GUILTY MI - Paul DeWolf, 25, fatally shot in Ann Arbor frat house, 23 July 2013

[Woe.be.gone]

BBM - it sounds to me (2 assuptions):

1) Perp did this by total surprise... someone Paul knew was with him was able to catch him off guard - perhaps while Paul was engrossed in something, and the perp was able to quietly take out a small gun and shoot him from behind in the neck....
OR
Someone was holding him captive with a gun from behind ... perp then shot him in the neck. This would be more difficult since the perp would have to be rather close to him - so close I wonder if Paul tried to get the gun and was then shot... but would think multiple shots would have been fired... the perp would not realize he hit him right away... UNLESS the perp had no intention in the first place of really shooting Paul, and as soon as the one shot when off, the perp took off.

? Could it have been a prank of some sort gone terribly wrong??.. someone who's only intention was to do something with/on Paul's PC..

Of course I don't know for sure but my guess is that whoever shot Paul did so deliberately. These don't seem like the kind of people who would be playing around with guns in dorm rooms just to pass the time. For instance, soldiers are taught proper gun maintenance procedures from the beginning. Unless they are the uneducated type to begin with and may not be dealing with a full deck, they're not likely to mess around with their guns when someone else is present. Paul was surrounded by the brightest folks - the top of the heap so-to-speak. That doesn't mean one of them didn't have an emotional loose screw though. But, a dumb mistake, nah. (imo)

 

[Woe.be.gone]

The incident was awhile ago (couple of years at least) and Paul did not seem to mind. He may have known exactly who it was and may have given that person access to his room for a reason. I thought the incident could mean that the frat brothers are trusting of each other and may access to each others rooms. I don't know.

Oh I see and nice to know as it sounded as if it was a recent event. So the point is that they may have been loose about coming and going into another's room.

A little story. While I was working I went to and graduated from a junior college. About a year later, I enrolled in a four year university and took an apartment (never experienced dorm life). I was an older student by about five years but met lots of people there, both younger and older. My fellow students were juniors and seniors already, twenty years old and up. A lot of them rented apartments versus remaining in dorm rooms by that time. Living in the building next door was a girl from my area of study. We'd ride the bus together or just chat in class, etc. She had roommates. I told her that I was invited to the ballet along with a dinner afterward at the Opera House. We both had an interest in dance. She was such a nice young woman - the kind who'd do anything for a friend. She offered me a beautiful diamond-like necklace to wear with my strapless dress. I'm not sure the value but it was fancier than anything I owned up to that point. Afterwards, I thanked her and immediately returned the necklace placing it in her hands. Long story.

About a week or two later, she stopped me on the sidewalk in front of our apartments and asked me if I stole her necklace as it was now missing from her room. You can imagine the shock and horror I felt. I hope when I answered, "no, of course not", she believed me. It wasn't worth that I had borrowed the necklace upon hearing it was stolen.
What I'm getting at is, she had two roommates and an open door policy. She probably had showed off the beautiful necklace to several of them BECAUSE SHE TRUSTED THEM. I know for certain that one of her TRUSTED roommates or friends took the necklace. I know this because it wasn't me. Between all of them, the three roommates, they had people going in and out of their apartment all the time. To this day, I feel bad about what happened (she took the necklace out of hiding especially for me to wear) but know someone close to her betrayed her and stole the necklace. She probably would rather think it was me who took her necklace (nothing like that would ever, ever occur to me in a million years). I suppose, in her mind, I remained a suspect which hurts me to think about. And, whoever that person was, I hope she learned their true colors eventually one way or another.
Just because you trust someone or have known them longer, doesn't mean you really know what they're capable of doing.

 

[SapphireSteel]

According to a paramedic I know, he says that a gun shot versus a stabbing is unmistakable and LE on the scene would be able to identify the injury. The difference is a hole or slit mark left by weapon. My friend says if a circular object was used, such as an ice pick, then it could be possibly mistaken as a gun shot but, the difference between a hole and slit is easy to identify. He says if LE could not identity the injury this could be due to the amount of blood surrounding the wound.

