AL - Karen Shahan, 53, murdered, Homewood, 23 July 2013 #1

[LambChop]

I'm confused.. if the police were so aware of Shahan's plans to leave the country and were all A-OK with it, why would they have him red-flagged in case of attempts to do exactly that?

Also the whole 'wanted' thing.. is this implying that he was wanted for homicide prior to this arrest? How is he 'wanted' if they knew exactly where to find him..?

:waitasec:

If RS were in another state living with one of his children local LE would have had to do it exactly the way it was done. It appears he could have already been out of the state and obviously LE did not have a problem with that. They just did not want him leaving the country from the looks of it.

I think they knew exactly where he was and they had no problem with it at the time. LE just did not want him getting beyond their reach. If they could not speak with him to tell him "officially" not to leave the country until they were finished with their investigation then that would explain why RS felt comfortable disclosing his plans. jmo

 

[LambChop]

This update I found to be interesting in that it does NOT coincide with the claim that Richard Shahan is the one who resigned/retired from the church on 12/31/13..

According to the above sourced MSM Richard Shahan has not been employed with the church for a few weeks now when they took him off of paid administrative leave and no longer were employing him..

That is very much different than him retiring/resigning/choosing to leave his employment with the church on 12/31/13..jmo, tho.

Who is this information coming from? Did RS have a press release? Would you be surprised if MSM got something wrong. I don't remember who said he was retiring on 12/31/13? Does anyone remember who reported this date and what was reported?

 

[Salem]

Where is it stated that RS is a homosexual? I have not seen that in any MSM or LE reports. Where is this info coming from, please.

Salem

 

[Fairy1]

I seem to recall - early on - reading about financial issues in the past. Does anyone remember the details? Have to go back....

 

[LambChop]

Here is something interesting. It's the May issue in which they mention RS going to Kazakhstan. So this trip has been planned for awhile and it was a return trip for him as he has been there before in 2012.

http://fbcbirmingham.org/wp-content/...NEWSLETTER.pdf

 

[i.b.nora]

In the Police Chief's press conference, a question was posed by a reporter regarding a 'special man friend who is a florist'.

 

[SmoothOperator]

Who is this information coming from? Did RS have a press release? Would you be surprised if MSM got something wrong. I don't remember who said he was retiring on 12/31/13? Does anyone remember who reported this date and what was reported?

Nope, LambChop I wouldn't be shocked to find out one of the MSM outlets are misreporting facts of a case.. It certainly does happen but, at this point its what is considered as being a linkable, assumed correct statement from MSM.. and that's the basis for my comment regarding the seeming inconsistency between this latest, *supposedly* confirmed update and the claim that Richard resigned/retired/chose to leave his employment with the church on 12/31/13...

I guess as with most other issues and cases we'll just have to wait and see, but again I'm just going by what we regularly use as basis for opinions/theories in any case..that being a legitimate, linkable MSM..

As for the claim of Shahan's choosing to leave his employment with the church as of 12/31/13 I will have to go back and do a search on this thread as I know that we have the answer to where this claim originated somewhere in these last few pages of posts.. I'll do it as soon as my tablet settles down from my burning up the refresh button trying to connect to the WS server..lol.. Its one of those occasions of WS keeps booting my butt off..lol.. Even tho, I have so much to say..lol..maybe its a sign for me to log off for the night..

 

[Salem]

Who is this information coming from? Did RS have a press release? Would you be surprised if MSM got something wrong. I don't remember who said he was retiring on 12/31/13? Does anyone remember who reported this date and what was reported?

There was a statement from the Church that Rev. S resigned, effective 12/31/13 to begin a new missionary in Germany/Kazastan (sp?). It was posted and linked around the same time the news of his arrest was being linked.

Salem

 

[Salem]

In the Police Chief's press conference, a question was posed by a reporter regarding a 'special man friend who is a florist'.

I missed the press conference. I'll see if I can find it.

Salem

 

[SmoothOperator]

Here is something interesting. It's the May issue in which they mention RS going to Kazakhstan. So this trip has been planned for awhile and it was a return trip for him as he has been there before in 2012.

http://fbcbirmingham.org/wp-content/...NEWSLETTER.pdf

IIRC this newsletter is from May 2012.. I linked to this same PDF newsletter much earlier in the case and even posted the direct quotes from it regarding Richards mission trip.. again IIRC this particular newsletter is from MAY 2012.

 

[Salem]

Here's a timeline/media/resource thread for this case. Let's start linking some of this stuff up so it can be found again.

