Found Deceased MT - Rita Maze, 47, Wolf Creek, 6 Sept 2016 #1

[Inthedetails]

Does anyone remember how the Helena Police were the last ones to speak to her and they heard gunshots on the phone?:
An officer called the number Maze used to call her family, heard gunshots and then nothing. Those shots were heard five minutes before officials had traced the cell phone to the area of Geiger and Spotted Road.
http://www.krem.com/news/local/spok...-found-dead-died-from-gunshot-wound/315606109
So if she was staging it, she voluntarily answered the phone for an unexpected phone call from a potentially unknown caller - which she could have left unanswered - when she would have been right in the middle of staging her own death. The LE call isn't clearly reflected on reported timelines, but that would put the last time she was on the phone with anyone at around 12:30 AM.

I see it differently. The officer heard gunshots and then nothing. If someone killed her, wouldn't he have heard some other noises like pleading, screaming, or the trunk slam shut?

It's possible Rita answered the phone because she wanted someone to know what was happening. (I also think she wanted to be found quickly after death, but that's just my hunch. I don't think she wanted to be in that trunk a long time waiting to be discovered.)

jmo

 

[blue22]

Was someone traveling with her from Helena? Did she take them to Spokane? How could LE dismiss the still shot guy, if he indeed had some contact with Rita??? They supposedly said he was not involved. ????JMO

There are many things that could dismiss him as an abductor. If there is verifiable proof that he was somewhere else when she was supposedly being driven around in the trunk. If they could prove he was doing something else during the time she was missing.. It would be easy to dismiss him.

Totally JMO, but I would think ruling out the guy who fit her abductor description would cause serious questions of her story. That might be the reason why the began to question.

(This is all assuming that is the specific man who was ruled out.)

 

[eucalyptuz]

I think the police know how to silence the media and quell the public but in this case it was LE that started the fervor of "questioning the abduction narrative". They could have said something like "We are following a lot of leads and the evidence is being processed. The labs and our investigators will be busy across the weekend to make sure that answers are found and justice is served ...etc etc..." But instead they made statements, that in my opinion were really suggestive and that opposed the idea of a homicide. I don't think there was any doubt in their minds when they made those comments that they had something, whether it be footage or something found at the scene etc.

I cannot think of any other cases where the police have invited speculation and then had to retract... To do so without reason would make them seem terribly incompetent and incredibly insensitive to grieving family members just hours after they had learned of the death of Rita. (I actually think they could have have protected the family a little bit better in this case and given them a few days to allow them to grieve and hold a memorial in peace without all the public speculation about suicide, love trysts, insurance scams etc.) The answers will come out but it does seem a bit brutal of LE to fan the flames so early on, resulting in many family members emotionally defending Rita's memory while at the same time dealing with a great loss.

 

[Inthedetails]

This looks like an accurate timeline - includes phone calls and credit card use:
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2016/09/12/rita-maze-timeline/90257174/

 

[SpanishInquisition]

I see it differently. The officer heard gunshots and then nothing. If someone killed her, wouldn't he have heard some other noises like pleading, screaming, or the trunk slam shut?

If this was a case of the phone ringing tipping off the perp - which this is the only reported incoming call AFAIK - the perp could have realized what was going on and instantly shot her where she was just getting ready to speak on the phone but then ended up like a deer in the headlights. Also I don't know how well her phone was at picking up surrounding noises or for that matter that you'd have to make any noise with the trunk.

It's possible Rita answered the phone because she wanted someone to know what was happening. (I also think she wanted to be found quickly after death, but that's just my hunch. I don't think she wanted to be in that trunk a long time waiting to be discovered.)

That would be a reason to make a planned outgoing call, not to answer a call from someone who could be a robocall telemarketer without a live person on the line hearing anything.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

This looks like an accurate timeline - includes phone calls and credit card use:
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2016/09/12/rita-maze-timeline/90257174/

It doesn't include the last time she was on the phone with the Helena Police, which instead it lumps all sorts of calls at 10:25 PM.

 

[Inthedetails]

If this was a case of the phone ringing tipping off the perp - which this is the only reported incoming call AFAIK - the perp could have realized what was going on and instantly shot her where she was just getting ready to speak on the phone but then ended up like a deer in the headlights. Also I don't know how well her phone was at picking up surrounding noises or for that matter that you'd have to make any noise with the trunk.



That would be a reason to make a planned outgoing call, not to answer a call from someone who could be a robocall telemarketer without a live person on the line hearing anything.

There were two shots made. After the first shot, you'd think she would've screamed if someone other than herself was shooting. But the officer said all he heard were shots and then nothing.

jmo

 

[eucalyptuz]

This looks like an accurate timeline - includes phone calls and credit card use:
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2016/09/12/rita-maze-timeline/90257174/

My one problem with all the timelines that have been published is the 55 minute window between the 9pm Post Falls (plate reader) and the 9:55pm credit card use in Ritzville. I really think this 85 mile leg at 92 mph is not really doable so I think there must be something glitchy with a time stamp or a mix up with Pacific time vs Mountain time.

 

[Inthedetails]

My one problem with all the timelines that have been published is the 55 minute window between the 9pm Post Falls (plate reader) and the 9:55pm credit card use in Ritzville. I really think this 85 mile leg at 92 mph is not really doable so I think there must be something glitchy with a time stamp or a mix up with Pacific time vs Mountain time.

Ack. Why can't a local reporter catch this detail!?

My hunch is it is a time-zone issue, but IDK.

jmo

 

[SpanishInquisition]

There were two shots made. After the first shot, you'd think she would've screamed if someone other than herself was shooting. But the officer said all he heard were shots and then nothing.

