GUILTY MS - Alexandria "Ally" Kostial, 21, Ole Miss student found dead, Harmontown, 20 Jul 2019 *ARREST* #2

[afitzy]

Verified account 2h2 hours ago Therese Apel

This might be the answer to our question about what happened (doesn't answer what was discussed but does confirm meeting of Defense and Prosecution the night before):

"Authorities are tight-lipped about the meeting that went on between the prosecution and the defense the night before, but whatever was said there changed the defense's strategy".

Brandon Theesfeld’s attorneys ask for mental eval, no bond at hearing Thursday

 

[Momof4RN]

You have to wonder though if the forensic evidence in this case is simply overwhelming too?

Do we think that the forensic work has been done yet by the MS Lab and perhaps that was what was shared with the defense that resulted in them being 'forced' to go the psych route?

Still trying to figure out what the 'new information' could be that Defense mentioned yesterday.

Hoping so and hoping case is heard before the GJ next week so that at least some of our questions are answered. There had to have been something very incriminating that the defense knew would be brought before the GJ next week.

 

[Momof4RN]

Speculating...Ballistics resulted in a match to the weapon they recovered from his car...Perhaps

 

[Momof4RN]

Well now i’m Stumped...He still plans to plea not guilty and the prosecution “hopes they have enough” evidence to present to the GJ? Huh?

“Lafayette County District Attorney Ben Creekmore said prosecutors still plan to ask grand jurors to indict Theesfeld next week. Farese said Theesfeld would plead not guilty.”

BBM“The investigation, as far as I'm concerned, it's still on going. It's not completed," Creekmore said. "Hopefully, we will have enough to go ahead and present it to the grand jury next week."

Lawyers seek psychiatric exam for man charged in Ole Miss student death

 

[JudgeJoe]

Well now i’m Stumped...He still plans to plea not guilty and the prosecution “hopes they have enough” evidence to present to the GJ? Huh?

“Lafayette County District Attorney Ben Creekmore said prosecutors still plan to ask grand jurors to indict Theesfeld next week. Farese said Theesfeld would plead not guilty.”

BBM“The investigation, as far as I'm concerned, it's still on going. It's not completed," Creekmore said. "Hopefully, we will have enough to go ahead and present it to the grand jury next week."

Lawyers seek psychiatric exam for man charged in Ole Miss student death

Yeah... uh... “hopefully, we will have enough” is never what one wants to hear in a DA statement the week before the GJ. Not exactly confidence inspiring.

 

[Lillymac]

I personally don't believe there is any "new" information...just a feeble attempt at saying we're changing our strategy.

 

[borndem]

Speculating...Ballistics resulted in a match to the weapon they recovered from his car...Perhaps

Ouch, ouch, ouch!
Hmmm, I do hope you're right! WhatB.I.G. news that would be! And if BT has been lying about the weapon, his attys probably aren't too happy. There was earlier talk about his having a weapon in his car -- so a ballistics match would be a tuff one to sweep under the rug, IMO.

Another thing, of course would be 1) that she was pregnant, and 2) it was his DNA

Both would make me smile like the Cheshire Cat.

 

[jeni25]

This article is not about this case but is an in-depth article about problems in the MS prison system.

Not somewhere anyone would want to call home!

Locked Down: Inside the prison where inmates set each other on fire and gangs have more power than guards

 

[borndem]

I think there could be lots of huffing and puffing on both sides of the aisle on this one.
I hope we'll hear about whatever this new stuff is... if any...

 

[Lillymac]

Ouch, ouch, ouch!
Hmmm, I do hope you're right! WhatB.I.G. news that would be! And if BT has been lying about the weapon, his attys probably aren't too happy. There was earlier talk about his having a weapon in his car -- so a ballistics match would be a tuff one to sweep under the rug, IMO.

Another thing, of course would be 1) that she was pregnant, and 2) it was his DNA

Both would make me smile like the Cheshire Cat.

I can't help but feel they would have had this information for quite a while. jmo

 

[Gsmithson]

• The M'Naghten Rule - Defendant unable to distinguish between right and wrong or otherwise didn't understand what they did because of a "disease of the mind."

“Mississippi: The state uses the M'Naghten Rule. The burden of proof is on the state. An acquitted by reason of insanity verdict is allowed.” (So this means the state must prove sanity beyond a reasonable doubt.)

Most people are smart enough not to bother trying an insanity plea, but I suspect this is the defense strategy: have him diagnosed with some type of impulse-control condition, then claim he shot her because he couldn’t help himself.

