I have often thought about that. I really think a rape/sexual assault scenario would have two possible scenarios:
1) Stemming from a planned sexual assault (spiking her drink); or
2) LS willingly took some combination of drugs and these boys took advantage of her.
I think 2 possible outcomes are possible:
1) ONE of these boys planned to do it; or
2) This was a gang rape scenario where all the boys are involved. The one qualifier though is that I think it is plausible that one of JR OR DB might not have initially been involved but would have assisted in a cover up if their start-up business partner was worth the risk to them. Unlikely but possible.
Personally, I DO think this started with her drink being spiked and some level of awareness on all parties. I think she presented very obvious symptoms that are on par with date rape drugs (although, again, they are also common with other drugs, including alcohol alone):
drowsiness or light-headedness
difficulty concentrating
feeling confused or disorientated, particularly after waking up (if you have been asleep)
difficulty speaking, or
slurring your words
loss of balance and
finding it hard to move
lowered inhibitions
paranoia (a feeling of fear or distrust of others)
amnesia (memory loss) or a
"black-out" of events (when you can't remember large sections of your evening)
temporary loss of body sensation (feeling like you are floating above your body, or having an "out of body" experience)
visual problems, particularly blurred vision
hallucinations (seeing, hearing or touching things that aren't there)
nausea and vomiting
unconsciousness
Date rape drugs also work quickly.
"within 20 minutes of being taken"
They can have some serious, scary symptoms that might even spook the one who gave the victim the spiked drink:
convulsions
loss of consciousness
loss of coordination
potentially fatal respiratory failure
seizures
coma, death
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Drink-spiking/Pages/Symptoms.aspx
http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/womenshealth/factsheets/date.htm
oh, and remember that really disturbing rumor of LS foaming at the mouth? Not too uncommon with GHB. If you Google it, you'll see a lot of personal accounts with people have foamed at the mouth after ingesting GHB. Although that is disturbing, I think it would be a disservice not to mention that some people DO take GHB willingly so even though LS presented symptoms of this sort of drug, it doesn't make it 100% certain she took it unwittingly (although I personally find that unlikely due to the effects on the respiratory system). Here's an article from what appears to be a legitimate source about a girl who is believed to have been drugged.
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nort...s-warning-to-guard-your-glass-72703-19839294/
Just curious, those who think that there was an a sexual assault beyond anything drug-related, are you of the theory that this was a case of gang rape? I've been doing some basic Google searches and although I could find a lot of statistics on rape itself, it seemed that there wasn't much out there on gang rapes in college?
http://www.crisisconnectioninc.org/sexualassault/college_campuses_and_rape.htm
I DO think this might have began with a spiked drink situation. They weren't at the bar very long, but they were there long enough that the effects should have started happening. From the link above, I was shocked to see that the victim's residence is used predominantly, but that actually fits given that they attempted to go back to LS' place first.
If true, I highly doubt murder was planned.
If her drink was spiked, that would be in line with her symptoms AND what her friends/parents have said --> LS did NOT do hard drugs. It also fits with the idea that LS would be unlikely to use harder drugs given that she KNEW she had a potentially serious health condition.
However, I still think, for others to be involved, that it would have to move beyond CR and somehow involve MB and AT LEAST DB or JR. That could be done in a couple different scenarios:
1. CR spikes drink. CR initially tries to take her home, has a run-in with boys who either a) recognize how badly off she is, b) recognize the symptoms, and/or c) CR has a reputation for this and these boys know it. They tell him to take her home, he mouths off, fight and drama ensue, and CR decides to peace out rather than deal with potential security/police when he has a very incoherent, not-21-yet LS that may or may not have had her drink spiked.
2. Some kind of sexual assaults happens.
- CR does it: (MB is aware that CR spiked her drink and now he has brought her home). LS becomes worse. He goes to get MB for help. MB goes to JR's because it is late, LS is in bad shape, and he doesn't necessarily want to involve LE. JR, who has DB over, and they argue about calling police because they are culpable in some way too (maybe they provided CR with the drug.). For whatever reason, they decide not to call or she dies in the process, leaving them with a body and rape evidence.
-MB does it: CR really was put to bed. Same scenario, minus CR. CR will go along with their decisions because he created the situation.
- MB/CR AND JR/DB - same scenario, just JR/DB are more culpable.
- MB/CR/JR/DB - all equally culpable.
Definitely leaves evidence. All would be culpable (to different degrees) if a situation presented itself where some provided drugs, some assaulted her, and all decided to not call for help.
I'm not sure if I necessarily think a sexual assault is totally necessary though. I think intent would suffice, regardless if it happened or not. For example:
DB visits. He brings the drugs with him.
JR and DB are talking to CR & CR buys then with both of them present. They are aware of what he is likely to use it for. Maybe they don't know it is for LS specifically, but whatever. There it is.
CR mentions it to MB.
As I've said before, I can definitely see the panic if she were to die during something like that. If you haven't, look up "Joey Upshaw"
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/upshaw-329167-joey-students.html
Fraternity Brother at OSU. Took GHB VOLUNTARILY at a frat party and showed symptoms very similar to LS, crashing into walls, unable to talk or walk, lips turning blue. They put him to bed to "sleep it off." When they realized something was wrong, they argued about calling the police because they were scared. They did, eventually, but he died. The tragedy? Had they called earlier, he might be alive today.
I see no reason to think that LS differs much in that respect. I think it is very questionable whether her behavior was due to drugs she voluntarily or involuntarily took (although, at least some were of her own choices, such as alcohol, I wouldn't argue that point).
I think it is certainly possible, and her behavior definitely makes me think she might have had something slipped into her drink, I'm not sure if it was even possible to progress to that point, depending on if she passed on before, or they recognized that she was reallyyyyyy badly off.
I really do wonder if there was a reputation/rumors about one or several of them spiking drinks because THAT is something I can see JW thinking, "omg, this might be really bad. I need to report her missing ASAP." It would explain why everyone was so worried very early on after a night of partying where it wouldn't be unheard of to lose your phone or sleep elsewhere (I do draw the line at her shoes ---> I think that IS extremely abnormal, even drunk. Maybe if she had had heels on and her feet hurt, but they were flats, right?)