TX - Terri 'Missy' Bevers, 45, killed in church/suspect in SWAT gear, Midlothian, 18 Apr 2016 #47

[5W's]

Thanks, the videos I have seen make it seem that it was very violent. Mind you I have only seen a few. Its good to know that she didn't suffer more than what already happened to the poor lady. But this makes me wonder also though since the perp had a gun already and breaking windows while stolling along was this perp looking to harm someone? If for example Missy had been late would the Gladiator participants have been in jeapordy? IMO yes.

Double post by me sorry.

 

[somequestions]

If it's raining we're still training.

-quote from Missy Bever's Facebook at approximately 6:49 pm April 17, 2016, the night before her death.

The quote is interesting because it shows that Missy Bevers was watching the weather and that the fact it was going to rain was known. But what it also shows is that people did not know if the training was still going to happen. This was the first class of the new session so maybe it does not happen? The point is that the burglar dressed in the tactical gear would look rather foolish showing up to the church if the class got canceled, especially taking the time to put on that police disguise. I suppose this supports the idea that this murder was not targeted. The burglar would have been there whether they saw Missy Bever's post about the weather or not.

From the SWFA footage taken in their parking lot, I wondered if you could see a vehicle's headlights in the distance going around the church at approximately the time the burglar showed up? If the burglar truly did case out the church, wouldn't it be smart to go around it once in their vehicle? I guess you could argue they drove around the church with the headlights off.

I think the killer may have had on motorcycle boots. Maybe the decal on the car going around SWFA is a Harley Davidson sticker? Other times it looks like a Chevy bow tie or Chrysler bumper sticker.

Or maybe the car and driver from the SFWA footage means nothing at all. It is strange how someone can come so prepared with a disguise to commit a burglary, but drive their own car around another business that has multiple surveillance cameras. It does not make a lot of sense.

 

[SteveS]

Thanks, the videos I have seen make it seem that it was very violent. Mind you I have only seen a few. Its good to know that she didn't suffer more than what already happened to the poor lady. But this makes me wonder also though since the perp had a gun already and breaking windows while stolling along was this perp looking to harm someone? If for example Missy had been late would the Gladiator participants have been in jeapordy? IMO yes.

It all depends on what perp's intention was -- who knows what was in this loser's mind when they broke into the church that night? I'm guessing perp was just looking for something to steal that's easy to take (preferably cash), and perhaps got frustrated or impatient as he went from room to room with no success.

About the storm that night, it was big and nasty and lasted most of the night. At times it came down in buckets. Around here when you have spring storms, you never quite know when they would start, stop, get more severe, let up, or how extreme they might get.

 

[Ozoner]

Or maybe the car and driver from the SFWA footage means nothing at all. It is strange how someone can come so prepared with a disguise to commit a burglary, but drive their own car around another business that has multiple surveillance cameras. It does not make a lot of sense.

Snipped.
I tend to think that the car is unrelated to Missy's slaying. I wish that LE could have identified the car and cleared the driver, but alas, it was not to be. (It is possible that a burglar was casing the gun store and that the same perp later broke into the church.)

It all depends on what perp's intention was -- who knows what was in this loser's mind when they broke into the church that night? I'm guessing perp was just looking for something to steal that's easy to take (preferably cash), and perhaps got frustrated or impatient as he went from room to room with no success.

About the storm that night, it was big and nasty and lasted most of the night. At times it came down in buckets. Around here when you have spring storms, you never quite know when they would start, stop, get more severe, let up, or how extreme they might get.

BBM
I agree 100%.

I also think that the weather could be the reason why the perp was there so late in the morning. He may have intended to break in earlier but might have waited until the rain died down before leaving his house.

 

[Megnut]

How large was the Gladiator group? Any chance that the SWAT outfit added unnatural girth? Then the perp commit the crime, shed the outfit, and showed up for class, right on time?

 

[Ozoner]

How large was the Gladiator group? Any chance that the SWAT outfit added unnatural girth? Then the perp commit the crime, shed the outfit, and showed up for class, right on time?

In an Agatha Christie novel, sure. In real life, no chance.

 

[Megnut]

In an Agatha Christie novel, sure. In real life, no chance.

Not likely I agree. But there are arsonists who turn around and fight the fire. Hidden in plain sight.

Recent school shoiting, the shooter walked right out of the school, alongside the students. Sat at McDonald's. Hidden in plain sight.

