FL FL - Heather, 28, & Kira Radcliffe, 6, Gainesville, 9 December 2006

[opme]

My guess would be that they're referring to the culprit. It's worded in present tense, instead of past tense. "is highly thought of..."
Whoever it is, knows enough to rid of all evidence with fire to cover their tracks. Would they call in Fl Dept of LE in if it was a cop who was suspected in this? Maybe the culprit is well off with $$, a community figure of some sort.

It makes me think of a politician or a someone deeply involved in community affairs.. like charities etc.. rather then a police officer.

Heather was definatly the focus of the crime.. it reeks of anger.. whether that be a boyfriend or someone who had a grudge against her... Kira was i think an unfortunate casualty.. I think she she was only killed because she was a witness. I dont think the perp knew she was there.. whether because he thought she was elsewhere or didnt know about her. I dont think its a neighbor.. they would know about Kira but it is someone who interacted with Heather on a regular basis. Also the neighbor witnessed someone leaving the scene but diodnt recognize them as another neighbor. Heather may have rejected advances or spurned a boyfriend.. could aslo be a coworker or someone connected to her thru work. I do think she was stalked..I think the wound to her left side was likely the first gunshot.. the head shots came after.. think she saw him and tried to get away but he wounded her..
Dont think it was too well planned.

 

[believe09]

Let me clarify my post-it is possible a condom was used if there was no obvious sign of sexual assault, among other indicators being missing. Like bruising, abrasions, pubic hair...am I making more sense now?

 

[Filly]

Filly, thank you. I haven't had a chance to look at her myspace yet (work restrictions). Do you mind posting the link for us?

Here ya go, TL. Sorry I just got back on here. Maybe that will help you in some way.http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=100669239

 

[Beyond Belief]

Lurking here, but still muddled. Wheres the child's father? Did she fire anyone recently? X boyfriend, etc.

thanks for the myspace link. Geez, what kind of animal hurt that beautiful mom and little one.

 

[MeoW333]

Neighbor driving by at 6:30 am saw the blaze, a man running from it, he had to use something highly flammable for it to go up that quick and show signs of smoke and fire; and for the amount of damage it did. The neighbor probably called it in right away. Did she ever tell LE which direction the man was running towards? If he had a car parked on a nearby street, then maybe another resident noticed an unfamiliar car outside or nearby?
I don't want to sound gruesome, however if there was fire damage done to their bodies, that would explain "may have been sexually battered" if there was damage to Heather's body.
The dog was found dead in the study (where the left side of the house where the roof had collapsed into the study and a bedroom).
Heather was found in a bedroom behind a garage which would have been on the right side of the house (most all one story homes in Fl have attached garages on the right side) the fire was started on two different places of the house.
I wonder if it was where Heather was found (on the right side of the house in her bedroom) and also the study area where the dog was found (left side where study and Kira's bedroom would be). I wish that LE had made a dental cast of the dog's teeth if it was possible; just in case.. Maybe the murderer started it on those sides where most evidence was or maybe it was random in an attempt for the fire to accelerate quicker.
Kira was found near the front door. The murderer must have entered the house sometime during the early morning hours. Heather and Kira would have been asleep then. My best guess would be Kira's bedroom was near the study and Heather's was behind the garage. From what i've read it sounds the exact same layout as my great aunt's house was. The left side of hers had 2 bedrooms and her bedroom (master bedroom, was behind where the garage was). Some children are very sound sleepers, i was when i was young; Kira may have been awakened only by the gunshots; or barking ;not sure if the dog had free run over the house or slept in Kira's room; or was confined to the study. Usually with young children, their bedroom door is left cracked or at least ajar so parents can hear if they call out in the night. I wish we knew at what time Kira tried to call the family friend with the police at.
Kira being found near the front door.. if the murderer choked her, he wanted her at least unconscious, figuring smoke inhalation would do the rest. They think Kira was headed towards her mother's room when confronted by the killer. Being there was a study in the house, would make it a 3 bedroom home (3rd converted to a study). The front door would be in close proximity to Kira's room and the study. Usually there is another door around the garage area of the home (near Heather's room right side). In between Kira and Heather's room would be a living room area (where the front door is).
We can only try to reconstruct it from what we know. If we knew what time Kira tried to make that call it would help a lot.
The neighbor saw the man running with something in his hand, the more i think about it, the more i think it was the gun wrapped in cloth or something to conceal it.
There is something that keeps eluding me and i can't pin in.. something to do with the timing and Kira's call and confrontation with the murderer for some reason..
I think the murderer who did this had stalked her and knew of Kira and the dog. I'm not sure what kind of dog they had, big are small; sometimes the little ones are the nippers.. The murderer may have neutralized the dog first, to prevent barking and noise, then moved to Heather which was his main target. Kira was a secondary target as obvious reasons, i just can't figure out a motive for this or how someone could be filled with so much hatred to kill a mother that way and also her child..
I'm sorry for my long paragraphs here, certain cases, just really get in my head.. it's random. I hope they did an autopsy on the dog also to determine the COD, as all are bits and pieces of the puzzle. Was the dog kenneled in the study? ..i'm brain weary i apologize for my.. randomness

