WA WA - Sky Metalwala, 2, Bellevue, 6 Nov 2011 - #16

[gitana1]

While the COULD potentially charge her for neglect with M it would largely depend on the actual court admissable evidence they have available.

The defense would roll out the photos of that immaculate home, perfectly clean, the well dressed smiling kids, the pictures of them eating, M playing in the pool, M playing in the bath. And the defendant? She's a blonde-haired, middle-class white woman -- if there is a video showing her chasing her shreiking kids around the walmart parking lot waving a fire axe, she'd still get off.

Then there is M. She would have to testify, and that's a non starter.

Finally, you cannot charge someone with generic neglect. You need dates, specifics, all that.

She admitted to leaving the kids alone on the day of mediation and other times as well. That is neglect and they may be able to get her for that for M alone. Just based on her admission.

 

[Adrienne37]

Search and Seek, can you give us any additional information regarding what day Julia borrowed her brother's car? As we seem to recall, she was nearing the end of the period to return the car to him when Sky went missing.

Thanks as always!

 

[princesspjs]

It's just my opinion from work I've done in the field with people with OCD, but I do think it's possible JB was able to override her OCD temporarily -- especially if doing so met a need she had. If her need to dispose of Sky in a way that he would never be found was strong enough (i.e her need for self-preservation), she could have powered through the OCD, essentially, for a short period of time.

All we know right now is that JB was terrified of dust -- not dirt and, yes, OCD can get that specific. And, it's possible that JB was able to dispose of Sky in a "dirty" place without actually getting that dirty (i.e. it's my understanding that Veloce Apartments has a trash chute so she wouldn't have even needed to confront a dumpster).

Thank you for clarifying this again! It makes me sad when I see people start to ridicule and mock a person's (any person, even JB) disabilities. Depression alone can be debilitating. To be afraid..."terrified" as described by SM of dust must be unbelievably difficult to live with.

I am personally terrified of spiders. If I put myself in her place, and think what if I had to deal with spiders on a daily basis like Julia had to deal with dust, as we all do, I would be a nervous wreck! It would be horrifying to me if there were tiny little spiders everywhere that dust is and to feel that my #1 priority was to make sure that I removed every single one of them every single day.

In any case, mental illness is INVOLUNTARY. Some people lose their life to cancer, some people lose everything in their life to mental illness, it's just the card they're dealt.

Instead of making fun of JB's mental health (and I'm guilty of a few jabs myself), maybe we can think of ways that her depression, faith, OCD and/or fear of dust could be used as clues to figure out some likely places to look for Sky?

I have a couple of thoughts...

In my opinion, JB is 100% selfish and I think she would most likely do whatever was the easiest for her to do. I think she would triple or quadruple plastic bag him then put him through the garbage chute.

I think she would put him into several bags for a couple of reasons. First, they would hide him from being seen if someone were to happen to look into the dumpster. Second, possibly to shield him from dust. I believe that she used to put things into bags in order for them to not gather dust - like the Tide bottle at the hotel room. (see pic attached)

 

[Chris_Texas]

She admitted to leaving the kids alone on the day of mediation and other times as well. That is neglect and they may be able to get her for that for M alone. Just based on her admission.

Yeah, I can think of a few potential issues with charging her for that incident, and I am sure you could think up more. Even blowing off potential double jeopardy issues with a possible future negligent homicide or murder charge (assuming that they perhaps charged her with neglecting only M), I wonder if she had been Mirandized when that topic came up.

Not saying it couldn't be done, or that I wouldn't love to see it, but it strikes me as a tricky thing to get a conviction for neglect with no witnesses and little physical evidence. And in any case, what's the penalty? Loss of custody?

 

[NFYIAMY]

Do we have any clue as to why Julia needed the car for TEN days? Has there been anything at all said to explain that time period?

