I think the plantiff's clearly made the case for murder. This was no suicide. Adam very clearly had something to do with it for this fact alone: his completely different accounts of what happened the very moment it happened. He is on the call with 911 saying he's doing all these crazy things which are highly doubtful. Within two hours, he's describing that to the cops as he did all of that, THEN called 911. Then, he tries to cover his tracks with, "if not before." It is absolutely not possible to not know if you are on the phone with 911 when you cut that body down (holding her in one hand, a knife in the other, on a 3-legged table). His 911 call in its own right is indicative of all the characteristics which would suggest he was involved in the crime--he's not asking someone to hurry & help, he adds spurious information, such as: I jus woke up. But combined with the story discrepancies removes any doubt for me of his involvement.
Also, he cannot give real chest compressions with her hands tied behind her back. He's LYING. He is also lying about how well he knows those knots & when you add that to contradicting himself that morning, he is definitively a participant in this crime. Could other people have ALSO participated? Maybe. Could other people have asked him to do it? Maybe. But, for all the emphasis on how cooperative he was, the guy could not get his story straight.
Unfortunately, the statement where he totally contradicts what he says he's doing that morning (highly damning) may not have gotten in front of jury. I was hoping/waiting for Lezah's recap of the direct questioning of Adam, but I haven't heard it mentioned. I am wondering, then, if this questioning which took place directly before the polygraph, is not being allowed it in, even though it wasn't part of the actual polygraph. If not, there SHOULD be recorded detective interrogations which would similarly show inconsistencies, but who knows with this LE team ...
The family wants, more than anything, justice for Rebecca. That means a REAL investigation into what happened to her. I think a victory in this courtroom would be some consolation because it would be a jury saying Rebecca didn't commit suicide like that--what a horrible thing for the family to have to bear: this violent crime scene & cops saying: "Meh, she just wasn't happy, you know." Even if this stood as split forever (suicide with LE and civil responsibility for AS), which would not be ideal outcome, they were still able to highlight the investigation's glaring holes and get truth outside of the corrupted SDSO.
No--they are not in it for money. It is expensive & time consuming to fight as hard as they have all this time. You HAVE to ask for damages, that is the point of a civil trial, but asking for (and even being awarded) $10m doesn't mean you'll GET $10m. They are very aware there is no $ with AS. It just means that Adam would have to pay a little bit out of any money he brings in as a reminder of what he did & also any windfall would at least be tapped. No money is going to bring back Rebecca, they really just want some truth to come out. I think the SDSO case was torn apart in cross of the lead detective. If the media reported on that honestly (instead of just saying but there was no DNA over & over), that alone would be some amount of a victory for this long-suffering family.
