TX - Crystal Seratte McDowell, 38, Baytown, 25 Aug 2017 #4

[cluciano63]

She told Paul that he knew. SMc did not know about the cruise, at that time when she told Paul about SMc learning about G, to her knowledge, nor do I think she planned to tell SMc that morning.

She may have told him that morning...it was pretty near time for the cruise. Maybe it came out in anger. Or maybe he had found out, since he found about her weekend away to Galveston. It probably did not take much to have him lose it that day.

 

[Gardener1850]

I'm just an average girl with no experience on the matter whatsoever, but my gut tells me that, under "normal" conditions, they'd be able to tell from the bruising around the neck area. I don't know if they'll be able to tell in her case though, since her body wasn't in the best condition. Perhaps it's not impossible.

I think he put her in a headlock from behind. It's just easier to control someone that way.

I keep waiting for some sort of criminal complaint or other document outlining the charges, but so far nothing. I wonder why that is? It was immediate in the Laura Wallen case.

I wonder if that is because they are still working out jurisdiction for the case?

Steven McDowell confessed, was arrested and charged with murder, a first-degree felony. Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said they are trying to determine jurisdiction for the case.

http://baytownsun.com/news/article_66828d80-9823-11e7-8058-07778dcd1167.html

Or it could just be a difference in how easily reporters have access to the documents in different states. IDK. :dunno:

 

[DeDee]

She may have told him that morning...it was pretty near time for the cruise. Maybe it came out in anger. Or maybe he had found out, since he found about her weekend away to Galveston. It probably did not take much to have him lose it that day.

Certainly possible, cluciano. Her goal that morning was to be with her children. Maybe she planned to stay home with SMc and the kids at his home, IDK. He did not extend that grace to her.

Paul was working Friday, giving away cases of water, so she wasn't going to spend the day with him. When she was driving, the roads were not bad. Hence, I think she was surprised that Steve did not need to report to his employers.

 

[Jethro4WS]

I wonder if that is because they are still working out jurisdiction for the case?

http://baytownsun.com/news/article_66828d80-9823-11e7-8058-07778dcd1167.html

Or it could just be a difference in how easily reporters have access to the documents in different states. IDK. :dunno:

I don't see how the jurisdiction for the crime is not Chambers County. The murder took place there. Her car was found there. Her body was found there.

On the other hand, for the court hearings for custody arrangements there could be more than one jurisdiction involved if Crystal had an address (despite living at the house with Steve) in Harris County e.g. the townhouse. With split custody I would expect one of the children to be associated with Harris County.

This may be a case of the media mixing up two separate legal activities.

 

[Gooddeeds]

Certainly possible, cluciano. Her goal that morning was to be with her children. Maybe she planned to stay home with SMc and the kids at his home, IDK. He did not extend that grace to her.

Paul was working Friday, giving away cases of water, so she wasn't going to spend the day with him. When she was driving, the roads were not bad. Hence, I think she was surprised that Steve did not need to report to his employers.

-NancyG asked Paul about their plans for riding out the storm. He replied but I can't remember if she specified Friday only or the weekend in general?

 

[Gooddeeds]

I don't see how the jurisdiction for the crime is not Chambers County. The murder took place there. Her car was found there. Her body was found there.

On the other hand, for the court hearings for custody arrangements there could be more than one jurisdiction involved if Crystal had an address (despite living at the house with Steve) in Harris County e.g. the townhouse. With split custody I would expect one of the children to be associated with Harris County.

This may be a case of the media mixing up two separate legal activities.

-Does that mean it would be split jurisdictions?

 

[SuperTmo]

I wonder if she could take both kids that weekend without his consent, or what their custody said about it? If they really had cusfody of one child each, or even joint, can one parent just take both whenever? Especially as she planned to take them away on a cruise within days? Just thinking of things that could have erupted...

I don't know how they arranged custody in practice since they still lived together, but in a situation like this where the parents lived apart and each had one kid I imagine that it would go something like this:

Mom has daughter full time, dad has son full time. On the first and third weekends, mom would have visitation with son, and that would be her weekend with the daughter also. Then on the second and fourth dad would have visitation with the daughter, while also having the son. This way the kids are together every weekend and getting equal weekend time with each parent. In my state the parent that isn't the primary parent can have a midweek dinner visit during the week leading into their weekend. If they did something similar, the siblings would have some time during the week to be with each parent too.