Missy's attacker got away somehow.

JMO

 

[FromGermany1]

How large was the Gladiator group? Any chance that the SWAT outfit added unnatural girth? Then the perp commit the crime, shed the outfit, and showed up for class, right on time?

I'm pointing out, that SP should have arrived in a vehicle because of the location and the weather. Actually. But there was none.

 

[somequestions]

How large was the Gladiator group? Any chance that the SWAT outfit added unnatural girth? Then the perp commit the crime, shed the outfit, and showed up for class, right on time?

That possibility had crossed my mind.

The question is why would someone fully dressed in disguise and obviously not concerned about the surveillance cameras in the church worry about a surveillance camera in the southwest awning area? Whether they were there because they knew Missy Bevers or whether they were there because they wanted to burglarize the church, it would make more sense if they had at least checked that southwest awning door or any of the doors to see if they were open versus making the decision to break in. Maybe the burglar knew the southwest awning door was already locked? Going in through an open door would make is less likely to be perceived as a burglary from someone on the outside as they would have to take something or leave some sort of sign that an attempted burglary had taken place so people check the surveillance cameras. The church did not have an alarm from the information I found out about it.

If it was a Camp Gladiator individual, that would be clever coming back around to the southwest side of the church to park their car after the murder and arrive for the class as if they just got there. I suppose that is a possibility.

But it could also be anyone who could come up with the same plan. The person may have parked their car nearby and simply left after the murder. It could be a disgruntled former Gladiator camper or friend or family or co-worker who walked back to their car parked on the opposite side of the church and left. Without a clear motive, this is a tough case to solve.

 

[SteveS]

The question is why would someone fully dressed in disguise and obviously not concerned about the surveillance cameras in the church worry about a surveillance camera in the southwest awning area? Whether they were there because they knew Missy Bevers or whether they were there because they wanted to burglarize the church, it would make more sense if they had at least checked that southwest awning door or any of the doors to see if they were open versus making the decision to break in. Maybe the burglar knew the southwest awning door was already locked?

"why would someone fully dressed in disguise ... worry about a surveillance camera in the southwest awning area?" Who says they even considered it at all?

1 In relation to taking a survey of the doors, I do think the ongoing heavy rain, and the time that would have been needed to walk in the rain to every door, would have been a significant deterrent keeping perp from wanting to walk all the way around the building to check every door before picking one.

2 Also imo it is more likely than not that the church had a central locking system, in which all doors would be locked electronically at the same time. Many churches and businesses do, where you have people coming and going from multiple entrances. If perp works at a biz like that, and then sees such controls on the first door, there's no reason to check whether the others are locked too, once you check the first door.

3 But most importantly, I think perp would have SELECTED THE NE DOOR and that what was important to him was to park and enter in the place least likely to be seen from the highway. He had no interest in any of the doors on the highway side, including the SW entrance.

 

[SteveS]

Missy's attacker got away somehow.

Obviously.

The easiest explanation works just fine -- with an empty building and no one outside, and no one there to see something had happened, perp just ran (or walked briskly) to their vehicle and drove away. They would have every reason to think that if they put space between themselves and anyone else arriving, they could be many miles away (or home) before anyone might discover what had happened.

And factually, we know that there was a gap of time for them to get away, since MB was killed about 4:20 and the first camper arrived about 10-15 minutes later. Give them 3-5 minutes to get to car (or maybe less), and 1 minute or so to get down the road a mile going 60+ mph, and after that there's nothing to connect them to being at the church at all. They could have been 5-10 miles away by the time the earliest camper pulled up, and 30 miles away in any direction (there are major highways going N, S, E, and W near that church) by the time MB was discovered.

Ultimately we don't have to figure out IF the perp could have gotten away. We know they did.

 

[5W's]

One thing I strongly agree with is that storms in Texas are generally unpredictable. So if the weatherforescast for that day was an actual storm then the perp. would know such an outfit is going to be clumsy more so in the rain and as another poster mentioned taking into account the fitness level of the Gladiaor participants and Missy's as well. I think the perp took into account all these factors and either didn't care or knew gernerally of the timing of the class start so the perp planned to harm someone and get out of there fast. That helmet may be difficult for someone to take off the perp's head so maybe the perp's intention was that if someone came at the perp. and tried, the difficulty is why the helmet was on.