Also - watching the news this morning I saw that they are holding the 2 men suspected in the death of the teacher on KIDNAPPING charges (they said they have them dead to right on that) and that they will add murder charges (once they have a body or more specific evidence) later. Soooooo --- charging Julia on the other counts should be applicable - HOWEVER - I wonder - if in WA the 'penalties' for child endangerment/abuse/neglect would only bring an arrest, a low bond, and really not much 'punishment' -- therefore LE is playing it differently? We know Julia has an attorney - so unless WA is tougher on those kind of charges then most states -- an arrest on those wouldn't necessarily land her in a cell for any length of time at all??

I wish there was a way for them to lock her up and hold her long enough to make her so uncomfortable she was willing to give them every detail of info...- but after thinking about it a good bit - had to do that deep *sigh* after realizing the charges for neglect/abuse wouldn't necessarily make that happen.

 

[Adrienne37]

Do we have any clue as to why Julia needed the car for TEN days? Has there been anything at all said to explain that time period?

Also - watching the news this morning I saw that they are holding the 2 men suspected in the death of the teacher on KIDNAPPING charges (they said they have them dead to right on that) and that they will add murder charges (once they have a body or more specific evidence) later. Soooooo --- charging Julia on the other counts should be applicable - HOWEVER - I wonder - if in WA the 'penalties' for child endangerment/abuse/neglect would only bring an arrest, a low bond, and really not much 'punishment' -- therefore LE is playing it differently? We know Julia has an attorney - so unless WA is tougher on those kind of charges then most states -- an arrest on those wouldn't necessarily land her in a cell for any length of time at all??

I wish there was a way for them to lock her up and hold her long enough to make her so uncomfortable she was willing to give them every detail of info...- but after thinking about it a good bit - had to do that deep *sigh* after realizing the charges for neglect/abuse wouldn't necessarily make that happen.

Nothing about the car situation has been explained Hoppy. In fact, IIRC it was several days after we started following the case that we found out she didn't even have her own vehicle but had borrowed the brother's car.

My feeling on why they haven't arrested her is perhaps their fear that if she bonded out, she may commit suicide given her severe mental issues. She's not doing them any favors right now so I feel something needs to be done to get her off the street and see if this will help shake her up enough to provide the information about Sky.

This precious little boy needs to be brought home now and truthfully I don't care about her feelings at all right now.

 

[Adrienne37]

Significant snow storm headed into the pacific northwest. For all of our friends in this area, please be safe.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46021017/ns/weather/#.TxWK0aW0whw

http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Redmond+WA+USWA0367

 

[NFYIAMY]

I guess I just think differently then members of Julia's family must think.....

If it were MY sister - and I even suspected she had OCD or ANY other MH issue (and since I would KNOW she was hospitalized for suicidal and other MH issues...) - and MY NEPHEW went missing --- I think I would be doing something to get her into treatment - to include petitioning the court for commitment if necessary. I couldn't just sit back and do NOTHING. EVEN IF I believed she had nothing to do with his disappearance - I would FEAR that the simple act of her child going missing could put her back into a suicidal state that I would insist she be under the care of trained professionals. IF she were acting 'normal' - that would cause me to be concerned as well.....

There's just NOTHING on Julia's end - that if she were my family member - would convince me that she, under these circumstances, wouldn't need professional help.

Do we know if she was continuing with any kind of outpatient MH treatment? Seeing a psychologist or anything? Do we know if Solomon or his attorney has spoken with her or anyone who can verify where she is and such? When is the last time anyone is reported to have seen her or spoken to her?

 

[Adrienne37]

I feel the same as you Hoppy. I can't understand why her family isn't doing more. This is the only interview with anyone in Julia's family (you may have seen this already). There were a couple of emails that her mother sent to a reporter but beyond that, there's nothing. We don't know if she is in under any sort of treatment, nothing.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...xlb6lIcpnqH1oqeSw&sig2=87bdxQ8FHFRxEMi2uhx1hQ

 

[cocomod]

She admitted to leaving the kids alone on the day of mediation and other times as well. That is neglect and they may be able to get her for that for M alone. Just based on her admission.

