Thank you for this thought provoking post!
I've thought about this a lot because I know what my gut tells me re. MS involvement, however I'm constantly trying to "check myself" in order to avoid tunnel vision.
I can understand (or at least rationalize) his choice to not address the media and/or reply to a reporter's question with a "no comment"
after the July 12th raids in MO. After that date it was very clear his BFF was a suspect . I could understand if his immediate reaction might be, "OMG! CWW? My BFF?! How could this be?! ...Oh no! What is LE going to think? They might believe I knew about this or, worse, had some part in my wife's murder." THEN, I could understand him wanting to zip his lips no matter how it appeared to the public. Even the July 12th date is a little flexible because LE clearly had evidence connecting at least JR, otherwise they'd never been able to secure the warrants. I think LE held things very close to the vest but, considering the MO connection, I imagine it's safe to assume they questioned Mark,
choosing their words very carefully, to see if he could offer any helpful info, would be forthcoming and to gauge his reaction to their questions. So, maybe a little earlier but not much because there is no way LE say anything that would tip off Mark to suspect the raids. If anything, Mark probably didn't like the tone of the questioning. (I started to end that last sentence "and decided to shut up". But you can't shut up if you never talked to begin with.)
It is about the choices he made during the time immediately after his wife was found murdered. He never chose to use the media to his advantage by holding a press conference begging the public to please help find the person responsible for killing his beloved wife and mother to their two daughters in such a horribly brutal manner. I am pretty darn sure he didn't do like Mark Klaas and so many others say to LE, "I understand you guys have to clear me. Polygraph me right now! Ask me whatever you please so we can move on and find the person who did this. Quit wasting time and let's get on with it." (No, I don't know that for sure. It is an assumption. In fact, I think I'll post those questions for SMS's interview thread - "Has Mark taken a polygraph? Was he asked to take one?")
He was endorsing a
page set up with a goal of $1,000,000,000. One million dollars. That page was not set up for the purpose of funding the best private investigators on the planet to locate the killer. That would've gone a long way re. his credibility and integrity.
He wasted no time trying to find a new doctor to take over TS's practice. I could probably even find a way to rationalize that if he were doing ANYTHING proactive trying to find the murderer.
Heck, as disgusting as it was at the time, even Scott Peterson
pretended to be looking for Laci.
For me, it boils down to what his priorities were particularly immediately following the murder.
They all appear to self-serving. $$$$$$$$$ Not a single plea to help locate the person responsible for taking the life of his wife and leaving his two daughters motherless.
Great post, Beach!
I'd love to know whether MS consented to a polygraph. If he consented, IMO this willingness would tip the credibility scale slightly towards 'not guilty'. For me, if a loved one was murdered I'd want to do everything in my power to help expedite the arrest and prosecution of the perp, including taking a (not always reliable) polygraph to rule myself out so that LE could focus all resources on finding the killer. But as you've keenly observed, it doesn't appear MS's priorities are those one would
expect of a grieving husband.
The fundraising account surely doesn't help MS in the credibility arena. I could rationalize the amount sought (maybe he didn't set the amount, maybe he did and his intentions were pure) but for me, that strangest part was this; on July 8 at
5:25PM MS shares a link to the GF account, which could have been an automated post, but on July 8 at
10:59PM, MS shares the link again, with the following message:
I want to Thank everyone for their support and prayers during our time of great sorrow.
This fund was set up by a good friend of ours but the monies raised are going to be donated to "Good Shepherd Ministries" of Ft Myers, FL in honor of Teresa. This is one of her favorite non for profit charities that she works very closely with to help get people off the street and to find affordable housing.
I hope this does not offend anyone. Again, thank you for your continued prayers and G-d bless you all.
Mark
It could be nothing, but I can't help but wonder what happened prompting MS to change the beneficiaries of the GF from his daughters to the charity? 11PM on Thursday, July 8. Funeral was on July 6. Raid at CWW's was 6AM on Sunday July 12. With regard to the part bolded by me, IMO this sentence is slightly or very suspicious. The way MS distances himself from establishing the account (set up by a friend of ours) he linked to for over a week, announces all the "monies" would be going to charity...all in the same sentence. Why not use the money as a reward to motivate people to turn in the murderer?
As we all know, TS's siblings took over and announced that the money would indeed be going to the girls, IIRC. I want to point out here that, IMO, the sequence of (GF) events helps to show LS had honorable, selfless intention when she set up the GF, i.e. money was actually an issue. Perhaps TS vented to LS and family about debt. Flash forward a few months, MS is ignoring LS's request to remove her name from the website, office answering machine. Not a
friendly thing to do, MS.
You pointed out the fact that MS wasted no time in trying to find a replacement doctor and while there could be honorable intention behind his push to keep the practice going, it feels like a stretch to believe this was motivated by anything BUT $elfishne$$. MS's priorities after the murder were self serving.
Well said, Beach. Thought provoking.
In fact, now I do think that MS possesses a modicum of self awareness which is why at 10:59PM on July 8 he changed the beneficiaries on the GF.
I hope this doesn't offend anyone! Who's going to be offended that MS is donating money raised to charity? No one. He's overcompensating, apologizing for being
just so charitable, trying to reinforce that he's the type of guy who is not interested in money. Contrast with the information provided by AmazonRain re: MS's love of money. For the record, MS being a money-motivated person, this in itself (to me) is not terribly suspicious. What
is suspicious is MS's desire to be perceived differently, publicly. Maybe this is self-deception, or... a more sinister form of deception.
MS failed to realize the old saying 'actions speak louder than words' in many aspects of this case. For example, MS sent an email to patients explaining that
by law, he was required to release medical records. Meaningless words, MS sent the email for the
appearance of credibility, integrity. IMO from the moment he hit 'send' on that email, MS had zero intention of honoring patient requests for records. Again, this points towards MS's propensity to deceive, to say the "right thing" with zero intention of following through. Side note: I'm going to look into the consequences of withholding records but if I had to guess, I'd bet the consequences affect only the medical license; MS probably looked into this too, maybe that's why he threw in 'by law' to the email.
JMO. I see a recurring theme of carelessness on MS's behalf with regard to almost
everything (except the girls) that TS held dear; her dogs, her patients, her family and her friends.