For two reasons I wouldn't necessarily expect that. The first is that you can fire two shots nearly instantaneously where there is no time to scream even if you wanted to and secondly being trapped in a trunk with a gun pointed at you would be precisely the situation where the freeze response would kick in as you can neither have flight nor fight:
So where, in what you perceive as a dire threat, is the totally disabling freeze response? By default, this reaction refers to a situation in which you’ve concluded (in a matter of seconds—if not milliseconds) that you can neither defeat the frighteningly dangerous opponent confronting you nor safely bolt from it. And ironically, this self-paralyzing response can in the moment be just as adaptive as either valiantly fighting the enemy or, more cautiously, fleeing from it.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...auma-and-the-freeze-response-good-bad-or-both
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...tists-discover-the-roots-fear-evoked-freezing

 

[Inthedetails]

For two reasons I wouldn't necessarily expect that. The first is that you can fire two shots nearly instantaneously where there is no time to scream even if you wanted to and secondly being trapped in a trunk with a gun pointed at you would be precisely the situation where the freeze response would kick in as you can neither have flight nor fight:
So where, in what you perceive as a dire threat, is the totally disabling freeze response? By default, this reaction refers to a situation in which you’ve concluded (in a matter of seconds—if not milliseconds) that you can neither defeat the frighteningly dangerous opponent confronting you nor safely bolt from it. And ironically, this self-paralyzing response can in the moment be just as adaptive as either valiantly fighting the enemy or, more cautiously, fleeing from it.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...auma-and-the-freeze-response-good-bad-or-both
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...tists-discover-the-roots-fear-evoked-freezing

Okay...so the shots were fired in an otherwise silent environment and the killer gently shut the trunk and walked away.

Could be, I suppose.

I do think forensics will be able to determine who fired the gun, Rita or someone else. We just have to wait.

jmo

 

[TTF14]

If this was a case of the phone ringing tipping off the perp - which this is the only reported incoming call AFAIK - the perp could have realized what was going on and instantly shot her where she was just getting ready to speak on the phone but then ended up like a deer in the headlights. Also I don't know how well her phone was at picking up surrounding noises or for that matter that you'd have to make any noise with the trunk.



That would be a reason to make a planned outgoing call, not to answer a call from someone who could be a robocall telemarketer without a live person on the line hearing anything.

I believe her family was trying to call her throughout the day, were they not? If this was a case of the kidnapper hearing the call and shooting her because of it, I'd assume he'd have heard her phone ringing earlier in the day then when her family was trying to reach her.

 

[Gardener1850]

There were two shots made. After the first shot, you'd think she would've screamed if someone other than herself was shooting. But the officer said all he heard were shots and then nothing.

jmo

Do we have a direct quote from the officer about the "nothing" heard after the gunshots? With all the poor reporting I'm wondering if a reporter wrote "nothing" because nothing else was described in the police report. IIRC, they got the detail about hearing gunshots from a search warrant application. Maybe it wasn't necessary to describe anything else for the purpose of the warrant.

 

[cady]

This looks like an accurate timeline - includes phone calls and credit card use:
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2016/09/12/rita-maze-timeline/90257174/

This source said all times in their timeline are Mountain Standard Time....

 

[Inthedetails]

Do we have a direct quote from the officer about the "nothing" heard after the gunshots? With all the poor reporting I'm wondering if a reporter wrote "nothing" because nothing else was described in the police report. IIRC, they got the detail about hearing gunshots from a search warrant application. Maybe it wasn't necessary to describe anything else for the purpose of the warrant.

Awaiting news that I can see and hear from the moving lips of a LE officer.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

Okay...so the shots were fired in an otherwise silent environment and the killer gently shut the trunk and walked away.

Could be, I suppose.

I do think forensics will be able to determine who fired the gun, Rita or someone else. We just have to wait.

jmo

Is there some reason why you are ignoring what I said about the flip phone's ability to pick up surrounding noises and misstating what I said?

 

[Inthedetails]

Is there some reason why you are ignoring what I said about the flip phone's ability to pick up surrounding noises and misstating what I said?

Sorry...not ignoring anyone and if I misstated something, that is my fault.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

I believe her family was trying to call her throughout the day, were they not? If this was a case of the kidnapper hearing the call and shooting her because of it, I'd assume he'd have heard her phone ringing earlier in the day then when her family was trying to reach her.

Looking back at the recently posted timeline where the calls were shown starting at around 3:40 PM, it could have been a situation where if there was a perp, the perp wouldn't have heard the phone because the perp was driving and this was the first time an incoming call was received where the perp wasn't driving.

 

[Inthedetails]

Looking back at the recently posted timeline where the calls were shown starting at around 3:40 PM, it could have been a situation where if there was a perp, the perp wouldn't have heard the phone because the perp was driving and this was the first time an incoming call was received where the perp wasn't driving.

Wonder why he picked that parking lot to stop driving? Seems like such an inconvenient place.

jmo

 

[blue22]

Do we have a direct quote from the officer about the "nothing" heard after the gunshots? With all the poor reporting I'm wondering if a reporter wrote "nothing" because nothing else was described in the police report. IIRC, they got the detail about hearing gunshots from a search warrant application. Maybe it wasn't necessary to describe anything else for the purpose of the warrant.

In the warrant file, it's reported that the officer said there was "silence."

"Newly filed court documents bring up even more questions, an officer said she called Maze's cell phone number about 10:00 p.m. Tuesday night. Someone answered and the officer said there were gunshots, then silence."

http://www.khq.com/story/33054514/fbi-confirms-no-person-of-interest-in-rita-maze-case