I completely agree. Also, they have interviewed anyone that may have babysat during the mediation, and LE has stated several times that noone saw Sky and likely M as well except for one neighbor. That means that there is no way that someone watched the kids during mediation.

 

[Rougelatete]

Still searching for you and


Keeping the faith you will be found.


You're in my thoughts and prayers, little man.

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

There are trees like that - everywhere. The one good thing that we have is that she did not drive and took the bus the majority of the time.

Hey - I wonder if our buses have a camera on board recording and if so, can LE access them?

I wish we had the sunshine laws like they have in FL - I want to be able to see her cell phone pings, texts, emails and bank records so that we can track down video tapes of her in some of the stores and find out what she has been purchasing for the past 6 months.

I want to retrace the usual routes that she took, map out her "comfort zone" as far as her shopping, outings to the zoo, park, library, movies, Chuck E Cheese, restaurants, etc.

This might show when she stopped purchasing diapers and wipes.

There may have been an item - storage bin, suitcase, duffle bag, laundry tote or something similar which she purchased that is unaccounted for now.

What did she purchase at Ross in Redmond? Why was she so distraught at Sterling Bank? Why is JB hiding? How can she sit wherever it is she right now and do nothing when I have spent all day wracking my brain to come up with some questions - throwing ANYTHING out there - to see if it sparks an idea in someone to lead us on a new sleuth for more answers.

I understand depression. I understand OCD tendencies in thoughts or actions. I understand having irrational fears. I understand money troubles.

I do not understand how a mother can have no love for her children. She won't tell anyone where Sky is or what happened to him and she is willing to never see her daughter again just so that she doesn't have to talk.

At this point, I'd be happy if they charge her with neglect, child endangerment, child abandonment, lying to LE and whatever else they can charge her with by just using her own statements to LE on 11/6. That should set her up for at least a couple of decades in her own 10x10 suite.

Great Sleuth questions!
I understand your sentiments, and I agree!

 

[Adrienne37]

Still searching for you and


Keeping the faith you will be found.


You're in my thoughts and prayers, little man.

I love your post so much Rougelatete and I second every single thing you said!

 

[jjenny]

Do we have any clue as to why Julia needed the car for TEN days? Has there been anything at all said to explain that time period?

Also - watching the news this morning I saw that they are holding the 2 men suspected in the death of the teacher on KIDNAPPING charges (they said they have them dead to right on that) and that they will add murder charges (once they have a body or more specific evidence) later. Soooooo --- charging Julia on the other counts should be applicable - HOWEVER - I wonder - if in WA the 'penalties' for child endangerment/abuse/neglect would only bring an arrest, a low bond, and really not much 'punishment' -- therefore LE is playing it differently? We know Julia has an attorney - so unless WA is tougher on those kind of charges then most states -- an arrest on those wouldn't necessarily land her in a cell for any length of time at all??

I wish there was a way for them to lock her up and hold her long enough to make her so uncomfortable she was willing to give them every detail of info...- but after thinking about it a good bit - had to do that deep *sigh* after realizing the charges for neglect/abuse wouldn't necessarily make that happen.

Even if the bond is low, I presume she is also very low on funds. Somebody else will have to put it up.

 

[Niner]

From what I understand, JB borrowed her brother's car for 10 days. We don't know the exact date she borrowed the car but it's likely she had it for at least a few days prior to Sky going missing. If that's the case, she could have easily driven to the cemetery and pretty much any other location. We know that the surveillance photos are from the "hours and days" just prior to Sky going missing and that JB was well-within the vicinity of the cemetery -- likely with a car -- during that time (as evidenced by the Ross and Sterling Bank photos).