 

[ckarmst]

Certainly possible, cluciano. Her goal that morning was to be with her children. Maybe she planned to stay home with SMc and the kids at his home, IDK. He did not extend that grace to her.

Paul was working Friday, giving away cases of water, so she wasn't going to spend the day with him. When she was driving, the roads were not bad. Hence, I think she was surprised that Steve did not need to report to his employers.

DeDee, Do you know Crystal or Paul or Steve? And, are you familiar with the area (Baytown/Mont Belvieu)?

 

[SuperTmo]

Hoosier952:
BBM- Not sure how much faith I place in SM's new buddy Mr. Hawthorne. Sheriff also thinks SM is just lonely and feels bad for what he did. QUOTE

-So far I have no faith. I hope that changes. But for now, how long can SH go on with his bold reported conclusions about SM?! I'm wondering if he has the nerve to show up at the service since its in *his County* and being as *he* orchestrated the successful search. I wouldn't be surprised. Though if he is reading FB he may not. To my knowledge he has yet to publicly acknowledge any of Uncle Jeffs angst or condolences to the family. I don't understand that.

I assume many, if not most, of the LE and searchers will show up to the service, if it is public. I don't think it has anything to do with what county it happened in. I don't see why he would have to have "the nerve" to show up, I think it's not uncommon in cases like this. They invested a lot of time and effort into finding Crystal, and they may want to pay their respects.

 

[SuperTmo]

The fragile hyoid bone located in the throat is usually crushed during a strangulation but, not always, as some are left intact as in the JonBenet's Strangulation.

How much time should be deducted from his imprisonment because he revealed the location of where he placed Crystal in the woods?

*WARNING: SCROLL AND ROLL*


*VERY SENSITIVE TOPIC*


Basically, all that was left of Crystal's body were her bones and teeth and some of those may have fallen out. Two weeks in the wild and water logged, too, will speed along decomposition. She weighed between 110 - 120. At time of discovery, she lost 3/4 of her body weight. The AR is certainly going to be vague as there is not much left to report but for the weight of her bones.

How do you know the condition of her body? Link? I can't believe this was reported in the media.

 

[SuperTmo]

I don't see how the jurisdiction for the crime is not Chambers County. The murder took place there. Her car was found there. Her body was found there.

On the other hand, for the court hearings for custody arrangements there could be more than one jurisdiction involved if Crystal had an address (despite living at the house with Steve) in Harris County e.g. the townhouse. With split custody I would expect one of the children to be associated with Harris County.

This may be a case of the media mixing up two separate legal activities.

For jurisdiction over the kids I assume they both live in the same county. They all lived in one house, kids went to the same school, one never lived with just Crystal and one never lived with just SM. They were living as a family. If there is a jurisdiction issue it's probably regarding which would have priority since the family just moved to the new house. I had a foster baby last year with a similar situation... they lived in the next county over but had just moved from my county. Since they lived for over 6 months here and less than 6 months there, my county wanted jurisdiction. They got it because most of their history was here, which made it easier to access records and such.

 

[Gooddeeds]

I assume many, if not most, of the LE and searchers will show up to the service, if it is public. I don't think it has anything to do with what county it happened in. I don't see why he would have to have "the nerve" to show up, I think it's not uncommon in cases like this. They invested a lot of time and effort into finding Crystal, and they may want to pay their respects.

-Agree, its not uncommon. This though has been a peculiar sequence of events from LE since the beginning.

 

[Gardener1850]

How do you know the condition of her body? Link? I can't believe this was reported in the media.

Ashley Banfield said it on the air. She should not have said it, IMO.

BANFIELD: This is hard, but this is always part of a case like this, especially when there is a murder and disposal of a body. But today was

day where grisly details and very sad details but critical to the case, the autopsy results, the preliminary autopsy results came in for Crystal.

And as we understand it, she weighed about a quarter of the weight she would have normally weighed prior to being murdered and dumped in the

woods. And of course, as in all cases where someone is dumped and left for weeks, there would be evidence of animal damage, and it would be, you know,

difficult to make a full assessment -- the facts would be vague in her autopsy, fair enough assessment, Sheriff?