He also said a neck shot would both enter and exit the neck because there isn't anything in the neck to stop a bullet even if it hit the spine. If the bullet did not exit then the shot most likely was not a straight shot so either aimed up or down.

Poor Paul.

We know these things -

no bullet at scene
small wound = small calibre
an area of the neck he couldn't hit himself - well, there's really only one area, isn't there? The spine.
bullet fired up/down - if he was sitting and someone crept up behind him, it was likely down.

 

[SapphireSteel]

Oh I see and nice to know as it sounded as if it was a recent event. So the point is that they may have been loose about coming and going into another's room.

A little story. While I was working I went to and graduated from a junior college. About a year later, I enrolled in a four year university and took an apartment (never experienced dorm life). I was an older student by about five years but met lots of people there, both younger and older. My fellow students were juniors and seniors already, twenty years old and up. A lot of them rented apartments versus remaining in dorm rooms by that time. Living in the building next door was a girl from my area of study. We'd ride the bus together or just chat in class, etc. She had roommates. I told her that I was invited to the ballet along with a dinner afterward at the Opera House. We both had an interest in dance. She was such a nice young woman - the kind who'd do anything for a friend. She offered me a beautiful diamond-like necklace to wear with my strapless dress. I'm not sure the value but it was fancier than anything I owned up to that point. Afterwards, I thanked her and immediately returned the necklace placing it in her hands. Long story.

About a week or two later, she stopped me on the sidewalk in front of our apartments and asked me if I stole her necklace as it was now missing from her room. You can imagine the shock and horror I felt. I hope when I answered, "no, of course not", she believed me. It wasn't worth that I had borrowed the necklace upon hearing it was stolen.
What I'm getting at is, she had two roommates and an open door policy. She probably had showed off the beautiful necklace to several of them BECAUSE SHE TRUSTED THEM. I know for certain that one of her TRUSTED roommates or friends took the necklace. I know this because it wasn't me. Between all of them, the three roommates, they had people going in and out of their apartment all the time. To this day, I feel bad about what happened (she took the necklace out of hiding especially for me to wear) but know someone close to her betrayed her and stole the necklace. She probably would rather think it was me who took her necklace (nothing like that would ever, ever occur to me in a million years). I suppose, in her mind, I remained a suspect which hurts me to think about. And, whoever that person was, I hope she learned their true colors eventually one way or another.
Just because you trust someone or have known them longer, doesn't mean you really know what they're capable of doing.

Funny you should mention this.

I must have a guilty face or something, because I have been wrongly accused of stealing money and other things more than once in my life.

It's terrible to be suspected, especially if you know darn well it wasn't YOU. You know you're getting the blame for someone else who is not only dirty enough to steal in the first place, they are also dirty enough to keep silent when the wrong person is blamed.

All sorts of people lie and are dishonest, trust me. Some folks can justify their behaviours very easily.

 

[Woe.be.gone]

Funny you should mention this.

I must have a guilty face or something, because I have been wrongly accused of stealing money and other things more than once in my life.

It's terrible to be suspected, especially if you know darn well it wasn't YOU. You know you're getting the blame for someone else who is not only dirty enough to steal in the first place, they are also dirty enough to keep silent when the wrong person is blamed.

All sorts of people lie and are dishonest, trust me. Some folks can justify their behaviours very easily.

Yes, true. I'm not certain she continued to blame me but it felt icky to think she suspected me in the first place when I wasn't even someone who frequented her place and had returned the necklace. I think it's easier to suspect someone other than your roommates or those you're closest too.
I'm just going off of personal experiences trying to think this through as far as the possibilities of who could have murdered Paul. The necklace was an inside job because nothing else was missing - only the necklace.

 

[Woe.be.gone]

Poor Paul.

We know these things -

no bullet at scene
small wound = small calibre
an area of the neck he couldn't hit himself - well, there's really only one area, isn't there? The spine.
bullet fired up/down - if he was sitting and someone crept up behind him, it was likely down.

How do we know they didn't find a bullet at the scene? We suspect because we heard they didn't know the cause of death prior to the autopsy. LE must have returned afterward and looked around though. Odds are they didn't find a casing, but we're guessing, right?

