Found Deceased Greece - Dr. Suzanne Eaton, 60, American, gone for a run, Crete, 2 Jul 2019 *ARREST*

[ms_x_to_the_m]

Investigation on American Scientist's Death in Crete Points at Homicide (video) | GreekReporter.com

WOW, that is hidden away. I was thinking that maybe she crawled where she was found, however after seeing that, there's not way that can happen.

 

[indicolite22]

Curious what her lecture was to be on. Could someone have wanted to stop her from completing? Could someone have hired these perps to stop her? Maybe only meant to be a kidnapping that turned deadly. Sounds like she died when her moth and nose were covered, which could be to stop her from screaming.

I'm just scratching my head for a motive here. The whole case seems so mystery novel out there. MOO

The conference topic was insect hormones. I doubt her lecture has anything to do with her murder.

 

[Snoopster]

[Translated by google] All the evidence found, point out that the biologist was brutally murdered. The results of the forensic autopsy proved that the woman was probably tortured before she was suffocated to death.

The forensic scientists who are on the case took samples in order to run some more tests that will play a decisive role in the outcome of the case. DNA samples from suspects have also been collected.

Latest news on Suzanne Eaton’s murder | Cretalive

 

[glassheater]

Latest news on Suzanne Eaton’s murder | Cretalive

Gardener, I know you’ve been on this site much longer than me. Do you believe this abhorrent manner of attack is personal?

 

[Snoopster]

So many conflicting reports.
Here are some key points mentioned so far in the articles linked in this thread and questions that I have:

• Suffocated. I've seen it worded as nose and mouth blocked in a couple of places. How did they know this? Was something stuffed in her nose and mouth? Were they covered by duct tape? Did the perp(s) attack her/threaten her with a knife and then stuff/duct tape her to keep her quiet before throwing her in the trunk of a car?
• The ear. I've not seen this mentioned many places. Some mention minor knife wounds. Was the ear truly cut-off/torn-off or was this mis-reporting? My post above included a quote that she was 'probably tortured before she was suffocated'. Does this refer to the ear?
• The location. It seems that the perp(s) dropped her through the ventilation hole. The police had trouble locating the hole, even with instructions, and the hole was covered with a pallet. This implies a local to me. If dropped at night, as LE seems to believe, wouldn't headlights have been needed? Would they have been visible from any houses or roads?
• The pallet is being tested at the lab. I presume that the wheel marks are being tested as well.
• One article mentions that LE now believes she was killed elsewhere. Is this because they believe she was dropped through the hole and due to lack of blood at the scene it seemed that she was already deceased?
• Body position. I've seen it reported that she was found on her stomach and also on her side. The burlap positioning isn't clear.
• LE estimates that SE died within 2-3 hours of when she was last seen and believe that the body was transferred at night (THAT night?). Why? What evidence supports this?

 

[indicolite22]

So many conflicting reports.
Here are some key points mentioned so far in the articles linked in this thread and questions that I have:

• Suffocated. I've seen it worded as nose and mouth blocked in a couple of places. How did they know this? Was something stuffed in her nose and mouth? Were they covered by duct tape? Did the perp(s) attack her/threaten her with a knife and then stuff/duct tape her to keep her quiet before throwing her in the trunk of a car?
• The ear. I've not seen this mentioned many places. Some mention minor knife wounds. Was the ear truly cut-off/torn-off or was this mis-reporting? My post above included a quote that she was 'probably tortured before she was suffocated'. Does this refer to the ear?
• The location. It seems that the perp(s) dropped her through the ventilation hole. The police had trouble locating the hole, even with instructions, and the hole was covered with a pallet. This implies a local to me. If dropped at night, as LE seems to believe, wouldn't headlights have been needed? Would they have been visible from any houses or roads?
• The pallet is being tested at the lab. I presume that the wheel marks are being tested as well.
• One article mentions that LE now believes she was killed elsewhere. Is this because they believe she was dropped through the hole and due to lack of blood at the scene it seemed that she was already deceased?
• Body position. I've seen it reported that she was found on her stomach and also on her side. The burlap positioning isn't clear.
• LE estimates that SE died within 2-3 hours of when she was last seen and believe that the body was transferred at night (THAT night?). Why? What evidence supports this?