HAWTHORNE: Yes, that`s very fair. I mean, obviously, it`s the timeframe in which from the time of death to the time that we discovered the body,

there`s obviously going to be some changes, right.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1709/12/ptab.01.html

Now, I don't mind someone discussing an autopsy report if they are going to discuss details relevant to the crime--what evidence could be there to help with prosecution, how evidence was destroyed by decomp and delay finding the person, etc. could all be very relevant. But AB seems to not have any point in bringing the condition of her remains up. She seems to be asking about it just to sensationalize the details. Crystal's family were probably watching since her aunt was on the same night. They don't need to hear that. :sick:

 

[Gooddeeds]

Ashley Banfield said it on the air. She should not have said it, IMO.



http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1709/12/ptab.01.html

Now, I don't mind someone discussing an autopsy report if they are going to discuss details relevant to the crime--what evidence could be there to help with prosecution, how evidence was destroyed by decomp and delay finding the person, etc. could all be very relevant. But AB seems to not have any point in bringing the condition of her remains up. She seems to be asking about it just to sensationalize the details. Crystal's family were probably watching since her aunt was on the same night. They don't need to hear that. :sick:

-I hope they didn't hear this either, also in that segment:


***[20:05:12]HAWTHORNE: Well, there`s no doubt that the man is passionately in love with her. And I think that`s part of the issue here***

How did he determine that? And with "no doubt"?

 

[Icechick]

AB works my last nerve. Some of them remind me of those nosy ole town crier biddies that live for getting every last bit of gossip and detail in order to know more than anyone else.
In one breath "I hate to ask this.." then they do so. Yes I'm fully aware that's how most media rolls but she should know better, she's older than dirt in the media world. IMO

 

[justbetweenus]

For jurisdiction over the kids I assume they both live in the same county. They all lived in one house, kids went to the same school, one never lived with just Crystal and one never lived with just SM. They were living as a family. If there is a jurisdiction issue it's probably regarding which would have priority since the family just moved to the new house. I had a foster baby last year with a similar situation... they lived in the next county over but had just moved from my county. Since they lived for over 6 months here and less than 6 months there, my county wanted jurisdiction. They got it because most of their history was here, which made it easier to access records and such.

Pretty sure I read the jurisdiction has to do with Crystals family member that has the kids. They live in another county.

 

[justbetweenus]

AB works my last nerve. Some of them remind me of those nosy ole town crier biddies that live for getting every last bit of gossip and detail in order to know more than anyone else.
In one breath "I hate to ask this.." then they do so. Yes I'm fully aware that's how most media rolls but she should know better, she's older than dirt in the media world. IMO

But seriously didn't you want to know too lol. I know I did.

 

[Niner]

snipped by me....
Seems, as of yesterday at least, they have not settled jurisdiction nor set the next date. Thanks for keeping track of all these cases!

I'm following SO MANY cases, I figured I better make a list of all the ones I'm following, so why not share with you all who might be following the same ones!

Someone found this for me!!! :skip:
http://www.crimeonline.com/2017/09/...altors-murder-cause-of-death-revealed-police/

McDowell is due for an arraignment on Tuesday.

Article is from the 12th, so I will "assume" this means next Tuesday the 19th?? Or since the article was written on the 12th when he had his first appearance - it meant "that" Tuesday?? :thinking:

Anyone else see a "date" - TIA!! Very much appreciated! :wave:

 

[SuperTmo]

Ashley Banfield said it on the air. She should not have said it, IMO.



http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1709/12/ptab.01.html

Now, I don't mind someone discussing an autopsy report if they are going to discuss details relevant to the crime--what evidence could be there to help with prosecution, how evidence was destroyed by decomp and delay finding the person, etc. could all be very relevant. But AB seems to not have any point in bringing the condition of her remains up. She seems to be asking about it just to sensationalize the details. Crystal's family were probably watching since her aunt was on the same night. They don't need to hear that. :sick:

I can't believe she said that. She asked about the decomposition right after Crystal was found, and the sheriff said he didn't want to talk about that because the family may be listening. What right did she had to go into detail like that for no reason? Who gave her that info. Ugh. I just lost respect for her.

 

[SuperTmo]

But seriously didn't you want to know too lol. I know I did.

Every one of us knew what condition her body would be in after being left out in a hurricane, flooding, and just being dead and exposed for two weeks. Simple common sense would say that she was in horrible shape. None of us needed AB to go into detail for no relevant reason.