When I read through/listen to the MSM reports it strikes me that most of the people who knew AG well, and knew/had been around her dogs, questioned why the dogs had not been able to protect her. Based on statements made by her friends, I think AG's dogs would have protected her if they perceived a threat and thought they had to. So imo, either they weren't there, they knew, and were "ok" with the person who is the attacker, they were crated/barricaded/locked up/shut in or out somehow, or they were incapacitated in some way.
Did the killer ambush AG? If so, and the dogs were somehow restrained from defending her, they would have been barking up a storm, freaking out. It would have been very loud, and I don't think they would have stopped. Who would stick around with all that going on, and commit a brutal murder and steal items from the house, practically in the middle of nowhere, in a silent rural community where every noise carries, still having to get away from the "insert location of murder here", across the property in whatever direction and/or maybe into a vehicle, and away from the scene (and likely covered in blood and leaving a trail the whole way and reportedly tossing items from the house as they go). All with two large German Shepherds barking and freaking out.
I don't think that incapacitating the dogs would be an easy feat either. If the attacker is a stranger, how do they get close enough to two large protective dogs to feed them something laced with sedative? Maybe lure them when they're outside, to an area near the edge of the property with a tasty morsel, or leave something irresistible laying around outdoors. That's if it was a planned attack. The killer would have to know when the dogs might come out, how long they would be outside and how long before the drug would take effect, etc etc... seems a bit unlikely to me. The killer would have to have things pretty under control because everything would fall apart if the dogs suddenly dropped from the meds and AG called the vet, or the dogs detected him on the property, or they didn't eat the treat.
If the killer is someone known to AG, incapacitating the dogs would be MUCH easier. If it was someone known to AG and they were there to visit, maybe have a coffee and a donut or something, it would be much easier to slip the dogs a little something and carry out the horrific attack.
Now the killer would have the time to murder AG, steal items from her home, and send emails from her computer, all without the dogs alerting the whole town that something awful is happening.