IMO they found no signs of strangulation, so her mouth/nose had to be covered in some way.
I've seen various body positions reported, from face down, sitting, to lying on the side.
Reports on injuries also vary greatly; some mention injuries to her face and hands. She could have recieved some of those when she fell through the bunker roof.
When they say that she was killed elsewhere, they likely mean that she did not die in the cave. One of the clues was the position of the body. The killer(s) didn't have to enter the cave. According to one of the theories, she was attacked/abducted close to the conference venue.
The estimate for her time of death probably comes from the autopsy.
Some of the info is official and some are leaks to the press. Sometimes they get it wrong.

 

[indicolite22]

Conspiracy theories started to pop up. One is refuted in the article below:

Local media reported that a conspiracy theory spread to public opinion says the American biologist had discovered a very important drug and was murdered by a professional killer paid by pharmaceutical companies to prevent her from revealing it.

According to sources from the police investigating the elements of the crime, if she was murdered by a professional, they would carry it out and disappear, but certainly would not take the risk of transferring the corpse to another area

Suzanne Eaton: Η μάχη για την ζωή της και τα "θολά" σημεία

 

[Kitsey]

Conspiracy theories started to pop up. One is refuted in the article below:

Local media reported that a conspiracy theory spread to public opinion says the American biologist had discovered a very important drug and was murdered by a professional killer paid by pharmaceutical companies to prevent her from revealing it.

According to sources from the police investigating the elements of the crime, if she was murdered by a professional, they would carry it out and disappear, but certainly would not take the risk of transferring the corpse to another area

Suzanne Eaton: Η μάχη για την ζωή της και τα "θολά" σημεία

I’ve seen/heard this from some family members and Greek articles. In general, Greeks are quick to believe in conspiracy theories, especially rich and powerful organizations victimizing noble innocents. I wouldn’t put to much stock in this theory.

 

[Herat]

Either defense wounds or she was tortured.

Her ear being missing and stab wounds makes me wonder if someone was trying to get information out of her. It's like something out of a movie. But I can't imagine what top secret information she could have that would be worth killing her over.

MOO

Would her reseach be of such significance to a company or even a country that they would want to suppress it by killing her?

 

[Gardener1850]

Gardener, I know you’ve been on this site much longer than me. Do you believe this abhorrent manner of attack is personal?

Statistically speaking it's more likely personal. The majority of murders of women are by someone who knows the victim. It seems as if she was tortured before she was killed which also seems personal. However, nothing surprises me anymore. There are many cases of women who are randomly targeted. A random killer might enjoy torture as part of his attack. If they cannot solve this case quickly then it is more likely to be someone without a connection to Suzanne or without a close connection. In general, if the person knew her they are more likely to be found out by police right away. Although in this case a random, murderer might also be found out by their cell phone or their DNA faster than cases in the US. It sounds like they are doing a tower dump to find all the cell phones in the area of the cave-- this is a technique Europe has pefected to find terrorists. They may be able to get warrants easier than here in the US. I don't know much about Greek law at all.

MOO.

 

[Curiousobserver]

Would her reseach be of such significance to a company or even a country that they would want to suppress it by killing her?

No- all of the people in her lab would know about it, she would have been publishing it all along, and she likely presented this data many times before. To suppress it someone would need to kill her, everyone in her lab, destroy all her computers and lab notebooks etc...

If you want to suppress something you use Lawyers

 

[PastTense]

Someone here might set up a poll listing the various motives for her murder.

 

[Gardener1850]

Would her reseach be of such significance to a company or even a country that they would want to suppress it by killing her?

I don't know much about her research but I don't think it would make her a target in that way because she was the head of a research group. There are 15 other people listed in her group: MPI-CBG: Group Members
If another company wanted to stop the research they would have to do more than simply kill Suzanne. The rest of her group will likely continue the research. Of course rivalries within companies do happen. If there were others from her company at the conference, I'm sure that the police will be talking to them to find out if she had any disagreements with her co-workers.

MOO.

 

[otto]

I don't know much about her research but I don't think it would make her a target in that way because she was the head of a research group. There are 15 other people listed in her group: MPI-CBG: Group Members
If another company wanted to stop the research they would have to do more than simply kill Suzanne. The rest of her group will likely continue the research. Of course rivalries within companies do happen. If there were others from her company at the conference, I'm sure that the police will be talking to them to find out if she had any disagreements with her co-workers.

MOO.

