Missouri - The Springfield Three - missing since 7 June 1992 - #16

[lee sumner]

The girls were not supposed to go there at all. Sherrill, for all intent and purposes, was supposed to be and expected to be alone. No one called the house to let her know the girls' plans had changed. While lovely young teenagers seem like the intended victims, there were two of them which automatically decreases, though not omits, the probability of them being the initial targets. We don't know how many people knew Sherrill wasn't expecting her daughter back, but she wasn't, much less with another girl accompanying her. A woman alone without any expectation of an interruption seems like the more logical focus of a bad player. My thought is that Sherrill was already compromised by the intruder when the girls showed up and the bad guy was forced into damage control. He might have had a gun, or binding of some sort. Sherrill could have easily been coerced to cooperate with an abduction in fear for her daughter's safety if she didn't. Likewise, Suzie, in fear for her mom's. Who, how and why? Of course, I don't know. I just think that ruling out Sherrill as the real target with the girls being unintended collateral victims ignores an avenue of investigation that could be expanded.

i dont believe all 3 women were the targets, so why were all 3 taken. this is why i did wonder if the perp was already in the house with levitt when the girls arrived home.

 

[lee sumner]

So, let's back up and look at JK for a minute. This is strictly hearsay, but I read on another thread that someone who knew her in high school said she was someone you didn't want to mess with. She also "joked" in an article dated June 6, 1993 that as for Stacy, the [perp(s)] "would let her go after tiring of her incessant I want my mommy." This statement alone says A LOT to me. Janelle is no goody goody if she's making fun of Stacy, who has at this point been kidnapped and is most likely dead, for being a mommy's girl. Clearly, you don't make comments like this unless you consider that person to be more prudish than you are.

Janelle has a serious boyfriend and it's graduation night. Anyone who's ever been a teenager knows that unless you are Mother Teresa incarnate, you'd be trying to spend the night parking or hooking up with said boyfriend in these circumstances. Even Stacy, who seems by all accounts to be the most innocent and responsible of the group, was busted for sneaking out to see some guy prior to this. The teens had already set up the story of going to Branson, leaving them wide open for the rest of the night regardless of whether they actually went or not. Yet we're supposed to somehow believe that even though her "mommy's girl" friend Stacy is lying to her mom and trying to spend the night random places, Janelle is the only good girl who's going to go home...to her own overcrowded house....and sleep on the floor instead of staying with Mike somewhere? Come on.

My theory is that Branson was Janelle's idea and her motivation was getting to stay in a hotel with Mike graduation night. Due to the fact that Stacy's parents suggested she would not have been allowed to stay with Suzie, I believe that they were under the impression that only girls would be going to the Branson hotel. I can't imagine a reality where you'd allow a guy/girl non chaperoned hotel room but you wouldn't have allowed Stacy to stay with Susie and Sherrill at Delmar. They also expressed serious reservations about the trip due to their own friend dying from a drinking and driving accident graduation night. So, knowing what we know about Stacy, a single girl who is close to her parents and somewhat responsible, she's probably already only lukewarm about the Branson plan to begin with and was possibly only considering this plan because it's what Janelle wanted. Janelle's mother AT THE VERY LEAST knew that guys were also going. Which is why everything originated with she and Janelle. Ms Kirby says she told Sherrill (most likely also/or told Janice) that the girls would call HER when they arrived in Branson. She says if Sherrill needed Susie, she was to call HER to get in touch with her own daughter. The girls are to park at HER house. When Stacy decides not to go after all, she uses HER house as an alternate cover, while actually thinking she's staying at the Joy house. I have little doubt that Ms Kirby is covering for something right out of the gate, and it's either that guys are going to be in Branson (covering for Stacy) or that Susie and Stacy are not really going (covering for Janelle/Mike). The fact that Stacy doesn't seem to have had an overnight bag makes me think that at the time she left her house, she didn't intend to actually go to Branson, but would instead just stay out all night. She could have packed a bathing suit just in case someone had a pool at one of the parties since it was summertime and was planning on returning to her own house the next day while her parents were at the lake.

I lean toward thinking that Susie was not initially invited to Branson. I think she had been replaced in the group by Adina because Stacy and Janelle were going to college and joining a sorority and she was staying behind. Susie had a single mom, she had been living with a boyfriend a year prior, she had just been involved with a guy who was busted violating cemeteries.....to social climbing mothers in conservative USA, Susie would not have been the ideal friend for a perfect public image. The facts that support this theory include other friends testimony that Susie was worried about being in the "in crowd" and that she "didn't have enough friends," along with the strange allegations from Janelle that Susie was "sad" at graduation and asking people to spend the night with her. To me, this would be typical behavior of a teenage girl who feels left out. She's sad and she's also asking people to spend the night with her in order to gain an invite to whatever they are doing. Another fact that makes me lean toward this theory is that Sherrill declines an invitation from Ms Kirby to graduation dinner. We got this information from a friend of Sherrill's, who says it was unlike her. I think Sherrill, being close with Susie, may have been mad at Janelle and her mom due to hurting her daughter's feelings. Additionally, after the ceremony we have Nigel's statement that Susie dropped plans with her at the last minute and also Appleby's testimony that all was well and that susie and stacy were happy. She had been invited after all, probably by Stacy.


