Found Deceased MI - Venus Stewart, 32, Colon, 28 April 2010 - # 4 *D. Stewart guilty*

[pufnstuf]

That's fine, but it has not been established yet that any crime occurred. Venus is missing, but she hasn't been found yet. There is no evidence that she was harmed at her parent's house either. No blood. No torn clothing. No screams for help. But I will side with you at this point that she probably is the victim of wrongdoing pending evidence it is actually true.

I don't have the facts that MSP have, and they say that she was abducted. I can't imagine any other scenario that would explain her leaving her children one week after being awarded temporary custody of them. Well... let me say that again... I can't imagine any other LOGICAL scenario...

Of course Doug is the sole person of interest. That is the way it works. But I will withhold judgement that Doug did it until all of the evidence is in. I say that because the police would already have him in jail if they thought there was any solid connection connecting him to the crime.

Again, I'll take MSP's word that Doug is the sole person of interest in Venus' abduction. The facts that have been released to the public so far seem to uphold that conclusion. The police won't arrest Doug until they get forensics back on the gloves, tarp wrapper, footprints, blood, tire treads, and such. When they have a solid case, they'll arrest him.

OK, but that doesn't answer my question. What crime was Doug accusing him of when Venus acknowledged that a discussion of said crime occurred between her and Doug prior to her disappearance from the father's house?

Dunno. Maybe you can look for that answer.

I agree with you that women are killed often by their estranged husbands, as husbands are killed all the time by the women that they marry too. Domestic violence isn't a male-only crime.

Statistically, women are the victims of domestic violence much more frequently than men are.

Statistically, women die at the hands of their husbands much more frequently than vice versa.

Why didn't Venus fill out the will the many other times that her and Doug were having problems? Why was it only important for her to do so when she went to Michigan?

Was she, in fact, the author of the will? That needs to be checked out.

Her father, her mother, her local friends, her co-workers, the judge, you name it--all said that she had told them that she thought she would be killed by Doug. She obviously wasn't lying or exaggerating, and truly believed that her life was in danger--as she wrote up a will (according to her father).

The story has changed as well in terms of her being abducted by the mailbox outside the home. The family is now saying that they cannot be certain she was abducted walking to the mailbox. That means they have absolutely no idea how she disappeared and was abducted and are just speculating about it. But now everyone following the case thinks she was abducted walking out to the mailbox because that is how the media reports it, and still reports it.

Link to the bolded portion, please?

Interview with Risko, May 13, continues to say that she was abducted outside the house. Whether she was going to mail a letter or water the petunias is really irrelevant. LE has not said whether or not a letter was found in the box or on the ground. Until more details about the particulars come out, I'll continue to believe that Venus was abducted.

I brought this point up too when the case first broke. I asked myself how could the father possibly know what happened to Venus, when he was in bed sleeping? Either he was sleeping or he was not sleeping. If he wasn't sleeping and knew that she went to the mailbox, that means he either is a potential witness to what happened or he was inside the house and didn't hear her call for help, in which case he would probably feel guilty for having it happen right under his nose. But he can't say he was sleeping and know definitively what happened to her.

You can agree to that, can't you?

The father states he was sleeping. The father has always said that he was sleeping. The conclusion that Venus was abducted outside the home on the way to/from the mailbox is not based soley on his word. He claims that he woke up because the girls were being rowdy and she was gone. My guess is that he woke up at 8:30, but I don't know that for a fact.

The bottom line is that we don't have the facts that MSP has. And we have only gleaned a few tidbits from the family through NG or an article here and there.

We don't know where LE came up with the 7:10 AM parameter. It could be because Venus texted someone. It could be because mom called home and said, "Venus, don't forget to mail the light bill." It could be because she turned off the home alarm system to go outside. We don't know what LE knows.

 

[Frank Black]

Don't argue with the moderators on the threads.

I haven't argued with any of the moderators. Perhaps you should clarify. Thanks.

 

[pufnstuf]

A person who worked with Venus posted on a wwmt.com article yesterday that Venus would come to work and say that she hit Doug in self defense because he pinned her against the wall and made sexual demands. She also said that he would provoke Venus to hit him so that he could call the police to file charges on her to make her look abusive. The poster says that she thought that Doug did these things to get custody of the children if they were ever to divorce. She says that Doug is not right in the head.

