IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #34

[Aymstriss]

Just because he was going to accept a plea agreement does not mean that he was giving up names. But for Dan to turn down a plea agreement, that would mean a trial, testimony, more investigation, etc.

 

[Aymstriss]

Let's say that one of Dan's associates is responsible for the girls' deaths. Surely LE has a list of names to weed out involvement, right? Unless all of his associates were involved and alibi'd each other out.

Possibly....or they just don't have enough evidence to make a case.

 

[janie]

Let's say that one of Dan's associates is responsible for the girls' deaths. Surely LE has a list of names to weed out involvement, right? Unless all of his associates were involved and alibi'd each other out.

Maybe LE has gone down the list of names and has some suspects but doesn't have enough evidence to ensure a conviction........not yet anyway?

 

[iamnotagolem]

Possibly....or they just don't have enough evidence to make a case.

Maybe LE has gone down the list of names and has some suspects but doesn't have enough evidence to ensure a conviction........not yet anyway?

Good points, guess we will just have to wait and see and hope at some point they make an arrest.

 

[RNER]

Let's say that one of Dan's associates is responsible for the girls' deaths. Surely LE has a list of names to weed out involvement, right? Unless all of his associates were involved and alibi'd each other out.

I would think so...but proving their involvement is another thing. Maybe an "associate" is involved with some other illegal activity or is connected to something higher up the drug chain that would be revealed or jeopardized by a trial. Maybe a seemingly "normal" person(s) within the community not directly involved with drugs would be "dirty" and connected to it and exposed at trial.

I am in no way implying that Dan or any of the family is directly connected to the kidnapping or deaths. I do feel that they are connected by affiliation with the drugs. The message sent by targeting Lyric and Elizabeth, as opposed to other family members being kidnapped or killed directly would be the least likely to cast suspicion about it being related to drugs or a specific person, as has been the case so far.

 

[SapphireSteel]

http://wcfcourier.com/news/evansdal...cle_6e223240-1c9c-11e3-9c93-001a4bcf887a.html

17 minutes ago • By JEFF REINITZ [email protected](0) Comments
WATERLOO, Iowa --- The father of one of the slain cousins has been sentenced to prison on drug charges.

On Friday, District Court Judge David Staudt sentenced Daniel Eugene Morrissey, 37, of Waterloo, to up to 90 years in prison with 30 years mandatory minimum.

Morrissey — father of Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, who disappeared in July 2012 with her cousin, Elizabeth Collins, 8, and was later found dead — had entered guilty and Alford pleas to meth manufacturing and other drug charges stemming from incidents both before the disappearance and after the girls' remains were discovered.

No arrests have been made in the girls' deaths.

Part of Friday's sentencing was shrouded in secrecy and held in the judge's chambers at the request of Morrissey's attorney. Defense attorney Kevin Schoeberl said part of the state's presentation touched on pending investigations, and he argued it could place his client at risk. Prosecutors weren't concerned about the information becoming public and had fought the secrecy.

The closed session took about 50 minutes as two sheriff's deputies guarded to door to the judge's chamber.

Morrissey's mother and teenage son attended the open portion of the sentencing.

Morrissey had faced 235 years in prison if the charges were run consecutive, but in June he entered a plea agreement limiting his exposure to no more than 45 years behind bars for the charges stemming from drug activity following the disappearance. He was also eligible for probation.

^^^There it is. I can't believe I nearly missed it.

Dan's Attorney claims that whatever Dan said in sentencing, could affect pending investigations...which means, current investigations that both Dan and his attorney are directly aware of AND concerned about.

The only way Dan and his attorney would be made privy to any "pending investigations" is if Dan was the subject of those investigations.

Narcs give information, they don't get it. Dan and his attorney have been told about the investigations in detail, it seems. Why?

Also, LE don't give a toss if his information is revealed in an open courtroom. Why not? If there were other perps they are working on, they wouldn't want him to say a word in public about any of it.

