I go back and forth on the motive, viable suspects, whether this is the actual crime scene or just the dumping ground and really, all the puzzling evidence.
I'm not completely sold on the animal predation idea. If they drained the ditch, where were the turtles? If it was raccoons/ possums or birds would the victims be laying out long enough on ground for that sort of damage?
If TH did do it, why emasculate CB? Was it to redirect? where did the removed remains go? After watching PL3 I was more convinced it could be him, but this all seems overboard for a domestic violence gone wrong. If it was domestic violence gone wrong, I'd expect the beating to occur before the clothes were removed and it appears that the clothes were removed first due to the lack of blood on the clothes. I realize he had some reckless tendencies as evidenced by the MF incident, but I have trouble with this scenario.
I don't know what to think about the WM3 being the perps. I don't know how to explain all of the guilty confessions from JM that I was unaware of until recently. I'm still not sold though on the idea that they did it. The town gossip is maddening and it's really hard to believe most of it is credible.
With that all said, I'm leaning more towards a thrill kill/ sexual motive and I'm leaning towards this being the crime scene as well.
I believe a stranger/ or someone older from the neighborhood could have acted nice enough to approach the boys. I don't think it's impossible that one person could control the kids once they are within arm's reach via a weapon or change to a threatening disposition and then coerce them to undress before attacking. Could the panic explain the inside out, unbuttoned jeans? I took my jeans off the other night like that as a test. You use both thumbs to help lower them over the hips and then your feet just turn them inside out at the end.
As far as the two groupings, could one or two started to run mid-attack? or was the deep area where MM was found not large enough for two or three bodies? My understanding of the Luminol is that majority of blood was indicated to be near the MM bank, but two of the sink areas were near where CB and SB were found. Could the difference in bindings be attributed to the groupings as well? or the state of the victims. Not sold on them as a means for transportation. Sadly, I think it was insurance to make sure they drowned or to prevent the limbs from floating up. Moving the victims brings up the question of blood at another site, and you'd have to imagine the police walked all of the wooded areas after they found the bodies looking for evidence and blood.
I find TC very suspicious. One account from the True Crime garage said RC heard 5 splashes around 9:30 to 10:00 around the discovery site. I believe RC actually couldn't pinpoint the time, but I could be wrong. TC was allegedly seen going into that area around 10 pm and coming out near 14th street an hour later. Did he go back one last time to make sure he didn't miss anything? Maybe he found a shoe and sock and some other items that he tossed in. Was the sock inside the shoe a quick attempt to try to sink the sock in the water? I'm not really sold on the idea that someone just accidentally fell in like he claimed that night either. It's possible, but its also convenient. I wonder if the "acting weird" claim was him high off adrenaline from almost being caught when RC and his friends were near the discovery site. The guy that committed the "Babes in the Woods" murders helped look for the missing victims too. It seems like he was cleared relatively fast as well. The statement sheet lists his place of employment as the Blue Beacon. He supposedly was going to a job interview the night they went missing at 7pm, which is a little strange time-wise. One place said he was going to a job interview at the Blue Beacon. If anyone can provide clarity on this it would be appreciated. I'll provide it for myself in time.
One of his relatives also said he used to torture animals and he is currently locked up in Crittenden County. If he passed through the woods frequently, was attracted to kids etc, he might have been have been on friendly terms with the victims as well. His attempt to either redirect the focus while in prison, or reduce his sentence is also suspect. I wish they would test his hair as well, it doesn't look like they did according to the evidence listed at Callahans.
Also, on Callhan it's listed as Cotten, not Cotton. They took his fingerprints and it came back negative, but what does that really mean? That the random piece of evidence they found that might have nothing to do with the crime scene didn't match his prints?:
WM3 Case - Documents
My understanding of water and fingerprints is that its mostly water soluble. Does anyone know off hand if they checked the bikes for prints? I'd didn't see it on the evidence transmittal list, but some of the links are dead and I didn't look at all of them:
WM3 Case - Crime Lab Information
It's been a while so I might be fuzzy on the exact details, but if my memory serves, I think TC was seen exiting the discovery site the morning the boys were found (May 6th), not the night they went missing. He was found covered in mud from head to toe.
Also, he was seen closer to the discovery site, which should not be confused with where RC heard the five splashes the night the boys went missing -- that was in a completely different part of RHH, nearer to where the boys were last seen.
People who begin studying this case get confused because many sources say that the boys were found in the "Devil's Den" part of RHH, but this inaccurate. Devil's Den was actually located much farther east and on the other side of the 10 Mile Bayou, nearer to the dead-end 14th St. entrance of the woods; whereas the discovery site was located at the dead end of McCauley and was known as "the Blue Beacon" part of RHH.
TC is high on my list of suspects, as is OBj. You can find info on Cally's
Anyways, I agree that this is more of a thrill kill than a punishment by a step-parent. I also tend to believe that the discovery site was also the murder site -- not just a dump site.