GUILTY NC - Eve Carson, 22, UNC student, shot to death, Chapel Hill, 5 March 2008 - #2

[waltzingmatilda]

I know what you mean, Matilda!!! Apparently it is a very common phenomenon. I have had two crush-lets on judges in other trials, even tho I am very happily married!!! And I agree, Judge Baddour is quite a cutie.

In the Conrad Murray Involuntary Manslaughter (of Michael Jackson) trial, quite a few of us had a crush on the Deputy DA and/or on the Judge.

In the Bradley Cooper 1st-Degree Murder (of his wife, Nancy) trial, we even named the ADA, "McDreamy." How's that???!!!

So, you have joined the club!!! ..

..

:blushing:

It's about time I joined a club.

 

[waltzingmatilda]

Yes -- but not in this trial, IIRC, thus far -- there is film of Atwater's pleading and receiving his verdict. The mention of the shell casing found in the car occurs at 30:27 in the video cited below:

http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/7659432/#/vid7659432

I don't recall that piece of info being mentioned so far in this trial.

Thanks for the link, borndem. Lot's of helpful info there.

The current witness is like a walking encyclopedia. She rarely refers to her notes. She was the Chapel Hill investigator, IIRC? I cannot recall her name.

 

[borndem]

Yes, she is tops -- knows her stuff, knows this case, and knows C.Hill. Her last name is (using phonetic spelling) Lahew. I missed when she first took the stand, so I did not get her 1st name nor did I get the spelling of her last name.

She really jumped into this case and dug, dug, dug.

A question -- seems to me she said that someone on Crimestoppers had given info and had been awarded the $25,000 reward. She obviously avoided giving a name or being too specific on what info was given. Or am I nutz? Will we hear more about this?? Probably not. Verrrrrrry interesting.... That info must have been something else and big, big, big. Curious, curious.

Apparently there is still a $10,000 reward out there. Even though she's not the ideal person, I think Shanita Love should have at least some of it unless someone else shows something better. Love took a big chance, IMO -- she certainly may have been after the reward money, but she still took a heyell of a chance, being by herself with her children. Her testimony was very well done & she seemed sure of herself. IMO.

 

[Lori59]

Borndem...I think it came out on cross of the lead detective, that the lady that Atwater and his girlfriend went to live with got the 25,000 reward money. I want to say her name was Jeanette or something.... But the defense asked the detective about the reward money on cross. Had the trial on but wasn't sitting watching it completely so I'm not 100%.....Guess I could replay it when WRAL outs up the video later.

 

[borndem]

Lori, you're right -- I think her name was said to be Justina Mims, but then the witness said that her last name was different or something to that effect. But Justina Mims was the name used, and yes, she did get the 25-large.

Hmmmm, we haven't heard from her yet. It must be big stuff for her to get the biggie... What can it be???

Any ideas or scoop on this, anyone??:waitasec:

 

[borndem]

I think I can answer my own question about Justina and the 25G -- I reviewed some testimony, and apparently Justina was the one who was the first to ID Lovette from the ATM pic -- she called Crimestoppers apparently and gave them his name. I guess the reward was for info that led to his arrest -- IDK this for sure.

 

[Lori59]

I think I can answer my own question about Justina and the 25G -- I reviewed some testimony, and apparently Justina was the one who was the first to ID Lovette from the ATM pic -- she called Crimestoppers apparently and gave them his name. I guess the reward was for info that led to his arrest -- IDK this for sure.

You might be right! I hope we hear from this Justina person.

 

[PrairieWind]

I've been re-reading the testimony on the bullets and and the shell casings, and the autopsy about the wounds to Eve. Here's one scenario:

3:30am (approx) - Eve is kidnapped along with her ATM card and her phone... They also pick up her laptop and Justin Singer's IPOD

3:55am - First withdrawal for $600.00 is successful at the BOA ATM at University Mall.

3:58 - After trying all sorts of amounts for w/drawals, finally a 100.00 w/drawal is successful. (Withdrawal limit for the day reached)

4:00 - Final and unsuccessful w/drawal attempt at Univ. Mall

Travel to Northgate Mall in Durham -- According to google maps, the trip from Hillcrest to Northgate Mall in Durham takes 21 minutes.

4:44 - Unsuccessful 200.00 w/drawal occurs at Northgate Mall in Durham.

Travel back to C. Hill.

5:08am - 911 Call received from Marilyn Lane to report hearing a woman's scream and shots fired. Minutes later, Eve's body is found.

Shell casing recoveries and path of bullets:

Four .25 cal. casings recovered at the murder scene at Hillcrest. One shell casing inside Eve's car. (!) (There is what appears so be a thru & thru bullet hole found in Eve's laptop -- IIRC, the laptop was left in her car).

A thru & thru bullet hole in Eve's right shoulder. Entry is back to front.

