GUILTY TX - Christina Morris, 23, Plano, 30 August 2014 - #33 *Arrest*

[LibbyinTexas]

I agree. The trunk came later. Why even vacuum that side of the car if she was never in the passenger seat?

Well maybe he jus figured hey I'm cleaning up, I have this vacuum, might as well spiffy up the car...

 

[BaeMomma]

Lewisville Landfill

 

[LibbyinTexas]

So I scratched this whole post, it was stupid.

 

[LibbyinTexas]

FYI, I looked around at other trash cans in the area at SAL and Granite Parkway and they pretty much all had different companies listed. Sometimes there were huge bins 5 feet from each other with different private company labels...where do you even START when thinking about where she could be if she is out in a landfill somewhere?! How heartbreaking!

A few examples (all with local phone numbers listed on the containers):
Bluebonnet Waste Control
Allied Waste Services
Republic Services

Maybe there are only one or two major landfills that they all use? I really hope this is being pursued...the landfills.

 

[Quailfoot]

By the way, it looks to me like AK is close to a slam dunk and would likely get him 99 years behind bars since no jury will offer leniency to him when he won't tell what he did with her. And the spectre of "and maybe he killed her too" hanging over the punishment aspect will also push the sentence to 99 imo.

On the other hand, bringing charges for murder - more elements to prove, and without a body - would be much harder. So, I suspect that even if they're fully convinced CM was murdered by EA, they might proceed with AK charges only, sorta "ignoring" the murder for the time being. There is no statute of limitations on bringing the murder charges, and once he's permanently jailed with an AK conviction, they can wait and proceed when they feel like they have a DP-likely case (as once he's locked up for 99, no need to bring a LWOP case).

Except that no one has yet found a case where there has been a conviction for AK without a body or witness. With murder, there are cases without witnesses and body.

So, it appears that it would be the first AK case to go to conviction without witness or body.

Murder, many no body cases...96 pages worth: http://www.nobodycases.com/no_body2.pdf

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Except that no one has yet found a case where there has been a conviction for AK without a body or witness. With murder, there are cases without witnesses and body.

So, it appears that it would be the first AK case to go to conviction without witness or body.

Murder, many no body cases...96 pages worth: http://www.nobodycases.com/no_body2.pdf

I didn't know we were supposed to be looking. I haven't done any research in that area, but I cannot imagine this would be a first.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

So I scratched this whole post, it was stupid.

Go to the "Go Advanced" button and when it opens click on Delete. A panel will drop down and you will see two more Delete buttons...one lets you leave a note why you deleted it and the other deletes the entire post as if it was never there.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

For those that were interested HF's partner in the drug bust seems to have popped up on SM again. Still have not been able to find her mugshot or arrest info. I wonder why she is not in jail with him.

Now that is an excellent question!

 

[Quailfoot]

I didn't know we were supposed to be looking. I haven't done any research in that area, but I cannot imagine this would be a first.

You don't have to look. My guess is, most aren't. I've looked ever since they arrested him. As of yet, I've found no case where someone was convicted of AK without either a body or witness.

As to murder, again, there is a whole website that is up to 96 pages worth of murder convictions without bodies.

So, again, why wait? The murder charge, in my opinion, would do two things: (1) put real pressure on EA to talk if others were involved, and/or (2) have him and his attorney scrambling to a plea deal, if he were the only one involved because there is death penalty in Texas.

As of now, they are charging him with a crime which, has yet to have someone convicted without a witness or boy. And, he isn't even indicted yet. So, I ask again, where is the pressure on him?

If another party was involved, and it was a drug-related thing, he's living by "snitches get stitches" to protect himself and his family. His attorney has probably also already advised him of the rare, and perhaps novel, concept of an AK conviction without witnesses or body.

What was he doing anyway? Managing a Sprint store? Living with his parents? Okay, so what? He and his attorney probably figure he can wait out against an AK, again, because of the novelness and rareness of the charge.

Murder, I think would move the needle, and move it quickly.

In my opinion, the PD/prosecution might still believe there is a third party involved, and that's why they haven't made the murder charge. Which, again, in my opinion, is a mistake. The closer you get to watching your life be taken away, the more likely you are to talk, I think.

AK without witness or body being apparently unprecedented, I don't think the pressure on him is high enough. I say turn the pressure all the way up. There is plenty of case history to support the murder without a body charge, and none yet discovered of an AK without witness or body.

Go for the throat, I say, and end this thing that the families involved are having to live through.

 

[Faithx2]

You don't have to look. My guess is, most aren't. I've looked ever since they arrested him. As of yet, I've found no case where someone was convicted of AK without either a body or witness.

As to murder, again, there is a whole website that is up to 96 pages worth of murder convictions without bodies.

So, again, why wait? The murder charge, in my opinion, would do two things: (1) put real pressure on EA to talk if others were involved, and/or (2) have him and his attorney scrambling to a plea deal, if he were the only one involved because there is death penalty in Texas.

As of now, they are charging him with a crime which, has yet to have someone convicted without a witness or boy. And, he isn't even indicted yet. So, I ask again, where is the pressure on him?

If another party was involved, and it was a drug-related thing, he's living by "snitches get stitches" to protect himself and his family. His attorney has probably also already advised him of the rare, and perhaps novel, concept of an AK conviction without witnesses or body.

What was he doing anyway? Managing a Sprint store? Living with his parents? Okay, so what? He and his attorney probably figure he can wait out against an AK, again, because of the novel and rareness of the charge.

