GUILTY TX - Alanna Gallagher, 6, Saginaw, 1 July 2013 - #14

[bessie]

We have this sticky in the Resources forum.

Keeping Children Safe Online - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

I'm not sure if there is a discussion thread there. Let me look around a little more.

I didn't see a discussion thread on this topic, but you guys are free to open one in the Resource Center.

 

[Midwestmama78]

He could very well have done smaller things (such as a tire slashing incident) but hasn't got caught.

It would seem his previous misbehaviors are kind of random and disorganized, and Alanna' s assault and murder were certainly disorganized and possibly random as well, in terms of choosing her as a victim.

 

[jjenny]

Alanna was available and without supervision. I see it as a crime of opportunity.
She was there and it would be very easy for him to lure her into the house or garage.

 

[human]

Alanna was available and without supervision. I see it as a crime of opportunity.
She was there and it would be very easy for him to lure her into the house or garage.

I agree with that. Easy easy.

But the killing. Usually, there is touching, etc that leads up to killing.

Austin Sigg had a couple of attempted rapes under his belt

 

[Dora the Explorer]

Someone brave. I could never live anywhere where a child was murdered, it would haunt me.

In my perfect world, someone with money will buy it and have it torn down. I don't know what would be most appropriate to replace it with especially since one would assume the area is zoned 100% residential. Maybe a place of tranquility - a garden with a small pond and benches for a quiet spot of reflection and remembrance. A community vegetable garden? I would never, ever want to live there. I hate driving by there every day now that I know that street holds more than just the Gallagher/McDaniels family's sorry.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

In my perfect world, someone with money will buy it and have it torn down. I don't know what would be most appropriate to replace it with especially since one would assume the area is zoned 100% residential. Maybe a place of tranquility - a garden with a small pond and benches for a quiet spot of reflection and remembrance. A community vegetable garden? I would never, ever want to live there. I hate driving by there every day now that I know that street holds more than just the Gallagher/McDaniels family's sorry.

I read that Texas pretty much doesn't have zoning laws, so I think someone could put a park there. Or anything, really. I know they tore down the house Megan Kanka was murdered in, and put a park in the spot. I don't know the details, but since her killer owned the house, maybe it was easier for the town to get property rights? I doubt the house will be torn down though, and I think someone will buy it.

 

[greenpalm]

In regards to the most recent search warrant: Didn't someone here e-mail a reporter about something and then the reporter published a news article addressing the posters queries?

Anyone?

Maybe we could contact the same reporter and get a copy of the search warrant. Obviously, MSM has been privileged to that info, why aren't they releasing it to the public, I wonder?

Quoting myself to add:

I e-mailed the reporter of the most recent article to inquire about the actual search warrant. Now, we wait to see if there is a response!

Yes that was me. I emailed a reporter and asked her to look into the Ford Key and registration papers for a Ford to RC who was another neighbor on Babbling Brook. She then interviewed RC and we learned that TH had stolen the registration papers from his wife's car, as well as her spare key to his truck. The article went on to say that there was no indication his vehicle was used in the crime, and that other stolen property was also recovered from the Holder home that day, but LE wouldn't confirm.

I wanted to know more about it, because obviously, any vehicle that was on Babbling Brook on July 1st was potentially used to dump Alanna.

ETA the link to the article about RC: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/07/29/5038936/arlington-officer-shot-during.html

I hope you get a response. I want to see that search warrant too!

I haven't been on much this weekend, my sweet baby girl turned 7, and we had a nice party for her, I was very busy.

 

[itsanadventure]

I read that Texas pretty much doesn't have zoning laws, so I think someone could put a park there. Or anything, really. I know they tore down the house Megan Kanka was murdered in, and put a park in the spot. I don't know the details, but since her killer owned the house, maybe it was easier for the town to get property rights? I doubt the house will be torn down though, and I think someone will buy it.

Saginaw is an incorporated city with over 20,000 people living there. There is an office of zoning and planning. I have a number of friends who live there and in all of their cases they are subject not only to the city zoning, but also the HOA zoning of their respective sub divisions. I don't know that the neighborhood in question has an HOA, but city zoning would be in place.

It is true that unincorporated Texas tends to have more lax zoning requirements than incorporated areas. The cities here don't seem any different really than the cities that I lived in when I was in other states. Rules, permits, inspections, code enforcement. I would say the most striking difference to me is the love of fences and the ease in putting them up in most areas of Texas. Privacy fences are very standard here. When I have lived in other states, fence coding was very different. There are some HOAs here that don't allow privacy fences, but for most areas big privacy fences are the norm.

I really doubt the house can be "taken" from the owner. But I think it will be a hard sell.

 

[human]

Saginaw is an incorporated city with over 20,000 people living there. There is an office of zoning and planning. I have a number of friends who live there and in all of their cases they are subject not only to the city zoning, but also the HOA zoning of their respective sub divisions. I don't know that the neighborhood in question has an HOA, but city zoning would be in place.

It is true that unincorporated Texas tends to have more lax zoning requirements than incorporated areas. The cities here don't seem any different really than the cities that I lived in when I was in other states. Rules, permits, inspections, code enforcement. I would say the most striking difference to me is the love of fences and the ease in putting them up in most areas of Texas. Privacy fences are very standard here. When I have lived in other states, fence coding was very different. There are some HOAs here that don't allow privacy fences, but for most areas big privacy fences are the norm.

I really doubt the house can be "taken" from the owner. But I think it will be a hard sell.

A house can be taken from an owner but there must be compensation.

Homes or property are taken for the public good. For instance, if a highway is needed and your house is in the way, they will buy you out.

People do fight it, of course, sometimes. But usually the compensation is far more than you would get on the open market and moving costs are included.

The city would have to make a resolution that they were going to buy the property. Maybe it could happen. Better yet if everyone in Saginaw contributed ten bucks, they could buy the house,

Maybe someone would consent to demolish it for free or a low price.

It is a tiny space, but a nice garden could be made there

 

[human]

In case anyone is interested, here is info on eminent domain

Eminent domain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[greenpalm]

A house can be taken from an owner but there must be compensation.

Homes or property are taken for the public good. For instance, if a highway is needed and your house is in the way, they will buy you out.

People do fight it, of course, sometimes. But usually the compensation is far more than you would get on the open market and moving costs are included.

The city would have to make a resolution that they were going to buy the property. Maybe it could happen. Better yet if everyone in Saginaw contributed ten bucks, they could buy the house,

Maybe someone would consent to demolish it for free or a low price.

It is a tiny space, but a nice garden could be made there

My mother and grandparents had their property taken via eminent domain when she was a child. They built a new interstate highway through Dallas. My grandparents chose to have their house moved. So they picked it up, put it on a truck, temporarily moved power lines and telephone cables and relocated it across town.

Eminent Domain can be abused. It's not right to seize property (even with compensation) simply because YOU think there's a more important purpose for ir than the owner. They used Eminent Domain in Arlington: people were evicted forcibly to build the new Dallas Cowboy stadium. (How exactly is THAT for the public good?!) it shouldn't be used for the benefit of private industry. But it gets used that way inappropriately anyway. A garden would be lovely, but the property belongs to KH and I wouldn't want to violate her rights of ownership.

 

[human]

My mother and grandparents had their property taken via eminent domain when she was a child. They built a new interstate highway through Dallas. My grandparents chose to have their house moved. So they picked it up, put it on a truck, temporarily moved power lines and telephone cables and relocated it across town.

Eminent Domain can be abused. It's not right to seize property (even with compensation) simply because YOU think there's a more important purpose for ir than the owner. They used Eminent Domain in Arlington: people were evicted forcibly to build the new Dallas Cowboy stadium. (How exactly is THAT for the public good?!) it shouldn't be used for the benefit of private industry. But it gets used that way inappropriately anyway. A garden would be lovely, but the property belongs to KH and I wouldn't want to violate her rights of ownership.

Money talks. Football stadiums are always winners, even though their owners are bajillionaires, the public pays.

KH is going to sell her house. How would it be violating her if the public bought her house and tore it down? She would be lucky as selling that house is going to be a nightmare, I feel,

 

[Midwestmama78]

Alanna was available and without supervision. I see it as a crime of opportunity.
She was there and it would be very easy for him to lure her into the house or garage.

I agree entirely. There was a poster much earlier on this thread whose daughter apparently was a friend of a friend of TH. TH was known to sit in his garage, alone or with friends, and Alanna had wandered in and talked with them several times, according to the friend of the daughter. TH could have been thinking about nabbing her for some time and that day provided the opportunity. So while he didn't actively go out looking for a victim, he was ready when the victim came to him.

This would also answer why Alanna's "stranger danger" awareness didn't come into play. As far as Alanna was concerned, TH wasn't a stranger and therefore not a threat.

This kind of reminds me of those weird fish in the ocean who dangle a bit of their own flesh as a lure for smaller prey, then eat those who wander too close.

 

[Midwestmama78]

On youtube I found this series of interviews with sex offenders, mostly paedophile. I think it's supposed to an education video for professionals who work with these people.

In Part 2, about 6:30 minutes in the interview begins talking to a man named Gerald. His stories are graphic but one that caught my attention was his fetish for putting a bag around his victim's head, sealing it off with duct tape, and releasing it before his victim died. Makes me wonder if it's a common form of abuse in circles like that. Where was TH getting his ideas from I wonder.

All the interviews are fascinating.

Part 1 Sex, Lies, and Sex Offenders - Part 1 - Protect your children from dangerous people! - YouTube
Part 2 Sex, Lies, and Sex Offenders - Part 2 - Sadistic vs Non-Sadistic Offenders - Protect your children! - YouTube

Makes me wonder if TH hadn't planned on Alanna dying. The fact that she did would have surely panicked him, maybe enough to call in a "friend" to help him get rid of the evidence (sorry, baby girl). That would account for the disorganized nature of the crime (done by TH) but the comparatively organized method of disposal (done by friend). :twocents:

ALSO, this would make sense in terms of the seeming too rapid escalation from more minor crimes directly into murder. He didn't plan to kill her. The escalation would have been to sex assault, not to intentional murder. Again, very much MOO.

 

[Dora the Explorer]

How do you do what he did to her and then not kill her though? Her parents WOULD find out. :/

 

[jjenny]

How do you do what he did to her and then not kill her though? Her parents WOULD find out. :/

Especially with a specific sexual activity he apparently enjoyed participating in-doing that to a small child could very well result in injuries requiring medical attention. I don't see how that wouldn't have come out if the child wasn't killed.

 

[Midwestmama78]

How do you do what he did to her and then not kill her though? Her parents WOULD find out. :/

Indeed. I don't think he was looking that far into the future. It was all about gratification in the moment. Hard for a non-twisted mind to understand. IMO

 

[jjenny]

Indeed. I don't think he was looking that far into the future. It was all about gratification in the moment. Hard for a non-twisted mind to understand. IMO

There were four plastic bags on her head. How would he not expect a child to die with four bags on her head? Even if he didn't do well in biology, he has to realize a person has to breathe in order to survive.

 

[Midwestmama78]

There were four plastic bags on her head. How would he not expect a child to die with four bags on her head? Even if he didn't do well in biology, he has to realize a person has to breathe in order to survive.

I don't disagree that a rational person would surely think about this. But I don't believe TH was rational. Between the drugs, the bad internet influence, and whatever mental illness he was/is dealing with, I don't think he was capable of reasoning from point A to point B. It was all lower brain function. In his recent mugshot it appears that he is at least somewhat more in touch with reality. :moo:

 

[itsanadventure]

A house can be taken from an owner but there must be compensation.

Homes or property are taken for the public good. For instance, if a highway is needed and your house is in the way, they will buy you out.

People do fight it, of course, sometimes. But usually the compensation is far more than you would get on the open market and moving costs are included.

The city would have to make a resolution that they were going to buy the property. Maybe it could happen. Better yet if everyone in Saginaw contributed ten bucks, they could buy the house,

Maybe someone would consent to demolish it for free or a low price.

It is a tiny space, but a nice garden could be made there

I doubt that there is a case for eminent domain in this instance.