NE - Omaha Double Murder #3 - *Arrest Made*

  • #361
Thanks for joining us. I'm glad my shameless promotion on WOWT got us at least one new participant.

As you now know, there have been many theories and combinations of ideas as to what happened here. MB's pattern of frequent moves and other factors do seem to suggest a possible hidden life like this. One thing that I thought of when reading your post- if this person was known to Tom, then that person wouldn't have known Shirlee was there that day. He may have been in town and have decided to drop in on Tom- maybe he knew Tom had some incriminating information, maybe on a flash drive. Tom may even have been holding this over him in some way.

The big drawback here is that I believe this person brought in the knives; Mrs H referred in an interview to his 'bringing in knives'. Maybe the killer brought knives with the idea that if things went badly, he could use them.

This is all speculation and I agree with you that no one here intends to imply anything past that.
 
  • #362
  • #363
My questions:
1. How could someone make such stupid mistakes?
2. Why would someone hound a family that experienced such a terrible loss?
3. Where is MB?
 
  • #364
QUOTE=brudsaunt;7777174]My questions:
1. How could someone make such stupid mistakes?
2. Why would someone hound a family that experienced such a terrible loss?
3. Where is MB?[/QUOTE]

Good questions! You probably meant them as hypothetical, but I'll take a stab nonetheless:

1. Pure laziness and poor attention to detail, both resulting from a lack of dedication and motivation for the job. How many times did MB change programs/specialties? One could assume that the field of pathology (or even medicine in general) wasn't what he anticipated and he either found it too difficult or he couldn't find his "niche." This would explain his obvious attempts to "phone it in," so to speak. In the particular case cited in the article, it sounds like he either didn't read the police report or didn't thoroughly examine the body before it was surrendered for burial (or both). When it came time to write his report he had to guess at the details. (White underwear probably seemed like a safe guess when you have no idea!)

2. Desperation when you realize you haven't done your job and it's going to come back and bite you. I work in an allied health field and have often seen inexperienced or lazy colleagues contact patients or family members to obtain information in order to "supplement" a not-so-thorough evaluation. If you can muster up a professional demeanor and have a gift for BS, it's pretty easy to pass off the repeated contacts as simply "double checking" and standard operating procedure. Unfortunately, it is rather easy for some medical professionals to "disengage" from the emotional aspects of the trauma they observe every day, especially if they are trying to wrap up loose ends on a case that is threatening to make them appear incompetent!

3. Your guess is probably as good as anyone else's on that one...my guess would be anywhere besides Calgary or Omaha!
 
  • #365
I am not a criminal profiler, but this seems to indicate to me someone who really
doesn't care about people, tries to cover up for himself and could perhaps be violent if
cornered. My own opinion...
 
  • #366
I am not a criminal profiler, but this seems to indicate to me someone who really
doesn't care about people, tries to cover up for himself and could perhaps be violent if
cornered. My own opinion...

Sounds like MB. I don't claim any inside information but have talked with people who worked with him. He apparently was Jekyl and Hyde. Very personable until he was contradicted, then he got scary. I heard he was complained on more than once and that some female colleagues felt he was sexually threatening in a violent sort of way.
Of course we don't know if he was involved or how much if so. I cannot shake the impression was was SOMEHOW.
I still wonder about what could have been found in Tom's possessions when they rechecked? Computer files? Downloaded pictures someone felt were incriminating?
 
  • #367
  • #368
Never thought of that, good suggestion. That would lead to questioning why if Tom had emails say, on a flash drive, he didn't just tell his parents who could have contacted the authorities? Could there have been some illicit relationship?
The possibilities astound..
 
  • #369
This linked article doesn't have a date, so I don't know when it was written. But it's interesting that a university (ie online), connecting MB to the murder investigation.:waitasec:

Interesting as well the article saying, " unsolved double murder committed at the home of his former supervisor in 2008."

I guess I didn't understand MB's relationship to the victim's parents. I didn't realize one of them was his 'supervisor.' hmmmm....... work place reprimands? discontent with his work? Questioning his work? Seems websleuthers aren't the only ones questioning the possibility of a connection, well other than LE.

So,................... wonder where MB is now?

JMHO
fran


Criminal Justice: Autopsy Doctor Connected with Murder Probe

http://www.grantham.edu/articles/criminal-justice-autopsy-doctor-connected-with-murder-probe/
 
  • #370
Yes, Belenky was an intern in Pathology and worked under Dr Hunter. I believe he was asked to leave the program due to some incidents that have never been made public. Dr Hunter gave him a good letter of reference and he was able to transfer into a Pathology program in Pittsburgh, which is where he was living in March 2008. Dr H has always, at least in public, denied any belief that MB could have been involved in his son's murder. My understanding is that a lot of CU staff made the link early on, especially after the composite drawing of the POI was released. I find it interesting that although we do not know what led to his dismissal, it must have been serious enough to prompt those who knew him there to think he could have murdered his mentor's son.

