What seems to have happened and has gone unnoticed is that there were two calls to the police. This one that keeps getting replayed over and over again informing them that BL was slapping and hitting her.
The other call was from the man named Chris and he reported that it was Gabby hitting BL. Two different calls with two different messages.
You reminded me of that because they stopped reporting on Chris's call to 911.
I think (imo) these calls were received by two different dispatchers, and only one of those complaints reached LE who arrived at the scene. I say this because they are operating as if it was Gabby doing the hitting from what Chris reported when he called.
Unless I missed something in the interaction with LE and the couple, there was never a mention of the report of Gabby being hit, they only seemed focused on BL being abused and the victim. It infuriates me how this call was handled.
I agree the officers on the scene should have known about both 911 calls. I also agree it's possible different dispatchers took the calls and didn't realize the witness accounts were different. Better procedures may be needed re: dispatch reporting.
But even if they
had known, I truly am not sure what should have been done differently
at the time. Sure, if the officers had a crystal ball to look into either the past or the future....But as I recall, GB admitted to being the abuser and one of the calls backed that up. The other call-- that BL was the abuser--
could have been consistent with BL pushing GP away as I believe that witness was driving by. It can be hard to observe accurately when driving a car. And eyewitness accounts are often wrong anyway.
I really don't see what else the officers could have done besides separate them for the night
even knowing everything that could be known at the time from the two calls. I don't see how they could arrest BL when there was as much (or more) evidence that GB was the abuser.
I admit I do NOT see white "finger marks" on Gabby's arm and the redness I see is ambiguous. Redness from a slap can last a pretty long time (as can sunburn and blotchiness from being emotional.) But skin blanching from being grabbed goes away almost immediately if the person is young and in reasonable health. So I don't see how white marks identifiable as finger marks could have been seen in person by the time the officers interacted with GB and body cams were on her.
None of us can know for sure, and that's partly what makes this so frustrating, but I seriously doubt GB would have had the sudden insight that she should immediately leave BL if she been taken in and had spoken to an abuse professional. GP was an adult. Her parents didn't like BL and she knew it. Her friends talked about multiple breakups and the relationship sometimes having the lowest lows in the past. I just don't think a random counselor or social worker could have waved a magic wand and immediately gotten her to leave him.
And so far as the Aug 12 LE stop "triggering" the murder.... that's a real stretch IMO given that GB didn't die for at least 2 weeks after that.
JMO