Brooke Bennett, 12 yrs. old Randolph, VT #11

[believe09]

Here is another piece of inside information that I have. I was hanging out with my friend who is also Cassandra's friend on Wednesday night July 25th. I remember the time and date precisely because we were waiting in line for our turn to do videos at a Survivor Open Casting Call that was at the University mall in Burlington, VT.

Anyway, We got there at around 5:30 PM, and we had been there around 30 minutes when my friend got a call on his cell phone. It was Cassandra very upset, crying, saying Brooke was missing and asking if my friend had seen her daughter. I don't know why she called my friend because he doesn't really know her kids. I think he was and still is a source of daily support for her and she thought just in case he had happened to see her daughter since he had driven up to Burlington that day.

It worried my friend but he couldn't really do anything. So anyway, she was crying and just about hysterical at 6pm regardless of when or who actually reported her missing.

i am certain you meant June 25th, but wow-I wonder if she just wanted to share or was genuinely panicked because she had clearly lost track of her daughter, and perhaps had not been paying attention to her wear abouts for a while? It's kind of like Russian roulette-you convince yourself everything will be fine until it all goes horribly wrong....

 

[missVT77]

Well I would feel hesitation in calling LE, especially with a teenager. Someone said, I'm not sure if it was here or where I heard this, that the family waited until the last possible moment where she COULD be home from Dartmouth if her cover story (which they all believed at the time) was true. Like the end of visiting hours + travel time.

 

[believe09]

ok she's calling friends, crying at 6pm.... what happens in those three hours that she still doesn't call herself? what stops her? my first gut reaction would be to call the last person I KNEW she was with... then 911 and from there on what LE told me to do.

Oh you know she called MJ/Denise/AR at some point....you absolutely positively know she called them first. And like Adnoid said ages ago-they did not call LE because they knew, even if it was just in their hearts, that it had something to do with him...JMO.

 

[missVT77]

Whoops, thanks, I will go back and edit my post.

i am certain you meant June 25th, but wow-I wonder if she just wanted to share or was genuinely panicked because she had clearly lost track of her daughter, and perhaps had not been paying attention to her wear abouts for a while? It's kind of like Russian roulette-you convince yourself everything will be fine until it all goes horribly wrong....

 

[believe09]

Well I would feel hesitation in calling LE, especially with a teenager. Someone said, I'm not sure if it was here or where I heard this, that the family waited until the last possible moment where she COULD be home from Dartmouth if her cover story (which they all believed at the time) was true. Like the end of visiting hours + travel time.

Hmmm-I could be pursuaded that this is the case too! i never thought of that.

 

[becca]

Well I would feel hesitation in calling LE, especially with a teenager. Someone said, I'm not sure if it was here or where I heard this, that the family waited until the last possible moment where she COULD be home from Dartmouth if her cover story (which they all believed at the time) was true. Like the end of visiting hours + travel time.

The hole in that would be who was the friend and who was driving them? Did Cassandra even know that info? one quick phone call puts that to bed and on to 911.

 

[gigi2009]

SERIOUSLY?????!!!!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Does anyone know if the family friend was another parent? Or a kid?

Also, AR has a facebook page as well as myspace.


ETA----there also happens to be a myspace page in their circle of friends that has a "sam" same b-day as brooke.

I am reposting this in case it got missed. So does anyone know if it was an adult that first clued in mom or another kid?

 

[Carrington]

They (family) didn't even have a clue who the friend was that she was supposed to go the hospital with, as far as I can tell.
IMO

 

[missVT77]

For her to call my friend about her missing daughter meant to me that she was basically calling everyone in her phone book.

 

[MCDRAW]

Its further apart than I thought, but its still possible some people do drive a distance to work everyday.

I don't know what type of work they did but I don't think there is much available in Anniston. Most people that live in Cullman work either in Birmingham or Huntsville. Then again I don't know what type of work either of them did/do. So it is possible.

 

[MCDRAW]

The hole in that would be who was the friend and who was driving them? Did Cassandra even know that info? one quick phone call puts that to bed and on to 911.

I'm sure MJ was telling the story and made it very believable. On the other hand, Police tend to think that teenagers are runaways before they believe they are missing.

 

[CarpeDiem]

Like I said REDFLAGS. What is wrong with these people? Do they do everything that MJ says ? ( I know we have no hard evidence that he wanted them to wait) but it all seems so obvious that someone or something made them delay or not want to call at all.

Absolutely, I'm sure they got all kinds of stories from MJ about where the girls were, why they don't need to worry. I bet AR was also instructed to ignore any calls from them until late that night. I'm interested in the family friend part. Is it just someone they were bitching to about Brooke not being home, and they said "this is bull, doesn't add up"? I'm not sure how negligent I feel they were that day until we know when Brooke was suppossed to be home from the sleepover at her cousins and who was suppossed to get her home. Is that how the family friend got involved, they were to pick Brooke up from MJ's and take her home??