Now the question of what Janelle and Mike actually did that night and how much Janelle's mom was in on the plan. If we do not believe she stayed at home (which I absolutely do not), then they either 1) stayed in town somewhere or 2) actually went ahead to the Branson hotel room. It would help a lot to know Adina's circumstances- she's kind of the dark horse witness we don't know anything about- did she also have a serious boyfriend? The fact that Adina is one of the first people aware of the situation (she says she's "worried" about the girls when she finds out the situation that morning from Janelle) and then she shows up, with her mother no less, the next day at the house shows me there's more involvement there than meets the eye. I wonder if Adina also had a boyfriend and Janelle and Mike were with them most of the night before. If she was single and a member of this friend "group," you'd think she would have been hanging with Susie and Stacy yet she was not to my knowledge.

there is no way JK did this. she was a teenager at the time. immature yes, responsible for a triple abduction, no. if this was JK and her boyfriend or any group of teens, they would have crumbled years ago and starting talking about what they knew. it would also mean JK and friends were serial killers. i dont buy it.

 

[lee sumner]

In old articles, does it mention either of the girls going to a photography studio to have professional style photos taken? I thought it had been mentioned previously.

mccall did professional style photos. she was a model.

 

[TheCars1986]

blinds open means nothing. it could have been done hours earlier or day before.

Sherrill's binds were pulled open a quarter of the way and Bookout said it appeared Suzie's blinds had been moved as if someone were looking outside. I don't think that's a coincidence.

 

[TheCars1986]

the house had a strong smell of varnish because levitt had been varnishing a cabinet, and painting and decorating. levitt would have opened windows to let some air in. perp/prowler could have seen her reading in bed, then it went from there.

Prowler isn't gaining access to the house and Sherrill isn't opening the door. No forced entry. Everyone Sherrill knew said she would have never opened the door unless it was someone she knew well. Not an acquaintance. Not some client from the hair salon. Either someone well known to Sherrill showed up that night, or everything happened after Suzie and Stacy returned to the house.

 

[lee sumner]

Hi! I haven't posted much but have been reading the last couple days and putting things together to the best of my ability. People have commented how much Suzie and Stacy's plans changed and to me that is one of the biggest keys to solving things. Why? Because the perp knew the truth when so many other people didn't about their whereabouts. At first I thought maybe someone tapped the McCalls' line but if they did, they would have gotten that the girls were staying at Janelle's and attacked them there. But that didn't happen.

To me, this case rests on two big things: the delay in attacking the ladies and the knowledge that Stacy and Suzie were staying at Suzie's place. I don't subscribe to the lone outsider for a couple reasons, the main one being the delay in attacking them once they were at Delmar. I don't believe someone was going after Sherrill alone, she could easily have been killed anytime that night but the killer waited until the girls were home. Now, an outsider COULD have followed the girls from the party at 2 am, but here's the thing. The girls leave in separate cars, not the same car. How would an outside stranger know that they are going to the same place? He wouldn't. And now we get to the delay. Suppose an outside perp spots the girls at the house and decides then and there to take them. Why the delay in taking them? Why even let the girls enter the house? A stranger might have realized with 3 card in the driveway there might be a dad with a shotgun at home to protect them and attacked the girls with a gun in the driveway. But he let them get into the house, talk with Sherrill presumably, and then take off their makeup and at least in Stacy's case, partially disrobe. Every moment that the killer waits ups his chances of being caught, either by one of the ladies looking out the window or a cop or neighbor being by. Also, the neighbor was out of town, which an outsider wouldn't know either. No, the picture I get is of the perp calmly watching and waiting for the lights to go out in the house before putting the plan into action. Why the waiting for the lights to go out? Because then presumably everyone is in bed and not close to the phone. If you go for the house when all the lights are on and presumably the blinds are pulled due to Stacy's attire, and maybe the others too, you don't know the relation of anyone to the phone and they might get a phone call off to 911 before the perp can get to them. That can't happen and with everyone in their beds, it makes the attack much safer. My guess is that if Sherrill's window was open, the killer went in that way, held a gun to Sherrill's head, and used her as a weapon against the others. Given that absolutely nothing was taken other than the women, the whole thing probably took a couple minutes max. Probably the women took nothing with them in the belief and hope that if they just followed orders, they would be ok.

Now, we get to me one of the most important parts. Why the disappearance? Presumably someone wanted them dead, but why not just shoot them in the house, leave the bodies, and be done with it? If sexual assault is the only motive, why not just shoot two and take the third? But nothing like that happened. The answer I come up with is to avoid proof of a crime having occurred. Why? Because if the bodies were discovered at the house, there would be clear evidence pointing at the guilty culprit. This way, with the bodies gone, even if the cops suspect it, they won't have any proof. Again, this points to a planned attack as with the ladies gone for 28 years, a spot must have been devised for the final murders and hiding of the bodies that was so good that no one could find it. That was not done on the spur of the moment.