 

[somequestions]

One thing I strongly agree with is that storms in Texas are generally unpredictable. So if the weatherforescast for that day was an actual storm then the perp. would know such an outfit is going to be clumsy more so in the rain and as another poster mentioned taking into account the fitness level of the Gladiaor participants and Missy's as well. I think the perp took into account all these factors and either didn't care or knew gernerally of the timing of the class start so the perp planned to harm someone and get out of there fast. That helmet may be difficult for someone to take off the perp's head so maybe the perp's intention was that if someone came at the perp. and tried, the difficulty is why the helmet was on.

What did the newscasts for the late afternoon of April 17th show? Was there a prediction for rain?

I find it hard to believe this is a burglary if the same burglar drove around SWFA in order to notice two cars in the parking lot in back and decided not to choose that business, but did not decide to drive at least one time around the church? From a distance on the SWFA surveillance camera at night, police should have been able to see this. Even if the car turned its headlights off, you might be able to see brake lights. If the burglar did not drive around the church once to check for other cars, then I do not think this is a burglary.

If it was a burglary, then it has to be one of the most amateur burglars around. Even with the weather, they could have chose a different night.

I agree with the idea it could be a police wannabee. The other day I was watching a video of firefighters walking around after putting out a fire. One of them had an axe in their hand. It reminded me of the pickaxe-looking tool in the burglar's hand. Maybe it was a former or current firefighter? That is only a guess.

 

[Ozoner]

What did the newscasts for the late afternoon of April 17th show? Was there a prediction for rain?

I find it hard to believe this is a burglary if the same burglar drove around SWFA in order to notice two cars in the parking lot in back and decided not to choose that business, but did not decide to drive at least one time around the church? From a distance on the SWFA surveillance camera at night, police should have been able to see this. Even if the car turned its headlights off, you might be able to see brake lights. If the burglar did not drive around the church once to check for other cars, then I do not think this is a burglary.

If it was a burglary, then it has to be one of the most amateur burglars around. Even with the weather, they could have chose a different night.

I agree with the idea it could be a police wannabee. The other day I was watching a video of firefighters walking around after putting out a fire. One of them had an axe in their hand. It reminded me of the pickaxe-looking tool in the burglar's hand. Maybe it was a former or current firefighter? That is only a guess.

The church didn't have security cameras for the parking lot, so there is no way to know whether the perp drove around the church.

 

[Laughing]

The church didn't have security cameras for the parking lot, so there is no way to know whether the perp drove around the church.

Headlights would likely have been visible from SWFA's parking lot cameras, apparently headlights are captured on the surveillance videos at other times. Not looking for a link, but the their video was reviewed, no discernible vehicle in the Creekside parking lot between the weird SWFA cruise & the arrival of the majority of the Camp Gladiator participants.

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[5W's]

What did the newscasts for the late afternoon of April 17th show? Was there a prediction for rain?

I find it hard to believe this is a burglary if the same burglar drove around SWFA in order to notice two cars in the parking lot in back and decided not to choose that business, but did not decide to drive at least one time around the church? From a distance on the SWFA surveillance camera at night, police should have been able to see this. Even if the car turned its headlights off, you might be able to see brake lights. If the burglar did not drive around the church once to check for other cars, then I do not think this is a burglary.

If it was a burglary, then it has to be one of the most amateur burglars around. Even with the weather, they could have chose a different night.

I agree with the idea it could be a police wannabee. The other day I was watching a video of firefighters walking around after putting out a fire. One of them had an axe in their hand. It reminded me of the pickaxe-looking tool in the burglar's hand. Maybe it was a former or current firefighter? That is only a guess.

I'm looking at this crime as a perp looking to harm a potential victim. So in my mind burglary is irrelavant to the aspect of harm (although a burglary gone wrong is not irrelevant though to the crime itself, obviously from my persperctive.)

Yes Missy was shot. That is how she was killed. It's one FACT we know. It's in FBI records available to the public, and has been discussed and re-discussed many times in these threads. The FBI was there from day one and part of the initial investigation.

We have not been told she was injured another way (although local LE described the death by gun in a way that would misleadingly make us think of something different).

So perp could have very well simply shot MB (whether by circumstance, in a panic, or by planning), and then fled immediately, just as you say. While we don't know what we don't know, there was no "extra" violence that we know of.

