offenses occurred last year on the first of July, September, October, November and December.

The charges are pending and Raven Abaroa is scheduled to appear in court on June 10.

His attorney, Julian Mack, declined comment Monday.

"At this point, he would be unavailable for comment, as would I," Mack said.



http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-603401.html

 

[Barbara2]

That is probably a "he" not a "she". I don't know why I thought that was a woman.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

I am just wondering who is his friend jennifer that he writes about on his website:
"5.1.2003 My dear friend Jennifer (www.jenique.com) has helped me create this beautiful website that will act as a portal to my life for the viewing of my friends and family. I have many things in this life that I am passionate about, and I hope to highlight a few of those exciting things here. This section, my life, will be dedicated to the things I busy myself with. It will be a library of photography and fun as I document the road less traveled... Mine!!!!"

 

[golfmom]

There are two mentions of his attorney but not when she was hired. I'm guessing that he already had the attorney because of the embezzlement charges.

Raven Abaroa has been unavailable for comment, and his attorney, Julian Mack, declined to comment when reached by The Herald-Sun on Monday.

http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-603813.html

Raven Abaroa, 25, had worked at Eurosport in Hillsborough, where he allegedly embezzled thousands of dollars and was charged with five counts of embezzlement on Feb. 2, according to court documents.

The alleged offenses occurred last year on the first of July, September, October, November and December.

The charges are pending and Raven Abaroa is scheduled to appear in court on June 10.

His attorney, Julian Mack, declined comment Monday.

"At this point, he would be unavailable for comment, as would I," Mack said.



http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-603401.html

Barbara, I saw those two and I originally thought that this must be the same attorney for his embezzelment charges, but I know I ran across an article that mentioned he hired an attorney last week. I know I did, lol ... finding it again is the trick . . .

 

[golfmom]

I knew I wasn't crazy ... well maybe just a little bit. Anyway, this is very telling. At first I thought the attorney was from his other legal trouble, but if he ran out to get representation ... what does that tell you? Especially considering the financial shape he must be in . . .


http://www.wral.com/news/4443707/detail.html

Authorities also collected soil samples from the SUV and took swabbings from various locations in the house. They also took the clothes Abaroa's husband had been wearing.

Police will not say if they have any suspects in the case or a motive, but they are saying it was not a random murder. Abaroa's husband retained an attorney late last week.

 

[Barbara2]

Barbara, I saw those two and I originally thought that this must be the same attorney for his embezzelment charges, but I know I ran across an article that mentioned he hired an attorney last week. I know I did, lol ... finding it again is the trick . . .

If it is in an article I would question how accurate it is. He's not talking so I'm not sure how a reporter could have found out that he hired an attorney last week. I'm guessing it's the one defending him in the embezzlement case.

 

[golfmom]

If it is in an article I would question how accurate it is. He's not talking so I'm not sure how a reporter could have found out that he hired an attorney last week. I'm guessing it's the one defending him in the embezzlement case.

I just feel it's too early in this case to tell. I like to collect as much info as I can and then sort it all out. Sort of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.

 

[golfmom]

What is up with all this Harry Potter stuff? I've never read the books or seen the movies. Is this normal? I thought these were children's books. Would they have an appeal to adults? :waitasec:

Post above Raven describes Janet as interested in the Harry Potter books and not only reading, but re-reading them.

On his blog he again refers to Harry Potter . . .
http://ravenstree.blogspot.com/
Location:North Carolina, United States
I have just enough Native American and Hispanic blood to claim myself as Lamanite. Malfoy in the Harry Potter series would call me a Muggle or Mud-Blood. In any case, I am proud of my Native American grandfather and my Mexican grandfather. Both have overcome many obstacles to give their families the lifestyles we have now. It is what it is my friends!

and finally . . .
http://www.ravenstree.com/mylife2.htm
4/25/05: this is an image of Kaiden snoozing after a bottle. I tried capturing an image of his Harry Potter like scar running above his right eye.

 

[misterallgood]

What is up with all this Harry Potter stuff? I've never read the books or seen the movies. Is this normal? I thought these were children's books. Would they have an appeal to adults? :waitasec:

Post above Raven describes Janet as interested in the Harry Potter books and not only reading, but re-reading them.

On his blog he again refers to Harry Potter . . .
http://ravenstree.blogspot.com/
Location:North Carolina, United States
I have just enough Native American and Hispanic blood to claim myself as Lamanite. Malfoy in the Harry Potter series would call me a Muggle or Mud-Blood. In any case, I am proud of my Native American grandfather and my Mexican grandfather. Both have overcome many obstacles to give their families the lifestyles we have now. It is what it is my friends!

and finally . . .
http://www.ravenstree.com/mylife2.htm
4/25/05: this is an image of Kaiden snoozing after a bottle. I tried capturing an image of his Harry Potter like scar running above his right eye.

