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

[crazychris]

I am 100% sure that this was not targeted or staged.
I think that this was a young man role playing after breaking into the rural church on a dark and rainy evening and that he was fully shocked and surprised when Missy showed up. She may have screamed when she saw him and he consequentially bludgeoned her with his hammer to quiet her and escape uncaught.

Hi. Do you think, as many do, that he has a prosthetic leg?

 

[sunspun]

Hi. Do you think, as many do, that he has a prosthetic leg?

I don't, moo.

 

[SteveS]

It is only about 2 months until we arrive at the mile marker of "10 years since MB was murdered," so as we near that milestone, there will be a chorus of articles and TV docudramas and news "reports" on this case. If the past is any guide, in the middle of all this, LE will offer some vague "working hard" and "new eyes on the case" and "it's not a cold case, we work on it constantly" type of comments. I'm not saying those would not be true, but rather that none of it would be all that informative.

The last P/C where they answered questions to the public was about a month after the murder, when they revealed the video of the car at SWFA. But they have not been unilaterally offering any details of what they might have discovered. At that point, they said they had no real answer to whether the killing was random or not. They didn't say anything about how MB was murdered. (They were going to tell us more later, after the autopsy, supposedly, but never did. ~Ahem~ Will they ever?)

Personally I doubt MB was targeted. Part of that is because if she was targeted, that means the killer knew her, and that limits the possibilities to investigate. LE can sift through her life, figure out who she knew, and then investigate from those people who fits that possibility, and who would have been wanting her dead so much that they were willing to do so. But it's been almost 10 years, and they have found no one, working from that very narrow number to start with.

OTOH, if it's random, wrong-place wrong-time where a burglar happened to be burgling (or a deranged cosplayer happened to be doing his thing), and she interrupted them and got shot for doing so, there's no way to even begin to figure who that would be. The starting group is EVERYONE who could possibly have been there, not just the ones she knew previously. There's no place to even start. Ugh.

To me it's informative that in the hundreds of thousands of posts here over the years, the viewing of the crime and the video to decide whether she was targeted or not is ALWAYS being decided based on what someone wants to assume was in the killer's mind. What is the killer TRYING to do, in the video? What do they know? What are they thinking? What is happening when we don't see them? Do they know MB is going to arrive at some point? But unless we talk to the killer, we don't actually know any of that. The same actions can be seen as random burglar who is in no hurry (with no clue MB is coming) because the church won't be open for another 4-5 hours and then was interrupted, or a stalking killer knowing MB will come for class and walking the halls until MB arrives.

Of course, if it was a burglar trying to steal things, they weren't good at it. They apparently got nothing. And then killed someone (perhaps as they tried to get away).

OTOH we see no evidence they were looking outside, watching the doors and windows, etc. If this was a killer waiting for their prey, it was a very weird bad way to do it. It looks like the loser perp had no clue anyone was coming for hours.

So what was going on (burglary, or killing) depends on what the killer was attempting to do, when they broke through the door. And until we find who it was, we can't answer that question with any certainty. We can only guess. LE in the last PC they gave said they have no idea which it is, and it's not even 51/49 to either direction. (I think it's been so long with no success on who they knew, that it might now be leaning a bit towards random, but what do I know?) If they have no answer, we have even less. imo

 

[Marie A]

Ive been out of this case for some time.
However, your post triggered some questions/concerns.

-- What makes you think it's a young man?
-- Why wouldn't swat person simply leave as they were in costume/disguise and could have left without incident?
-- Swat person seen on video footage appeared to be waiting for someone... was that person, Missy?
-- Swat person possibly had firearm (Missy possibly shot).



It would be interesting to know failed burglary statistics that end in murder?
Interesting to know how many carry in the state of TX.

It is my personal opinion that it’s a young man, likely gamer and possibly wants to be in law enforcement. I think his outfit reinforces his roll playing and aspirations.

He had a car parked outside and he was guilty of breaking and entering. He couldn’t risk police being called, his license plate being photographed, being caught- which may destroy his dream of joining law enforcement.

