Hi, SteveS, interesting that the perp would think that there was plenty of time to commit a robbery. You do bring up good points though. Do you have a link as to MB's location when she was killed? Unless I misread your post, you seemed to indicate knowing location of MB and perp. I stand corrected if I misread your post.
See your comment below that I'm not clear on. TIA.
MB entered the building in the far SW corner. From what we have been told, she then strolled up the westside hallway, toward the main foyer and entrance and probably somewhere beyond. She was all the way up beyond camera view when she encountered the perp, far enough away from the cameras in the SW that they didn't record it.
LE has not been specific on exactly
where her body was found, but campers were there, as well as EMTs, so it's not exactly unknown. Over the years it has been said with some degree of reliability that it would have been in the far NW corner of the church somewhere, maybe in vicinity of where you turn the corner to go down the N-side hall. Maybe there at that intersection, or maybe not that far, or maybe farther to the north towards the NW entrance doors, but somewhere in there.
But anywhere in that area, it's very clear that there had been no one waiting to pounce on MB as she walked in the building. While we can't be sure, it's possible the loser perp didn't even see her or become aware of her entrance into the building until she was in that area where she was found, an area which not only intersects to a long hallway, but also has lots of doors to rooms in which perp could have been searching for loot before opening a door into the outer hall and thinking in a panic, "Oh my, someone is here, right in front of me, now what do I do?!"
The point being, to get to that NW area, it was a fairly long stroll, as she went essentially the length of the building -- from where she parked and then through 2 sets of doors and up a long hallway to where she was found.
That makes me think it was way more likely than not that loser perp was NOT waiting for her. During all the time before she happened to get to that NW area, she might have just turned around and gone the other way, at any time and for any reason. He would have had no way of knowing where she would go. (And if we want to assume he knew she was coming, we have to also assume he knew others were likely to soon follow, thereby knowing he only had a small window of time between when she might enter and when others might be there). That means there wasn't the luxury of waiting to see where she might go at random. Yet he wasn't there to attack her as she entered, or block her retreat back out the way she entered.
I can't prove what was in his head, of course. But I can say that his ACTIONS that night do
not point to him lying in wait, and anticipating her arrival, and being ready with an ambush when she walked in the door, in any way. But his actions DO look like a loser perp trying to go through a big building and find the best things to steal.