What true crime has left you baffled?

[TaliZorahVasNormandy]

I'm watching a show on sky crime called, "Who killed Garrett Phillips."

I'm baffled at how the police came to the conclusion that their main suspect did it. Apart from the fact, that he was on camera in his car at the school (he worked there) and the victim was also on camera 7 seconds later, nowhere near his car.

It is truly bizarre.

knifeangel I hope so, my childhood best friend is a second cousin of the family and they lived near us, so I remember it so clearly. The arrests in recent years must have been very frustrating for the family, not going any further. I suspect the pair who live by the flats near the college know most about it, but I'm surprised the police thought there was something of interest in the wood there, it floods so regularly.

I feel so sorry for the son, he has never known his mum, but her poor parents. They have been devastated.

For the people who've mentioned the disappearance of flight MH370 - this article came out a few months ago and I felt gave a very well researched take on the most likely reason for its disappearance. Still gives me chills thinking about how an entire plane full of people can disappear in this day and age, with all the technology available to us.

amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/590653/

Smallclanger, they did look into the possibility that it was a hitman as that was what Julie had claimed. They questioned a local 'hard' man but he turned out to have an alibi and also not be quite as hard as he had been leading people to believe.
It was Neville who called the police and Jeremy (though I think the police case said this hadn't happened and Jeremy had made it up.) So if he had been the killer it would have made no sense either for him to call them or for Jeremy to say that he had. I don't know if the nature of his injuries (he was injured in a struggle as well as shot) would also have made it impossible. He also wouldn't have had a motive, and both other versions of events featured very strong motives (if we can call a psychotic episode a motive).

Countess, that does make sense. I was speculating more than anything else, thinking about the nature of family annihilation crimes.

As far as I know, no-one outside the house heard gunshots. A rifle report is LOUD. Silencers don't work like they do in films either, if it was a quiet night with little background noise, a silenced shot would probably have been audible.

According to the Bamber website (and I know nothing about guns so no idea how true this is) the type of gun used wasn't loud, it was more like a handclap. The 'silencer' was actually a sound moderator which would have had only a little effect on the sound to the human ear but was meant to change the nature of the sound so it didn't frighten off the rabbits you were trying to hunt with it.

I knew the Bamber family slightly and remember the case at the time. I believed Jeremy Bamber to be guilty then, and my view hasn't changed.

Madeline McCann and Alistair Wilson in Nairn. Just really bizarre, surely somebody out there knows something.

Grazie that's a fascinating read

The Atlanta child murders. The sheer number of children killed and no definitive answers, they think there could still be a killer out there. Horrifying.

Patrick Warren and Darren Spencer a.k.a The Milk Bottle kids. Disappeared Boxing Day 1996. Initially treated by police as a missing person case. Troubled kids, troubled background, working class area.

It is more likely they were murdered, no answers for the family, just dreadful.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-37999316

Amy Lynn Bradley.

The staircase on Netflix is brilliant. SPOILERS

Did you cheat? “No”
We have your pc with gay porn and emails arranging gay meet ups. Need to tell us about something? “No”
Ok... we have a man who wrote emails saying you had sex. “Well yes, but that’s not an affair or cheating”

My gun knowledge is also limited, but I've been around shooting a little and occasionally work with armed police. The only rifles that aren't painfully loud are airguns which only fire pellets. A rifle firing live ammunition makes quite a high-pitched "crack" sound that results in instant tinnitus for anyone nearby.

If Bamber was the killer, you'd expect him to have blood on him, plus lead and explosive residue from reloading the gun quite a few times. You can smell gunshot on someone. It doesn't sound as if that was even investigated.

Most murderers end up covered in cuts and bruises. People usually try to defend themselves. I watched a documentary about JonBenet Ramsay once and one of the things that most upset me was that she fought for her life, scratching and kicking and punching out judging by bruises and cuts on her body. She tried to pull the cord off her neck. She was a brave little girl.

I watched the Staircase. I think an owl did it.

'If Bamber was the killer, you'd expect him to have blood on him, plus lead and explosive residue from reloading the gun quite a few times. You can smell gunshot on someone. It doesn't sound as if that was even investigated.'

Indeed, and it's possible that he is guilty but there was also a police cover up because they realised how badly they had fucked up in failing to look for evidence in the first place because they were so sure Sheila had done it, and were determined to get a conviction despite most of the evidence being destroyed.

The police officers who were with JB outside the farmhouse and saw movement inside, clearly enough that they ducked down behind a wall and then ran away, when all inside were supposed to be already dead, have changed their story now saying it was a trick of the light
They also originally noted that they saw the gun propped up against a window upon their arrival. The gun that was then later found on the body of Sheila Caffel. If no one was alive in the house, how could the gun have moved? There was also a picture, taken by police, of the kitchen, that shows there were no marks on the Aga shelf. Later another picture of the Aga shelf shows a mark, supposedly caused by the silencer on the gun. Both scenarios can’t be true. But tbh there’s no point in speculating and asking questions about the case when you discover that, despite court orders (three in fact), compelling Essex Police to fully disclose hundreds of pieces of previously undisclosed and withheld evidence to Bamber’s defence team, not only did they not comply but apparently DNA evidence (with the exception of the blood on the silencer) has been incinerated at the request of a Special Branch operative who claimed not to know of the court orders to disclose. Apparently there was also an undisclosed Public Interest Immunity document on a CPS deal done with the ex girlfriend in exchange for immunity from prosecution for five criminal offences. Bamber may or may not be guilty, but one thing is certain, he has never had a fair trial. Just one of the cases that I think of when people say, ‘if you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve got nothing to be scared of’. IMO, the people who’ve done nothing wrong have the most to be worried about.

Those of you who think Jeremy Bamber may be innocent (I don't believe he is) - who do you think killed his sister, nephews and parents?

I don't think he's innocent necessarily, but I agree that it certainly does not look like a fair trial.

I'd love to know what happened to Lee Boxell. Two of my cousins attended the same school as him.

Bulger killers - still cannot comprehend what happened and I’m always really anxious when out with my children as a result

JonBenet did not fight for her life. She had been hit on the head and had a fractured skull prior to the strangulation. She would have been unconscious and probably already appeared to be dead to an observer. (Years reading about the case).

@bohemia14 there's a school of thought that says those who believe JB to be innocent are generally middle aged women. Generally, not always. He was a very good looking and charismatic man - I lurk in a very closed fb group dedicated to his innocence (no, I don't believe he is but I managed to get in) and its FULL of these women who just adore him. They write to him, send him the gifts he's allowed to receive, all his stationery and stamps etc.

For some reason, common sense goes out the window. He was convicted. He failed to overturn this conviction twice. It's easier to convince ourselves that his 7 stone sister overpowered her entire family - her father was well over 6 foot - in a fit of psychotic rage.

It's fine to say you don't believe in British justice. But is the wrong person in prison? I very much doubt it. I'm not steadfast in that and nothing would surprise me but when you hear hoofbeats, it's probably best to not expect to see zebras.

@CactusAndCacti I always find that one sad. I only became aware of it a couple of years ago as there has hardly been any publicity around it. It's like they didn't matter as they came from a troubled background and weren't little angels

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Joan_Risch

The Joan Risch case as some believe she faked her own death/disappearance. Or got a botched abortion. Either way very sad.

Slightly OT, but MN has hooked me on true crime podcasts and I'm currently binging Female Criminals, which is brilliant. So far all of the cases have been solved though.