I wonder if he's been retained as State's expert for both of them, not just Lori.Interesting!
Two birds with one stone so to speak, just in case either of them try to use religious belief or mental health as mitigation at sentencing.
I wonder if he's been retained as State's expert for both of them, not just Lori.Interesting!
I find the defense response to be really quite childish, repeating the same information, when the State's already said it doesn't satisfy the requirements of an alibi because it lumps all the witnesses together for two different dates and doesn't specify what times the children died.According to the defense motions Lori will claim that she was in her apartment with MG, DW and/or Chad when Tylee and JJ died in Alex's.
It is unclear who she was with when Tylee died (nobody apart from Alex that we know of so far), on which of the two occasions she was with Chad (none that we know of so far) and whether MG and DW were with her the entire evening and night when JJ died (not very likely).
According to the defense motions Lori will claim that she was in her apartment with MG, DW and/or Chad when Tylee and JJ died in Alex's.
It is unclear who she was with when Tylee died (nobody apart from Alex that we know of so far), on which of the two occasions she was with Chad (none that we know of so far) and whether MG and DW were with her the entire evening and night when JJ died (not very likely).
Can’t see anyone believing MG or DW had nightmares. More like they heard the planning and or execution of JJ or were observers and the State can’t prove that so they are going with “nightmares”. This trial should be so cut and dried with both Chad and Lori hanging from a rope.The alibi filing and naming witnesses as MG, DW, and/or Chad is intriguing.
First of all, we all want to know what Lori is going to say about when she learned the children "died." And what she is going to say she learned about the deaths. (Pulmonary Embolisms, perhaps?)
Second of all is the and/or Chad bit. MG and DW deny seeing Chad on the Sunday night/early Monday morning when JJ was apparently murdered, but they were in Lori's apartment and gave unbelievable statements about nightmares, "forgetting" the situation surrounding Lori's text bout getting JJ back to sleep while it was kinda early for going to sleep again, and they were presumably together, claiming recalling concern about JJ's whereabouts in the morning when it was school hour, yet also claiming not to recall the several phone conversations the SAME DAY. If MG and DW are Lori's alibi, they are hardly air tight.
As far as I know, MG and DW were not in Rexberg when Tylee "died." So that leaves Chad as Lori's witness. Now if they are both going to alibi each other and blame Tylee's death on Alex... that could work if they are able to be consistent with one another. And it is even possible that the physical locations are true, even if conspiracy could certainly still apply. But...it will be fascinating if the stories are not the same.
Lori: "Chad was with me" Chad: "Lori stole my cell phone; I was 'working' on Viola at home- er- praying my sweet wife would see a doctor."
Am I wrong that the alibi filing basically says that Chad is Lori's alibi witness for Tylee's murder?
MOO
I find the defense response to be really quite childish, repeating the same information, when the State's already said it doesn't satisfy the requirements of an alibi because it lumps all the witnesses together for two different dates and doesn't specify what times the children died.
By the sounds of it she still doesn't give two hoots about the deaths of her children, like this is all a reason to smile and twiddle her hair. She is more cunning than any I have seen, and I am certain this air of amusement is all an act. JMO
I'm sticking to my thoughts from way back when DW woke and said he heard noises, was this what was thought to be a nightmare? The noise he heard IMO was the tape being pulled from a roll and plastic bags crinkling While Lori wrapped JJ IN plastic bags.Can’t see anyone believing MG or DW had nightmares. More like they heard the planning and or execution of JJ or were observers and the State can’t prove that so they are going with “nightmares”. This trial should be so cut and dried with both Chad and Lori hanging from a rope.
Right. I'm not saying I have any reason to think Melanie and/or David are guilty of any crimes.DW and MG are guilty of not stepping up that day and calling police. They knew something was off. They had to know and did nothing. I’m betting the truth is, they didn’t even question Lori. She was their goddess after all. There should be some charge for aiding and abetting a crime.
