Exactly. Once he started strangling her she would have dropped the gun. So why continue strangling her? I'm not even buying that she had a gun.
This has no sense. So he met with Melissa at Mcd, then took her to his flat, killed her (where were his children and his parents at the moment?), then nonchalantly opened the door for the female witness, allowing her to see Melissa's dead body lying in the plain view, and then he took the body and dumped it near the McD where everything started. Is he dumb, or what?
To me, it sounds like he's trying to claim self-defense by alleging that Melissa pulled a gun on him.
If the phone call confession wasn't recorded, I smell a plea deal, as well.
I'm a little surprised by his picture. I really expected a meek looking guy, based on those who supported him who seemed very shocked he could do this. Looking at his expression, I'm not the least bit surprised. HELLO, look at that guy!!
i think that he said that she pulled a gun just to try to justify his actions to the 2 people he talked to (3 if you include that deputy). i doubt it was his big defense plan. he just killed his wife and then opened the door enough for a witness to see her body, he had to come up with something fast. and then the story just perpetuated itself thru the phone call and the trip to the persons house where he was wet with mud all over his truck.
as far as a plea deal, i doubt it. not with a deputy for a witness to the phone call (even if it somehow wasnt recorded, its a sheriffs deputys word), on top of everything the phone call described ending up being true. then the trip to the other informants place where the location of the body was learned, which turned out to be true. then you have to assume that forensics got some things that will tie him to the witnesses' story. phone records, cell tower triangulations, if she fought back she may even have skin under the nails, of course its all speculation, but the evidence is mounting, and the forensics havent even started yet. in a case with this huge of a profile, pregnant mom, double homicide, trying to cover it up, if the d.a. feels he/she will win in a trial, this guys not getting a plea deal.
btw at the very end of that probable cause hearing, he asked for a public defender. almost inaudible, but he definitely did. that is not good news for the defendants camp.
Above BBM
One would think that if consensual sex were occurring that, yes, the upper body clothing would have also been removed. IF any type of sexual act (consensual or forced) did, in fact, occur.
It's common in rape cases for only the clothing on the lower body to be removed, for painfully obvious reasons.
In my mind, the fact that Melissa was reportedly unclothed from the waist down indicates to me that she may have been sexually assaulted either before, during, or after being murdered.
The reasons you listed in your post & those listed in other posts are all good points as to why a plea deal may not be forthcoming, but you never know.
LE have processed his vehicle as well as Melissa's, so there's a good chance that forensic evidence was found in whichever one was used to transport her body to the creek (most likely his vehicle, since a witness reported that she observed mud on his). Add that to any other possible evidence (such as what you listed above), I have no doubt the case is strong.
I've followed/read about cases involving solid evidence, but the defendant offered to confess in exchange for the death penalty to be taken off the table. IME, prosecutors like a sure conviction versus a jury trial, even when there's hardcore, concrete evidence.
I think investigators have gathered a war chest full of evidence. But every prosecutor worth her/his salt knows that jury trials are always a gamble, despite the evidence.
Maybe MS revealed all the details in the recorded phone convo he had with his friend? I'm guessing the police coached her on what to ask him.
About MS getting Melissa's phone, MS could have taken her phone into a bathroom and locked the door (I had a jealous ex that did that).
IMO, she more than likely accompanied him to his apartment on the promise that she would be able to see her baby daughter, which I find much more believable than the suggestion that she went there to engage in sex with her estranged husband, of whom she was reportedly afraid.
Unfortunately, once she arrived, he had her exactly where he wanted her: under his control out of the public eye.
well if you search under the "criminal" tab here
you can enter the guys name in the defendant field
[format: lastname, firstname]
you can get some public info on him, and if you have an account you can click the "images" tab and see the actual charging instruments.
So from what I see he is being charged with murder of the fetus. I guess he cannot use self defense.
"CAPITAL MURDER-UNDER SIX YRS "