I looked at that too, and weren't most of the people in the group pre-doc, with one doctoral student? I also looked at her publications, and noticed that rarely was her name first. Names weren't alphabetical either, so I am thinking that the order of names is based on contribution or to add her name at the end because of her status. I did wonder whether the research is primarily completed by students, although I would have to spend more time to form any real conclusions. Any thoughts on the group or the publications?

 

[CityDancer]

Curious what her lecture was to be on. Could someone have wanted to stop her from completing? Could someone have hired these perps to stop her?

When a top scientist and group leader goes to present a talk at a conference, there's a team of people left behind who know a lot of what she's going to talk about because they've helped produce the findings. So even if she was stopped by homicide, her research does not disappear, not by far. Also, conference talks are always preceded by abstracts and oftentimes accompanied by journal articles. These are openly accessible to the public and describe to a great extent the content of the talk. So whatever it was she may have wanted to present, exists already in the printed material from the conference, in the form of an abstract, and most likely in an accompanying paper.

 

[CityDancer]

I also looked at her publications, and noticed that rarely was her name first.

It's the most common practice in academia and science that the group leader's name appears last. First name is the main author, then contributors and colleagues, and the last name is the group leader. Source: I am in science.

 

[zecats]

When a top scientist and group leader in her institute, goes to present a talk at a conference, there's a team of people left behind who know a lot of what she's going to talk about because they've helped produce the findings. So even if she was stopped by homicide, her research does not disappear, not by far. Also, conference talks are always preceded by abstracts and oftentimes accompanied by journal articles. These are openly accessible to the public and describe to a great extent the content of the talk. So whatever it was she may have wanted to present, exists already in the printed material from the conference, and most likely in an accompanying paper.

I realize I'm reaching with some of my thoughts. I'm out on a limb, considering the implications that seem like something from a spy novel, where her research is upsetting to some faction.

Realistic motive possibilities:
Professionally related to her job, her research, her co-conference attendees.
Personally related and she was killed because she rejected someone and/or made someone angry.
Random and someone killed her because she was there and who knows their reason - sexual, woman and/or foreigner hater, she witnessed something.

Whatever the motive and whether planned or spontaneous, the disposal of her body definitely took some thought and time. At this point, perp is trying to cover their tracks, hide the crime, get out of the area.

All MOO

 

[zecats]

Someone here might set up a poll listing the various motives for her murder.

I sort of just did that. Not a poll so to speak, but 3 probable motives. IMO

 

[otto]

When a top scientist and group leader goes to present a talk at a conference, there's a team of people left behind who know a lot of what she's going to talk about because they've helped produce the findings. So even if she was stopped by homicide, her research does not disappear, not by far. Also, conference talks are always preceded by abstracts and oftentimes accompanied by journal articles. These are openly accessible to the public and describe to a great extent the content of the talk. So whatever it was she may have wanted to present, exists already in the printed material from the conference, in the form of an abstract, and most likely in an accompanying paper.

Also, presentation slides (ppt) are submitted in advance. All the work she planned to discuss is already out there.

A conference related murder could be academic rivalry. For example, perhaps a student came up with a unique idea and wanted to work in her group, she rejected the student but kept the idea. Another possibility is she submits a student's idea at a conference before the student can publish. We know that she was an accomplished, talented scholar and kind, generous mentor. It's unlikely that her murder is related to her work or the conference.

Knowing that she was dropped through the secret hole in the ceiling of the cave after dark, I'm 90% thinking a local person. That she was most likely suffocated with a hand over nose and mouth, I'm thinking strong. Knife injuries and missing ear support torture, which could be someone she knows, or someone she doesn't know who likes to torture. I'm also open to the possibility the Nazi cave is symbolic.

There must be people at the academy who live there year round. She has attended annually for 5 years, so she would know people at the academy. Someone at the academy would also know if it is possible to leave the building without Suzanne passing CCTV.

In addition to the cell phone triangulation at the body site, police will probably look at locals associated with the academy, as well as riff raff who lurk on running paths.

 

[otto]

It's the most common practice in academia and science that the group leader's name appears last. First name is the main author, then contributors and colleagues, and the last name is the group leader. Source: I am in science.

Thanks. I know that practices depend somewhat on field, and some now use alphabetical.

So author naming protocol is:

1. first name main author
2. contributors
3. colleagues
4. group leader

That's what caught my attention. She is rarely named as first author, second last is there. What do you make of her publications where she is first author? When was her last publication?

OR ... is it all her work, her ideas, and the group just follows her guidance?