ND ND - Thomas 'Tom' Bearson, 19, Fargo, 20 Sep 2014 #2

[onamission]

Fargo LE has Never made a statement relating to the cause of death. No one will know until they release it. They continue to say they do not have a suspect and no leads... they also have stated anyone with questions should refer to moorhead PD. (Not the FBI) But all of the above agencies blame the media for not asking for a press release.. still confused why his parents remain mute. If my child died like this.... I would be screaming from every roof top I could find for justice.

Amen to that. Why no plea for help or a reward for any information that might help them solve this tragedy?

 

[onamission]

They could term it that, but with the lack of information released at this point I'm not going to make that assumption. Homicidal violence does not mean that there was a beating. A gun, knife, or car all could have been used and it would still fall under that definition. It's a very vague COD to use and I'm guessing LE did that on purpose. And I think you are overestimating the evidence that is left behind in a car-hitting-person accident. There could maybe be glass fragments from a headlight or something like that, but something like that wouldn't be super noticeable lying on the street, and could easily be swept away. And if by "evidence of an accident" you mean blood well I would say that is not always the case. If he was knocked down in front of the car and then run over by it there can be fatal internal injuries with very little external blood. (sorry for the graphic description, but it's true.)

Again, I am not sayin I think this is what happened, but it fits with a lot of what we do know. And I also have trouble believing that any of his friends had anything to do with it. Just doesn't add up. If anyone thinks an 18-20 year old college kid could mastermind their friend's murder and not make a bunch of mistakes along the way then you need to go spend some time with some 18-20 year olds.

Your theory is certainly possible. But I can't help but wonder if the ME would have been able to tell that Tom's injuries were conclusive of being hit by a car. If so why not make a statement indicating it may be possible this was a hit and run and anyone who may have seen or heard anything to please contact the authorities? I also don't think that this was a premeditated murder masterminded by anyone but rather circumstantial.

 

[Rocco]

Your theory is certainly possible. But I can't help but wonder if the ME would have been able to tell that Tom's injuries were conclusive of being hit by a car. If so why not make a statement indicating it may be possible this was a hit and run and anyone who may have seen or heard anything to please contact the authorities? I also don't think that this was a premeditated murder masterminded by anyone but rather circumstantial.

I agree and if there weren't any horrific obvious injuries if he had been hit by a car, I would think the driver would assume he was unconscious, not dead. I also agree that this was not a premeditated murder.

 

[mama sleuth]

Fargo LE has Never made a statement relating to the cause of death. No one will know until they release it. They continue to say they do not have a suspect and no leads... they also have stated anyone with questions should refer to moorhead PD. (Not the FBI) But all of the above agencies blame the media for not asking for a press release.. still confused why his parents remain mute. If my child died like this.... I would be screaming from every roof top I could find for justice.

I think LE has much more than they are sharing. The lack of LE "clearing" CM and JW from the crime keeps me coming back to the "trap". If these boys are truly innocent I would be out there screaming from every roof top telling everyone that it was not my kid AND I would force the LE to confirm that statement to remove suspicion. If they are innocent, they should have been cleared by now (IMO).
Either way, they must be going through hell (if they did it or didn't do this) and as a parent, I would be very concerned for their safety.

 

[SaxySleuth]

I wouldn't completely shoot down the car accident theory, but I think the crime sniffing pooch would have probably lead them to skid marks, or excessive blood. Also, it's a populous area, I would think that kind of event would cause a little ruckus and possibly wake a neighbor - or at least their dog, creating a witness. It's hard to imagine multiple non career criminals keeping their yaps shut for too long. Especially if they were not the driver.

I'm not shooting down that theory either, but I also agree there would be some sort of evidence left at the scene (glass/plastic from headlights or reflector)--or on TB himself(paint chips). I'm really hoping that LE has more evidence in their possession and that they are just laying low to strengthen their case for an arrest.

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

Could you please post the link to the article that's entitled: "Police Release Cause of Death of NDSU Student Tom Bearson is Homicidal Violence". I haven't seen that article. TIA.

It was from WDAY.

Here is is on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wdaytv/posts/10152347446628093

The actual WDAY title isn't the same though, but it is the same article.
http://www.wday.com/content/medical-examiner-bearson-died-homicidal-violence

 

[BankingOnIt]

My scenario would mean that everyone was telling the truth about TB leaving alone at 3:40am. I don't think JW would have gone with him since JW was already home. Wouldn't be very many cars on the road at that time so it would be possible that no one saw it. It's a super simplistic theory, but I think it makes as much sense as anything. TB is walking down the street alone on his way back to his dorm looking at his phone after he leaves the trap. Car of drunk frat guys on their way home hits him. When the car hits him he loses one of his shoes and his phone goes flying out of his hands. Frat guys freak out knowing that the driver will go to jail if they call police. The driver is one of their best friends and using their drunken logic they decide the best thing for everyone is that they just make it go away. They don't know TB, but they can tell that the injuries are severe and he probably won't make it. So they move his body to a place a few miles away near a rougher part of town so that whoever finds the body thinks that he was killed there. That buys them some time (the cops aren't going to start looking for damage to cars from the neighborhood until they find the body) to get the car fixed or move it out of town to cover their tracks. If all of the frat guys never say anything to anyone about what happened the cops are basically looking for a needle in a haystack and hoping to catch a break.