Now we get to to me the most important thing: the constantly changing plans. The original plan was Branson overnight in a hotel. Then Janelle's and Mike's and so on before the final decision was made to stay at Suzie's. Now, that means that at least one perp had to be at that last party and knew the final decision. And that's where at least one culprit has to be. Now, this was in an era before cell phones. If the killer was watching the house waiting for the girls to come back, he had to be reachable. The problem of course, is always motive and without further knowledge of the people involved, I have no idea on that one. But the way I outlined it is the way I'm pretty sure it happened.

And that gets me to the final point of 18 people entering the house the day after. I have a suspicion that at least one perp was in the house that day to make sure no evidence was left behind pointing to the real culprit. The overall picture I get is maybe two people, one watching the house and committing the crime and the other at the party alerting the criminal as to what was happening. If there was only one, then the perp has to have been at the party to know the final destination of the girls. Possibly the delay in attacking them was to coordinate information. This is one reason I am wondering where the nearest pay phone was back then. Also, there must have been a good spot to watch the house and wait for the lights to go off without being spotted by either the cops, a passerby, or the women from the windows (or the dog). Where would such a place be? I can't envision the killer leaving their own vehicle parked in the driveway waiting for the lights to go off, too risky. And the getaway vehicle has to be parked somewhere close and readily able to move into the driveway. What surveillance video is available of the nearby area at that time?

Stuff like this is why I think the police know who did it but without the bodies have no proof. I could be way off on all of this, but it's my best theory after looking at the facts.

motive, means, opportunity. if the perp followed streeter and mccall back to delmar st, why would he allow the girls to enter the house. if he had the opportunity to snatch the girls on the drive home he would have done that. its a 12 mile route from kirby house to levitt house. he could have took them anywhere on that 12 mile route. following streeter and mccall home, then letting them enter home and lock up would mean he has messed up the opportunity to take them. why would perp make it so difficult.

 

[lee sumner]

It's another possible theory. With these unsolved cases many people will be right until it's solved and many people will be wrong until it's solved.

or levitt put her purse in streeter bedroom out the way while she was painting/decorating/varnishing/, or kids calling next day moved the purses putting them together so they dont get lost.

 

[lee sumner]

Sherrill's binds were pulled open a quarter of the way and Bookout said it appeared Suzie's blinds had been moved as if someone were looking outside. I don't think that's a coincidence.

agree regarding levitt blinds. she would open windows to let some air in after varnishing a cabinet. book turned over on page side makes me think she was reading when something got her attention.

 

[lee sumner]

All very good points. I wonder how things could have played out if Sherrill had been picked up by someone while the girls were still out? Could the girls have gotten to Delmar just before Sherrill? If so, then who took Sherrill someplace that late and where did they go?

if streeter and mccall stayed at kirby home, would levitt have been missing the next day.

 

[lee sumner]

Very good question. If not, they still should.

Good points. Didn't Cox say things which caused him to cast suspicion on himself? Looks like he just wanted attention. Just my own opinion though.

cox was working on delmar st laying phone cables. i dont know how close he was to levitt home, but he could have seen levitt and streeter coming and going. he could have started scoping them out. he would know mother and daughter lived there.

 

[lee sumner]

We might have answers if SPD had spent as much time on the party goers and parents as they did on the crypt vandals, Suzie’s and Sherrill’s backgrounds and Bartt’s alibi. SPD sending detectives to Washington to investigate Sherrill’s background illustrates their determination to make what happened fit Janis’s suspicions. They wasted precious time and still do. The People investigates program turned into the SOS with Asher dragging MC, DR and Bartt through the mud. This case may be solvable but being optimistic about a resolution is hard since SPD shows no interest and Asher-who was taken off the case-acts as a spokesperson and is apparently incapable of entertaining ideas he didn’t have in ‘92.

detective asher does not come across a very good investigator. he thinks the perp knocked at levitt door holding cinammon the dog to gain access. if anything levitt would be more suspicious of a mystery man knocking at her door in the early morning hours holding cinammon in his arms.

 

[lee sumner]

You never know- she could have lied. Believe what you want.

I just wasn’t sure if there was something she did that was suspicious. I know in the book about the case it says she changes her timeline a few times which is obviously odd but I wouldn’t want to call her a liar without reason.[/QUOTE]
Welcome to the discussion. I have not personally read the book, but those that have that have been following this case since the beginning , don’t put too much stock into it ..
You may wish to look into a neighbor that reported a prowler , and a knife that was found under her window , and it’s whereabouts .
[/QUOTE]
prowler looking through windows only 2 blocks from levitt home in the early morning hours. dropped knife when he was scared away.

 

[lee sumner]

Does anyone know if Sherrill’s number was listed? Or was it a new number? As they had just moved there a few months prior. I wonder if the local library has old phone books?

they actually moved in earlier that year around jan/feb time.