He wasn’t waiting for anyone. He was simply exploring the church at his leisure. May have been looking around for something to steal.

Missy was not shot. She was bludgeoned to death with a hammer or similar tool.
I think this is public information now through records that were pulled by the press/ unsealed.

 

[Marie A]

Hi. Do you think, as many do, that he has a prosthetic leg?

I don’t think he has a prosthetic leg but it’s possible.
I think it’s more a pigeon-toed or awkward meandering walk by a mainly sedentary and somewhat overweight young man.

 

[moonglow123]

It is only about 2 months until we arrive at the mile marker of "10 years since MB was murdered," so as we near that milestone, there will be a chorus of articles and TV docudramas and news "reports" on this case. If the past is any guide, in the middle of all this, LE will offer some vague "working hard" and "new eyes on the case" and "it's not a cold case, we work on it constantly" type of comments. I'm not saying those would not be true, but rather that none of it would be all that informative.

The last P/C where they answered questions to the public was about a month after the murder, when they revealed the video of the car at SWFA. But they have not been unilaterally offering any details of what they might have discovered. At that point, they said they had no real answer to whether the killing was random or not. They didn't say anything about how MB was murdered. (They were going to tell us more later, after the autopsy, supposedly, but never did. ~Ahem~ Will they ever?)

Personally I doubt MB was targeted. Part of that is because if she was targeted, that means the killer knew her, and that limits the possibilities to investigate. LE can sift through her life, figure out who she knew, and then investigate from those people who fits that possibility, and who would have been wanting her dead so much that they were willing to do so. But it's been almost 10 years, and they have found no one, working from that very narrow number to start with.

OTOH, if it's random, wrong-place wrong-time where a burglar happened to be burgling (or a deranged cosplayer happened to be doing his thing), and she interrupted them and got shot for doing so, there's no way to even begin to figure who that would be. The starting group is EVERYONE who could possibly have been there, not just the ones she knew previously. There's no place to even start. Ugh.

To me it's informative that in the hundreds of thousands of posts here over the years, the viewing of the crime and the video to decide whether she was targeted or not is ALWAYS being decided based on what someone wants to assume was in the killer's mind. What is the killer TRYING to do, in the video? What do they know? What are they thinking? What is happening when we don't see them? Do they know MB is going to arrive at some point? But unless we talk to the killer, we don't actually know any of that. The same actions can be seen as random burglar who is in no hurry (with no clue MB is coming) because the church won't be open for another 4-5 hours and then was interrupted, or a stalking killer knowing MB will come for class and walking the halls until MB arrives.

Of course, if it was a burglar trying to steal things, they weren't good at it. They apparently got nothing. And then killed someone (perhaps as they tried to get away).

OTOH we see no evidence they were looking outside, watching the doors and windows, etc. If this was a killer waiting for their prey, it was a very weird bad way to do it. It looks like the loser perp had no clue anyone was coming for hours.

So what was going on (burglary, or killing) depends on what the killer was attempting to do, when they broke through the door. And until we find who it was, we can't answer that question with any certainty. We can only guess. LE in the last PC they gave said they have no idea which it is, and it's not even 51/49 to either direction. (I think it's been so long with no success on who they knew, that it might now be leaning a bit towards random, but what do I know?) If they have no answer, we have even less. imo

Utterly crazy it's been almost 10 years with no movement.. I remember when it first happened, figured it'd be solved somewhat quickly due to the footage. No such luck.

Sad they could kill her in such a brutal way and be caught on camera and get away with it.

I used to think it was someone that knew her, now I really don't know. Bumbling and bored robber that killed her in a panic seems just as possible now.

 

[Vaderman]

I am 100% sure that this was not targeted or staged.
I think that this was a young man role playing after breaking into the rural church on a dark and rainy evening and that he was fully shocked and surprised when Missy showed up. She may have screamed when she saw him and he consequentially bludgeoned her with his hammer to quiet her and escape uncaught.
I’m convinced that this is a case of “wrong place wrong time.”
First and foremost you would have a gun or stun gun and rope at the very least if you were targeting a victim.