As long as M and D aren’t willing to tell the whole truth, I believe they will be bad witnesses. Or maybe a better way to say it is I think the defense will destroy them. John Prior made a few points in her early testimony. The defense can’t go too far with M and D but I wish they would just come clean. Maybe there will be some surprises at trial, in favor of the prosecution. These people are sickening. They had to know everything. I don’t believe anything they say. Zulema and MP are awful as well and guilty of conspiracy, yet not even charged!Right. I'm not saying I have any reason to think Melanie and/or David are guilty of any crimes.
Whoops- they are- perjury. But besides that.
I can't help but think that Melanie was very careful to place herself specifically in the down stairs bathroom, in Lori's bedroom, and all over Lori's doorknob. It is entirely my opinion/imagination triggered by her behavior in the police interviews. She usually answered every question with what a person woukd ordinarily do or say, then proceed to claim no specific memory.
The first part is what you do when you are composing a lie or evaluating whether the truth would be best told or not. The second part is what you do when you don't want to give a provable lie, so you stick with your own memory, which can't be disputed- even if disbelieved. The bathroom and bedroom stories she related first, and retrospectively evaluated the stories for usualness. Since it was different, it stood out to me.
Even if I am right it is not possible to prove. But I am pretty sure I'm right that it is pure BS that David and Melanie remember stupid details from Monday morning, but don't remember anything important like if Melanie saw JJ carried in, why Lori texted at 8:00ish, or what three phone conversations on Melanie's ride to David's house were about. WTF- David claims he didn't believe the cabinet climb story. But it didn't strike him to insist that question get asked as a part of three conversations?
It's not surprising that Melanie didn't behave normally. Who would make friends with these people? Melanie I'm sure was very vulnerable. It's even plausible that lying her face off is the best she can do with whatever she's got.
At least she is a witness.
May she recognize her part in this in a genuine way some day. She wishes she could share her wisdom she's gained. Well, if she still thinks this story is about her growth as a person- howsoever stunted- she is obviously not wise yet.
MOO
As long as M and D aren’t willing to tell the whole truth, I believe they will be bad witnesses. Or maybe a better way to say it is I think the defense will destroy them. John Prior made a few points in her early testimony. The defense can’t go too far with M and D but I wish they would just come clean. Maybe there will be some surprises at trial, in favor of the prosecution. These people are sickening. They had to know everything. I don’t believe anything they say. Zulema and MP are awful as well and guilty of conspiracy, yet not even charged!
It seems sometimes people get on a collision course with themselves. Nothing was going to change what happened when Lori and Chad had so many admirers. Just a sick bunch. <modsnip>Yeah- I don't disagree. But you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear, as they say. Those two are not wrapped up too tight- and are very narcissistic. (in the informal conversational sense--Im not dx over the internet, even if it's safe for me- no license to dx to lose here!)
They are certainly going to be butchered on cross examination. And they have only themselves to blame- they shouldn't lie.
But people who are concerned with different things than these witnesses- like human life, for example- are not the kind of people who would be up close and personal with the defendants. How long would it take for you to block contact from Lori? Would you do that before or after you realized she's leaving a trail of bodies? Healthy people don't hang with "hee-hee I guess I should just drive off a cliff with the kids," all that long.
Lori was good at pretending to to be a caring human being, and people who knew her long term then saw the mask slip either stepped back, like April, or Annie C, or 4 of her husbands- or sounded the alarm without being well received.
The ones who stuck around to be knowledgeable witnesses are unsurprisingly flawed people.
I contrast the witnesses to Shari D who admired Melanie's book and found her self listening to murder-adjacent stories and a shocking absence of feeling for victims (except Alex, "bless his heart"). Sheri did not respond by making plans to meet Melanie in the Midwest for girls weekend. But that would seem like normal behavior for these witnesses.
It is not really realistic that a person with the wherewithal to do more than lie about sleeping arrangements when a kid is dead would even exist as a witness.
