MA - Vanessa Marcotte, 27, murdered, Princeton, 7 Aug 2016 #6

[Evey]

So randomly I was in a head shop....and there was a bunch of butane lighters like kitchen torches. And I joked that it was overkill.

But I was informed when you smoke "dabs" the wax version of weed, you use that kind of lighter because you need a higher heat point.

I am a few years older then VM, but I know generations below me apparently mainly smoke dabs.

My point....perhaps he's a stoner.

Yea dab ones came to mind but people don't always travel with their dab rigs and torch but if he's visiting for school then maybe he would. How close would it be to college starting? What ifhe just drove off once he was done to head to college? Heroin meth and crack also require lighting and people who smoke pills but often those types use normal things where as anyone who's doing dabs uses what you mentioned and people would assume any stoner would lack motivation but I don't believe all stoners do

 

[Evey]

I didn't realize a driveway to a house is so close to the path , right across the street. I already thought this was brazen enough in the afternoon like it was, but that location near that driveway, is just unbelievable.

Maybe he knew they weren't home?

 

[Evey]

Many major nationwide network insurance carriers offer a , or even some PPO policies that are usable in any state. Some don't even require a primary care physician. It wouldn't surprise me if google offered that type of plan, and it wouldn't surprise me if VM wanted to keep her same primary care physician in Ma.

Especially with her crohns. Someone who visits family every weekend strikes me as keeping the same doctor. Google likely covers health care very well

 

[Evey]

True, but I don't think he cared if the entire woods burned or not. Sociopaths don't care about much of anything.
I think as BW mentioned, that he set her on fire and got away as fast as he could.

He'd care if his home and what nkt could end up destroyed because of it but it all feels staged to seem more crazy and deranged and ballsy but maybe isn't.

 

[Evey]

So let's say he lives super close and either knew the home close wouldn't be home or could live there and needed to take his chance before driving to college the same day, would he likely have a torch then? If he's a stoner. He could walk back across the road and grab what's needed. I wish we could see a list of people she tutored who would be leaving for college and how many days before college started it was. It explain the dragnet and how it doesn't seem like a first time but seems like he is learning. Maybe he goes to college in New York and also killed the other girl (KV) he seems cocky and arrogant like a young dude and he would seem to have knowledge related to firepits and covtrlled burns and wouldn't want his home burned down and would want to have the fire out or guaranteed out. He clearly has no record we know of but has a record of stuff he's not been caught for and he's likely fit and strong. This is all my opinion though

 

[Evey]

I find myself reading comments on that video and some are odd and also I believe an SUV could easily have backed in and dumped the body. I'm going to attempt to find her on social media profiles we haven't checked in hopes she has a photo with someone she's tutored that could be a lead somehow. I thought she had a blog? I found two snapchats one using her twitter name and the other just as vmarcotte and I added them to see if someone actually is using them since her phone as far as I know wasn't found. Thekiller could easily track her via this

 

[Madeleine74]

Burning her all makes more sense and a fire pit sounds as if he dug an area out first. I don't get why they said she was strangled but now don't mention it

Who is "they?" Why should her COD continue to be mentioned? Results of her autopsy is in reports and will be presented in a court should her killer ever be caught and prosecuted.

 

[Kickoff61]

Who is "they?" Why should her COD continue to be mentioned? Results of her autopsy is in reports and will be presented in a court should her killer ever be caught and prosecuted.

I don't think cause of death was ever reported in this case.

 

[Madeleine74]

I don't think cause of death was ever reported in this case.

That might be true (probably is true). I'll take your word for that. LE is under no obligation to release that information to the public. The M.E.'s report is a legal document and sometimes media outlets can get a copy of this document (depends on the jurisdiction and their laws) and when/if media gets ahold of something like that they'll usually disclose COD. It's not LE releasing the info though.

 

[Kickoff61]

That might be true (probably is true). I'll take your word for that. LE is under no obligation to release that information to the public. The M.E.'s report is a legal document and sometimes media outlets can get a copy of this document (depends on the jurisdiction and their laws) and when/if media gets ahold of something like that they'll usually disclose COD. It's not LE releasing the info though.

I understand.

 

[Kickoff61]

"This just doesn't make any sense," the source said. "She was a beautiful girl." He said police searched for the victim's clothes, cellphone and earbuds but came up empty. A partially burned sneaker was found near her body, the source said.

Telegram.com Aug. 9th.

 

[ForensicMass]

I visited the crime scene. The ground surface is blanketed with approximately 4 inches of heavy wet snow so I could not get as good a look at the ground as I would have liked. I did take away some interesting things from my visit though. First off the circular looking dark markings on the dead vertical tree, upon closer examination we're not burn marks at all but were just a black mold or mildew on the wood. Therefore I do not believe a torch was a part of this crime since the elevated circular marks on the tree were the main reason I thought a torch might be involved.

Probably the most interesting thing that I took away from the visit was something that had not been mentioned at all on this thread. That being that the cart path where she was found is not straight. The path starts at about 90 degrees to BSR and goes straight back for about 75', then jogs slightly to the right. The location where she was apparently found is not visible to anyone passing on BSR, even if looking directly down the path. In fact, it's the first point along the path that isn't visible. So she was taken just around this corner.
My friend who accompanied me posed a great question while we were at the site. He asked why was she brought 130 or so feet down the path when the areas to either side of the path, down in the gully, which is 8-10' below the grade of the road, would have provided much better cover and would have been easier/closer. I spoke with local LE, and though no new specifics were given, I didn't get the impression that there is anyone in particular under the microscope. I also asked an employee of the market if she had been there that day, to which he replied that he did not believe so, that LE checked their camera footage (I noted about 4 cameras in the small shop). Which leads me to another question. If LE initially say they "believed she had been at the store" where did they pull that from? The most logical explanation would seem to be that her family said she had gone there earlier that day-perhaps she borrowed the car to go to the "store", and her family assumed that was where she went. Maybe she went to a different store. Or maybe she went somewhere else altogether. I have more thoughts but this post is getting dense.