I know a lot of people have differing views on some media personalities but this video on Youtube was posted three years ago and I found it informaive. Mind you it appears the original broadcast of her show (Nancy Grace) was a month after Missy's murder. So I want to say a few things I learned from this video are that Missy apparently had puncture wounds, it has been a long ime since I heard about this case and was watching videos that told what happened to Missy. IIRC they also mentioned that it was a violent murder, sadly. <modsnip> So I am correct in that it was a violent encounter and unfortunately she did suffer before her death. As I was stating in my original post Missy's killer was strolling along vandalzing the church and as soon as Missy came accross the perp she was killed by by being stabbed and shot. As I said in the original post it was overkill. A shot would have stopped Missy but the perp went on to hurt her by stabbing her. Maybe the perp had a knife in that fake uniform. Basically I stand by everything I said all along that the intention of this perp was to harm someone, who knows perhaps he perp specifically targeted Missy. I am still amazed that people don't want to believe that a perp would do something like this because they wanted to. A shot was enough but everything else was over and beyond in moivation, sadly. And she did suffer. <modsnip - telling others how to post>

 

[Ozoner]

I know a lot of people have differing views on some media personalities but this video on YouTube was posted three years ago and I found it informative. Mind you it appears the original broadcast of her show (Nancy Grace) was a month after Missy's murder. So I want to say a few things I learned from this video are that Missy apparently had puncture wounds, it has been a long time since I heard about this case and was watching videos that told what happened to Missy. IIRC they also mentioned that it was a violent murder, sadly. I was hoping as the OP SteveS said she was shot and nothing else but didn't mention anything about the puncture wounds (as I had suspected) on Miss's body. So I am correct in that it was a violent encounter and unfortunately she did suffer before her death. As I was stating in my original post Missy's killer was strolling along vandalizing the church and as soon as Missy came across the perp she was killed by by being stabbed and shot. As I said in the original post it was overkill. A shot would have stopped Missy but the perp went on to hurt her by stabbing her. Maybe the perp had a knife in that fake uniform. Basically I stand by everything I said all along that the intention of this perp was to harm someone, who knows perhaps he perp specifically targeted Missy. I am still amazed that people don't want to believe that a perp would do something like this because they wanted to. A shot was enough but everything else was over and beyond in motivation, sadly. And she did suffer. So please don't say or allude that she did not. IMO that takes away from the horror that happened that awful night.

Snipped

Maybe Missy caught the perp by surprise, leading to a spontaneous assault that caused the puncture wounds. After Missy was down, the perp might have shot her to finish her off because he didn't want to leave a live witness. That is the most likely scenario, IMHO.

It is possible that the perp had a fantasy of killing someone in a church, but his behavior on video doesn't support that. It looks like he was snooping around in hopes of finding the collection money or other small items of value.

 

[SteveS]

1 What Nancy Grace said in her over-the-top, knee-jerk, trying-to-grab-attention, play-loose-with-the-details style (similar to click bait) is not to be taken at face value. We all know that.

2 Early on, there was much conjecture about how MB was killed. When we heard of puncture wounds, before we knew that she was shot to death and that bullets cause puncture wounds, there was lots of conjecture. But now we know way more.

<modsnip - quoted reference was removed>

4 What I have said we know is she was shot to death, and that “puncture wounds” were apparently made by the bullets, puncturing her skin. <modsnip> -- in medical coding, a bullet wound that penetrates the skin is a “puncture wound.” Taking the Pain Out of Gunshot Wounds in ICD-10 What is a puncture wound? | Injuries, Wound and Trauma

5 There are many weapons that can inflict damage to puncture the skin. But in this case we know MB was killed by a particular weapon that can inflict puncture wounds, a HANDGUN. (That detail was not known to Nancy Grace or other outsiders in the immediate wake of the killing, and it appears LE wanted to fuzzy up their words to keep us in the dark.)

6 MB was not killed by a different weapon or multiple weapons, per FBI records. Nor do we have any objective reason to think that anything other than a shooting must have occurred. If you want to think there was, that’s up to you, but it’s NOT what LE has in their records.

7 LE never said that we saw video of what was used to kill MB, only that perp was carrying whatever it was and called it a "tool" which, broadly speaking, a gun is a tool to shoot someone. While this seems like a stretch, we have to keep in mind that MB was killed by a gun. So if LE was talking to the media overall in a misleading way, and spoke of a gun as a tool, so be it.

 

[Hexe]

4 What I have said we know is she was shot to death

How do we know that?

 

[darring21]

How do we know that?

The FBI report.