VA VA - Claudine Gifford, 43, White Stone, 6 July 2014 *GUILTY*

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Glad to hear this dirtbag has been indicted. Now to see them jail him and throw away the key.
 
Update: Well, the trial has been going on for a few days. They couldn't hold it in Lancaster County because everyone there knows everyone (and they know he did it), so they're holding it in Spotsylvania County, closer to my home. Here are links to the Rappahannock Record articles so far. Unlike a lot of cases here where you get all the evidence up front in a document, it seems we're getting the evidence as it's discussed in the trial. Fortunately Virginia has been having good luck with no-body murder cases lately, because there are a lot of good places to conceal a body in Virginia.

Day 1: http://www.rrecord.com/-news/2015/kessler-trial/day-1.asp

Day 2: http://www.northernnecknews.com/day-2-of-lancaster-murder-trial-begins/

Day 3: http://www.rrecord.com/-news/2015/kessler-trial/day-3.asp

Fredericksburg.com coverage:

http://www.fredericksburg.com/news/...cle_ccc746fa-516c-5345-9122-443d3ac167e9.html
 
I went to the courthouse today to sit in on this trial and guess who took the stand?

I couldnt believe it at first then I figured out he is narcissistic and likes to hear himself talk . It was a really interesting day in court.

Tomorrow is looking to be just as interesting as Spencer is putting on the states rebuttal case and says he will be calling at least 7 witnesses maybe more. I think they will do closing arguments tomorrow . Court didnt let out until 8pm today.
 
Was he coherent / believable at all? Or did his story change as often as it did in the beginning? I'd love to hear more about how he came across.
 
helpfulcharlie said:
Was he coherent / believable at all? Or did his story change as often as it did in the beginning? I'd love to hear more about how he came across.
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Everytime he was faced with a question about the day ,or about a statement he made ,that he did not want to admit someone else was mistaken ,or lying . At one point he even says the Victims daughter must have been lying, then he adds it would be cruel to call her back to the stand to ask her if she was. He says the cell phone logs are incorrect and that the person he called first was S.P on the morning after CG vanished was SP to make sure CG was picked up by Susan . However the first thing he did was send fake texts from CG to himself and then he sent he back a text.
He says everyone is mistaken about what day the water skiing happened . I missed what the other witnesses have said but it is clear that he is full of himself and trying to distort.

He does try to look directly at the jury every time he answers a question and he expands on alot of the questions trying to put his fake emotional spin on things . He will turn and tell his answers to the jury until Spencer has him angry . I have noticed the jury did not look at him often. Like they didn't watch him while he was talking.
The story he is sticking to is the same ,but the facts he is trying to counter are catching him and forcing him to claim people are lying and mistaken everyone except him . There must have been 6 people that he claimed must have been lying or mistaken. His tone and behavior on the stand are at times not appropriate.

I didn't find him believable but I am very biased . I follow missing people news .I wish I could be more objective so I could feel out what the jury maybe be thinking but I cant . All though court yesterday he would say things that would hit a nerve with me that SHOW he cared nothing about CG being found and is only worried about how people view him. He is trying to play the victim . I hope it is transparent to the jury .

He hates SP. Claudine 's friend. He hates that people have the facebook page for CG . He makes mention of how he saw what people were posting about him ,and it was awful he says. Told the jury to look it up after the trial.
 
I'm really curious about the defense witness that claims to have seen her on a plane. Seems pretty easy to refute that, get the flight list, make sure everyone on the flight is a legitimate person (because if she was on a plane under her legitimate ID, we would have known about this already). Maybe even find the one that kinda sorta maybe looks like Claudine and refute it. In any case, I hope this testimony doesn't cast enough doubt to acquit him. What are the odds that someone who lives in Lively would be on a plane with her anyway? And what are the odds someone living in Lively doesn't know him or know someone who knows him, maybe that guy's testifying for his own reasons.

http://m.richmond.com/news/virginia/article_3356ca33-ee18-53ff-a37f-392f58712f99.html?mode=jqm

But in yet another twist in the case, a defense witness appeared Monday and said he saw Gifford on a plane flight to Richmond from Dallas.

“Why would l lie about a lady like that,” Richard A. Morgan Jr. told jurors, describing a flight in September last year in which the alleged victim passed by his seat several times.

Morgan was adamant under grueling questioning that he had seen Gifford on the flight, noting to jurors that posters for the missing woman “are on every telephone pole” near his home in Lively, a small town near Kilmarnock.
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I looked up Richard A Morgan in Lively, found a White Chapel Rd address. White Chapel Rd is the road that leads from the main road (Rt 3) to Kessler's family cabin on Hunton Farm Rd. I'd consider them neighbors, to be honest. Chance of that being an impartial witness -- pretty slim.

