Off the record update on Allison's murder.

[Coventina]

My brother (who lives in my same neighborhood) was playing a neighborhood poker game with a local firefighter who talked to some of the first responders.

Apparently, my suspicions were correct. There was a long, protracted, and extremely bloody battle between Allison and her killer.
Hence, the description of the crime scene as "extensive and complex."

His description was that "she was murdered in every room of that house."

Although it was what I suspected, having those suspicions confirmed as correct is just that much more upsetting.

Poor, poor Allison.

[Tobin S.]

1. This is probably one of those deals that is going to be on Forensic Files. nt

[Coventina]

2. I so hope they catch her killer. Life here will never be the same, but

I have need of closure.

I can only imagine how much her family and boyfriend need it.

[Tobin S.]

3. I think they'll catch him.

It's very difficult to get away with a crime like that now days. It may take some time, though.

[Chan790]

7. Yup...Locard's Principle makes it increasingly impossible to get away with that kind of murder.

tl;dr: The more extensive the murder, the more transfer of evidence; the more transfer of evidence, the more likely you're getting caught.

The constant improvement of science in the field of forensics allows us almost-daily to solve crimes that were unsolvable at the time they were committed because the technology to analyze or suss out that evidence had not existed until now. In this case, with that much violence and action across so much of the house, it's inevitable that the killer left hir imprimatur all over that scene...and that scene and Amanda all over hirself. It may take weeks or months or dreadful years but the day has passed when resolution of this kind of crime wasn't inevitable.

In forensic science, Locard's exchange principle (sometimes simply Locard's principle) holds that the perpetrator of a crime will bring something into the crime scene and leave with something from it, and that both can be used as forensic evidence. Dr. Edmond Locard (13 December 1877 – 4 May 1966) was a pioneer in forensic science who became known as the Sherlock Holmes of France. He formulated the basic principle of forensic science as: "Every contact leaves a trace". Paul L. Kirk[1] expressed the principle as follows:

"Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects. All of these and more, bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, it cannot be wholly absent. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value."

Fragmentary or trace evidence is any type of material left at (or taken from) a crime scene, or the result of contact between two surfaces, such as shoes and the floor covering or soil, or fibers from where someone sat on an upholstered chair.

When a crime is committed, fragmentary (or trace) evidence needs to be collected from the scene. A team of specialized police technicians go to the scene of the crime and seal it off. They both record video and take photographs of the crime scene, victim (if there is one) and items of evidence. If necessary, they undertake a firearms and ballistics examination. They check for shoe and tire mark impressions, examine any vehicles and check for fingerprints.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locard's_exchange_principle

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. How sad for all of you, my dear Coventina, and so scary too...

I agree with Tobin: They will catch him eventually.

[Coventina]

5. Thanks, CP.

It means a lot to have DUers reassurances at this time.

The police are not being reassuring AT ALL.

They are speaking out of both sides of their mouths.

[KMOD]

6. Oh, that poor young woman.

How horrible.

[In_The_Wind]

8. I hope the family moves to a new home.

[Coventina]

9. Allison lived alone. Her family lives back in the midwest somewhere.

I assume that as her heirs (?) her parents / siblings will sell the house.

It's so strange. I remember the house being up for sale, and Allison buying it just 6 months before her murder.

And now, it sits empty, with flowers and candles on the front porch.

It feels like a gaping wound, but you'd never know it but for the offerings on the front porch.

[In_The_Wind]

10. Somehow I thought she had family there.

[Coventina]

11. There might be a sister who lives in the area, but not with her.

Part of why the murder went undetected for almost 24 hours was because she lived alone.

She was murdered on a Tuesday night, sometime between 8 pm and 1 am (when the suspect is believed to have left the house).

When her boyfriend didn't hear from her all day Wednesday, and her family back East didn't either (she wasn't responding to calls or texts), he came over and found her body at about 4 pm Wednesday afternoon.

And then a month later the police tell us to look for someone in the neighborhood with unexplained scratches on their face and arms!!

[LisaL]

13. It took police a month to figure that out?

That doesn't sound like good police work.

[Coventina]

14. Tell me about it!

There was definitely frustration expressed at the second community meeting regarding that.

The police didn't really have a good answer for why they waited a MONTH to alert us to that.....

[mackerel]

12. It wouldn't surprise me if it was someone in the neighborhood