This case is nearly at an end...thank God. :rockon:

:twocents:

 

[pearl]

Perhaps the original plea deal involved Dan accepting prison time for some things he did not do. Say he is guilty for some of the crimes but not for all charges against him. Perhaps he was coerced into pleading to something someone else did along with his crimes. I don't mean coerced by LE but by the person(s) who really committed the crimes. Perhaps Dan thought better of it, backed out, and the girls were taken to punish him. I know this is out there a bit, but it could have happened.

 

[JaimeInLA]

Wait! I think I understand why some think Dan is involved. He was supposed to plead guilty on July 12, go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Instead he changed his plea because he wasn't ready to go to jail. Because.....he was planning to kill his daughter and niece the next day. Right? Is that it?

No. Maybe his daughter had been threatened. They said, if you go through with the plea deal and rat on us (remember, Wylma called him a "rat"), we will kill your daughter. So he backed out of it, and wanted to be out of jail to protect his daughter.

 

[JaimeInLA]

I have followed closely for a long time and never heard that theory of Dan killing them execution style. I can't envision that theory at all. Drugs or no drugs, part-time non-participating parent or not, I can't envision that at all.

I can. Put yourself in Dan's shoes. He was very angry with Lyric. They had argued just 4 days before. She wanted to run away. Dan thought she was trouble. And his older son was almost out of child support years. But not Lyric. Dan would have to pay for her for 7 more years. Can't you see a drug user with anger issues thinking, "that little brat. She threatened to tell her mom I was using drugs again. I can't believe I have to pay for her and she's so disobedient...."

Not saying that Lyric was a bad kid at all -- but Dan might have thought so, as there is ample evidence that they fought. A lot.

 

[JaimeInLA]

Just because he was going to accept a plea agreement does not mean that he was giving up names. But for Dan to turn down a plea agreement, that would mean a trial, testimony, more investigation, etc.

The deal was specifically to give up names. Both LE and Wylma publicly said so.

For Dan to turn down a plea deal would not mean trial testimony (he would just not testify, like most criminals) or more investigation (they have no case without his information).

 

[threecrazykids]

^^^There it is. I can't believe I nearly missed it.

Dan's Attorney claims that whatever Dan said in sentencing, could affect pending investigations...which means, current investigations that both Dan and his attorney are directly aware of.

The only way Dan and his attorney would be made privy to any "pending investigations" is if Dan was the subject of those investigations.

Narcs give information, they don't get it. Dan and his attorney have been told about the investigations, so clearly, Dan's the target of them.

Also, LE don't give a toss if his information is revealed in an open courtroom. Why not? If there were other perps they are working on, they wouldn't want him to say a word in public about any of it.

This case is nearly at an end...thank God. :rockon:

:twocents:

I'm tryin' to work with ya here SS...I really am.

Would a prosecuting attorney who could potentially be able to press murder charges against someone down the road be pressing for all of it to become public knowledge at this point in the investigation?

If this case is so close to being solved...why on earth would the prosecuting attorney even remotely fight Dan's plea to have a closed hearing?

Help me out...:blushing:

I just really think that the pending investigations are against much bigger fish than Dan and some of those people could potentially be landing in the same jail/prison as him here very shortly and he could be at risk.

 

[Aymstriss]

The deal was specifically to give up names. Both LE and Wylma publicly said so.

For Dan to turn down a plea deal would not mean trial testimony (he would just not testify, like most criminals) or more investigation (they have no case without his information).

I don't remember hearing that his plea agreement involved him giving up information...not being snarky, but could you post a link.

If Dan turned down a plea agreement, the case would proceed to trial, he might not testify, but everything said and done in court would be public record.

 

[threecrazykids]

I don't remember hearing that his plea agreement involved him giving up information...not being snarky, but could you post a link.

If Dan turned down a plea agreement, the case would proceed to trial, he might not testify, but everything said and done in court would be public record.

JMO but if Dan is the huge drug dealer that some feel he is I highly doubt everyone just decided to be nice and give Dan a break on his third felony for manufacturing meth by offering him a "no info necessary" plea deal.

Plea deals aren't just given...they are negotiated...you give up info to help us out (the more info you give the lower your sentence is how I've always seen it).