 

[Bobbisangel]

She was a woman working at a job which is usually male. It sounds like she moved up the ladder fairly fast. I wonder if she had received some kind of promotion or something and some male worker thought that he should have gotten it instead of a female. Maybe that is why he slashed her tires. I wonder if she confronted him about the tires at some point as she had told her friend that she thought she knew who did it. Maybe that ticked him off even more and he decided to kill her. Whoever killed her was full of rage inorder to shoot her three times.

I don't know why she would have been partly unclothed if the person didn't rape her because it is obvious that he planned for the mom and her daughter to burn up in the house fire. In order for LE to know that she was partly unclothed her clothing must not have burned. She would have been wearing a top in order for them to know that her bottoms weren't on her body.

I also wonder if she had been seeing someone that she had broken up with recently. It sounds like LE are still looking at the friends of Heather's that they questioned in the beginning. Maybe one of them is the person that is so well thought of in town.

Why does it take over a year to get the results on evidence? In the meantime a killer in out there. There just might be something in that batch of evidence that was sent away. That would drive me crazy if I was in LE.

Poor little Kira tried her best to help he mommy. I wish she had known to take the phone and hide under her bed and be real quiet. She was just to young to know what to do except try to get help. She a beautiful little girl. What a horrible thing to happen to these two females and so darn senseless.
Bigwig or not...the well thought of person in town...if he is the guilty party I hope he rots in prison just like every other killer. I hope this case breaks soon.

 

[Truthful Lies]

Heather's father has provided this link with more pictures of Heather and Kira. I'm sorry I can't make this a hyperlink (at work). He thanks you all for helping. http://www.floridaradcliffe.com/Family.htm

 

[Truthful Lies]

Let me clarify my post-it is possible a condom was used if there was no obvious sign of sexual assault, among other indicators being missing. Like bruising, abrasions, pubic hair...am I making more sense now?

Yes, sorry believe =)

 

[Truthful Lies]

Meow, the dog was large. Name was Kahma. There are pictures on the website link I posted..unable to post them right now. Will do so later. Kira's father was incarcerated in N.C. at the time...so he's eliminated.

 

[believe09]

Yes, sorry believe =)

No worries :blowkiss:

I think you guys are on the right track with drilling down the slashing of her tires and the work environment etc...I think tire slashing is personal. I think if this was someone just watching her they would have jumped into the crime perhaps without "alerting" her or making her watchful. I know that if someone was slashing my tires, I would be on high alert especially if I lived alone with my minor child!

 

[MeoW333]

Truthful, i am having trouble getting the link to load completely (have ethernet not sure why) yet i will try again in a bit.
I think the coworker angle is the best bet to go on. Whoever did it is probably very sexist and shows it through his remarks and attitude. The fact that she had done so well at her job got to him. I think he was aware of Kira, yet unsure of her capabilities. Especially with his low opinion on females in general, he would underestimate her. Most people have family pictures on their desks at work, would it be possible Heather did also?
I think this guy is also responsible for slashing her tires and was stalking her so he knew about the dog, too. He probably built up his sick fantasy in his head until it escalated to murder. He may have killed the dog first, as it would pose as a threat to waking everyone up. Unless it was crated or slept behind a closed door in the study. So many houses in Fl have similiar layouts so it won't take much for him to figure out whose room was where.
The murderer is a very very sexist male chauvinistic .
That would point to her work environment. Someone didn't think a woman should excel the way Heather did, and probably became really jealous. The overkill and sexual assault was about power. After he raped her and killed her, he had "power over her" so to speak in his twisted mind. It was premeditated as he brought a gun, yet he didn't think to cut the phone lines. He would have brought an fire accelerant also.
Heather had main two things in her life, her daughter and her work. The latter, i believe is the cause.
I wonder if any of her coworkers or anyone employed by the same had came to work after the time of Heather and Kira's deaths with a bandage of a sort or bite marks. It is possible the dog did get to him at some point, especially if it had free run of the house. The police didn't consider it a murder in the first article, they just said house fire. The killer may be cocky enough to go to work with bite marks or bruises, giving some excuse.