Salem

 

[Salem]

http://fbcbirmingham.org

January 2, 2014

All of us were saddened by the unexpected news that Richard Shahan was arrested by Homeland Security just moments before his planned flight departure for Frankfurt, Germany. There he was to assume his new role working with the Children's ministry of Bible Mission International, primarily in Kazakhstan.

As we know, on November 29 Richard announced his plans to pursue this mission ministry. His resignation from First Baptist Church of Birmingham was effective December 31, 2013.

Our Prayers go to out Richard and his family. We trust that eventually truth and justice can prevail.

Bumping for LambChop and Smooth Operator.

Salem

 

[LambChop]

IIRC this newsletter is from May 2012.. I linked to this same PDF newsletter much earlier in the case and even posted the direct quotes from it regarding Richards mission trip.. again IIRC this particular newsletter is from MAY 2012.

Okay. I just saw May thinking it was this year.

Also RS was on paid administrative leave which I assume is FMLA. The church just can't release information regarding that or what his plans were to terminate. He had been in Kazakhstan prior so I could see him wanting to go back there if there were no longer any ties to keep him here. It appears his mission work was important to him. So I could see him wanting to move on and not be under foot with his family. I can see the church too suggesting he retire so they and their members can move on. If the community is split in how they feel about RS as a suspect I can see both the side of the church and RS' in removing himself from the area. jmo

 

[LambChop]

Let's be mindful of name calling also. Rumors are not facts. Questions a reporter might have asked in a press conference that were not answered are not facts. jmo

 

[SmoothOperator]

Here is something interesting. It's the May issue in which they mention RS going to Kazakhstan. So this trip has been planned for awhile and it was a return trip for him as he has been there before in 2012.

http://fbcbirmingham.org/wp-content/...NEWSLETTER.pdf

I know for me I am not disputing the fact that this man had previously been involved in overseas missions, nor am I disputing that there very well could have been further missions planned for him to go overseas again..

For me its the simple fact that the man is the prime and only suspect in his wife's brutal murder.. This changes any overseas long term(as in several years) mission trips that are specifically in locations outside of the U.S.. IMO its straight up SOP for POIS/Suspects to not be permitted to travel out of the country at any time during the active homicide investigation.. add to that, that Richard Shahan IMO, is far more than merely being one of the POIs in his wife's murder investigation.. he is/and has been the prime and ONLY suspect in his wife's murder..along with the fact that this overseas mission trip being for a lengthy duration of several years.. well, IMO these circumstances do not allow for the man to just traipse off out of the country..regardless of when or how long ago the mission trips were talked about or planned..

All jmo, tho.

 

[pastorpk]

I wonder why he was flying out of Nashville instead of Birmingham.

1. No direct flights to Germany from Bham
2. His children live in TN

 

[i.b.nora]

The Police Chief's press conference made it fairly clear about why he was arrested, when he was arrested, where he was arrested. IMO.

He said they learned when he was leaving but did not know from which airport.

 

[LambChop]

I know for me I am not disputing the fact that this man had previously been involved in overseas missions, nor am I disputing that there very well could have been further missions planned for him to go overseas again..

For me its the simple fact that the man is the prime and only suspect in his wife's brutal murder.. This changes any overseas long term(as in several years) mission trips that are specifically in locations outside of the U.S.. IMO its straight up SOP for POIS/Suspects to not be permitted to travel out of the country at any time during the active homicide investigation.. add to that, that Richard Shahan IMO, is far more than merely being one of the POIs in his wife's murder investigation.. he is/and has been the prime and ONLY suspect in his wife's murder..along with the fact that this overseas mission trip being for a lengthy duration of several years.. well, IMO these circumstances do not allow for the man to just traipse off out of the country..regardless of when or how long ago the mission trips were talked about or planned..

All jmo, tho.

He was out of state. If he were named a suspect, which means they would have contacted his attorney, he could not have left the state. He did and they let him. So it appears he was not named a person of interest, at least in RS' eyes. I think LE feared they would never be able to bring him back if he left and they obviously are not finished with their investigation or he would have been arrested months ago.

We didn't know he was a prime suspect because MSM was never told he was, nor apparently was RS. What we have to wait for is the evidence because right now there is none that we know of? A lot of hints but nothing set in stone. jmo

 

[pastorpk]

Where is it stated that RS is a homosexual? I have not seen that in any MSM or LE reports. Where is this info coming from, please.

Salem

Salem-people seem to be drawing a erroneous conclusion due to a reporter question at the Homewood PD press conference asking if there was truth about a special friend that worked at a florist shop.

 

[Salem]

So it sounds like the gay talk is just rumor. Let's drop it for now. If something comes out in the media, we can revisit the issue.

Salem