So what we are thinking is that Dan potentially gave up a 5 year sentence to (in the end) serve a potential life sentence with a minimum of 30 years.

 

[SapphireSteel]

I'm tryin' to work with ya here SS...I really am. .

:lol:

Would a prosecuting attorney who could potentially be able to press murder charges against someone down the road be pressing for all of it to become public knowledge at this point in the investigation? .

No. A PA would sit tight until he was given all the evidence by LE. LE are the ones who investigate and dictate when charges are laid in the first instance. Well that's how it works over here, maybe it's different in Iowa. :dunno:

If this case is so close to being solved...why on earth would the prosecuting attorney even remotely fight Dan's plea to have a closed hearing?.

The offender is already incarcerated. They can take their sweet time.

Help me out...:blushing:.

See above.

I just really think that the pending investigations are against much bigger fish than Dan and some of those people could potentially be landing in the same jail/prison as him here very shortly and he could be at risk.

True, but I believe that DM would negotiate a transfer to another prison as part of his plea deal. If he has been narcing" I can't see that he got any other benefit. He got 30 years which is heavy enough (although nowhere near the 200 I was hoping for) so it only seems reasonable some level of protection was sought and granted as a condition of opening that :worms:

:moo:

 

[Aymstriss]

JMO but if Dan is the huge drug dealer that some feel he is I highly doubt everyone just decided to be nice and give Dan a break on his third felony for manufacturing meth by offering him a "no info necessary" plea deal.

Plea deals aren't just given...they are negotiated...you give up info to help us out (the more info you give the lower your sentence is how I've always seen it).

So what we are thinking is that Dan potentially gave up a 5 year sentence to (in the end) serve a potential life sentence with a minimum of 30 years.

Not always...sometimes they are offered because the prosecutor/state doesn't have a real strong case on some of the charges.

They may drop charges if the defendant will plead guilty to some of the charges.

They are other reasons to offer plea agreements other than getting information.

Defendants can plead to lesser charges in DUI cases, and I really don't know what kind of information they would be giving up.

 

[SapphireSteel]

If he was a "huge drug dealer" he would have more money.

:cow:

 

[24Roses]

http://www.kwwl.com/story/23426517/...ntenced-to-90-years-for-multiple-drug-charges

 

[pearl]

^^^There it is. I can't believe I nearly missed it.

Dan's Attorney claims that whatever Dan said in sentencing, could affect pending investigations...which means, current investigations that both Dan and his attorney are directly aware of AND concerned about.

The only way Dan and his attorney would be made privy to any "pending investigations" is if Dan was the subject of those investigations.

Narcs give information, they don't get it. Dan and his attorney have been told about the investigations in detail, it seems. Why?

Also, LE don't give a toss if his information is revealed in an open courtroom. Why not? If there were other perps they are working on, they wouldn't want him to say a word in public about any of it.

This case is nearly at an end...thank God. :rockon:

:twocents:

The pending investigation could very well be Lyric and Elizabeth's case. Dan could have found out who did this horrible crime, which I think he did, and agreed to possibly testify in a trial if there ever is one. Whatever he would theoretically testify about would have to be known in advance by the court because the judge has to rule in favor of a plea deal. If this happened, Dan and his lawyer would not want this information to be given in open court. I think the only pending investigation important enough for the judge to set precedent by closing part of the hearing is Lyric and Elizabeth's case.

 

[JaimeInLA]

If he was a "huge drug dealer" he would have more money.

:cow:

How do we know he doesn't? Walter White on Breaking Bad has $40 million buried in the desert and lives the life of an average chemistry teacher in a modest house and his wife drives a mini van. I know that's TV, but it's possible....

Misty did testify against her boss, who was part of a very large meth enterprise, and put him in jail to avoid more jail time herself. They were definitely connected to very big, and very lucrative drug operations.

 

[SapphireSteel]

Morrissey's mother, who has custody of his teenage son, took the stand and told the courtroom she was proud of her son.

"He is an exceptional young man with compassion and good character," she said.

:trainwreck: