Found Deceased VA - Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, Charlottesville, 17 Oct 2009 - #15

[gregjrichards]

Question: Have the police said whether they think Morgan was killed by one suspect or multiple suspects? They haven't released much info but maybe one of the policemen on the case said something I missed.

Because if the newspaper delivery lady's sighting was accurate and Morgan was indeed seen with three men, then it's not too far a stretch to think that maybe she was killed by more than one suspect. And I find it hard to believe that three guys could commit a murder as violent as Morgan's (broken bones and other serious injuries were confirmed) without any evidence showing multiple people were involved.

I know only one man has been linked to both Morgan and a 2005 rape case, but it doesn't rule out that maybe he's teamed up with someone (or multiple people?) later on.

Great questions Migmuu welcome to Websleuths and thank you for your post. Hopefully someone here will be able to answer your questions. I don't remember the police mentioning more than one suspect. There has not been much information made available to the public about possible suspects at all sadly.

 

[clarabelle]

I think the point the Harringtons are trying to make is that Morgan was intoxicated, bleeding etc. and nobody tried to help her.

JMO.

I hope and pray this case gets solved and very fast.

I think the Harringtons are trying to put the blame on anyone for the situation Morgan put herself in other than Morgan herself. Hiring a PR firm, glossing over Morgan's friends lack of concern of her leaving the concert and finding her way home, and now filling this lawsuit seems to be denial on their part that their adult intoxicated daughter bears any responsibility for her actions that night. I don't believe this lawsuit is about ensuring the safety of other young women.

 

[stmarysmead]

The "friends" are going to be in an interesting situation if this goes to trial. They will be asked about events leading up to their arrival at the Arena. They will be asked about Morgan's condition, her trip to the bathrooom, her demeanor and the conversation on the phone. It defies logic that these girls "who loved Morgan" just let her stand outside while they enjoyed a concert on tickets HER PARENTS PROVIDED....orthat they allowed her to seek other, dangerous ways home...rather than give her the keys to HER OWN CAR!

Is this what the Harringtons really want?

 

[SK_Hunter]

Please ignore if already discussed.

Came across this article:
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/crime/article_090b4d6c-3a69-11e2-8491-0019bb30f31a.html

The suspect, James Kevin Key (since exonerated) strikes a remarkable resemblance to the POI in the Morgan Harrington case:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/morgan-harrington-murder-investigation-fbi-releases-revised-sketch/story?id=16494885

Key is also a housekeeping supervisor at the University of Virginia.
Did he know Morgan??
Did he run into her the night of the concert?
Offered her a ride?

Did he know Morgan? The following excerpt is taken from the comments section of linked article. It purports to be from a UVA student.
http://www.readthehook.com/108843/bail-denied-alleged-abductor-had-booked-hotel-room

" UVA_Student December 1st, 2012 | 10:23pm

Mr. Key is my residential hall's facility manager, and his office is quite close to my room."

Can someone find out if Key was the Facility Manger for Morgans residential hall?
If yes, where was his office in association with her room?
If yes, did police interview him?
Did they notice he resembled the composites?

James Kevin Key:

- Facility Supervisor at UVA. May have known MH. TBD
- 47+ years old. Fits profile and timelines of the linked cases.
- Resembles composites
- Recently and controversially cleared of an Abduction charge
- Has access to students.
- Lives\Lived near the vicinity of the crimes.
- Lives with Parent(s). A determinant that is frequently used in Profiles.

Is his DNA on file?
Any ties to the Farm?

Standard Procedure - Closest to Furthest: UVA
- Her room
- Her floor
- Her Residence Hall
- All Residence Halls.
- The whole campus
- All Staff
- All Facility
- All Students
- All Service Employees
- All visitors

Who had accesses?
Teachers, Students, Facility, Family to all or some of these areas?
Have any been accused or convicted in an associative type crime? Assault? Robbery? Abduction?
Anyone with access to an area where multiple incidents have taken place? Student? Teacher? Guard?
Do any match the circulated composites?

If that yields nothing of value, then apply that methodology to the surrounding neighborhoods, towns, cities and counties. These types get arrested every day failing in their attempts to commit larger crimes. Patterns arise because they never stop at one, nor are they only arrested once. I find a lot of value in the "MugShot" websites that are accessible online these days. Its nice to see the faces of crime, especially when you are looking, for one.

http://www.bustedmugshots.com/virginia

IMO

Hope this helps...