This is paraphrased, in accordance with WS rules.

 

[Frank Black]

I don't have the facts that MSP have, and they say that she was abducted. I can't imagine any other scenario that would explain her leaving her children one week after being awarded temporary custody of them. Well... let me say that again... I can't imagine any other LOGICAL scenario...

The MSP is assuming she was abducted based solely upon the testimony of the last person to see her alive, the mother, who claims she was with Venus in the kitchen the morning she went to work at 6 AM. The mother would see Venus in her pajamas and Venus said she was working on a letter that she had to mail and that is why the mother believed that Venus was abducted at the mailbox or coming back from the mailbox. This makes sense too that the father would also say Venus was abducted at the mailbox, because the mother was the last person to see Venus alive and the mother would tell the father what she had seen in the morning she was talking to Venus.

But the truth is...noone knows the exact time or disposition of Venus at the time she disappeared. It is all speculation at this point. The only thing everyone knows is that she disappeared, and I am not that narrowminded to regurgitate what the media keeps repeating. I profile these cases and I don't let anyone do my thinking for me.

Again, I'll take MSP's word that Doug is the sole person of interest in Venus' abduction. The facts that have been released to the public so far seem to uphold that conclusion. The police won't arrest Doug until they get forensics back on the gloves, tarp wrapper, footprints, blood, tire treads, and such. When they have a solid case, they'll arrest him.

That's just it. There is no evidence Doug bought the items at WalMart, is there? I haven't seen one news report claiming that he bought the items from WalMart and was the originator of the receipt found in the truck. It is also questionable to me why Doug would use the WalMart in Ohio, when he could have purchaased the items at a location much closer to his home, which would fit the profile. The WalMart in Ohio is one of the closest WalMarts to Colon County, so just because it is in another state is not indicative that an individual driving to Michigan from Virginia would use that particular WalMart. In fact, it smacks of someone from that area using the store since it is the closest WalMart. That means a local person to Colon County.

I am still waiting for a news report on the actual items purchased--did Doug, in fact, purchase them or did someone else? Are the items purchased accounted for or missing?

Dunno. Maybe you can look for that answer.

The media won't tell us because it doesn't benefit them politically.

Statistically, women are the victims of domestic violence much more frequently than men are.

True, but men are still victims of domestic violence and murder by their spouses.

Statistically, women die at the hands of their husbands much more frequently than vice versa.

True, but men are less likely to report domestic violence than women are. Men are conditioned not to appear to be weak and to suffer in silence, so to speak.

Her father, her mother, her local friends, her co-workers, the judge, you name it--all said that she had told them that she thought she would be killed by Doug. She obviously wasn't lying or exaggerating, and truly believed that her life was in danger--as she wrote up a will (according to her father).

And Doug said that he was fearful of his life from Venus when he filed paperwork for a restraining order against her too. The point that I am making here is that both of them were hostile to each other, not just Doug, and it is documented fact.

Link to the bolded portion, please?

It's in the video I linked. The police officer from MSP said that the last person to see Venus alive was the mother at 6 AM. The story that she was kidnapped by the mailbox came later from the parents when the media began interviewing them about Venus' disappearance.

Interview with Risko, May 13, continues to say that she was abducted outside the house. Whether she was going to mail a letter or water the petunias is really irrelevant. LE has not said whether or not a letter was found in the box or on the ground. Until more details about the particulars come out, I'll continue to believe that Venus was abducted.

I agree with you that she was possibly abducted, but it is also possible that she met with foul-play at the house somehow.

The father states he was sleeping. The father has always said that he was sleeping. The conclusion that Venus was abducted outside the home on the way to/from the mailbox is not based soley on his word. He claims that he woke up because the girls were being rowdy and she was gone. My guess is that he woke up at 8:30, but I don't know that for a fact.

Yes, but in many media interviews the father repeats that she was taken from the mailbox even though he has already admitted he was sleeping during that timeframe. The media ran with the story that way, a woman "taken in her pajamas while walking to a mailbox". That came from the father and no other source, even though he was sound asleep at the time.

The bottom line is that we don't have the facts that MSP has. And we have only gleaned a few tidbits from the family through NG or an article here and there.

