TX TX - Terri 'Missy' Bevers, 45, killed in church/suspect in SWAT gear, Midlothian, 18 Apr 2016 #49

[lonewanderer]

Not a tissue box though?

I have taken a good look at the footage in the past, and I think the object is roughly the size of a block of velveta cheese.

It appears to be solid and the assailant is holding it as if it’s a brick and not a case. I have heard a comment where a user thinks it looks like a trophy.

I think it most highly resembles a generic and classic looking white CCTV camera.

 

[lonewanderer]

Here’s a few screenshots of it.

It is rectanglur, too large around to be gripped by the perps hand fully.

It appears to be white,
possibly two grey lines, then white. Running lengthwise.

 

[lonewanderer]

Can I get a fact check, please?

Am I remembering correctly that a bomb squad was called to the scene at some point?

 

[charminglane]

To me it looks like a level.

Amazon.com

 

[lonewanderer]

Not a tissue box though?

To me it looks like a level.

Amazon.com

Ohhh it does look quite a bit like that. I learn towards thinking it looks thicker and more solid.

What do you think of this?

 

[lonewanderer]

What about this as the mystery object? Would be mighty weird to have, but its model name is “C4” which makes me think it was a joke, having a block of “C4” on them?

 

[lonewanderer]

Thoughts?

 

[Vaderman]

Absolutely haunting footage that!

It really is. I don't know if it's knowing it ends in a murder, the fact that it occurs in an empty church, the uncertainty of what the perp is doing, or all combined, but this footage and the footage of the suspect car's movements gives me chills every time I watch.

 

[cenazoic]

a tendency to lean towards really fictionalized/objectively “interesting” (from a narrative perspective) theories of what happens in these various cases.

LOL - called out! And I don’t disagree with idea that equal time should not be given to the, let’s say, more speculative theories about a given case on the basis of it being very theoretically possible. (Yes, it’s theoretically possible the church murderer is actually carrying around a block of C4, but also exceedingly unlikely to be. For example.)

That said, in every case we have limited information, and it wouldn’t be much of a forum if every thread simply required a “the significant other did it” post to apply Occam’s Razor.

stepping away from your keyboard for a moment, turning off Netflix and touching grass,

As much as the above (“the murderous child-molesting monks of St John’s University killed Josh Guimond!”) annoys the everlovin’ outta me, this is unnecessarily condescending by one who is also engaging in speculation.

why the heck would this person kill her if they were not there to kill her?

Something like Chekhov’s Gun might apply here; ie, if you bring a gun to a crime scene, even for something like trespass or burglary you’re likely to use it under stress.

 

[flowershop]

I thought this article did a nice recap of the case.

At the end it mentions that there was a vehicle in the parking lot of a nearby business that was caught on surveillance. I am new to this case but thought I would bring it up to see where you all stand on the relevance of the vehicle at the business.

Surveillance video at a business near the church showed a vehicle in the parking lot in the hours before Bevers was killed. Investigators described the vehicle as a 2010-2012 Nissan Altima or 2010-2012 Infiniti G37.
Police said the vehicle was seen driving slowly around the business, with its lights turning off and on. The driver parked briefly before leaving the parking lot.

I am new to this case but thought I would bring it up to see where you all stand on the relevance of the vehicle at the business.

 

[lonewanderer]

LOL - called out! And I don’t disagree with idea that equal time should not be given to the, let’s say, more speculative theories about a given case on the basis of it being very theoretically possible. (Yes, it’s theoretically possible the church murderer is actually carrying around a block of C4, but also exceedingly unlikely to be. For example.)

That said, in every case we have limited information, and it wouldn’t be much of a forum if every thread simply required a “the significant other did it” post to apply Occam’s Razor.



As much as the above (“the murderous child-molesting monks of St John’s University killed Josh Guimond!”) annoys the everlovin’ outta me, this is unnecessarily condescending by one who is also engaging in speculation.



Something like Chekhov’s Gun might apply here; ie, if you bring a gun to a crime scene, even for something like trespass or burglary you’re likely to use it under stress.

I was very, very, VERY convinced this was a targeted attack.

I still believe that, but I have been presented with some alternate theories and pieces of information I didn’t know before that make me think it’s not impossible this was an extremely bizarre robbery.

Truth be told, there is no “good reason” to be in a church at 4am fully decked out in swat gear. There just simply is not a good explanation for that, at all.

 

[Vaderman]

I am new to this case but thought I would bring it up to see where you all stand on the relevance of the vehicle at the business.

It's definitely suspicious activity given the timing and proximity:

 

[flowershop]

It's definitely suspicious activity given the timing and proximity:

At 1 min 36 sec the vehicle's headlights come on as well as the lights near its license plate. I guess it still wasn't good enough to reveal a plate number.