Screenshot from 2015-08-04 12:00:13.png
 
helpfulcharlie said:
I'm really curious about the defense witness that claims to have seen her on a plane. Seems pretty easy to refute that, get the flight list, make sure everyone on the flight is a legitimate person (because if she was on a plane under her legitimate ID, we would have known about this already). Maybe even find the one that kinda sorta maybe looks like Claudine and refute it. In any case, I hope this testimony doesn't cast enough doubt to acquit him. What are the odds that someone who lives in Lively would be on a plane with her anyway? And what are the odds someone living in Lively doesn't know him or know someone who knows him, maybe that guy's testifying for his own reasons.

http://m.richmond.com/news/virginia/article_3356ca33-ee18-53ff-a37f-392f58712f99.html?mode=jqm



I looked up Richard A Morgan in Lively, found a White Chapel Rd address. White Chapel Rd is the road that leads from the main road (Rt 3) to Kessler's family cabin on Hunton Farm Rd. I'd consider them neighbors, to be honest. Chance of that being an impartial witness -- pretty slim.

View attachment 79406
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I think they proved J.R is very bad at visual recognition . It was stated in court 1990 OR 91 under a bright harvest moon he mistook an Irish Setter for a cougar and shot and killed his neighbors dog. 20 years and I am sure his eye sigh has not improved.

Anyway the jury is still at the courthouse I just drove by and checked.
 
I wonder where TK was when the girl went missing 30 years ago. He would have been 23.
 
I believe wholeheartedly that he did it. The scary thing is that if he had been a little bit more mindful of evidence, there's a good chance he might have gotten away with it.
 
helpfulcharlie said:
I believe wholeheartedly that he did it. The scary thing is that if he had been a little bit more mindful of evidence, there's a good chance he might have gotten away with it.
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Those investigators were really good. Susan Page alerted them early on what she feared happened to Claudine . I think if Todd had more time before the investigators showed up it could have went different .

The most compelling evidence besides Todd himself ,was the cell phones and the bruise showing a hand print on his arm ,which was photographed early ,his bloody T shirt which was still in the laundry . If Susan page had not drove to the police station when she did and those investigators had not taken immediate action I think the bruise could have been lost and the shirt would have been gone. Thankfully those people in the critical ,period took the actions that they did.

Todd's brain was wired in addict mode . He had a bad coke problem and drinking problem .I don't know that he was capable of being more mindful at that time
 
They may still try and make a deal with this guy before his final sentencing in a few weeks. I'm sure they would very much like to know where he put her, and at this point, what does he have to lose by telling them ? He's looking at 45 years now versus the 20 they offered him, I'll bet that came as a big surprise.

He obviously didn't believe a jury would convict him because he is a narcissist and a B.S.'r just like Jodi Arias was. Now that they have convicted him though, he might well cough up the details in an attempt to get a lighter sentence in a few weeks.
 
still missing: http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/miss...ssing-america-65-people-still-missing-n691281

Claudine Jaquier Gifford, 43, was last seen late on the night of July 6, 2014, at Pelican's at the Point, a beachfront tiki bar in White Stone, Virginia. According to the bar manager, she consumed a "couple of drinks," and watched a band play. She was last seen by a witness, who said she was being helped out of the bar by her male acquaintance, James Todd Kessler. Kessler was the last person to see Claudine before she disappeared. After police investigated Kessler's home, traces of Claudine's blood were found, and he was charged in connection with her death. In August of 2015, a jury found Kessler guilty of second-degree murder and concealment of a body. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison for Claudine's murder. However, Claudine's body has still not been found. While the police consider the case closed, they are willing to assist in the search for Claudine's body if further leads become available.

claudine_jaquier_gifford_update_final_ebf536754e4ab42c9665a2ae8dac3031-nbcnews-ux-2880-1000_07e68f9a9d546d51aa4488c6c94d30f4.nbcnews-ux-600-700.jpg
 
JerseyGirl said:
still missing: http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/miss...ssing-america-65-people-still-missing-n691281

Claudine Jaquier Gifford, 43, was last seen late on the night of July 6, 2014, at Pelican's at the Point, a beachfront tiki bar in White Stone, Virginia. According to the bar manager, she consumed a "couple of drinks," and watched a band play. She was last seen by a witness, who said she was being helped out of the bar by her male acquaintance, James Todd Kessler. Kessler was the last person to see Claudine before she disappeared. After police investigated Kessler's home, traces of Claudine's blood were found, and he was charged in connection with her death. In August of 2015, a jury found Kessler guilty of second-degree murder and concealment of a body. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison for Claudine's murder. However, Claudine's body has still not been found. While the police consider the case closed, they are willing to assist in the search for Claudine's body if further leads become available.

claudine_jaquier_gifford_update_final_ebf536754e4ab42c9665a2ae8dac3031-nbcnews-ux-2880-1000_07e68f9a9d546d51aa4488c6c94d30f4.nbcnews-ux-600-700.jpg
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Wow, I just stumbled across this story today based on a Dateline Story- "Missing In America-three Years-65 Still Missing" on nbcews.com http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/miss...ssing-america-65-people-still-missing-n691281 and so have spent the day pretty much reading all I can about it on the interwebs....including here on Websleuths (which always has the best info :) ).

I live in the No.Va area and cannot believe Claudine's story didn't' make the news up here back in 2014-2015! I have an uncle who lives fairly close on the NNK (Montross) and plan to ask him about this next time I see him. I really wish we could give her daughter closure and find Claudine, even though I know it's probably hopeless after all this time.
 
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