A bullet hole found in Eve's right buttocks. Entry is from behind her.
------------------------------------------------------------

I think some kind of struggle or an attempt to escape from the car occurred, possibly when the were in the Hillcrest area. Maybe she thought
the dark neighborhood was a bit too far off the beaten path, so she panicked. Maybe the guyz said something or asked her to get out of the car. Maybe she tried to grab the gun from Lovette... Who knoze?

I think a shot was fired by Lovette (?) while he was still in the car, and the bullet did not hit her. (Shell casing found in car). Maybe she held the laptop up and it took the shot and just did not hit her???

Then somehow, he was able to get off a shot at her buttocks or her right upper arm (both these wounds were back-to-front) while she was on the run, making her scream in pain and/or as a cry for help. A tuft of what was probably her hair was found "two feet behind her" on the roadway. Did Lovette or Atwater pull her down by her hair, thereby pulling out a tuft of hair??

Just thinkin'

Any other ideas about what happened that awful morning?

I think this certainly fits the facts. But something happened before Eve tried to run. It is an odd place for her to try to make a break, not a good public place to run for help. So the spot was not of her choosing. Plus, the autopsy report says nothing of abrasions on her (road rash). So the car was stopped when she got out. Why? My guess is that they had stopped out there to rape her, or simply to kill her.

 

[Kat]

http://www.wxii12.com/r/29984645/detail.html

POSTED: 8:27 am EST December 13, 2011

very short article. too short to snip.

 

[borndem]

I think this certainly fits the facts. But something happened before Eve tried to run. It is an odd place for her to try to make a break, not a good public place to run for help. So the spot was not of her choosing. Plus, the autopsy report says nothing of abrasions on her (road rash). So the car was stopped when she got out. Why? My guess is that they had stopped out there to rape her, or simply to kill her.

I agree, PrairieWind -- There's something missing -- is the location really where the guyz wanted to be when they planned to kill her?? Maybe they were getting desperate or paranoid, or maybe they were just that stupid, but in the middle of a neighborhood?? Why not some lonely road on the way back from Durham or somewhere in Durham -- a place they probably knew much better. Yeah, something unexpected must have happened. If they had stashed the body somewhere, that at least would have delayed LE from doing some things.

But the ATM pic and the convenience store pic really screwed 'em, IMO.

And the bullet through the computer really throws me. What was that all about?? What caused a shot to be fired (shell casing found in car) to be fired from the car? Were they simply attempting to somehow disable the computer? That doesn't make sense to me, either. So what caused that shot? Did it just "go off" when Lovette exited the car? Just odd. The spent bullet wasn't found, so at least we know that the gun was pointed outside the car -- or was that just dumb luck???

And I do not think we will get any testimony or evidence that will explain it. In the long run, I guess it doesn't matter, but it's just odd. :waitasec:

I just simply wanna KNOW!!!

..

 

[PrairieWind]

borndem, I agree, it may not really matter, but I still am curious. How the computer got shot is a mystery. Perhaps Eve carried it when she ran? Dont know why. I dont think they would intentionally destroy it. The shell casing found in the car could have been from a shot fired from in the car OR it could have just gotten lodged in the shooters clothing and fell out in the car. I do think that it didnt matter whether Eve ran or not; that is not what got her killed. They were going to kill her anyway all along. But oddly, while they may have killed her so they could get away, I think it was their downfall. HAd they just dropped her off somewehre, the manhunt would not have been ANYWHERE near as intense. It would have been just another robbery. But I think these guys wanted to kill her. Sick...and stupid.

 

[borndem]

borndem, I agree, it may not really matter, but I still am curious. How the computer got shot is a mystery. Perhaps Eve carried it when she ran? Dont know why. I dont think they would intentionally destroy it. The shell casing found in the car could have been from a shot fired from in the car OR it could have just gotten lodged in the shooters clothing and fell out in the car. I do think that it didnt matter whether Eve ran or not; that is not what got her killed. They were going to kill her anyway all along. But oddly, while they may have killed her so they could get away, I think it was their downfall. HAd they just dropped her off somewehre, the manhunt would not have been ANYWHERE near as intense. It would have been just another robbery. But I think these guys wanted to kill her. Sick...and stupid.

You raise some good points, PrairieWind -- the casing getting caught in clothing is a possibility -- but why would it have been in the back seat? I can only assume they were both in the front seats when they made their getaway from the murder scene -- maybe not....

And I agree that if Eve did run, that was of no matter to the thugs -- they were planning to kill her all along since she was the only living witness. (That was allegedly Lovette's MO in the earlier murder of the Duke grad student.)