The idea being that if he is then found not guilty by reason of insanity that he will then be placed in a mental health facility until he is safe enough to be released, at which time his family’s money and reputation will surely purchase him a “completely rehabilitated!” status in a year or so, thereby freeing him to go back to living his spoiled entitled life.

I had to look this up myself to believe it...I definitely thought you were wrong about the burden of proof being on the state. I did not realize several states were still set up like this! Most have the burden of proof on the defendant, but you are right...BOP in Mississippi is on the state! Crazy to me!

 

[Lillymac]

I had to look this up myself to believe it...I definitely thought you were wrong about the burden of proof being on the state. I did not realize several states were still set up like this! Most have the burden of proof on the defendant, but you are right...BOP in Mississippi is on the state! Crazy to me!

So the state has to prove he is Not insane? That's kind of bass-ackward to me.
But, in doing research on the M'Naghten Rule, I came across the John Hinckley Jr. case. The same defense was used in his case. It is a very interesting read and exposes reasons and instances one might think this strategy would work. It really is going to depend on the findings of the psyche evaluation. As stated in the report I read, it was a last resort defense for Hinckley and it would seem the same holds true for BT. jmo

 

[borndem]

I think there could be lots of huffing and puffing on both sides of the aisle on this one.
I hope we'll hear about whatever this new stuff is... if any...

Using my own quote -- My comment above immediately follows the amazing, frightening and shameful article on the Miss. prison problem, given to us by @jeni25, post #428 (Thank you, @jeni25). My comment has absolutely nothing to do with the Miss. prison write-up.
What an eye-opening and almost not-surprising article. If I were governor -- and I had solid proof that these gangs, etc., were doing what has been cited -- I would be very tempted to just lay-off, fire, or separate and send to different prisons, every employee in that prison. I would also try to do the same with the inmates.
But is this prison that different from so many others? I'm not so sure. Prisons aren't supposed to be country clubs, but they should allow those who want to rise above their prior actions and live a better life, and to work and study to do so.
Some inmates are so soulless and cruel, they might deserve some of the horrible things done to some of these prisoners, but it still should not happen. It's just wrong, wrong, wrong -- it can only make those people worse and more full of violence and hate, IMO. And there are some prisoners who are truly trying to rise above doing the things that got them there in the first place.
What can be done? Better training, rewards for being good employees -- based on what and judged by whom? Prisons have levels of custody classifications (close, medium, etc.) but is there more that can be done?

 

[afitzy]

Lawyers for Ole Miss Student Accused of Killing Classmate Ask For Psychiatric Evaluation

Question: Is it me but does it seem that BT demeanor is a bit 'different' for this court appearance versus the Farese claim of him being 'upbeat' and when he was last seen going to court?

Quotes from article:

Friends of Kostial’s have told PEOPLE that Kostial and Theesfeld knew each other for about three years. They described Kostial as an eternal optimist who always saw the best in everyone.

One friend said Kostial had a “complicated relationship” with Theesfeld that was “on-and-off.” Another described Theesfeld as being emotionally abusive and “super misogynistic.”

RELATED: Ole Miss Student Seen in Photos With Fellow Undergrad Suspected of Murdering Her

“She was always down about him. I have all kinds of messages of her texting me paragraph after paragraph, asking me, ‘What do I do?,’” the friend previously told PEOPLE. “She was texting all her friends asking for advice. It was hard for me to watch.”

Brandon Theesfeld

BRUCE NEWMAN/THE OXFORD EAGLE VIA AP
“He would tell her he loved her and then he’d say ‘F— you, I was just drunk, I don’t care about you,’” the friend said.

Farese has told PEOPLE: “Brandon comes from a good family, a good Christian home, his parents were divorced and have remarried and they all get along very well, and they have been very supportive of Brandon, and their hearts go out to the Kostial family and their loss.”

 

[afitzy]

https://nypost.com/2019/07/24/ally-kostial-one-of-five-mississippi-women-killed-in-span-of-24-hours/

 

[afitzy]

Dorm neighbor of Brandon Theesfeld, suspect in Ally Kostial case, says he is 'arrogant,' 'egotistical'

Quotes from article:

A former neighbor of the Ole Miss student accused of killing fellow student Ally Kostial called him egotistical and misogynistic Wednesday.


Surveillance photos from the gas station show Theesfeld wearing an Ole Miss t-shirt as he entered the gas station on Monday.