As for Zulema? I don't even want to talk about it. She actually asserted she had no fear for herself, as if anyone gives a hoot if a grown woman is afraid when the entire nation was afraid for Tylee and JJ. SMH.
The self absorption is unreal.
But those are the people who were close enough to Chad and Lori to know things.
MOO.
IMO they didn't know that a murder occurred. When MG and DW were leaving, DW asked Lori where JJ was and was told that Alex had him. A few weeks later Lori revealed to MG that she gave JJ to Kay. When Chad and Lori asked MG in November to tell police she had him, MG was surprised to learn that JJ was not with his grandmother. MG only got suspicious after lying for Lori.
spot on! Obviously when Alex carried JJ back home over his shoulder, IMO, he was dead. Alex carried up to Loris bedroom and left him there. She's the one who wrapped him up. Hopefully they found finger prints on the tape, or a hair.
I hope you are right that JJ was already dead when taped up. The grief I feel that he was murdered is multiplied by imagining him restrained alive.
I wonder if there would be a way to prove at autopsy if JJ were still alive when his mouth was taped. Surely he was so that he couldn’t scream. What makes a person hate Lori the most is that she didn’t care about murdering her own children. She was gleeful!I hope you are right that JJ was already dead when taped up. The grief I feel that he was murdered is multiplied by imagining him restrained alive.
Yes that was exactly my point. Thank you.I agree but Love Never Fails' point is well taken. David and Melanie SHOULD have handled that day very differently.
Where I'm landing on this is that they should have but couldn't- because of their severely flawed characters.
And- of course! Look at the people they followed! Who but a severely flawed person would follow them?
I think it is pretty clear that whether they knew JJ was murdered or not, they did one of two things (or both):
1) They invented concern for JJ not being home or even reported to be in school retroactively, or
2) They invented lapses of memory where they would not be typical.
If the welfare check day was the aha moment for Melanie, at that point any fading memories of Sept 22 weekend, just a month earlier, would have been rehashed in a normal brain.
I don't think we know for certain that Melanie and David did not know JJ (and for that matter Tylee) were murdered. We will never have any clarity on that while they lie. But we also do not know that they did know that one or both of them were murdered. The threat Lori made, that Melanie will be held accountable for what she knows comes to mind. Of course, it is not like a murder can tattle on an accomplice or emotional enabler while pleading not guilty.
And they are some of the witnesses we have- LNF is also right that they are flawed witnesses. Thank goodness for digital evidence. Imagine what those liars would be asserting absent that!
MOO
IMO the aha moment for MG didn't come on the day of the welfare check but later. I don't think she would have lied to police if she thought that that could implicate her in a murder. She initially likely believed Lori that JJ was in hiding from KW. What she learned later probably helped her change her mind, including her decision to record Lori. Doing so she did help the prosecution although her motivation was likely self-protection.I agree but Love Never Fails' point is well taken. David and Melanie SHOULD have handled that day very differently.
Where I'm landing on this is that they should have but couldn't- because of their severely flawed characters.
And- of course! Look at the people they followed! Who but a severely flawed person would follow them?
I think it is pretty clear that whether they knew JJ was murdered or not, they did one of two things (or both):
1) They invented concern for JJ not being home or even reported to be in school retroactively, or
2) They invented lapses of memory where they would not be typical.
If the welfare check day was the aha moment for Melanie, at that point any fading memories of Sept 22 weekend, just a month earlier, would have been rehashed in a normal brain.
I don't think we know for certain that Melanie and David did not know JJ (and for that matter Tylee) were murdered. We will never have any clarity on that while they lie. But we also do not know that they did know that one or both of them were murdered. The threat Lori made, that Melanie will be held accountable for what she knows comes to mind. Of course, it is not like a murder can tattle on an accomplice or emotional enabler while pleading not guilty.
And they are some of the witnesses we have- LNF is also right that they are flawed witnesses. Thank goodness for digital evidence. Imagine what those liars would be asserting absent that!
MOO