Murder, I think would move the needle, and move it quickly.

In my opinion, the PD/prosecution might still believe there is a third party involved, and that's why they haven't made the murder charge. Which, again, in my opinion, is a mistake. The closer you get to watching your life be taken away, the more likely you are to talk, I think.

AK without witness or body being apparently unprecedented, I don't think the pressure on him is high enough. I say turn the pressure all the way up. There is plenty of case history to support the murder without a body charge, and none yet discovered of an AK without witness or body.

Go for the throat, I say, and end this thing that the families involved are having to live through.

Without witness or body but they have her dna evidence. Any cases where victims DNA has been linked to person convicted.

They not only have her DNA in his trunk (kidnapping) they have her dna mixed with possibly his (still waiting on results) JMO

 

[Quailfoot]

Here is the full "no body" murder cases website. It is run by a former federal prosecutor who tried several "no body" murder cases himself:

http://www.nobodycases.com/

 

[cluciano63]

Imo, unless they search landfills in every missing person case, I doubt there is any more reason to search them for Christina, than for other victims. Remains of victims are often found after years, usually accidently, and not in landfills. As far as we know, there is no particular reason to believe she ended up in a landfill. EA could have left her anywhere, including someplace already searched, as we have seen before. Bodies take up very little space, really, when you are looking at thousands of square miles, if not more, as possibilities. Even victims left in a ditch along a major highway can go for months before being found. It does not take any special knowledge or brains to hide a body...just a little bit of luck. Jmo

 

[cluciano63]

Here is the full "no body" murder cases website. It is run by a former federal prosecutor who tried several "no body" murder cases himself:

http://www.nobodycases.com/

I have read through all of those cases in recent years. Most had a crime scene and/or a confession. Christina may well fit into the "crime scene" scenario and a conviction might be obtained by evidence LE already has, jmo.

 

[Quailfoot]

Without witness or body but they have her dna evidence. Any cases where victims DNA has been linked to person convicted.

They not only have her DNA in his trunk (kidnapping) they have her dna mixed with possibly his (still waiting on results) JMO

Yes. No one disputes that. But, there is nothing in the AK charge that says anything about DNA. And, again, no conviction yet found of an AK without a witness or body.

Why? Because of the nature of the charge. The proof isn't "I found DNA" here or there. The proof is the defendant's intent to commit the act. Their basis for that AK because of #4 point of the law SA is a witness who was drinking and using drugs that night.

Murder charges are different. Many, many cases have become convictions without witnesses or bodies.

Again, to get this thing moving, in my opinion, they should be going a route well-traveled - murder without body - to get EA and his counsel to move toward the conclusion of this thing.

In my opinion, this thing will drag on and on, possibly for years, if they don't add or switch to the murder charge. And, because AK without witness or body appears to novel, there is a higher chance of a possible conviction being overturned and EA walking around free for the rest of his life.

 

[Quailfoot]

By the way, we are not disagreeing on whether not we believe EA did something. We all seem to believe he did. My opinion is different in that I think they conclude the thing more quickly if they go for what they really believe happened.

They already have a detective who testified at the probable cause hearing that she believes EA murdered CM. So, again, what are we waiting for? Put the heat on EA by charging him with murder in a state where the death penalty exists.

I don't think he feels heat with AK. If he did, he'd have already said something. He and his counsel, in my opinion, do not fear the AK charge. I think they'd greatly fear murder with a death penalty waiting at the end of the line.

 

[Quailfoot]

I have read through all of those cases in recent years. Most had a crime scene and/or a confession. Christina may well fit into the "crime scene" scenario and a conviction might be obtained by evidence LE already has, jmo.

They all also have murder charges, not solely AK charges. Many don't have any kidnapping charges of any kind at all. That's the point. The ones that do have some sort of kidnapping involved also have murder charges involved.

So, what is the prosectution/PPD waiting for here? The only thing I can thnk of is a third party. Even then, I think they squeeze that out of EA and his attorney by going murder instead of AK.

 

[Faithx2]

http://law.justia.com/cases/utah/supreme-court/2014/20080709.html Here is a case where a PI and the use of cadaver dogs led to the missing body of a teenager. A year after her disappearance and her body was buried and burned. Pieced of her clothing and bones were found. So horrific but also amazing what cadaver dogs can do.

Even if it has been almost 5 months I would like to see the cadaver dogs back at the SAl, EA's car and home, work and dumpsters in and around the pings from his phone and Christina's phons. IMO

 

[Gigglingtoes]

View attachment 67917

Lewisville Landfill

Beautiful photo.

 

[darring21]

I'm sure there are more. A better question is why rush it? Their systematically building their case.

http://www.leagle.com/decision/19851024687SW2d337_1990.xml/ROGERS%20v.%20STATE

 

[SteveS]

Maybe sometime down the line, as in the midst of a trial that isn't going well, if the charge is death-penalty qualified...but I can't see it happening anytime before then and only if a plea is accepted in order to locate Christina. But that could be two or more years from now, Imo.

It really doesn't work that way.

If the state is already in the middle of the trial and they have a defendant's neck in the noose, that's when you DON'T get a deal from the state. They'll just take it to jury, because you have nothing to bargain with.

Paul Johnson got his last client less than the DP by pleading guilty before it went to court.

I think EA's window of opportunity for a deal is much shorter than anyone here realizes. Once CM is found, it's over. The AK-gets-you-99 sword hanging over his head means the state really doesn't have much to gain by letting him work a plea, and may be a "free swing" at a death penalty with no downside possible.