Edited to add, forget all that, LOL, because it's not fitting with what MissVT just said about her friend's phone call, and now Cassandra is hysterical three hours before the police are even called.

 

[DeltaDawn]

I am trying to figure how MJ had enough time to rape, torture, murder Brooke and then clean up, dispose of the body and all evidence..even the machine? He had to have help in this somewhere along the line that morning into afternoon into evening.

Denise had to know something about her husband and her daughter..I just don't buy her total lack of knowledge about those two. There had to be tons of , gadgets, etc around that house and tons of clues with her daughter..that she just chose to ignore.

I think that MJ and whoever else was involved all covered for MJ until they thought they had everything in order. Thank God someone outside the family finally convinced Mom and Grandmom to let them call the police. Otherwise they might have waited until morning to call. Which was extactly what MJ wanted..then they would thin she ran off with someone on the internet.

I think they fancied themselves in the business (MJ, Gagnon and the man in Texas, Kevin). I think the ultimate was to have a movie where a child was raped, tortured on this machine and then died due to the extreme nature of the the machine, dying from too much violent sex..and I think that is what the autospy will reveal. The machine damaged her so much that she was bleeding and vital organs punctured.

 

[Medea]

I think Cassandra's statements aren't doing her any favors in regards to public relations, that's for sure. But I believe she is in emotional pain so intense. Hell if this case keeps ME up at night, who is a stranger to her daughter, she must not have slept a wink since it happened. They probably have to keep her medicated.

I can't summon up more than the basic sympathy that she never expected her daughter would be murdered by Jacques.

She never let her be alone with him? What a crock. I suppose the other "adult" was his worthless, look the other way wife, her sister Denise, who is so blindingly stupid she allegedly had no idea her own daughter was being raped and turned into a predator right under her nose.

This man was accused of rape by a family member and CONVICTED of aggravated rape and kidnapping!!!!!!!!

I wouldn't let any adult woman I know go near someone with that kind of record, let alone condone an idiot sister to marry him or let my young daughter EVER be in his presence.

Cassandra is pathetic excuse for a mother.

Not to mention HER OWN ex husband the conneseur of Russian child who had no problem having sex with his 13 year old niece.

 

[Busylady]

Do you think during that 3 hours Cassandra would of called Brookes dad to see if he had seen her? I would think that would be one of the first people she called. So why didnt he call police? As far as the friend calling police, maybe the friend was there with Cassandra, Cassandra was too upset friend dialed 911 and then handed the phone to Cassandra after police answered.

 

[Medea]

I am trying to figure how MJ had enough time to rape, torture, murder Brooke and then clean up, dispose of the body and all evidence..even the machine? He had to have help in this somewhere along the line that morning into afternoon into evening.

Denise had to know something about her husband and her daughter..I just don't buy her total lack of knowledge about those two. There had to be tons of , gadgets, etc around that house and tons of clues with her daughter..that she just chose to ignore.

I think that MJ, Denise and whoever else was involved all covered for MJ until they thought they had everything in order, then someone outside finally convinced Mom and Grandmom to let them call the police.

My guess is that Brooke was accidentally killed during the initial rape, MJ probably strangled her. I doubt he had time to use much of his torture devices on her.

 

[missVT77]

> My guess is that Brooke was accidentally killed during the initial rape, MJ probably strangled her. I doubt he had time to use much of his torture devices on her.

Yes this is my thought and hope as well. He only had until maybe 5pm I think when his wife probably got home from work to do whatever. Everything including hide the body probably. And that involved digging a big hole.

I think maybe very early on he realized it wouldn't be as easy as he thought and abandoned any elaborate plans in hope of trying to cover it up and save his own from life in prison.

 

[missVT77]

> Do you think during that 3 hours Cassandra would of called Brookes dad to see if he had seen her? I would think that would be one of the first people she called. So why didnt he call police?

Well I am sure they called Brooke's father, but he does not have custody of his daughter and probably isn't involved in her life enough to know any better then they do but to believe the cover story until it is shown false.

 

[Medea]

I am still uncertain as to WHAT he planned to do w/Brooke...so much planning to just kill her right off seems odd.

I think he may have had a place he was going to take her and hold her hostage, even though thats more out of a bad movie than real life, there are people who keep sex slaves and this seems to make more sense given the elaborate planning he did and the getting of his step daugther involved.

But, with someone who has sunk to this level of depravity, anything is possible.

 

[DuchessJules22]

I still cannot get over the fact that the mother allowed her daughter to be around not one but two child molesters. I hope that she can be charged with child endangerment or something!