 

[Georgiasmom]

Morgan was not a UVA student. She was a student at Virginia Tech which is in Blacksburg, about a two hour drive from Charlottesville.

I think the man you are talking about was exonerated in the case you described.

Jmo

 

[missgulfsouth]

Still praying for justice for Morgan, been thinking about her today.....

 

[Walker]

Question: Have the police said whether they think Morgan was killed by one suspect or multiple suspects? They haven't released much info but maybe one of the policemen on the case said something I missed.

Because if the newspaper delivery lady's sighting was accurate and Morgan was indeed seen with three men, then it's not too far a stretch to think that maybe she was killed by more than one suspect. And I find it hard to believe that three guys could commit a murder as violent as Morgan's (broken bones and other serious injuries were confirmed) without any evidence showing multiple people were involved.

I know only one man has been linked to both Morgan and a 2005 rape case, but it doesn't rule out that maybe he's teamed up with someone (or multiple people?) later on.

We don't know the number of perps. My own theory is that a group was to blame; however, the "single perp" theory is more popular. The evidence seems to point to a group: 1. the tee shirt found in the student neighborhood in C'ville; 2. Joe Rader
Retired Lieutenant, Virginia State Police made a statement suggesting that there was a witness who was sickened by the incident; 3. strange photos of AF appeared on Facebook, one of which apparently matched news photos of section of AF where MH's body was found.

A crazed psychotic killer wouldn't bother about the Panthera tee shirt. The shirt points to someone who thought the tee shirt was important; therefore, someone young, naive, maybe a girl, involved with music scene. She may have been trying to cover for a bf, or a group; distract LE from searching in the area of AF; or make some statement.


Rader's Letter:
http://media2.wavy.com/html/PDFs/joeraderletter.pdf

Quote: "I know YOU have a conscience because you consider these things and it makes you nauseated!"

Possibly points to a sensitive young person, maybe a girl or woman.


The meaning of the AF photos on FB may not be obvious, and perhaps was unknown even to the person who posted them. They are no longer available on Facebook.

 

[Vabrownid1]

:blushing: I am totally lost with the "AF" suggestions above. Is it a person or a place?

 

[Vabrownid1]

OH! Anchorage Farm??

 

[Walker]

:blushing: I am totally lost with the "AF" suggestions above. Is it a person or a place?

AF refers to Anchorage Farm, a large, privately-owned, cattle farm, upon which MH's body was found in January 2010.

 

[Walker]

Speculation: Lt. Rader's suggestion of a potential witness may have been based on forensic evidence found near MH's body which indicated that someone who had been at the crime scene had been physically ill. Maybe they had a DNA sample to indicate that this person was not MH and not "Sketch." We don't know when this person was there; whether during the actual murder, or at some point later; but if Sketch is a lone psycho-killer, seems unlikely that he would inform someone else of the location of the remains of the victim.

Also, the tone of the letter suggests that the witness is basically a decent person who is haunted by the horrifying crime. Witness may have played a role in the crime, but this person is not one of the perps. Therefore, MH did not simply hitchhike alone with a stranger.

 

[Trident]

The "friends" are going to be in an interesting situation if this goes to trial. They will be asked about events leading up to their arrival at the Arena. They will be asked about Morgan's condition, her trip to the bathrooom, her demeanor and the conversation on the phone. It defies logic that these girls "who loved Morgan" just let her stand outside while they enjoyed a concert on tickets HER PARENTS PROVIDED....orthat they allowed her to seek other, dangerous ways home...rather than give her the keys to HER OWN CAR!

Is this what the Harringtons really want?

Maybe the above is the whole point of the "suit"?

 

[clarabelle]

Maybe the above is the whole point of the "suit"?

I think the Harringtons already know what the friends had to say about that night and they seem to have made a big effort to cover it up. This should get interesting.

 

[Walker]

I think the Harringtons already know what the friends had to say about that night and they seem to have made a big effort to cover it up. This should get interesting.

Who seems to have made a big effort to cover it up? Do you mean the Harringtons or the friends she went to see the Metallica concert with?

Speculation: "Group #1" whom MH went to see Metallica with were basically nice, trustworthy friends. They didn't give her the car keys because she had been drinking. MH's phone call may not have conveyed any urgency. MH's parents approved of MH socializing with them.

