VA VA - Katelin Akens, 19, Springfield, 5 Dec 2015 #3

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ashhouston said:
This case reminds me of Heather Elvis no body no proof but you just can't go on a feeling it has to be by the books and jury likes to have evidence
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VA does not require a body to convict -- there is precedent. VA also allows conviction based on circumstantial evidence. Cell pings, contradictory statements as to his whereabouts, not appearing on cameras on where he said he was, being the last person seen with her...that is evidence.
 
TammyinVA said:
I'm of the opinion stepdad has to have connections with someone for why he wasn't investigated harder in the beginning. Why did the false story appear in the paper stating cameras confirmed he dropped her off when they didn't? I hear people say there isn't enough evidence, but in VA there have been convictions with less. He was the last person seen with her and he lied about where he dropped her off (confirmed by pings and cameras). He didn't call/text trying to reach her. He didn't join in on the search. He didn't go into work like he planned right afterwards and stopped going into work. These are all huge red flags. Other people have been charged and convicted for abduction based on that . Why did it take a month, as I recall, just to get a search warrant for his house? In VA people have been convicted with no body and only circumstantial evidence with no DNA. Is Spotsylvania just scared to try a case b/c he can afford an attorney? I don't get it.

Why is he special?
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In my opinion, he will be arrested, charged, prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison if law enforcement is ever able to unlock his phone. I think that they'll succeed eventually. (Unfortunately, he won't be executed; I was disgusted to learn that Virginia had abolished the death penalty.)
 
Ozoner said:
In my opinion, he will be arrested, charged, prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison if law enforcement is ever able to unlock his phone. I think that they'll succeed eventually. (Unfortunately, he won't be executed; I was disgusted to learn that Virginia had abolished the death penalty.)
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I'm surprised after all these years the FBI hasn't been able to unlock his phone...unless they haven't tried that hard.
 
deoneta said:
I wonder if this will be one of the cases like the ones we occasionally see on ID TV where a new prosecutor will figure that this case is not going to get any better and will go with a circumstantial/common sense theory of the crime. With no body and no forensics, it would come down to the persuasive powers of the prosecutor.
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Yes! I don't understand how this hasn't happened already. I'm no attorney but have served on a VA jury. Juries can convict in VA solely on circumstantial -- cell pings not aligning with where he said he dropped her off, contradictory texts/statements, being the last person to see her, not once reaching out to her or searching for her, not going into work again afterwards...people have been convicted with just as much if not less. VA has convicted on murder without DNA or a body. At a minimum I can't comprehend how he wasn't charged fairly early on with abduction -- perhaps more warrants could have been obtained then. He lawyered up and the county got scared to pursue it is all I can think of.
 
TammyinVA said:
Yes! I don't understand how this hasn't happened already. I'm no attorney but have served on a VA jury. Juries can convict in VA solely on circumstantial -- cell pings not aligning with where he said he dropped her off, contradictory texts/statements, being the last person to see her, not once reaching out to her or searching for her, not going into work again afterwards...people have been convicted with just as much if not less. VA has convicted on murder without DNA or a body. At a minimum I can't comprehend how he wasn't charged fairly early on with abduction -- perhaps more warrants could have been obtained then. He lawyered up and the county got scared to pursue it is all I can think of.
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Every district attorney is different. Some are afraid to take any case that isn't a slam-dunk.
 
Really wish they would list her missing place correctly. So many people recently moved to VA but they have no idea about the locations of places in the state. Or the geographical history or any kinda of history..
 
TammyinVA said:
Yes! I don't understand how this hasn't happened already. I'm no attorney but have served on a VA jury. Juries can convict in VA solely on circumstantial -- cell pings not aligning with where he said he dropped her off, contradictory texts/statements, being the last person to see her, not once reaching out to her or searching for her, not going into work again afterwards...people have been convicted with just as much if not less. VA has convicted on murder without DNA or a body. At a minimum I can't comprehend how he wasn't charged fairly early on with abduction -- perhaps more warrants could have been obtained then. He lawyered up and the county got scared to pursue it is all I can think of.
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In his entire history, from divorce to traffic infractions the man has never had a lawyer.
He stated his lawyer told him not to engage in a polygraph test but I don’t think he ever had a lawyer.
 
SimplyCass said:
If it's an iPhone, he may have "Erase Data" toggled which would wipe the phone after 10 failed attempts.

