RSBM for focus
Welcome to WS, Texas Wind! You make some great points.
Earlier, I was thinking of a possibility of NL trying to frame MC for Tom’s murder.
In the Casefile podcast, Tom’s mom talks about the run-in he had with NL when he was still a deputy with Lipscomb County Sheriff's Office. Tom’s mom brought the incident to the attention of then Hemphill County Sheriff, who referred her to the Texas Rangers. After she filed a complaint with them, the assigned Ranger looked into the matter and determined there was no wrong doing on the part of then Deputy Lewis:
https://findingthomas.weebly.com/up.../pearson_letter_to_editor_re_deputy_lewis.pdf
Case 85: Tom Brown - Casefile: True Crime Podcast
So what if NL had a long-held grudge against Tom? Assuming that he did, here is a scenario (MOO):
NL starts following Tom after CW drops him and KK off (or maybe even before, but NL is waiting for Tom to be alone). As Tom heads home after getting gas, NL pulls him over somewhere near where the last ping from Tom’s phone came from (e.g. the parking lot at the high school football stadium).
According to Tom’s mom, during the incident back in 2015, NL placed Tom in his Lipscomb County Sheriff’s Office patrol car.
Perhaps NL does the same thing after he pulls Tom over or even gets into Tom’s vehicle himself. Then for whatever reason, NL shoots Tom with his own .25-caliber pistol.
NL notices MC’s debit card laying inside Tom’s vehicle. He decides he is going to make it appear as though MC is involved in Tom’s disappearance.
NL spends the next few hours driving around in the Durango, getting rid of pretty much everything found inside the vehicle, but the debit card. Some of the deputies help him in the cover-up.
He parks the vehicle by the water treatment facility. He has one of his deputies pick him up and drive him to his car.
Later, NL starts to feel guilty about potentially sending MC to prison for the rest of his life, and that’s when he starts to tell Tom’s mom and others Tom committed suicide, ran away, etc.