But the fact we know that the killer apparently was casing out the home the night before the sale, would mean that they knew in advance what specifically was going to be sold at the sale (IF that's the reason the killer shot Liz and if they did care about that item so much, why not take it?)
Those are very good points.
Your observation that a "
forbidden object at the garage sale" motive would require knowing what was going to be sold in advance is very valid and detracts from the theory.
Though the murdered may have presumed that the forbidden object (FO) would be sold at the garage sale, as
@lonewanderer notes, the victim was shown something face to face. The murder did not point to an object, or even motion at the sale in general. Nor, do they impulsively "rescue" something.
But... I think human complexity still allows for the theory, or a sub variant:
- Perhaps the victim had simply stated an intent to sell the "FO"? The stated intent to sell the "FO" is then enough to murder and the murderer presumes the FO will be sold at the garage sale?
- Perhaps the murder felt the attempted sale had destroyed the "purity" of the FO. Thus, no attempt was make to retrieve it?
- Likewise, there is the possibility of a sub variant of a "Forbidden sale" motive: The FO was being sold on an internet site. The shooter then flashes the listing to the victim?
I hope the police dived deeply into the
Star Wars cos play sub culture, its visible minority of uhmm.... "in deep" participants, and the social norms of the group.
@lonewanderer points out, identifying the possibility of Star Wars objects at the garage sale (ore elsewhere) and by extension, would those objects represent a
labor of love in the Cos Play world is important. So would knowing any Cos Play group social norms associated with labors of love and whether casually selling them could be a severe "diss" to an "in deep" cosplayer.