 

[opme]

"Since the investigation began, detectives requested that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement profile their suspect.
Based on that profile, police think one person was involved and that the individual likely has a violent criminal history or has served a prison sentence.
The profile could not say the suspect's race but indicated the individual was likely male and old enough to have been in prison, putting the age range from 20 to 50."
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20070509/LOCAL/705090342

 

[opme]

There was mention in one of the articles covering the murders that Heather had had some arrests in the past for drugs (pot) and such .. I am wondering if that is also a possible place that she interacted with her killer.. it doesnt mean she knew him necesasarily but that perhaps tht was where their lives intersected even just briefly but that she came to his attention and thats when the stalking or watching started.. it could just be a guy she met in a bar who hit on her who she refused to date.. if this guy has the ego I think he does being turned down repeatedly could have been the source of the rage.. one of the articles also mentions that heather thought she knew who slashed her tires.. the friend didnt mention that she was fearful of the person or that she thought they were in jeopardy..

 

[MCDRAW]

I think it was someone they knew, otherwise why choke Kiera to keep her from getting out of the house. I think the person knew that Kiera could identify him. Just my opinion.

 

[Truthful Lies]

Meow - I've been putting the word out among co-workers, friends, neighbors...to keep their eyes/ears open to anyone that works for any tree service. You're right about the layouts of the houses in FL - they are all similar when built around the same time. I will try the links again. Sorry about that! There are a LOT of gruff, sexist men around here..not kidding...it's almost like a different world (I'm not from here originally - came for school). Did e-mail with her Dad...I've asked if I can post his e-mails..I'm waiting for a response.

Good idea with the pot...however, I've thought about it...and I really doubt that. If she was from here, high school, etc. she prob. had a source she trusted. Plus, after that arrest, with a child, I'm sure they made her test?

 

[believe09]

I agree McDraw-he didn't choke her to death either, just into unconsciousness. How did mom die again? The fact that the profiler did not come up with a race also points to a lack of physical evidence left at the scene, so I wonder if the possible assault was actually completed?

 

[Truthful Lies]

I do believe that the killer didn't mean to leave Kira just unconscious. I'm wondering if he had already started the fire or fires (as LE believes the fire was started in two different places). It doesn't make sense that he would purposely leave Kira just unconsious. I'm guessing he was interrupted.

Believe, Heather was killed with three gunshot wounds.

 

[Truthful Lies]

How do you guys feel about this case? I'm frustrated, to say the least. I feel like there's so little to go on. Do you guys have any ideas on what I can do here to get the ball rolling? I might see if any of her old co-workers are around...who knows..maybe one of them will send off a weird vibe. What would you guys do? I can do the legwork here..not sure where to start.

 

[Truthful Lies]

Here are the links to the articles again - hopefully they work this time! If not, copy and paste.

http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20071210/NEWS/71209028

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061211/LOCAL/612110318

Her family's website is www.floridaradcliffe.com (I am not including as a link because there is a problem loading the pages...I'm guessing because of the pictures...it gives my computer problems)

 

[MeoW333]

Truthful, do you know how LE knows that Kira tried to call the family friend? Was their a number similiar to the one she was trying to dial that showed up on phone records? If we knew the time of the call, it would help reconstruct what went on inside the house that night/early morning.
I'm sure their dog, Kahma made a huge fuss about an intruder being in their house, i wonder where the intruder entered the house at. The dog was found in the study, and i highly doubt the murderer moved the dog's body as from what it sounds like, it seems he was pressed for time with this whole thing. Being it was a large dog, i wonder if he was able to get a bite on the murderer before being killed. It's doubtful the murderer would have went to a doctor's for a dog bite if he did get bit. I'm wondering if the intruder came in through the garage then a door into the house or through one of the windows near the study. Did they have a Floridian room (screened in room usually located somewhere at the back of the house)? Also i wonder if the murderer choked Kira into unconsciousness and then she woke up from later at some point or did she succumb to smoke inhalation (this is where knowing what time she tried to call the family friend would be helpful).. Did LE do an autopsy on the dog? I would like to know the manner of death. Since the dog was large and would pose a great threat, it had to be contained or neutralized early on. I doubt this guy was running around with a silencer on the gun. If the dog wasn't shot, and was killed another way, it may be the suspect is a large man. My dog is relatively big and it's hard to carry her (she only lets me since she loves me and she's nearing 60lbs) if she were to squirm there's no way i could carry her. You can feel the power behind her. I'm sure Kahma was bigger than that and to wrestle him would be a feat for a large man even. Heather's job- many men, they would be in shape as having to do a lot of physical labor.
The fact that the man was seen running from the house while there was smoke and fire also noticed by the witness at 6:30am makes me think he was pressed for time and rushing out of the burning house. (had he just choked Kira at that point, then; and was rushing to make his escape?) Only an idiot would linger around a house aflame with accelerants.
I do think this case is solvable, whoever did it may make a comment in passing or otherwise regarding this instance and be caught that way.
LE said in that one article they had an individual who was "highly thought of" maybe they are attempting to make him sweat it out.. I don't think Heather's past arrest for pot or DUI has anything to do with this.
Did Heather tell the friend who it was she thought was responsible for slashing her tires? This person needs to be looked at closely, as stalking and tire slashing could have been what led up to him to kill..