Misty claimed shortly after her arrest (according to Fields) that she cowered under the covers with Junior while Haleigh was attacked. Haleigh was screaming, per Misty, but she was too frightened to do anything to stop the attack.
I find it difficult to accept that Haleigh screamed and Junior did not mention that. So, either he was not there, or she did not scream, IMO.
I have been trying to put myself emotionally into a situation of someone being in my home up to no good and how I might react. I would like to believe that I would take immediate action to thwart off the intruder but, in all honesty, I do not know for sure that I would not be paralyzed with fear and thus unable to react in a positive way.
The biggest problem I have with Misty is her initial, "I was sleeping and when I woke up Haleigh was gone," story. If Joe and/or Tommy--or anyone--had come in and done what Misty now claims, why did she not tell all right from the start? I do not buy the fear-of-Joe-after-the-fact story, so if it happened that way, the only reason for not coming forth would have to be to protect Tommy.
Unless...it didn't happen that way.
I am still riding the fence about Joe. The fact that he was in town when this happened makes him a convenient scapegoat, IMO. For now, I do not have any reason to believe Joe has a penchant for this particular type of violence, or that he is a SO. I hear it mentioned often that Joe may have molested Misty when she was a child but one thing that is usually left out of that statement is that at the time, Joe was also a child.
I do not believe everything that came out of Flora Hollars because she contradicted herself on some important points. Flora did say Joe is not a SO and that he did not molest Misty (or if he did, she "liked it"). I believe Flora on this because, IMO, if Joe was a SO I think Flora would have been eager to make a public statement about it. I question Flora's veracity in general, though, because of her statements that ranged from, "Misty would never hurt Haleigh," to, "Misty wanted Haleigh gone so she could have Ron all to herself."
As for Tommy, he does not strike me as a guy who could harm a child and then simply go about his normal routine. And I cannot forget how adamant he was in jail that he was not going to say someone did something that they didn't do, when speaking to Hank about LE having asked him about Joe.
I do think Tommy would come to his sister's aid if she hurt Haleigh. I believe Tommy and Misty would cover for each other. I also believe that Misty would cover for Ron, but Tommy wouldn't. Ron would cover for himself and his kin but not for anyone else, IMO. I do not think any of them would cover for Joe.
What we have a situation where Misty at first said she knew nothing, then started hinting toward Joe, then Tommy, and even said LE should look at Crystal's side, and once she was arrested she implicated Joe, then Tommy, then Tommy and Joe, than was back to just Joe, and finally stated she isn't sure.
With all this considered, I am in a place now where I have to look seriously at what Misty has not said rather than what she has said. Misty has not implicated herself, Ron, or anyone in Ron's family. In one jailhouse conversation she started in that direction, but stopped short.
Ron is now saying he agrees Misty is the key. He denied that up until the day he was forced to say it out loud. This, to me, is Ron's version of finger-pointing. He is in the hot seat now, so he has to come up with something and in his mind the best way to go is to follow LE's lead, i.e., "Misty is the key."
I agree Misty is the key, but I do not think Misty is the perp. I think Misty has withheld key information, and that may be all that LE ever meant by Misty is the key.
I think Ron is going to say (or is saying) that Joe did it and Misty was involved. My personal opinion is that, if anyone ever goes down for this, it will be Misty. And I believe when/if that happens, the truth will come out. Not that many will believe it, coming from Misty as it will, but it will be the truth nonetheless.
JMO.