IF JB had Sky in the car, wouldn't the police have sent a cadaver dog around the car already? I see from a few posts back that someone (sorry!) said the police used both - searching and cadaver dogs - but "WHERE"?? :waitasec: we don't know, right?! :seeya:

 

[Niner]

It's just my opinion from work I've done in the field with people with OCD, but I do think it's possible JB was able to override her OCD temporarily -- especially if doing so met a need she had. If her need to dispose of Sky in a way that he would never be found was strong enough (i.e her need for self-preservation), she could have powered through the OCD, essentially, for a short period of time.

All we know right now is that JB was terrified of dust -- not dirt and, yes, OCD can get that specific. And, it's possible that JB was able to dispose of Sky in a "dirty" place without actually getting that dirty (i.e. it's my understanding that Veloce Apartments has a trash chute so she wouldn't have even needed to confront a dumpster).

re bold - I recall that the police had dogs check this area with the trash chute - IF I recall correctly!! LOL! getting old... :crazy: but, again, I don't think we were told WHAT they found, correct? Is that why they have the trash dump area marked off? :waitasec:

Julia, where IS SKY??!!! :banghead:

 

[Rougelatete]

IF JB had Sky in the car, wouldn't the police have sent a cadaver dog around the car already? I see from a few posts back that someone (sorry!) said the police used both - searching and cadaver dogs - but "WHERE"?? :waitasec: we don't know, right?! :seeya:

They did send a cadaver dog around the car on November 6th, I believe, and it did not detect Sky having been in the car dead or alive, IIRC.

I wonder if an area can be cleaned so thoroughly that the dogs would not be able to detect a decomposed body. We know JB was a master at cleaning -- probably better than almost anyone and she could have cleaned that car for 10+ hours. Does anyone on this forum have expertise on cadaver dogs? Could JB have cleaned her brother's car so well that that the dogs would have had no scent to trace?

Regardless, there is a bus that runs straight down 180th Street, passing by the Cedar Lawns Cemetery. She could have easily gotten there without a car.

 

[etkay]

A few questions keep nagging at me: Did Julia own a car? Did she borrow her brother's because her's was unavailable for some reason or did she not have one at all?
Also I wonder (logistically) how she got her brother's car? If he lives downtown and she's in Redmond, it seems likely he'd drive out to her place and have her drive him back downtown.

 

[greenpalm]

I'm not following this case super super closely, but I know there has at least been some speculation that Sky may have been sent overseas, possibly returning there with Julia's father when he visited? in any case, this article made me think of that theory:

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Painful-lesson-for-Plano-dad-Daugher-in-exile-overseas-137543983.html

Still, he said they still took vacations — including trips to a spa in Arizona and then back to England, where Cohen is from.
But Cohen told a British Court they were actually moving to the U.K.
She even showed a London utility bill set up in Hermer's name and said he was looking for new positions there, according to British court records News 8 reviewed.
On one trip to England in September 2009, the UK let Cohen and Alessia in, but refused to admit Hermer.
Immigration officers said that without a job, he might be a burden on the welfare system.
But Hermer insists they were only vacationing, and all three had return tickets to the U.S. on Continental Airlines.
"I'm 50, not 15,” he explained. “I can't just go to England and wing it."
If the couple had intended to leave Texas, Hermer added, they would have taken more things — including Alessia's crib and toys, more of Simmone's clothes (including a fur coat), designer jeans, and expensive handbags, along with personal pictures of her pregnancy and family in the U.K.

 

[hambirg]

re bold - I recall that the police had dogs check this area with the trash chute - IF I recall correctly!! LOL! getting old... :crazy: but, again, I don't think we were told WHAT they found, correct? Is that why they have the trash dump area marked off? :waitasec:

Julia, where IS SKY??!!! :banghead:

The thing that really bothers me is the area that JB lives, near Redmond Town Center, there are literally hundreds of dumpsters within walking distance from her apt. I don't think that she would have put him in the trash at the apartment when there were so many readily available alternatives. She didn't need the car to do that.

I wish they would search the landfill. It really needs to be eliminated for me, before I can entertain other options. . .and there are still quite a few other scenarios. I just can't get past that that is most likely where he is.