However, MH's parents would probably have strongly disapproved of "Group #2" that gathered at AF that night. Group #2 has no association with AF or the family that owns AF. Maybe MH had been invited to some event at AF with Group #2 & used the Metallica concert as a cover since it happened to be on the same night & at a nearby location.

MH herself was ambivalent about seeing Group #2. The hitchhiking on the bridge could have been a last-minute impulse to escape her planned meet-up with them. Group #2 was into witchcraft or something creepy and cultish along those lines.

 

[LillyRush]

:what:

Hindsight is a great thing IMHO. Alot of things could have been done differently like her friends calling her parents, the lady that was delivering the newspaper talking to her or the people who talked to her outside insisting on help for her.

Sadly it won't bring Morgan back.

Kiwi, I hear you. I'm just saying we don't know all of the motivations behind this suit, but I don't think money is one of them. Maybe there have been some suspicions about a member of the security staff being involved and they are just trying to shake things up. I agree with you about the friends, plus the others who could have stepped in, and thank my lucky stars that I had some pretty good friends who had a buddy system back in the day. I personally don't say a whole lot about her friends because it seems that Morgan's family does not want them to be blamed. But, I guess a lot of things might have to be discussed as a result of this suit that they might not have otherwise wanted discussed. :fence:

 

[Walker]

Did the concert arena do anything wrong? The only suggestion of possible mishandling of the situation is that perhaps the staff at the front door was abusive in how they ordered MH to go away. The Hook mentioned that one of the witnesses described a "commotion" at the entrance. Was the staff yelling at her and being unnecessarily rude? If MH were depressed at the time, this type of treatment could have caused her great psychological harm.

Still, the key to solving what happened that night is to find out who were members of "Group 2" as I described above. If MH valued their companionship more than her high school (& middle school friends) with whom she was attending the concert; then maybe they were her college friends? After all, she was a junior @ VTech; VTech would be the center of her social life. VTech is the missing un-talked-about link.

A lot of people were displeased when I suggested that Sketch was a foreign student/graduate student or H1B (technical professional on a foreign visa). Maybe after the events in Boston this April, they might re-consider. VTech itself has had a few memorable incidents of foreigner violence.

If the (possible) witness has kept quiet, her reason may be loyalty to Sketch. Did any of MH's VTech associates have a close relationship with a foreigner?

Also, what was the big attraction to AF? Group #2 must have seemed glamorous and exciting in some way. MH's parents approved the Metallica concert. The heavy metal band appeals to a diverse age set, and generally they would be a more civil audience than perhaps some local group with a reputation at VTech. In other words, would the crowd at AF that night include members of (just for example) a notorious band which might impress her college peers? Not that the gathering necessarily had anything to do with music; but she went out of her way to AF on a cold, miserable, rainy October night, despite her fears. Why?

 

[Foxfire]

Shawn Curtis, certainly has the obvious traits of a violent sadistic sociopath. What do you think about the resemblance to the FBI Sketch for the suspect/poi in Morgan Harrington's abduction/murder?
Curtis had shaved his beard to change his appearance after the NJ home invasion. I am not very good at comparing photos to sketches but his beard seems unique, imo..
Guess, we will see once his dna is taken, if not in FBI CODIS and is allowed before conviction by NJ DNA Laws...


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...d=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec1_lnk2&pLid=338059

Shawn Custis Arrested For NJ Nanny Cam Home Invasion

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/june/help-FBI-catch-morgan-harrington-killer

FBI: Morgan Harrington - Help Us Catch a Killer
Unknown Offender Linked by DNA in Two Separate Cases

 

[Foxfire]

Photo of Shawn Curtis when arrested. Note the shaved head & beard in an attempt to change his appearance;

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/06/29/article-2351447-1A915206000005DC-518_634x457.jpg

- Once he was exposed by ms media & his mug went viral on the internet. He became the hunted/prey...

 

[Foxfire]

Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Union) is introducing a “Home Invasion Law” which would upgrade a home-invasion from a third-degree to a second-degree crime, his office said.

“Under current law, some burglary offenses must be prosecuted as a third-degree crime,” Bramnick said. “Criminals could potentially walk away from a home invasion without facing jail time.” read more..

http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2...vasion_prompts_bill_stiffening_penalties.html

 

[danzn16]

Really good thinking Foxfire!! I am so glad this home invasion guy was caught. He is very violent. That woman was not resisting him. I think he looks similar enough to compare with. I do hope the fact that he is now imprisoned means his DNA is taken and compared in the database for other crimes.