FOX13
Surveillance photos obtained from FOX13 show 22-year-old Brandon Theesfeld Monday afternoon at a Memphis gas station wearing an Ole Miss t-shirt.


READ: Man, 22, charged in death of Ole Miss student Ally Kostial

Kostial’s body was found near a lake in northern Mississippi, about 30 miles from Oxford and the Ole Miss Campus Saturday.

According to the Oxford Eagle, Theesfeld was tracked to the South Memphis location through his cellphone and credit cards.

Memphis police are seen swarmed around Theesfeld's truck, stopping him from driving away where Lafayette County deputies arrested him.

"I'm not going to sugar coat it, he was pretty much a daddy's boy type, constantly had to reference his father's money, how his dad could get him out of anything, just that attitude all the time," said Rex Ravita. "Any type of vulgar comment he could say, any type of rude comment to anybody in our dorm, any of the women."

Ravita said the the two dated on and off for a few years.

"Of course it was surprising because I knew him and of the situation, but to hear that the circumstances of how and why it happened, it just all clicked and made sense," said Ravita.

"I truly believe that he manipulated her emotionally to have her believe that he loved her the same way she did, and I think he had her on the hook until the very last second," Ravita said.

 

[afitzy]

https://www.oxfordeagle.com/2019/07...as-normal-days-prior-to-ally-kostials-murder/

Quotes from article:
Brandon Theesfeld is currently sitting in the Lafayette County Detention and facing a murder charge in the death of Ole Miss classmate Ally Kostial.

However, a week before Kostial was murdered, Theesfeld was sitting in a Texas bar, giving no signs of what would occur on early on the morning of July 20.

A friend of Theesfeld’s, who was out with friends of his own, bumped into him the night of July 13 in San Marcos, Texas. Barrett Wright had not seen Theesefeld since he transferred from Ole Miss following his freshman year. Goertz transferred back home to Texas State University.

Wright and Theesfeld went through fraternity recruitment together during the fall of 2016. The two did not end up in the same fraternity – Wright joined Sigma Pi and Theesfeld joined another organization before being released.

“I wouldn’t say we were best friends, but I knew who the guy was,” Wright said of Theesfeld. “(He) was a guy that I would consider a cool friend. Nothing struck me as he’s off or anything. I would’ve hung out with him anytime. Every time I’d see him I’d say ‘What’s up, dude’ and we’d hang out completely casual.”

"Since Theesfeld’s arrest, there have been photos circulating from this father, Daniel Theesfeld’s, Facebook page of Brandon shooting guns. Wright said he knew Theesfeld had guns and “everybody from Texas has guns,” so that didn’t seem odd to Wright. In the reports of Theesfeld’s apprehension, it was noted a gun was found in his pickup truck at the South Memphis gas station where he was arrested. Wright said he never rode in Theesfeld’s truck and could not speak on whether or not Theesfeld kept a gun in his vehicle at all times".

 

[afitzy]

The deleted BT tweets are shown in this article:

https://www.oxfordeagle.com/2019/07/24/now-deleted-theesfeld-tweets-give-glimpse-of-personality/

On July 19 at 11:14 p.m., minutes before the crime was allegedly committed, Theesfeld liked a tweet from the account @CauseWereGuys. The tweet included two photos: one was a screen-grab of the video game “Call of Duty,” looking through the scope of a rifle, and the other was of a woman sitting in front of a window.

According to multiple reports, Kostial was last seen sometime after midnight on July 19.

 

[Prthd]

MOO Wouldn’t be surprised if they found him not competent to stand trial, placed him briefly at the state hospital BUT due to severe overcrowding (MS politics, daddy’s money, and Oxford wanting to avoid more negative publicity) as part of the deal, he eventually gets moved to a more appropriate facility for his treatment in the great state of Texas. Wouldn’t that tie it all up with a nice bow on top? Once again this is speculation based purely on past observations of ms politics, judges, lawyers, governors, etc.

 

[Seattle1]

District Attorney Ben Creekmore said he doesn’t foresee the [mental] evaluation being something that puts the case on hold.

“I wouldn’t says on hold it’s just something that has to be done, it’s not uncommon in any case involving a criminal defendant," said Creekmore. "Either the state or the defense can request a mental evaluation.”

Brandon Theesfeld’s attorneys ask for mental eval, no bond at hearing Thursday

Seems DA is confirming defense request for eval at the bond hearing was more or less drama than anything else. MOO