(Haven't read up on this case so apologies is it has been disclosed.)
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In 2015, that was a standard feature on iPhones but if it was a 2015 iPhone the FBI already has an exploit for it. They paid 2.4 million for the exploit to be developed after the SanBernadino shooting, it could be applied to an iPhone acquired during the same time range.
Due to an article listing Branton as a “techie” who “built his own phone” it is more like that he had a Google Project Ara
 
Fishfish said:
In his entire history, from divorce to traffic infractions the man has never had a lawyer.
He stated his lawyer told him not to engage in a polygraph test but I don’t think he ever had a lawyer.
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I don't think he ever felt empathy or knew the meaning of honesty and that's why he don't need a lawyer. He's special. The family is suffering so much, just gtf over yourself and realise you'll have it pretty cushy in there.
 
AliceInPain said:
I don't think he ever felt empathy or knew the meaning of honesty and that's why he don't need a lawyer. He's special. The family is suffering so much, just gtf over yourself and realise you'll have it pretty cushy in there.
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There are no points awarded to anyone for coming clean - ever.
Chris Watts confessed and everyone still crucified him.
 
Fishfish said:
There are no points awarded to anyone for coming clean - ever.
Chris Watts confessed and everyone still crucified him.
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"Crucified"? Dude brutally murdered his two little children and their pregnant mother. He is not an innocent lamb to be "crucified", that's some horribly bad word choice (and that's even without taking in the consideration that during his "confession" he tried to blame Shannan for everything). And the points for coming clean? No, it's not about points or any gain, it's about basic human decency. Sadly that one is unknown to both Watts and this dude.
 
Hexe said:
"Crucified"? Dude brutally murdered his two little children and their pregnant mother. He is not an innocent lamb to be "crucified", that's some horribly bad word choice (and that's even without taking in the consideration that during his "confession" he tried to blame Shannan for everything). And the points for coming clean? No, it's not about points or any gain, it's about basic human decency. Sadly that one is unknown to both Watts and this dude.
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I think you’re forgetting that people didn’t crucify “innocent lambs”. Your outrage indicates that you only understand they crucified one innocent “lamb” but my use of the word crucify is being used in the absolute correct context here.
My issue is with people saying someone should “just come clean”. I would estimate at 99.9% of people do not operate on common decency or altruistically, but tend to do what is in their best interest, so there would need to be some benefit in just coming clean for anyone to do it.

Watts confessed to save everyone the ordeal of a trial and gave a subsequent interview at no benefit to himself to fill in holes and questions people had. While his crimes were horrific and cannot be understated, he did assist law enforcement in gaining an understanding which can be leveraged for future investigations.
I do wish further investigation would be done into the “Energy” patches his was using. They have high levels of green coffee extract and he was over using them but I digress.

In relation to James Branton, the local news ran a headline six days after Miss Akens went missing stating that police had corroborated his story of dropping her off at the mall. So they either failed to do their job or they made some assumptions at the beginning of the case which isn’t completely implausible considering Branton attended high school with the lead of the Spotsylvania investigation unit and went to school
And was in Boy Scouts with the son of a detective who is part of the investigation unit.

They also stated that all of his cell phone pings for communications that day came from his home. How do we explain that? he was remoted into a cell phone that he left at home? It’s not impossible, Given the technology that existed in 2015 and the fact that he was listed in a different article as a “techie” who built his own phone.

I doubt investigators make such leaps when looking into things though - but could it be possible that James Branton had nothing to do with her disappearance which is why he’s never been listed as a person of interest or suspect. (I’m not saying I agree with that But I can see where it’s hard to associate him with this.)
 
TammyinVA said:
VA does not require a body to convict -- there is precedent. VA also allows conviction based on circumstantial evidence. Cell pings, contradictory statements as to his whereabouts, not appearing on cameras on where he said he was, being the last person seen with her...that is evidence.
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You know it’s incredibly interesting about this statement?
James Kessler was convicted of a murder without a body in VA. His trial was held in Spotsylvania due to an argument that the trial would not be impartial in Lancaster and was reported on in the local news on Dec 4th 2015, the day before Miss Akens disappeared.
 
dyannaON said:
Has there been any movement in Heathers case from VA?
I know this is Katelins thread but how is it possible that there is NO news. Nothing. What is going on? Katelin just vanished and it seems like everyone( I know not everyone but you know what I mean) doesn't care!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Heathers murders were convicted and none of it was related to this case.
 
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