Your point about a robbery vs. a murder is well-taken, but I'm not willing to give those two that much credit for logical thinking. They haven't shown it so far.... We have all seen robberies that LE thinks have probably been perpetrated by the same person(s). Sometimes there are strings of such robberies -- but masks or disguises are usually used... And maybe give Atwater credit for pleading guilty and getting his years in a federal pen -- that was a good call, IMO.

Those two shots entering from back-to-front are significant, IMO. And to just fire shots -- especially one from a shotgun, since they are quite loud -- in a neighborhood, just confounds me. Since the houses were spread out and most were back from the streets, maybe they thought they were just in a forest and away from where people were... Or was it just sheer panic? So to stop her screaming with gunshots??? Dumb or desperate? Arrrrgggghhhh.

But did they just not think about the ATMs having cameras? Lovette sure had a big s-m-i-l-e on his face in that ATM pic. Dumb. And cameras in the convenience store -- no biggie as long as he didn't use her ATM card -- oh, but wait! -- he DID. Dumber. A couple of pairs of sunglasses might've done the trick.

Do they feel as dumb as we think they were? Are they smart enuff to look at it that way?

Here ends my mini-rant. :rant:

 

[luckyme]

I dont think the jury will be out long on this one. This is awful and scary! I think eve might have tried to make a run for it in that neighborhood.

 

[luckyme]

Hes just sitting there looking bored as medical examiner describes wounds.:furious:

 

[PrairieWind]

You raise some good points, PrairieWind -- the casing getting caught in clothing is a possibility -- but why would it have been in the back seat? I can only assume they were both in the front seats when they made their getaway from the murder scene -- maybe not....

And I agree that if Eve did run, that was of no matter to the thugs -- they were planning to kill her all along since she was the only living witness. (That was allegedly Lovette's MO in the earlier murder of the Duke grad student.)

Your point about a robbery vs. a murder is well-taken, but I'm not willing to give those two that much credit for logical thinking. They haven't shown it so far.... We have all seen robberies that LE thinks have probably been perpetrated by the same person(s). Sometimes there are strings of such robberies -- but masks or disguises are usually used... And maybe give Atwater credit for pleading guilty and getting his years in a federal pen -- that was a good call, IMO.

Those two shots entering from back-to-front are significant, IMO. And to just fire shots -- especially one from a shotgun, since they are quite loud -- in a neighborhood, just confounds me. Since the houses were spread out and most were back from the streets, maybe they thought they were just in a forest and away from where people were... Or was it just sheer panic? So to stop her screaming with gunshots??? Dumb or desperate? Arrrrgggghhhh.

But did they just not think about the ATMs having cameras? Lovette sure had a big s-m-i-l-e on his face in that ATM pic. Dumb. And cameras in the convenience store -- no biggie as long as he didn't use her ATM card -- oh, but wait! -- he DID. Dumber. A couple of pairs of sunglasses might've done the trick.

Do they feel as dumb as we think they were? Are they smart enuff to look at it that way?

Here ends my mini-rant. :rant:

I think they very well may have thought they were in the woods and didnt realize there were homes there. I think they guys were as dumb as they were violent.

 

[borndem]

Hes just sitting there looking bored as medical examiner describes wounds.:furious:

Yes, he's bored. I think that both Atwater & Lovette knew that they would eventually wind up in jail -- for something sooner or later.

Atwater has served about 2 years in NC correctional facilities -- one of them with time in "intensive control" which implies gang or at least dangerous-prisoner status. He knows what it's like. And if they are gang members or are close to those in gangs, they know that prison time is part of life. So I guess Lovette is expecting it. No big deal, man.

 

[luckyme]

I just saw on wral 5.00 news That a guy testified to what happenened that night. Lovett told him everything. Hes toast!!!! Eve did beg for her life and atwater molested her. :furious: Its not up yet but maybe soon. I must have missed it last i saw was medical examiner and it went off air around 2.30. moo

 

[Isabelle]

I hope these perps are crucified!

 

[borndem]

I hope these perps are crucified!

Hi, Isabelle! .. :seeya:

I agree. I don't think either one of these perps have enuff human-ness in them to understand that killing someone not only has punishment for life connected with it, but also that it makes the people who love the victim hurt for the rest of their lives.

They've got some serious, deep and permanent dis-connects in their subconscious part (I was gonna say "souls" but I think they lost them way back there somewhere). I just don't understand people like this. Way beyond sociopathology.

And Lovette hasn't broken a sweat. I don't know anything about his defense team, but I can't help but feel terribly sorry for them both. Makes me shiver to think about sitting beside that *******... :furious: .. :maddening:

 

[PrairieWind]

I just saw on wral 5.00 news That a guy testified to what happenened that night. Lovett told him everything. Hes toast!!!! Eve did beg for her life and atwater molested her. :furious: Its not up yet but maybe soon. I must have missed it last i saw was medical examiner and it went off air around 2.30. moo

What was the testimony? I havent been able to follow anything today.