On an unrelated note, I will need to go back and check on this but I believe in his last statement, Lt. Kangier made reference to the fact that Tom bled out, he did not die immediately. This is not exactly something I want to think about, but it does make me revisit whether this was indeed a murder done by a professional, I doubt a pro would have left him to die without finishing the job. If so, that suggests either a deranged serial killer or more likely someone with a furious anger to vent.
 
  • #371
If the killer cut the jugular vein or some other large vessel, the death is not immediate but can take minutes. The killer could have cut a jugular and walked away knowing the person will not survive. The victim will pass out fairly quickly and continue to bleed until the blood volume is too low for the heart to pump it around. An experienced medical person would know if the wound was fatal and not need to stick around for the end.
 
  • #372
If the killer cut the jugular vein or some other large vessel, the death is not immediate but can take minutes. The killer could have cut a jugular and walked away knowing the person will not survive. The victim will pass out fairly quickly and continue to bleed until the blood volume is too low for the heart to pump it around. An experienced medical person would know if the wound was fatal and not need to stick around for the end.

Thanks. Not very pleasant to think about but if that is what happened, poor Tom did not suffer too long. It sort of does turn attention back to the probability of this being someone with medical knowledge, or someone trained in killing in the military or maybe by criminal elements.
 
  • #373
I wonder where Grantham U. gets it's information. Looks like they either are in touch with a sleuth or elso looked into MB's employment history.

Someday the killer is going to slip up and become known. I hope that day is soon!
And without more loss of innocent lives.
 
  • #374
I wonder where Grantham U. gets it's information. Looks like they either are in touch with a sleuth or elso looked into MB's employment history.

Someday the killer is going to slip up and become known. I hope that day is soon!
And without more loss of innocent lives.

Hi brudsaunt and all!

Perhaps someone from GU reads here as I posted a timeline of MB's known employment history months ago.....Russia, UN, CU, AC, Alberta. IIRC he also worked in another Canadian province between his time at Allegheny College and Alberta ME but would have to check my notes to be sure.

MB sure seems like a Jeckyl/Hyde doesn't he? These recent accusations certainly show sloppy work and callousness. I wonder if he was just writing up reports without examining the body or if he deliberately wrote incorrect info.

I've not stated this before now but these new allegations, along with the rumor of his behavior at CU, and him moving around so often, leads me to conclude that this guy has major issues. There seems to be a pattern emerging. MOO

Good to read you all!

wm
 
  • #375
I wondered if this thread was being read, too, at GU. It would be better if they were
getting info somewhere else, though, and coming to the above conclusions.
 
  • #376
  • #377
I want those of you who still post from time to time on this thread that it is very much appreciated. It keeps me from having a public conversation with myself on line and more importantly, keeps this thread and the case active.

I continue to believe it is vital to keep this active. Someone out there knows the truth in this case, especially the killer(s). We all have our lives and other issues and after four years it would be easy to just shrug and move on. I intend to keep this torch lit as long as is necessary for Tom and Shirlee.

FWIW, I have a few theories about this case but have not formed any firm ones as yet. I think I may have some idea where OPD may be looking; of course I can't post that. Let's carry on- I think it matters more than we know.
 
  • #378
Snick! Thank you for keeping this alive. I will check in more often. I will never forget poor Tom or Shirlee and the people that loved them. I pray for a break... any break soon.
 
  • #379
Thank you Snick for keeping this thread alive. I usually just lurk lately when new posts arise because I just don't really have any new theories. I hope there will be a break in this case soon.
 
  • #380
I have not been posting much on this case as there has not been anything much to post about. Today I went back over old postings and wanted to throw out one of the ideas that has been percolating in my mind lately; that this murder could have been linked to Tom's activities at the Omaha YMCA.

Tom participated in a basketball league and his father took him to the downtown branch on Saturdays; it sounds to have been a father/son ritual- they would go out for lunch afterwards. I used to live near downtown before my marriage in 1991 and belonged and worked out there for awhile, this would have been in the mid 80's.

I cannot speak for what it was like when they went there. I have not posted much about this before because I do not want to offend anyone. I am very liberal in my social attitudes and supportive of Gay rights. I think however I was not alone in being disturbed by the atmosphere I ran across in the locker rooms. It reminded me a bit of what I have read about some of the bath houses- except there was no overt action. You'd have to be very blind not to sense you were in a sexually charged atmosphere. I quit going there as a result.

I do wonder- did Dr H accompany Tom when changing or showering after the game? IOW, could someone, maybe with a prior history of pedophilia, have hit on Tom? It'd have been easy to have followed them after they left, a perp could have figured out where they lived. Maybe this guy befriended Tom and somehow set up a visit? I'd like to know if OPD ever investigated that?

They so bungled this case at the outset. I believe some old school detectives bet the case on there being some drug thing in Shirlee's family and went down that road while real leads grew cold. I also understand that while they ran checks on car rentals in Omaha around then, they did not do so for nearby locations, not even Council Bluffs! Current investigators could perhaps do worse than to look over YMCA records from about 2007-8 and see if any members had criminal records.
 

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