I agree, and that is why I am concerned there may be another answer to this case, one that people will have a hard time accepting as a possibility. I have read many cases about people leaving their jobs and then disappearing, cutting family ties and then disappearing, getting baptised and then disappearing, and urgently writing wills and then disappearing. I hate to say it, but those cases were suicides. I am not saying Venus did that, or it was her frame of mind, but the possibility cannot be excluded.

Another reason why I thought of this is because of what the father said. He said he was "rifling through" her paperwork after she disappeared and found "notes" about Doug molesting the children, etc. Was that all the notes that he found, or was there more? Is it possible that he found a suicide note too?

MSP should have done a complete search of the house immediately after she was reported missing.

We don't know where LE came up with the 7:10 AM parameter. It could be because Venus texted someone. It could be because mom called home and said, "Venus, don't forget to mail the light bill." It could be because she turned off the home alarm system to go outside. We don't know what LE knows.

Venus disappeared at some point between the time the mother left the house at 6 AM and the time the father woke up.

 

[thinkaboutthis]

A person who worked with Venus posted on a wwmt.com article yesterday that Venus would come to work and say that she hit Doug in self defense because he pinned her against the wall and made sexual demands. She also said that he would provoke Venus to hit him so that he could call the police to file charges on her to make her look abusive. The poster says that she thought that Doug did these things to get custody of the children if they were ever to divorce. She says that Doug is not right in the head.

This is paraphrased, in accordance with WS rules.

Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.

 

[pufnstuf]

Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.

LOL... I assure you that I did not post that thinking that it had some kind of evidenciary value. It just shows that Doug may have been a manipulative person.

Still, if the person who posted that was called to testify by the prosecution, her testimony most likely would be allowed under equitable forfeiture.

 

[Natal]

A person who worked with Venus posted on a wwmt.com article yesterday that Venus would come to work and say that she hit Doug in self defense because he pinned her against the wall and made sexual demands. She also said that he would provoke Venus to hit him so that he could call the police to file charges on her to make her look abusive. The poster says that she thought that Doug did these things to get custody of the children if they were ever to divorce. She says that Doug is not right in the head.

This is paraphrased, in accordance with WS rules.

That sounds more like someone explaining to a co-worker why they got into trouble to me. Generally, in that situation the person talking is never to blame for whatever happened, it is allways someone else's fault, so you don't know if it is true or false. It's human nature. But, as I pointed out before (and you agreed) this stuff is not relevent to what happened on the 26th unless it directly relates to some piece of evidence from the day. The only thing we can be sure about regarding their earlier relationship is that it was stormy.

 

[Calliope]

bbm
THERESE MCCOMB, MOTHER OF MISSING MOM VENUS STEWART: Yes, that -- she got up out of bed, she had coffee with me, one of the girls was up early, gets up early, too.


http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1005/03/ng.01.html


We know one of the girls was up, per the NG transcripts.

Then why are there quotes from the police that everyone in the home was asleep? That's confusing to me. And it is significant if the kids were awake.

 

[Natal]

LOL... I assure you that I did not post that thinking that it had some kind of evidenciary value. It just shows that Doug may have been a manipulative person.

Still, if the person who posted that was called to testify by the prosecution, her testimony most likely would be allowed under equitable forfeiture.

Except that the incidents have allready been before the court in cases that have been resolved. So it would not be allowed.

 

[Calliope]

Plus the neighbor saw the man crouched by the Dodge Ram at "about 7AM" and five minutes later, he was gone.

ETA: Your quotes didn't carry forward...

Her mother left at 6AM. Venus had coffee with her before she left.

I'm thinking they must have some evidence Venus made a call, posted online, sent an email, whatever... that caused them to start the timeline at 7:10.

 

[pufnstuf]

The MSP is assuming she was abducted based solely upon the testimony of the last person to see her alive, the mother, who claims she was with Venus in the kitchen the morning she went to work at 6 AM. The mother would see Venus in her pajamas and Venus said she was working on a letter that she had to mail and that is why the mother believed that Venus was abducted at the mailbox or coming back from the mailbox. This makes sense too that the father would also say Venus was abducted at the mailbox, because the mother was the last person to see Venus alive and the mother would tell the father what she had seen in the morning she was talking to Venus.