Plus small caliber weapon fits with no loud gunshot being heard/reported.

That main artery, carotid, in the neck runs along both sides of the neck. Hitting that artery directly, according to many posters, would cause alot of external bleeding. We're not sure if the reports about blood are accurate.

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

Yes, true. I'm not certain she continued to blame me but it felt icky to think she suspected me in the first place when I wasn't even someone who frequented her place and had returned the necklace. I think it's easier to suspect someone other than your roommates or those you're closest too.
I'm just going off of personal experiences trying to think this through as far as the possibilities of who could have murdered Paul. The necklace was an inside job because nothing else was missing - only the necklace.

She may have had a few suspects in mind and asked quite a few of them about the necklace, not just you. She may have been gauging everyone's reaction? If she were clever or worldly, she may have gotten her answer by how someone responded. For instance, if someone acts overly composed or overly dramatic about it---that may be a hint towards guilt. Plus there's eye contact, if a suspect repeats the question, etc. etc
I wouldn't assume she felt you were the guilty party after she asked you.
iykwim?

 

[Woe.be.gone]

She may have had a few suspects in mind and asked quite a few of them about the necklace, not just you. She may have been gauging everyone's reaction? If she were clever or worldly, she may have gotten her answer by how someone responded. For instance, if someone acts overly composed or overly dramatic about it---that may be a hint towards guilt. Plus there's eye contact, if a suspect repeats the question, etc. etc
I wouldn't assume she felt you were the guilty party after she asked you.
iykwim?

Oh I know. I'm remembering her aggressive stance, (remember this was a sweet, nice person), as she asked me about it. Thinking back, I bet the guilty person filled her ear with the idea that I must have broken into their apartment after I had returned the necklace. If you think about it, how would I know when all three of the roommates would be gone? I'd never even knocked on their door before. My friend showed me their apartment one time just to show it to me as I had invited her into mine. So, figure the odds that I'd happen upon a time that none of them were home, be able to break into the apartment (they must have locked the place when they were all away) and rummaged through all of their things trying to find the necklace. It's too complicated for me to have done that. I did have kind of a stunned look on my face when confronted though. I don't know what that looks like exactly.
We spoke many times afterward (it happened not long before graduation though) and kept in touch via phone a few times after graduating. I asked her if she ever found out who stole the necklace. She didn't. I wasn't mad at her for asking me about it but, looking back, I believe she was groomed by the real culprit who cast doubt on me. I hate to think she went on believing in that person's friendship.

Neither of us would be described at clever or worldly back then. lol! We were the nice, somewhat naive ones, if I may say so myself. Kind of like Paul?

 

[bourne]

According to a paramedic I know, he says that a gun shot versus a stabbing is unmistakable and LE on the scene would be able to identify the injury. The difference is a hole or slit mark left by weapon. My friend says if a circular object was used, such as an ice pick, then it could be possibly mistaken as a gun shot but, the difference between a hole and slit is easy to identify. He says if LE could not identity the injury this could be due to the amount of blood surrounding the wound.

He also said a neck shot would both enter and exit the neck because there isn't anything in the neck to stop a bullet even if it hit the spine. If the bullet did not exit then the shot most likely was not a straight shot so either aimed up or down.

I agree. I believe the reason LE had a hard time identifying the specific location of the wound is that there was too much blood surrounding the gunshot hole.

I've PMed a verified medical expert on WS and hopefully she'll answer as to whether someone being shot in the back of the neck would not hemorrhage externally. The only way I can see this happen is if the bullet lodged inside the body of the victim and plugged the bullet hole so no blood would leak out. This would then mean that Paul sustained *internal hemorrhage*. Otherwise I call the poster What4's theory about bullet severing the cervical spine in the Paul's neck total B.S.

If you think about it, the cervical spine is not that large, and certainly not as large as the thoracic and lumbar spinal columns. So if the cervical spine is severed (by definition this means fractured completely), the vertebral artery running through the spine would also be broken. Where would the blood from this artery leak to, if not out the bullet hole? Again, unless the bullet hole was plugged by something, like the bullet itself, no way no how there would be no leakage of blood outward.