For some adults HP is an escape, but a normal one. My wife is one of those. For others it becomes a big fat allegory.

Knowing HP by osmosis as I do, let me try some theoretical answers to the questions you posed, because they're excellent.

In the school Hogwarts, attended by HP and his friends and enemies, the students are broken down into "Houses." Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor. Each student is sorted by a magical "sorting hat" upon arrival into their respective houses, the hat sorting by sussing out basic characteristics of each student and determining what house they would best fit in. For our purposes I only refer to the qualities of two houses, as they hold the characters Raven referred to; Slytherin and Gryffindor.

Slytherins are cunning, will use any means to achieve their ends -- the positive side of a kid who would get sorted into Slytherin might be ambition, striving. Gryffindors -- Harry, his best friends Ron and Hermione are in that one -- are courageous, bold, level-headed, friendly. Gryffindors are, obviously, the heroes of the books.

The character Malfoy Raven first refers to is Harry Potter's Slytherin nemesis. Hyper-aryan looking, with white blonde hair, Malfoy is, in part, symbolic of bigotry and classism. Wizards and witches who are the children of "humans" and another wizard are the "mud-bloods" Raven mentioned. Normals in the HP universe are called "muggles." The Malfoy family is very prejudiced against Harry's friend Hermione, because even though she's a gifted witch, one of her parents is not.

Harry has a distinctive zig-zag scar on his forehead from the terrible event that killed his parents; the ultimate evil wizard, Lord Voldemort, killed Harry's parents when he was an infant. Harry received his wound causing the scar then. It will still bleed whenever Voldemort is around in the books, or hurt. (If you're an HP purist, forgive me any slightly off details here -- I'm actually consulting my wife as I go.)

PHEW! Now, with that out of the way -- it's obvious to me that Raven identifies with the character of Harry Potter. He must have read the books after Janet. Lots of couples do this. My wife is prosletysing me to read the books again even as I write -- I'm rather prejudiced toward literature written for people 20 and over, even though I know everyone reads Harry, my basic conception of HP is that it's early teen lit. I'm nearly broken down, though, as I've thoroughly enjoyed the movies -- so nobody give me grief!

Raven's parents were divorced early, and he makes it sound like times were pretty rough on them. This sets up his identification with orphaned, put-upon Harry right there -- in the muggle world Harry lives with his muggle Aunt & Uncle, and they are borderline abusive towards him. Raven's myth of himself is seen in the Harry Potter references; a beat-down boy who is still a hero with special abilities. Since Raven is a raging narcissist, Kaiden automatically becomes an extension of the same -- Kaiden is not Kaiden, a new little individual bringing something unique to the family; to a narcissist, that baby is another little them. That's why some narcissistic killers can murder one person brutally but seem to be gentle and doting toward another. Raven has developed this delusional story of his world where he is the hero and the center of things, I think, and Kaiden's HP-like scar -- which probably is barely visible and looks not a bit like Harry's, and why would a 6-month old have such a scar anyway? -- is emblematic of Raven seeing the child as an extension of him.

It is normal for adults to like Harry Potter; the stories are almost unfailingly entertaining and inventive. What is abnormal is Raven's obvious sincere appropriation of the myth for his own life. However, if he is worse than just self-absorbed and did kill Janet, which we do not yet know he did, he still isn't insane -- he's pretty typical of the antisocial, narcissistic personalities who do commit such crimes. They rarely see themselves as anything but a hero pitted against a world where the odds are against them.

It's not about HP here -- it's about how Raven has adopted the archetypes for his own use because they match his fantasy of himself.

I hate to admit it, but I noticed the HP references immediately, and they were part of what troubled me. Raven painting himself as the striving, heroic, gifted little boy against the odds.

One gets the idea Janet didn't fit into that story.

 

[weenluvinwoman]

reading thru the incident report, I was wondering what matex capital was and why would there be a check written for $1201.65. You can find it on page 11. If the 1201.65 represents an amount.

 

[Thinkoflaura]

I don't mean to be shallow, just observations/ speculations..

1) Is Raven in some kind of group? ( Promise Keepers comes to mind for some reason, although I know the intent is to create strong husbands, etc..)
I ask because in one photo there is a photo of him wearing a bright yellow plastic or rubber bracelet.. Reminds me of the WWJD bracelets that teens sometimes wear. Maybe a support our troops thing..?

2) Is he into the Goth lifestyle in some way or were his parents? Is Raven his birth name?

3) What's up with all the LOGOS on all his clothing? I've never seen a grown man with a child wear so many " corporate logo" type clothing. I know most of the designer logos and the only thing I can come up with would be an activewear brand I would not be familiar with as my husband is a devoted couch potato.
Also, in the photos of the baby in front of the computer monitor, the bedroom closet is open and it appears that most of those clothes have logos as well.

Is anyone familiar with either the yellow bracelet or the logos which are identifiable in the photos?