But the truth is...noone knows the exact time or disposition of Venus at the time she disappeared. It is all speculation at this point. The only thing everyone knows is that she disappeared, and I am not that narrowminded to regurgitate what the media keeps repeating. I profile these cases and I don't let anyone do my thinking for me.

I agree with all points. And in fact you're repeating what you've heard in the media, correct? MSP has stated that she disappeared sometime between 7:10 AM and 8:30. There has to be a reason that MSP delimited the time at 7:10 AM. We just don't know what it is yet. So no argument from me over this part of your post, except for your insinuation that you alone are capable of critical thought and others of us lack that and rely only on the media to spoon-feed us.

That's just it. There is no evidence Doug bought the items at WalMart, is there? I haven't seen one news report claiming that he bought the items from WalMart and was the originator of the receipt found in the truck. It is also questionable to me why Doug would use the WalMart in Ohio, when he could have purchaased the items at a location much closer to his home, which would fit the profile. The WalMart in Ohio is one of the closest WalMarts to Colon County, so just because it is in another state is not indicative that an individual driving to Michigan from Virginia would use that particular WalMart. In fact, it smacks of someone from that area using the store since it is the closest WalMart. That means a local person to Colon County.

There is no evidence that Doug personally bought the items to which the general public is privy. The last I heard of this was that MSP would be looking at the videos from the Walmart from which the items were purchased. I'm sure that they'll be fingerprinting the receipt, too.

Where did you hear that Doug purchased the items at "one of the closest Walmarts to Colon County?" MSP has said nothing of the sort. All MSP has affirmed is that a receipt from an Ohio Walmart (the location of which MSP has refused to identify) was found on the passenger floorboard of the Dodge Ram (which was registered to Venus but in the possession of Doug).

I am still waiting for a news report on the actual items purchased--did Doug, in fact, purchase them or did someone else? Are the items purchased accounted for or missing?

I'll wait for MSP to release that complete info, too, and I'm sure we'll know more about this after forensics does its job. According to the search warrant, though, the items include a tarp, a shovel, gloves, and a cap.

The media won't tell us because it doesn't benefit them politically.

Care to expound on that?

True, but men are still victims of domestic violence and murder by their spouses.

No argument there.

True, but men are less likely to report domestic violence than women are. Men are conditioned not to appear to be weak and to suffer in silence, so to speak.

Irrelevant, since obviously Doug had no such qualms about reporting it.

And Doug said that he was fearful of his life from Venus when he filed paperwork for a restraining order against her too. The point that I am making here is that both of them were hostile to each other, not just Doug, and it is documented fact.

No argument there. Just pointing out the obvious that she's the one who's missing.

It's in the video I linked. The police officer from MSP said that the last person to see Venus alive was the mother at 6 AM. The story that she was kidnapped by the mailbox came later from the parents when the media began interviewing them about Venus' disappearance.

You think that Venus' mother told the press that Venus was on the way to the mailbox before she told MSP that? I disagree.

I agree with you that she was possibly abducted, but it is also possible that she met with foul-play at the house somehow.

There's no documented history of violence between Venus and anyone who resides in that home, though.

Yes, but in many media interviews the father repeats that she was taken from the mailbox even though he has already admitted he was sleeping during that timeframe. The media ran with the story that way, a woman "taken in her pajamas while walking to a mailbox". That came from the father and no other source, even though he was sound asleep at the time.

Perhaps MSP found a letter in the mailbox? Dunno. Doesn't really matter if she was on the way to the mailbox or putting something in the shed.

I agree, and that is why I am concerned there may be another answer to this case, one that people will have a hard time accepting as a possibility. I have read many cases about people leaving their jobs and then disappearing, cutting family ties and then disappearing, getting baptised and then disappearing, and urgently writing wills and then disappearing. I hate to say it, but those cases were suicides. I am not saying Venus did that, or it was her frame of mind, but the possibility cannot be excluded.

Possibility and plausibility are two different things. I don't find the suicide theory plausible. She had just won temporary custody of her two daughters.

Another reason why I thought of this is because of what the father said. He said he was "rifling through" her paperwork after she disappeared and found "notes" about Doug molesting the children, etc. Was that all the notes that he found, or was there more? Is it possible that he found a suicide note too?

It's possible he found a mail order receipt for a Prussian bridegroom in her stuff. That doesn't mean that it's plausible.