I just can't buy into to this being some dorky role player guy wanting to live out some fantasy and killing her because he got caught.

To meet you in the middle, if it's not targeted, I could see it being some drunk in the community (possibly the church community). Had one too many that night, strolled into the church and started smashing things muttering to themselves, "[expletive] you!" *crash* "[expletive] you!" *smash*. Missy gasps, drunk perp attacks.

 

[SteveS]

Missy was not shot. She was bludgeoned to death with a hammer or similar tool.
I think this is public information now through records that were pulled by the press/ unsealed.

You have been misinformed. Missy was killed by being shot. The Weapon that caused Missy's death was "Handgun - pistol, revolver, etc" according to the FBI crime files (screenshot below).

FULL EXPLANATION
Those files are available to the public (in a massive file, and the search engine is very User UN-friendly to try to navigate).

(I did the journey several times, and shared the info with others here who also found it, and we posted what was found multiple times with screenshots. That was years ago. There was no URL to share because it was buried behind search engine layered on search engine to find it, taking trial-and-error and luck, and several hours of frustration when successful. They have changed the system more than once since then. Even with notes, the path varies, and it's a trial-and-error journey that may end with no success. I don't bother anymore, but I have a picture below.)

In the initial PC on DOD, LE explicitly declined to say how she was killed ("we're not releasing any information on her injuries right now") and deferred to the ME's upcoming examination. A few SW's became available in a week or so to the media, and released to the public, and one (originally dated on the day after death) included this snippet: "Terri Bevers’ had multiple puncture wounds found on her head and chest are consistent with the tools the suspect was carrying throughout the building." That was all that was ever "said" about her wounds - after that, nowhere (in any PC or SW) did they say anything at all about wounds.

That oddly worded sentence was the basis for our belief she was killed in some other manner. After that, until we had the FBI info, we assumed any mention of a gun was weirdly off-base, or just a rabbit trail where LE was chasing just-in-case things. We thought the SW had told us she was probably bludgeoned with a hammer or crowbar or flashlight or the like.

Of course, looking closer, that wording does NOT say she was bludgeoned. It says "puncture wounds." That's not a bludgeoning.

After we learned more via the FBI file, it seems like LE might have been trying to obscure with technically accurate - but "likely to be misunderstood" - wording. The SW does not define "puncture wounds" or "tools" or say that they necessarily killed her. TECHNICALLY - bullets puncture the body so they can make puncture wounds, and a gun is a tool for shooting someone or something, and loser perp certainly must have been carrying it in order to use it. It is possible that she was ALSO wounded by hammer/crowbar/whatever that did not kill her, but personally I doubt it. In any event, LE was certainly trying to obscure the public from generally knowing she was killed by a gun.

They accomplished their goal, it seems. It's been 10 years, and still that fact is not widely known.

There's more that tells us LE was actually chasing a GUN death. From records obtained by FOIA release (which we didn't have for quite some time, several months or more iirc, well after initial impressions had been been formed), we learned in the hours immediately after her death, LE was conducting searches for suspicious retail handgun sales and ammo sales in the surrounding area, for the days immediately prior to the murder. They also got a SW for her truck, in part to find and/or seize any possible gun (with the idea she may have been killed by her own gun). There was a big FOIA tussle over the gun's S/N that was in the picture (which in hindsight must have been MB's, known to them).

Anyhow, in light of all that, it is my belief that LE carefully worded their SW info that spoke of wounds to obscure her actual cause of death from the public. And then decided in later SWs that wasn't necessary anyhow, and said nothing. Why? I don't know.

TL;DR/ MB was killed by a gun.

 

[Kaley Smith]

I am 99.9% sure this was a targeted attack and staged to appear otherwise.

It was planned and staged so well we are all still scratching our heads why there has not been an arrest.

I agree. Targeted by someone who was jealous of her and hated her.