There was a case in the Twin Cities a few years ago where a drunk driver hit a teenage girl and she was dragged beneath the car for 50-100 yards before the driver realized it. Of course the driver was drunk. Luckily, someone saw it and called 911 right away. The person who was hit did end up surviving, but spent a very long time in the hospital.

I'm not even saying that this scenario is what I think happened, but someone brought up a similar scenario previoiusly and it makes as much sense as anything else I have read.

I think this makes sense. It also could explain why initially police said no foul play was suspected.

 

[BankingOnIt]

The other theory talked about before but that also makes sense to me is the fight theory. Tom was punched (I think young boys fights are common especially with alcohol involved) and hit his head on something when he fell & died. They didn't know what to do so they dumped his body. Where that tweet fits in? Hmm.. Maybe it WAS a coincidence. I don't think this case would be getting so much attention "from us" if there wasn't that mysterious tweet.

 

[CantNotCare]

LE have consistently said that releasing too much information to the public could compromise the investigation, and that once the final results arrive (which I'm sure they have), that police can withhold them if doing so will help the investigation. This appears to me to have been a preemptive plan from the start. I would guess that sometimes cause of death is with-held because only certain individual(s) would have that information, and if exact cause were to leak, then it would be investigated how exactly that or those individuals came to know that information. Perhaps the exact cause of death is somewhat unusual in this case.
Can any of you long-standing sleuthers out there tell me how often these statements are made to the press in other cases that you have followed? I haven't been on this site for years, like some of you. Just thinking back on other homicide investigations I've read or heard about, in my memory it isn't REAL common to make those exact statements repeatedly.

 

[CantNotCare]

I wonder why media report said that officials say river search is "less likely" they will find anything there (during the missing period). They seemed to know better than that from the get-go.

 

[CantNotCare]

My take on family quietness thus far, is the fear of compromising the case. If I were them, I would WANT to scream from the rooftops, but NOT if doing so could potentially adversely affect cornering or prosecuting the perp.

 

[SailorMoon]

[/B]
Amen to that. Why no plea for help or a reward for any information that might help them solve this tragedy?

My take on family quietness thus far, is the fear of compromising the case. If I were them, I would WANT to scream from the rooftops, but NOT if doing so could potentially adversely affect cornering or prosecuting the perp.

That may be, I just found people to be more reserved and quiet and keep to themselves there than our loud mouth selves down here, but that may explain it. They may and most likely do, know a lot more than we do.

 

[minnyhockey]

Help me. I must be a hundred. What's yik yak?

yik yak is a chat app like snapchat but that connects u with everyone within a short distance to you, like one mile. its anonymous but kids use it to find people to connect with mostly

 

[minnyhockey]

The other theory talked about before but that also makes sense to me is the fight theory. Tom was punched (I think young boys fights are common especially with alcohol involved) and hit his head on something when he fell & died. They didn't know what to do so they dumped his body. Where that tweet fits in? Hmm.. Maybe it WAS a coincidence. I don't think this case would be getting so much attention "from us" if there wasn't that mysterious tweet.

I still think they were buying party supplies and things went bad or a fight that messed his face up alot (i heard that TB talked to everyone and talking to the wrong girl at the wrong time can be dangerous that happened in st. cloud and down in mankato recently). the hit by a drunken driver could be the case, but that seems like a ton of planning and driving drunk after hitting someone .... i dont see most people who are that drunk planning a good coverup)

 

[minnyhockey]

The other theory talked about before but that also makes sense to me is the fight theory. Tom was punched (I think young boys fights are common especially with alcohol involved) and hit his head on something when he fell & died. They didn't know what to do so they dumped his body. Where that tweet fits in? Hmm.. Maybe it WAS a coincidence. I don't think this case would be getting so much attention "from us" if there wasn't that mysterious tweet.

I still think they were buying party supplies and things went bad or a fight that messed his face up alot (i heard that TB talked to everyone and talking to the wrong girl at the wrong time can be dangerous that happened in st. cloud and down in mankato recently). the hit by a drunken driver could be the case, but that seems like a ton of planning and driving drunk after hitting someone .... i dont see most people who are that drunk planning a good coverup)

 

[CantNotCare]

yea its prime yik yak time when all this happened. ive seen fights break out over connections from there where a bunch of kids are in one room and people figure whos talking to who

Can you explain this for me? Are you saying the time of day (such as early hours) is prime yik yak time? Or, yik yak got prime when this happened? When I looked at Yik Yak, it looked pretty generic, like little short generalized sayings??

 

[minnyhockey]

sorry for the duplicate ... not sure how that happened

 

[minnyhockey]

Can you explain this for me? Are you saying the time of day (such as early hours) is prime yik yak time? Or, yik yak got prime when this happened? When I looked at Yik Yak, it looked pretty generic, like little short generalized sayings??

i mean that people use this mostly after like 11pm since thats when they are looking to connect with people. i dont actively use this but have before.

 

[CantNotCare]

you cant look back in time on their. its sorta like snapchat but to a big group of unknown people

I was able to look back in time on it, but as I mentioned before all I see are short little generalized sayings. What disappears in time?--actual comments?

 

[minnyhockey]

I was able to look back in time on it, but as I mentioned before all I see are short little generalized sayings. What disappears in time?--actual comments?

what i meant is that there is not a good way to look back several months other than scrolling and i dont think that you can look back at all for anything except your area. like i said i dont really use this since it is mostly a bunch of anonymous people blabbing bout nothing