 

[bourne]

Yes, true. I'm not certain she continued to blame me but it felt icky to think she suspected me in the first place when I wasn't even someone who frequented her place and had returned the necklace. I think it's easier to suspect someone other than your roommates or those you're closest too.
I'm just going off of personal experiences trying to think this through as far as the possibilities of who could have murdered Paul. The necklace was an inside job because nothing else was missing - only the necklace.

It's a natural response of theft victims to become suspicious of people around them. I think what you say has merit as it's especially true that we don't tend to distrust those closest to us and whom we are friends with.

This is why I think whoever killed Paul has to be someone he knows rather well. Too much of a coincidence to be a random stranger or even some stalker patient or their significant other. I'm inclined to believe it was someone close to Paul. I don't want to say this, but I think the perp's likely a close friend/family member.

 

[bourne]

BBM - it sounds to me (2 assuptions):

1) Perp did this by total surprise... someone Paul knew was with him was able to catch him off guard - perhaps while Paul was engrossed in something, and the perp was able to quietly take out a small gun and shoot him from behind in the neck....
OR
Someone was holding him captive with a gun from behind ... perp then shot him in the neck. This would be more difficult since the perp would have to be rather close to him - so close I wonder if Paul tried to get the gun and was then shot... but would think multiple shots would have been fired... the perp would not realize he hit him right away... UNLESS the perp had no intention in the first place of really shooting Paul, and as soon as the one shot when off, the perp took off.

? Could it have been a prank of some sort gone terribly wrong??.. someone who's only intention was to do something with/on Paul's PC..

Both scenarios are plausible, though I see an additional scenario. Could be the perp used a shotgun from a distance, e.g., perp opens Paul's door slightly ajar and secretly shot him while Paul was focused on something. I have friends who own guns and they say although the gunshot wound may have been small, it does not necessarily mean it was a small caliber gun. Depends on angle the gun shot into the victim, type of gun, amongst other things. Also, just because the perp caught Paul by surprise need not mean Paul was shot in the back of his neck. If Paul was shot in the side of the neck, and the shot hit a vital artery, Paul's physiological system could have entered into shock and been unable to respond.

 

[Woe.be.gone]

For what it's worth, I asked my grill master husband what he thinks would happen if someone was shot in the neck. Mind you, he's not trained in anything other than first aid. He said, 'oh, there'd be blood as there are all kinds of veins and vessels in the neck'.

 

[black_squirrel]

According to a paramedic I know, he says that a gun shot versus a stabbing is unmistakable and LE on the scene would be able to identify the injury. The difference is a hole or slit mark left by weapon. My friend says if a circular object was used, such as an ice pick, then it could be possibly mistaken as a gun shot but, the difference between a hole and slit is easy to identify. He says if LE could not identity the injury this could be due to the amount of blood surrounding the wound.

He also said a neck shot would both enter and exit the neck because there isn't anything in the neck to stop a bullet even if it hit the spine. If the bullet did not exit then the shot most likely was not a straight shot so either aimed up or down.

LE probably cannot wash the wound at the crine scene. With the blood surrounding the wound I think
that The police was not certain about the cause. This is not a big town with only few murders, so the
officers are not that experienced with these kinds of wounds. They probably prefer to leave it to the ME
to determine the cause.

If a large caliber was used, would you still see a bullet hole, or might the wound be less recognizable?

 

[danzn16]

According to a paramedic I know, he says that a gun shot versus a stabbing is unmistakable and LE on the scene would be able to identify the injury. The difference is a hole or slit mark left by weapon. My friend says if a circular object was used, such as an ice pick, then it could be possibly mistaken as a gun shot but, the difference between a hole and slit is easy to identify. He says if LE could not identity the injury this could be due to the amount of blood surrounding the wound.

He also said a neck shot would both enter and exit the neck because there isn't anything in the neck to stop a bullet even if it hit the spine. If the bullet did not exit then the shot most likely was not a straight shot so either aimed up or down.

