The police would have gotten one of them to talk. If they'd been allowed to separate them and interview them THAT day.
There were some grave (no pun intended) errors by the police from the first moments, and we all know what they are, but for those here who are less familiar with the events of that morning:
Officer French (the first LE to arrive after the 911 call) failed to notice the open window or the latch preventing the wineceller door from opening. If he had, one of two things would have happened. 1. He'd have found JBR's body BEFORE her parents had handled it. OR 2. He'd have seen an empty room, and if JR was unaware of that fact and later placed her body in it, LE would have known the Rs were guilty right then and there.
Detective Arndt used poor judgement allowing JR and FW (or anyone but LE) to roam freely around an active crime scene. In was unclear who should have told the "victims' advocates" and friends to leave, but LE should have done so immediately. The fact that is was still presumed to be a kidnapping makes no difference- it was a crime scene none the less and the visitors had no business there.
A decision was made to allow the Rs to wait till the next day to be interviewed. That was a big mistake. They were allowed to leave unsearched and wearing clothes that should have been turned over to LE.
But the biggest blame lays with the DAs office. It isn't that they dropped the ball...they stole the ball and took it out of the game.
