Found Deceased MI - Venus Stewart, 32, Colon, 28 April 2010 - # 9 *D. Stewart guilty*

[believe09]

So, if there is no new evidence, did they catch him about to skip town? SPECULATING. I am thinking about Scott Peterson.

 

[Cubby]

I doubt it, the abuse charges were civil, meaning there wasn't enough evidence for a criminal charge. The worst he would have faced would be a loss of custody.

The only two reasons for an arrest IMO would be them finding her body or a confession by DS. I suppose they could charge him on an assumed homicide, but the evidence they have as far as we know is not enough to sustain that. I doubt there is any witness that could result in him being arrested, unless someone else was involved directly with the homicide and they confessed, but that seems somewhat unlikely.

or it could be LE and/or the DA and childrens GAL explained to Venus' parents what the child would have to go through at a criminal trial. How she would be treated by the defense attorney. How she would have to be put on the stand...

And the decision/choice was made to opt for a civil trial rather than a criminal trial even if they had enough evidence for a crimal child solely to avoid putting this child through any more emotional turmoil than she has already endured.

JMO

 

[Cubby]

So, if there is no new evidence, did they catch him about to skip town? SPECULATING. I am thinking about Scott Peterson.

and Drew Peterson.

 

[grayjay]

After learning of Doug's arrest, Newschannel 3 went to the home of Venus' parents where we found several state police cars and detectives outside.

One detective told Newschannel 3 that Venus' father, Larry McComb, was not feeling well and that it was not a good time to talk.

Source for above quotations: http://www.wwmt.com/articles/stewart-1378126-doug-newschannel.html

MY COMMENT: I don't think several state police cars and detectives would be at Venus's parent's house if Doug were simply arrested for child molestation.

Since he was arraigned already for inappropriate sexual contact with his daughter, the arraignment tomorrow has to be for murder or kidnapping, in my opinion.

I also don't think they'd make these moves this late in an evening unless something major has changed. The forensics seems a plausible explanation at this point, but clearly this is extremely upsetting news for her parents, not just a heads up about Doug going to jail, which they've expressed interest in having happen anyway. JMO MOO

 

[Cubby]

Prayers sent for Venus' parents. Hearing her mother has been hospitalized is heart breaking. My fear is that she was hospitalized upon hearing the news from LE visiting her home.

 

[Natal]

So, if there is no new evidence, did they catch him about to skip town? SPECULATING. I am thinking about Scott Peterson.

Probably they had exhausted all their leads, had no body and decided to throw the dice and go with what they had.

 

[Cubby]

Probably they had exhausted all their leads, had no body and decided to throw the dice and go with what they had.

And risk an acquital? Unlikely.

 

[BeanE]

Probably they had exhausted all their leads, had no body and decided to throw the dice and go with what they had.

That's simply not how prosecutors work.

 

[Natal]

or it could be LE and/or the DA and childrens GAL explained to Venus' parents what the child would have to go through at a criminal trial. How she would be treated by the defense attorney. How she would have to be put on the stand...

And the decision/choice was made to opt for a civil trial rather than a criminal trial even if they had enough evidence for a crimal child solely to avoid putting this child through any more emotional turmoil than she has already endured.

JMO

That is unlikely, the original complaint was made by Venus months ago and it would have been investigated back then. The current trial was clearly a tactic by child protective services to do anything to avoid or delay DS getting the children. They only filed the charge after he petitioned for custody. If Venus had not gone missing there would have been no abuse charges and the status quo would have continued. Obviously this stuff would have come up (or should have) in the original custody hearing and whatever it was couldn't have been all that serious otherwise DS wouldn't have been allowed contact at all.

 

[Natal]

That's simply not how prosecutors work.

Well, apparently it is in this case, if they are going with what they have, since at the moment they appear to have neither evidence of homicide nor are they able to place him at the scene.

 

[Cubby]

That is unlikely, the original complaint was made by Venus months ago and it would have been investigated back then. The current trial was clearly a tactic by child protective services to do anything to avoid or delay DS getting the children. They only filed the charge after he petitioned for custody. If Venus had not gone missing there would have been no abuse charges and the status quo would have continued. Obviously this stuff would have come up (or should have) in the original custody hearing and whatever it was couldn't have been all that serious otherwise DS wouldn't have been allowed contact at all.

But it did originally come up, no? Since he had only phone contact for visitation while the investigation was on going since the time Venus filed the complaint. The investigation of the alleged sexual abuse charges were never proven unfounded or unsubstantiated IIRC.