I've worked a case where a bullet entered the neck and did not exit. Nearly all blood was internal bleeding not external. So it's still possible. Although I agree it is less liekly


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[Woe.be.gone]

I googled about gunshot wounds and blood and just from reading the brief descriptions visible before you'd click on a link, there are indications of situations where little external blood may be visible as a result of a gunshot wound. This subject is so out of my league that I'm not worthy to post about it imo.

We can be sure LE knows whether PD was or was not found in a pool of blood though. That info may help them understand more about the nature of the crime.

 

[bourne]

I've worked a case where a bullet entered the neck and did not exit. Nearly all blood was internal bleeding not external. So it's still possible. Although I agree it is less liekly


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The argument by the poster is not just that the bullet entered the neck, but that it "completely severed the spine" and there was "no bleeding" (internal or external).

Here's a pic of the cervical spine and the vertebral artery.

Now, after looking at this pic, does it make scientific sense that the cervical spine is completely severed and there is "no bleeding"?

 

[writer7]

IMHO, they probably couldn't tell whether he was shot or stabbed in the neck due to the amount of dried or clotted blood covering the wound.

There was a family murder I remember where I know the cops said the same thing. AAMOF, that's how they first knew who did it: he knew they'd been shot instead of maybe stabbed when the cops couldn't even tell that on scene. The guy said that his family had been shot on the 911 tape.

Those wounds were intense and multiple, too, so the wound here may have been a large caliber. I doubt it was a shotgun if the police said it was a single shot. That's just not how you usually describe shotgun blasts.

(eta)

I keep thinking of who I think did it or how it went down. I kind of think it was a meek person --as far as murderers go-- or someone really unfamiliar with shooting, probably. I'm picturing someone who came in planning on pulling out the gun and shooting him in the head. They missed and only hit his neck. It worked and they did know that, though (probably gushing is my guess). That's my best speculation so far.

Getting even more speculative based on that: a lover or good friend or maybe relative. Been interviewed. Cops believed her/him, and she/he has been put in the 'cleared' file. Folks probably knew s/he visited that day, but the cops believe s/he must just not fit the real timeline. It's not an alibi, but it's someone they don't expect at all, so the cops don't consider the lack of real alibi troubling.

 

[writer7]

Oh! Depending on who all visited or didn't and what the various alibis of the housemates are, it could be someone who faked a computer or phone alibi. So the person raises no red flags and might have been smart enough to fake an alibi. I thought of that one because these kids are med students, lol. Pretty smart. These are just theories in theory, of course. I mean no harm to the real housemates, etc, if they are completely innocent!

Basic faked alibis really can throw off the cops sometimes, for a long while at least. That might be what's going on. (I think of a case where this stepfather murdered his teen and his faked work logs threw off the cops for several months until they dug deeper into his alibi.)

I wonder if they tested everyone's clothes for evidence? I hope they got them all, just in case it was someone he knew.

 

[black_squirrel]

Look at the following video at 0:39 at the bottom "Chris Cuomo's full report":
http://newday.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/31/medical-students-murder-puzzles-authorities/

There is a shot of some of the residents of Phi Rho Sigma. I believe this was shot
on the day that the body was found. This gives some idea of who was present
at the fraternity the day the body was found.

This includes JD, who seems one of DeWolf's best friend. He is also the one who
posted on Paul's facebook pretending to be Paul. I think I also know who the
other people. I am not entirely sure about the female student of which we can only see the back. I conjecture that the person sitting with the backpack may be BS,
a neurosurgery resident and ex-resident of Phi Rho Sigma. I also think that he
may have been the person who found the body. But I could be wrong about this.

 

[OldSteve]

Of course I don't know for sure but my guess is that whoever shot Paul did so deliberately. These don't seem like the kind of people who would be playing around with guns in dorm rooms just to pass the time. For instance, soldiers are taught proper gun maintenance procedures from the beginning. Unless they are the uneducated type to begin with and may not be dealing with a full deck, they're not likely to mess around with their guns when someone else is present. Paul was surrounded by the brightest folks - the top of the heap so-to-speak. That doesn't mean one of them didn't have an emotional loose screw though. But, a dumb mistake, nah. (imo)

Just for discussion sake - despite all my training, etc.. I once had a gun go off by mistake!