 

[Kickoff61]

LE isn't going tell someone if they have someone under the microscope. (just saying).

 

[Kickoff61]

Bob Ward's video of the scene just after it happened, looked like a fire pit as he described it. A clear fire happened there. Clearly would be covered with the snow now. A torch was never reported to be involved. It makes sense the person would take her in and around the corner out of sight in that area. If a vehicle is involved, it would still be parked for all or part of the time.

 

[ForensicMass]

LE isn't going tell someone if they have someone under the microscope. (just saying).

It was an element of frustration that I sensed in the officer that they did not yet have anything solid, but this was just my take. Of course they cannot give any specific information.

 

[ForensicMass]

Bob Ward's video of the scene just after it happened, looked like a fire pit as he described it. A clear fire happened there. Clearly would be covered with the snow now. A torch was never reported to be involved. It makes sense the person would take her in and around the corner out of site in that area. If a vehicle is involved, it would still be parked for all or part of the time.

I am certainly not disputing the occurrence of a fire I'm just clarifying that previous thoughts that a torch might have been used seemed to have been based on the "test burn" circular marks elevated off the ground on the vertical tree. I examined that tree and there were no burns evident on it whatsoever. Not even at the base along the ground.

 

[Rocky1]

Thanks for the update FM.
I know that the foliage is gone now, but to you, did it look like he could have hid in that gully behind the guard rail and sprung up and out when she passed?

 

[Emb72]

I visited the crime scene. The ground surface is blanketed with approximately 4 inches of heavy wet snow so I could not get as good a look at the ground as I would have liked. I did take away some interesting things from my visit though. First off the circular looking dark markings on the dead vertical tree, upon closer examination we're not burn marks at all but were just a black mold or mildew on the wood. Therefore I do not believe a torch was a part of this crime since the elevated circular marks on the tree were the main reason I thought a torch might be involved.

Probably the most interesting thing that I took away from the visit was something that had not been mentioned at all on this thread. That being that the cart path where she was found is not straight. The path starts at about 90 degrees to BSR and goes straight back for about 75', then jogs slightly to the right. The location where she was apparently found is not visible to anyone passing on BSR, even if looking directly down the path. In fact, it's the first point along the path that isn't visible. So she was taken just around this corner.
My friend who accompanied me posed a great question while we were at the site. He asked why was she brought 130 or so feet down the path when the areas to either side of the path, down in the gully, which is 8-10' below the grade of the road, would have provided much better cover and would have been easier/closer. I spoke with local LE, and though no new specifics were given, I didn't get the impression that there is anyone in particular under the microscope. I also asked an employee of the market if she had been there that day, to which he replied that he did not believe so, that LE checked their camera footage (I noted about 4 cameras in the small shop). Which leads me to another question. If LE initially say they "believed she had been at the store" where did they pull that from? The most logical explanation would seem to be that her family said she had gone there earlier that day-perhaps she borrowed the car to go to the "store", and her family assumed that was where she went. Maybe she went to a different store. Or maybe she went somewhere else altogether. I have more thoughts but this post is getting dense.

I would imagine, JMO of course, the further back into the woods would add more privacy, less likely being heard? The gully sounds possibly close to the main road then drops down, is that correct? It just seems with this sort of disgusting crime, further back the better?

 

[DeDee]

Thank you, ForensicsMass.

As for where the fire pit was located in the woods, our case maps are in conflict.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...&ll=42.43784915492762,-71.88814492572556&z=19

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...&ll=42.43822222437088,-71.88817508545839&z=19

* I apologize for not being to give proper credit but these maps are not my work.

Both maps display the cart path to the fire pit as being at a sharp diagonal line almost parallel to BSR but gets deeper away from BSR as it progresses toward Conner Lane. Killer could have taken her deeper into the woods without being in close proximity to the other homes but as far as we know, he stopped at the first hidden spot around a corner. Correct?

Was the spotted tree and fire pit within the cart path or off to one side of it? TIA

 

[ThinkHard]

Thank you, ForensicsMass.

As for where the fire pit was located in the woods, our case maps are in conflict.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...&ll=42.43784915492762,-71.88814492572556&z=19

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...&ll=42.43822222437088,-71.88817508545839&z=19

* I apologize for not being to give proper credit but these maps are not my work.

Both maps display the cart path to the fire pit as being at a sharp diagonal line almost parallel to BSR but gets deeper away from BSR as it progresses toward Conner Lane. Killer could have taken her deeper into the woods without being in close proximity to the other homes but as far as we know, he stopped at the first hidden spot around a corner. Correct?

Was the spotted tree and fire pit within the cart path or off to one side of it? TIA

The cart path and Connors lane are actually two seperate things....for a while there was confusion. Both paths start in the same place....meaning both from that lip on BSR.....Connors lane runs diagonal and at an angle along BSR and eventually away from it....you can see a bunch of Connors land from the road as its lined with stone walls.

The cart path goes straight back into the woods.

What FM is saying that path looks straight back from the road....but actually curves just past where you think it ends causing a blind spot....and I believe FM is saying her body was found in this blind spot....meaning someone driving by, even if they did look straight down the path that day wouldn't have seen anyone on it.