I definitely don't agree that the crime had to have required extensive planning; it could have been completely opportunistic.
100 percent agree. I think sometimes people try to come up with these huge movie like scripts to explain something as terrible as this. If he was that smart, he wouldn't have drove an uncommon truck into this neighborhood the night before. He wouldnt have doubled back. And don't forget, we don't know what all video the police have. I think it's a little naïve to think that was the only house in the area with security cameras. My guess is the police have at least 5 or more different videos of this truck.
I think the simplest explanation is the most likely. He came there that morning to kill her. The plan was to wait on husband to leave. Knock on the door and shoot her. Or get her going the car for work. The yard sale just made it that much easier.
Think about it. People keep saying someone in that it had to be someone in that small circle that knew about the yard sale. If it was someone that close, how come she didnt recognize them? If a close friend or relative of mine had a wig and robe on, I would still recognize them unless they had a mask...and even then I would probably recognize the voice. Also why would someone that close have to stake her house out the night before?
The more I think about it, I think it was an out of towner. That's why the vehicle hasn't been discovered. I've seen reports now that she was very active on cosplay forums and facebook groups. It would only take setting off the wrong person to end up getting targeted. I forget the name, but another podcast I listened to had a similar story. Some guy that wanted to be a writer, submitted his story to this website forum. This forum has readers and other writers that review your work and critique it. Anyways long story short, this girl insulted this guy's story and said it needed a lot of work. The guy got so mad, he tracked her down to the store she worked at and hit her over the head with a bottle. I cant remember if it killed her or not. But anyways, I suspect the same thing here.
That would explain why he showed her something before killing her (a picture of her comment?)
That would explain why no one has seen the truck since
That would explain why he had to stake the house the night before
I wonder if police checked local hotel rooms from that night. I would be curious if there were any Nissan Frontiers registered there that previous night