MSP should have done a complete search of the house immediately after she was reported missing.

The McCombs are the victims in this case, and I don't think that MSP has suspected them at all in Venus' disappearance. And, in accordance with WS rules, I'll just say that our theories should be based on something of evidentiary value if we're going to start casting aspersions at the family of the victim. When Venus left her husband, she went to her family. There have been no reports that Venus has ever had any problems with her mother and father. So to propone something like that, I'd suggest that you have something to support it.

Venus disappeared at some point between the time the mother left the house at 6 AM and the time the father woke up.

MSP says she disappeared between 7:10 and 8:30 AM. I'll go with that.

 

[Calliope]

While all evidence obviously points towards him, do you find it all a little bit too easy? He was a Marine at one point, would have been meticulous toward detail. This just seems sloppy. A receipt with the items purchased, left in his truck, just screams here I am come and get me. Seems too convenient to me. jmo

I agree. And don't forget the tarp wrapper. Why would someone with a "solid" alibi leave such incriminating, albeit circumstantial, evidence laying about.

 

[pufnstuf]

Except that the incidents have allready been before the court in cases that have been resolved. So it would not be allowed.

IF Douglas Stewart is tried for the murder of Venus, it will be up to the trial judge to determine what is admissible. Just because a prior court case is "resolved," it doesn't mean that the facts from that case can't be presented in another trial. It will be up to the judge whether or not prior abuse allegations will be considered. If so, then hearsay can be allowed under the equitable forfeiture condition. Look at the People v Bauder (MI) decision.

But I think it's kinda crazy to be talking about a trial when no one's even been arrested yet.

 

[Calliope]

Don't argue with the moderators on the threads.

Hi adnoid. As a relative newbie poster here (just started posting with the Aveion Lewis case), I've seen similar warnings here and there by people I knew to be moderators but I've also read warnings by "regular" posters who apparently were just giving others a heads-up. There are some members I really admire and have followed their posts and just recently found out they were mods too. It would be helpful if the mods had something in their sig lines or under their user names that indicate they're forum moderators.

 

[pufnstuf]

I'm thinking they must have some evidence Venus made a call, posted online, sent an email, whatever... that caused them to start the timeline at 7:10.

I think so, too.

 

[Calliope]

IF Douglas Stewart is tried for the murder of Venus, it will be up to the trial judge to determine what is admissible. Just because a prior court case is "resolved," it doesn't mean that the facts from that case can't be presented in another trial. It will be up to the judge whether or not prior abuse allegations will be considered. If so, then hearsay can be allowed under the equitable forfeiture condition. Look at the People v Bauder (MI) decision.

But I think it's kinda crazy to be talking about a trial when no one's even been arrested yet.

Here in VA, they would allow something like that in the sentencing phase. Not sure about MI though.

 

[Calliope]

I think so, too.

I guess that internet activity could possibly prove she was in the home at 7:10, but I have to wonder if there wasn't a phone call, or something more substantial where they can prove she was alive and well at that time.

 

[Calliope]

Just to clarify... for example, if someone were to sit down to my computer right now, they could send IMs in my name and even post here as I have some things set where I'm always signed in or that my passwords are saved. So even if they found IMs or emails or whatever.. that doesn't necessarily prove Venus is the one who was online.

 

[pufnstuf]

I guess that internet activity could possibly prove she was in the home at 7:10, but I have to wonder if there wasn't a phone call, or something more substantial where they can prove she was alive and well at that time.

I know! Maybe she signed into an internet account that's password protected, like a credit card account or bank account to check a balance? That's one of those tidbits we'd love to know but MSP ain't tellin'.

 

[pufnstuf]

Just to clarify... for example, if someone were to sit down to my computer right now, they could send IMs in my name and even post here as I have some things set where I'm always signed in or that my passwords are saved. So even if they found IMs or emails or whatever.. that doesn't necessarily prove Venus is the one who was online.

Yeah...like in the Julie Ann Gonzales case... I think George did that with her phone on her myspace...but I digress.

I guess it's something pretty certain, for the time to be stated as "between 7:10AM..." instead of "Between 7AM..."

I'd like to know how MSP knows that, what they know about the receipt, and what the affidavit says. I would LOVE to read that whole affidavit!