It was my understanding this is a single investigation which has been ongoing since Venus originally filed the compaint, not a second investigation to the allegations. I could be wrong, but that was my understanding.

ETA: Not to mention, Doug sought supervised visitation... thus he already knew the allegations were never disproven and were still being investigated.

 

[daisy7]

Well, apparently it is in this case, if they are going with what they have, since at the moment they appear to have neither evidence of homicide nor are they able to place him at the scene.

Is there a link that says they don't have evidence about a homicide or placing him at the scene?

 

[Natal]

But it did originally come up, no? Since he had only phone contact for visitation while the investigation was on going since the time Venus filed the complaint. The investigation of the alleged sexual abuse charges were never proven unfounded or unsubstantiated IIRC.

It was my understanding this is a single investigation which has been ongoing since Venus originally filed the compaint, not a second investigation to the allegations. I could be wrong, but that was my understanding.

ETA: Not to mention, Doug sought supervised visitation... thus he already knew the allegations were never disproven and were still being investigated.

You can never disprove allegations of that sort. They would have interviewed the children when the complaint was made and there isn't much more to investigate beyond that.

 

[Natal]

Is there a link that says they don't have evidence about a homicide or placing him at the scene?

If they allready had those things they would have arrested him before now. In the link I provided earlier it was said that they decided to proceed with the case and that it isn't linked to any new evidence or DNA. So, nothing new in other words.

 

[Cubby]

You can never disprove allegations of that sort. They would have interviewed the children when the complaint was made and there isn't much more to investigate beyond that.

Of course one can never be 'proven innocent' but the allegations would have been found unsubstantiated. Which they are not. Big difference in allegations being unsubstantiated and saying someone is proven innocent.

 

[Cubby]

If they allready had those things they would have arrested him before now. In the link I provided earlier it was said that they decided to proceed with the case and that it isn't linked to any new evidence or DNA. So, nothing new in other words.

That depends on ones definition of new. The word new could have been defined as in the last hour, few hours. This could have been in late last week thus not considered 'new'.

IMO, they finally crossed the t's, dotted the i's and collectively pieced the evidence they had for them to believe they had enough to convict.

jmo

 

[Cubby]

I'm dying to know if they recovered Venus' remains or will be proceeding with a murder trial without a body.

Any thoughts on whether or not she's been recovered?
If what was posted on FB that Venus's mother has been hospitalized
and the hospitalization occured as a result of the news LE provided her
and I can't beleive a body has not been recovered.

I tend to think, if Venus' remains had not been recovered
her mothers reaction ( if hospitalized as a result of the news....)
would still be to have hope.



Thoughts?

 

[Natal]

That depends on ones definition of new. The word new could have been defined as in the last hour, few hours. This could have been in late last week thus not considered 'new'.

IMO, they finally crossed the t's, dotted the i's and collectively pieced the evidence they had for them to believe they had enough to convict.

jmo

It doesn't matter what evidence they collect, they still have to have evidence of homicide and be able to place him at the scene if they want to convict him. None of the evidence reported so far in the media does that. When they eventually get their forensic results back they may be able to place him at the scene, but I seriously doubt that they have sufficient evidence for a homicide. It just seems like they are taking a bit of a gamble, and hoping that something definitive crops up in the interim.

But, maybe they have stuff they haven't told us about.

 

[Natal]

I'm dying to know if they recovered Venus' remains or will be proceeding with a murder trial without a body.

Any thoughts on whether or not she's been recovered?
If what was posted on FB that Venus's mother has been hospitalized
and the hospitalization occured as a result of the news LE provided her
and I can't beleive a body has not been recovered.

I tend to think, if Venus' remains had not been recovered
her mothers reaction ( if hospitalized as a result of the news....)
would still be to have hope.



Thoughts?

I don't think they have found her. The report said they proceeded without new evidence and if they had found her, we would have heard about it. Also, if they had found her before, and just didnt tell us about it, they certainly would have told the family, which is not consistent with the parents being upset with the news today.

 

[Natal]

I'm dying to know if they recovered Venus' remains or will be proceeding with a murder trial without a body.

Any thoughts on whether or not she's been recovered?
If what was posted on FB that Venus's mother has been hospitalized
and the hospitalization occured as a result of the news LE provided her
and I can't beleive a body has not been recovered.

I tend to think, if Venus' remains had not been recovered
her mothers reaction ( if hospitalized as a result of the news....)
would still be to have hope.



Thoughts?

The parents reaction is odd in the absence of a body being found. But, their reaction has been odd the entire case, so I think it is just their way of dealing with the unknown and we probably shouldn't read too much into that.