aggiehawg said:
Quote:
If what is in the declaration is all they have, then this is far from a sure winner, but I'm sure they have way more. Hopefully there is some blood or saliva DNA, digital traces of him targeting them, and some evidence of prior contact and a motive.
Pretty sure they have much more than what was in PCA. And remember that one page was completely redacted.
I too share the hope there is blood or saliva DNA that is concrete. The digital evidence there are just now beginning to sort through his electronic devices.
But you are wrong about one thing. Motive is not necessary for a first degree murder charge and conviction, only premeditation is. Now motive as a why did they do it is circumstantial evidence of premeditation but not dispositive of it.
We may never really know why he committed these crimes.
I appreciate your attempt to out-lawyer a trial lawyer, but…
1. I'm not wrong because I did not say motive is a necessary element of a first degree murder charge. I'm very well aware it is not, which is why I was particular with my words. What I said is that I hope there is some evidence of a motive and prior contact. The reason I hope for that evidence is because it will go a long way toward convincing a jury to convict somebody of murder in a case like this if they have some understanding of his relationship with the victims and why he murdered them, even if it's a very high level understanding. If it's just that he saw them working at a restaurant one day and became obsessed because he's a psychopathic killer, that's fine. But a jury understanding somebody's motivation for committing a crime helps tremendously with a conviction, so I hope there is some evidence of it. If that evidence exists, I expect some of it will come from his digital footprint.
2. If we're going to be legally precise, let's stop calling it "the PCA." It is not an affidavit, unless Idaho defines "affidavit" to include an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury.
Edit for 3. There is not a page completely redacted. It was a scan of the back of the previous page with blue ink from the previous page's "REDACTED" stamp bleeding through.