There's one other version ... and it's an even bigger discrepancy. This is from an article in Indiana Monthly, dated May 30, 2012 (another one-year later followup):
"Beth’s attorney, Ron Chapman (who also represents Rohn), tells IM that Beth, an IU student, stayed in all night to work on papers due that day. Chapman also confirms that Rossman was with Spierer when she came to the apartment, and that Beth helped Rossman into bed. Valerie Sokolova, a neighbor, tells IM that Beth has said he went upstairs and, when he returned, Spierer was gone. 'That was the last time Mike and Corey saw her,' says Sokolova."
What interests me is that what MB said is filtered through a neighbor here. So did he 1) see her walk out the door for JR's, 2) walk her over the JR's, or 3) do neither of the above, re: Sokolova? If 3) is true, what happened next? Did she stumble out on her own or was she taken? If 3) is a lie, why did he change his story? One thing it does is remove him (and CR) from the picture almost completely. In fact, it doesn't even allude to JR's ...
I'd like a clear timeline as to what came first. Did the PIs talk to MB before the Indiana Monthly reporter talked to Sokolova? And who else interviewed Sokolova? LE must have. IMO, when MB told her this seems critical. If he told her before JR claimed to be the last to see LS, could it explain why MB's story changed (to incorporate JR into it)? (BTW, she appears to still go to IU—Kelley School of Business. Also, FWIW, MB and CR appear to be on her FB friends list.)
PS: I'd appreciate any thoughts on this ... possible implications, etc.
And, the very first story we have from MB is from the witness at CVS, who says MB told him he watched Lauren
walk down the street towards home. virtually the same story that became JR's. That was the day Lauren went missing. I'm
guessing the VS account also came from the same time period when people were looking for Lauren.
By June 10, Chapman mentioned to the media that the lawyers for the POI at 5 N had all been in contact with each other, so it makes sense that after that the stories were fairly consistent.
To me, the differences in MB's story are a red flag -- All people wanted to know was what time and where he had last seen Lauren. Considering he was one of the last two people to see her, this is pretty important and it shouldn't have been that hard to keep it straight, IMO, but AFAIK he has never been clear about the time, or the place, or what happened when Lauren came back to 5 N.
It is possible that some of the discrepancy comes from others, but again, considering this is the one detail that witnesses and journalists would have been interested in, and the one thing Chapman was hired to speak about on behalf of MB, I find it unlikely that everyone was just being sloppy and making mistakes about things like where LS went the last time she was seen. I think it's more likely that it is what it appears to be: MB and JR didn't have their story straight on day 1, and the account that Chapman gave the media initially was -- like Salzman's early account of CR -- somewhere between misleading and a lie. MB's account (like CR's) was modified as more evidence came to light from the PIs.
So, while I realize this isn't a whole lot to go on, it's the most concrete thing that we have to suggest the stories of the POI may not be true. So what are the areas of contradiction?
- Lauren's condition:they initially acted like she was totally fine and even helping CR home, until the video was released that showed she was barely conscious
- Who saw Lauren leave: MB and JR both said they watched her walk off toward home (in separate stories from separate apartments without mentioning the other), then MB changed his story at least two more times, with the last version revealing he took Lauren over to JR's
- Drinking/ drugs: MB's lawyer made several statements that he didn't drink or do drugs that night, in one case saying he was 'stone cold sober'. The PI's said he was drinking. Another small point, but relevant only because his lawyer made a big deal about saying it in the first place. Was this just to emphasize that MB was the 'sober alibi' for CR? Or was this part of the attempt to make it seem like none of them were actually hanging out together that night?
- The POI being together: The POI's first stories didn't include each other at all (with the exception of MB putting CR to bed), giving the impression they weren't together that night and Lauren was just wandering alone from place to place. But others have said that MB and CR were at JR's before the bar, that JR was at at the bar, and through rumors, there was a suggestion that they all went back to JR's after Kilroys. So the night started with LS, DR, JR, MB, & CR at JR's and it sounds like it more or less ended the same way - with LS, JR, MB and possibly CR at JR's, and a phone call from JR to DR.
This post is getting too long, so I'll stop there but others might have more to add to the list of contradictions?
I'll anticipate the obvious response, and say that each of these might be explainable by filling in the holes or assuming other people made mistakes. Or we can take out all the details and say the stories basically are the same thing. After all, the details don't seem particularly important. Like who cares if MB took LS over to JR's vs. LS walking out alone while he was upstairs? If she left JR's anyway, why would this matter? But that's exactly why it's suspicious. If she had really left, why would they conceal and/or lie about these details? That's what leads me to believe they may be important and point to a different story...
If the POI had been willing to take LE polygraphs, I would be a lot more willing to overlook the contradictions in their stories. But as it stands now, that's all we have to go on, and they aren't making the POI look very credible, IMO.
