My last post tonight!
Yes, but LE believes (for some unknown reason) EA returned to his home with Christina in his trunk. Why would he even do that if something happened to her prior to 5:00 a.m.
So far, LE insists she was in his trunk when he exited the garage.
Yet he drives awhile then returns to the Shops at Legacy area once again.
Here's where and why I can't lose the idea he met up with somebody where ever he was near the Shops during those final phone pings.
IMO, I wouldn't necessarily bet all my dollars on LE being committed to the belief that EA left the garage or returned home with CM in his trunk, if we're solely basing it on the evidence we've seen. LE uses words very intentionally. LE can and will deliberately fan the flames of inflammatory statements to either elicit a desired outcome. In interrogations, this may be used to get a telling response from a suspected perpetrator (ex: suspect exclaiming "that's not what happened!" LE asking: "It's not? Well, why don't you start explaining what did happen, then..."). In instances like this, it may LE's hope for a correct guess with the goal of planting the seed of fear and speculation of additional evidence in a perpetrators mind which could start causing the perpetrator to start asking their attorney about plea deals. They may also have additional evidence which cause a definitive belief in this (ex: clear surveillance footage from businesses, witnesses in his neighborhood who reported seeing him arrive home, appearing to be alone, etc), we just don't know.
To your question of why he may have put her in his trunk before returning home if something bad had already happened prior to 5:00 (or any time before 5:32, for that matter), IMO, I would imagine he wouldn't want her to be visible. If he did not take 121 home, then he ran the risk of seeing more patrol officers and other motorists on the road. All routes home, with the exception of 121 or DNT S to George Bush to 75 are going to require multiple red lights and a lower speed limit. If there were other drivers on the road (I wouldn't think there would be many, but I also wouldn't think there would be zero), not to mention, LE themselves patrolling for labor day weekend, he wouldn't very well want to pull up to a red light with a passenger who is injured, or worse, potentially visible to other motorists. The trunk would be the safest bet for concealment.
IMO, I'm of the camp that he probably acted alone. In that being my perspective, I can only speculate that he went back to the shops due to:
A) being in a state of panic/shock over what had potentially already occurred, he momentarily thought about staging something to minimize the appearance of his involvement, but then decided it was too risky.
B) While I don't necessarily believe an attack happened in the garage, I don't refute that it could have. If it did, he may have been going back to see if any of her belongings or other evidence had been left behind in a struggle/attack.
C) She may have been just fine at this point. They may have ridden around, talked, partook in the peace pipe (pure speculation, we only know he admitted to smoking pot we do not know if she smoked too) and she may have asked him to bring her back to her car. He may have driven this way, but in a last ditch effort to make a move, he pulled in to an area within close proximity to 5800 Granite Pkwy and attacked her. (Due to the verified time stamps of the information we have, I find this an unlikely scenario)
D)They may have never been too far away from S@L; maybe for whatever reason, EA exited soon after Custer and started immediately heading started heading back to the shops, putting them closer to the shops much sooner than 4:47 and 4:56. At that time 5800 Granite Pkwy would have been an unpopulated construction zone and workers would not have been there. Maybe this is where she was attacked, or maybe he pulled in here to move her to his trunk compartment, or maybe this is where he disposed of her purse and phone.
The phone pings....I've thought a lot about those and IMO, I think there's just as much in what LE hasn't told us as to what they have actually have told us. The affidavit is worded exactly as follows: "According to these data records, Enrique Gutierrez Arochi's cellular device last communicated with this tower on August 30, 2014 at 0456 hours. Christina Morris' cellular device last communicated with the exact same tower and same side of that tower as Arochi's cellular device on August 30, 2014 at 447 hours." We do not know what time the phones started pinging the tower, we just know when they last pinged. Maybe they started as soon as 4:18, maybe they didn't start until 4:30, or maybe they didn't start until 4:47. Why the 9 minute gap between last known communication pings? Maybe he destroyed her phone, maybe her phone, not yet having shut down due to battery issues, finally did so, maybe he shut her phone off manually. The statement goes on to illustrate Affiant's knowledge of there being other towers between S@L and EA's home. The next paragraph of the phone ping information states "Based on the cellar data records reviewed by Detective Rich, Officer Benzick, and Affiant, following the last recorded communication by Enrique Gutierrez Arochi's cellular device with the tower by the Shops at Legacy on August 30, 2014 at 0456 hours, Arochi's cellular data records indicate his cellular device communicated with a cellular tower on the same date at 0532 hours." It then goes on to say it was the one by his house. I don't think there was a hole in his phone pings from 4:56 to 5:32 and the statement does not indicate there was, it just doesn't give us that information; I tend to believe the little piggy pinged, pinged, pinged, all the way home and that LE knows the exact route he took, therefore they were able to request surveillance from businesses, banks, ATM machines, gas stations, maybe even residential security cameras and may have even seen something helpful (ex: lack of damage to his vehicle, lack of a passenger, presence of a passenger, etc.).