 

[keiji]

I don’t follow this case constantly, so there is not much to say, except that each time I look at the intruder, I remember an unrelated story about a man, in the “very old teenager” group.

That man was obsessed with joining the police force and could not. Several times he called the police to their house or another place, hide in the bushes and watch “how they work”. How they’d arrive, get out of the car, approach the house. Later he probably “mimicked them”. I don’t know how this story ended for him.

When I am looking at the video, I always wonder if the intruder, too, was obsessed with the police/SWAT and didn’t make it there but used to covertly observe them. There is some “mimicking” element that this video conveys to me.

I wonder if anyone else sees the same.

Yes, I thought that too--some mimicking. And that 'costume'--I also thought for some reason it was kind of sad, like someone acting out a role play/fantasy of the job they couldn't get. I don't think anyone would believe this was an actual police officer...

 

[CrimeTheorist]

I believe I saw a video online years ago where someone was very sure of what that object was. I can't remember what they thought it was but I'll try to find the video again.

 

[CrimeTheorist]

Gumshoe Stories said it was a basket that the suspect got from the church and he seemed to know what was in it but wouldn't say.

 

[Charlot123]

Something like Chekhov’s Gun might apply here; ie, if you bring a gun to a crime scene, even for something like trespass or burglary you’re likely to use it under stress.

RSBM. A gun on the wall is dualistic. For a spectator, the gun is an unnoticed, random part of the interior design in Act 1; its discharge in Act 2 becomes a huge surprise. For the producer, the gun is absolutely intended to shoot in act 2; it better be unnoticeable in Act 1 for stronger shock value at the end of the play. (Chekhov the playwright merely explains the "rules of the theatrical shows" to the spectator.)

I think that your analogy is very interesting and intuitively, correct. Whether the intruder is the producer or an actor, for him "the object" is not accidental and is meant to eventually "shoot". He plans to use it.

Question is, whether Missy was a chance occurrence and the "gun" was meant to "eventually shoot in Act 2", or if Act 2 absolutely had to be that night; then Missy is nonrandom.

Either way, I feel the guy meant to kill someone.

Yes, I thought that too--some mimicking. And that 'costume'--I also thought for some reason it was kind of sad, like someone acting out a role play/fantasy of the job they couldn't get. I don't think anyone would believe this was an actual police officer...

It is not difficult to eventually collect a "true" uniform. He was probably wearing it in the house for a while and then started "going places" in it. He probably does not live alone and there is a person who has seen his imaginary play.

Have they moved after it? This is what a scared parent would do IMHO.

 

[lonewanderer]

Gumshoe Stories said it was a basket that the suspect got from the church and he seemed to know what was in it but wouldn't say.

Yes! I remember this and it’s what I was talking about earlier.

He described it like a small tote holding thing with nuts and screws in it.

Think like a plastic tackle box for fishing or a plastic organizer for arts and crafts supplies.

 

[Ladyotm]

Ive been following the case from time to time. I'm still surprised no one has been arrested yet.
Looking at some of the things I've seen posted over the last few days, I have a few questions.
It was mentioned in article shared above that the perp broke in through a door and window, the church didn't have an alarm, and the outside cameras were not working.

Has there ever been an explanation on why those cameras weren't working?

The car in the adjacent parking lot is really weird. The driver seems to be stopping at areas of the building where someone might be able to hide and conceal themselves. When they turned out of the parking lot to leave, they used their turn signal.

Does that tell you anything about who might be driving?

At one time, I thought the person in the church was cosplaying 2 roles-one as a burglar and the other as the cop investigating.

The burglar wanted anyone coming into the church to know someone had been there, leaving random doors open, smashed glass.

I don't think he or she planned to kill Missy. Why spend time in the church randomly breaking windows and opening doors? Seems like he/she would have been in a hurry to find her, kill her, and get out, if this was planned.

Could this have been 2 people, one inside the church, one driving the car? They cosplayed or burglarized places together?

Other questions- who cleaned the church? Was it a church volunteer/employee or an outside person or agency? Who knew about the broken camera? Where did the perp enter the church in relation to where Missy parked and where he/she left?

 

[rosesfromangels]

What if the perpetrator wasn’t after Missy, but had a grievance against the church. Perhaps they had worked at the church, and were let go, and had a grudge. Or, maybe they felt that someone that worked at the church had harmed them in someway. They were destroying the interior of the church, and that seems very symbolic to me. I don’t think that this had anything to do with Missy, I think that she had the misfortune of bad timing.

Amateur opinion and speculation only.