A Thoughtful Posting

[Cadillakin]

This is one of the best if not the very best posting I have ever read about the thougtfulness that leads many of us to the conclusion Scott is guilty. The posting is by LadyMarchHare. Copied with her permission. (on a previous occasion)
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Part 1

I posted this originally just to stress that those of us who hold an opinion of guilt came to it through much thought and research. Not because we are stressed out over him having had an affair before Laci's disappearance.

Not because we are worried about bleach, or what his family has said in his support or done in his support.

Not because we believe in 2 trips, 1 trip, or barrels...or anything else some folks think we base our opinion on...but based on other things we simply haven't seen a reasonable explanation of and the sheer volume of things that need explaining.

My opinion is as well considered as any other...well researched as any other...subject to change as any other, depending on additional data...

I'm just as anxious to see the trial start as anyone, G, NG, or fencesitter, to see if my opinions hold up to the evidence presented under oath.

Some want you to think that those who hold the opinion that SP is guilty do so for no...or little reason. I wish this was so...I wish there were no, or little reason. I really do. When it was first announced that she was missing I thought..."That poor man..."

When they later mentioned that "poor man" was fishing so far away on Christmas Eve. I looked at my husband and said..."I have a feeling that woman is sleeping with the fishes." It was gut instinct. But still I hoped I was wrong. I was willing to be wrong and waiting for the news to prove me wrong. I wanted to be wrong. I'm sure the Modesto police wished the same thing.

The G's aren't holding our opinion frivolously, nor did we rush in to condemn a man for the fun of it, most of us had the same initial reaction, followed by that intital gut feeling, then the same hope that we were wrong, then the same realization, as time passed that something about SP was more fishy then his fishing trip.

The reasons for our beliefs are many and not easy to narrow to one pidgeon-holed, one-size-fits-all catagory that the NG's like to think we occupy. Our reasons for our opinions are as varied and as well thought over as any out there. If you want to play darts on us you need a bigger dart board because the bullseye is all over the place and as big as SP's latest lie to add to the laundry list.

The problem is that enormous Laundry List....

We would LOVE to believe SP didn't kill his wife and child if only...

He had stuck to his alibi. Golfing? Fishing? Spur of the moment? Planned in advance with a pre-purchased licence JUST FOR THE DAYS IN QUESTION? Telling his neighbor upon starting his "search that he had been Golfing all day...telling others he had been fishing? None of this should have been that hard to remember for someone who gave a detailed description of his wife's clothing, jewelry, and what Martha was cooking on the TV. Why couldn't he keep it straight?

If only...

He had gotten the clothing right. Biggie here for me. It throws the witness testimony in doubt. The "witnesses" did not describe or call in their accounts until AFTER SP gave his description of his wife's clothing including the "black pants". If SP guessed on the clothes and got it wrong as some have suggested...then the witnesses are wrong and simply replied via the power of suggestion and if he was just guessing then SP did not aid the investigation, he hindered it and should have just said "I don't recall" instead of his elaborate description of her outfit as though he had committed it to memory.

If only...

He had gone before the cameras and pleaded for his wife's return immediately. Why hide? If his reason was to keep out of the sight of Amber until publicity died...he underestimated the curiousity this engendered.

If only...

He had been honest about the affair. Sure...men lie about affairs. But how weird is it to keep making lovey dovey phone calls to your mistress WHILE your wife is missing...even at her vigil! Denying an affair is one thing...continuing a pursuit of it under the circumstances was....creepy, scary, weird.

If only...

he hadn't intimated to two seperate people that he was a widower. And to tell Amber that he had not only "lost" his wife but that this holiday...(note the specific nature of that) would be his first without her. Then...miraculously...it was. What seperates this from the lies he told to get him to this point is that while Laci was still alive this still didn't constitute a lie....but rather a prediction. It only would have been a lie if the holiday had passed and this not to have happened.

Continued Below

[Cadillakin]

Part 2

If only...

His fishing gear had been used...or even opened.

If only...

He had told anyone where he was that day on any of the calls he made including the one to his own father, an avid fisherman, while he was at the bay. It is true he might not tell his father about purchases he's made, and I can see that he might not mention the boat if he was at the golf course...but while you are boating, and fishing, and you never even mention in passing that you are at the bay much less in a new boat? Incredible.

If only....

He wouldn't have said the boat was a surprise for Laci, when she was pregnant, and the last time they were on a boat together she was sea-sick, making it an unlikely surprise....and forgetting that his phone voice message to his wife tries to establish that he was calling from Berkley (as though she knew his plans) when everyone assumed he was golfing and he said fishing was a spur of the moment decision.

If only...

He had indeed put the umbrellas he was "loading" away at the warehouse like he said he was going to.

If only...

He hadn't lied about the cement. It did not belong to the pool contractors.

If only...

He hadn't told Amber he was going to be more exclusively hers at the end of January while his wife was missing.

If only...

He did not immediately start changing things. The Land Rover, Laci's belongings, Asking about selling the house, Using the baby's room as a storage room after saying he was too heartbroken to go in there and it would remain untouched until there was someone to fill it. It doesn't speak of him missing his wife or feeling for her comfort to change familiar things when what she would need after an ordeal would be the security of that familiarity...it also says that he didn't miss her as much as he claimed to be ordering porn channels days after she went missing.

If only...

GPS tracking did not have him repeatedly driving so far to look out over the water he and his family were insisting was a waste of time to search. And not just on days he knew searches were occurring...he went there when no searches were going on...WHY? After all the trouble his family went to to try to direct the searches away from the bay....why go anywhere near that water? And if, on the days there were searches, why go there thinking you are undetected? Why not take an interest, thank the searchers or join the shore search?

If only...

His family had shown any consideration for the feelings of Laci's family. JP calling the Covena address "OUR" house...locking them out of the home, changing the locks, making them go through lawyers to go inside while they offered the home and the pool to the defense team. Asking the Rochas to put off giving their daughter/grandson a decent burial until after SP is acquitted...and making that email public in a bid for sympathy. imo

If only...

The Petersons hadn't set up a seperate hotline that picked and chose which tips to pass along, rejecting anything they didn't like.

If only...

He hadn't changed his appearance. Going back the the familiarity thing for Laci...what would she have thought if she had returned to see SP looking so completely opposite of the way he did when they were together?

If only...

He hadn't purchased a car under his mother's name, with cash, and been driving south of his family's home with $15,000 dollars cash, camping and survival gear and water purifier, with his brother's ID, only to be arrested at Torrey Pines and claim he was meeting his family to golf. An avid golfer who had considered it as a career....had NO CLUBS WITH HIM.

So many other If onlys...

LadyMarchHare

[Lavindar]

Originally Posted by Cadillakin

Part 2

If only...

His fishing gear had been used...or even opened.

If only...

He had told anyone where he was that day on any of the calls he made including the one to his own father, an avid fisherman, while he was at the bay. It is true he might not tell his father about purchases he's made, and I can see that he might not mention the boat if he was at the golf course...but while you are boating, and fishing, and you never even mention in passing that you are at the bay much less in a new boat? Incredible.

If only....

He wouldn't have said the boat was a surprise for Laci, when she was pregnant, and the last time they were on a boat together she was sea-sick, making it an unlikely surprise....and forgetting that his phone voice message to his wife tries to establish that he was calling from Berkley (as though she knew his plans) when everyone assumed he was golfing and he said fishing was a spur of the moment decision.

If only...

He had indeed put the umbrellas he was "loading" away at the warehouse like he said he was going to.

If only...

He hadn't lied about the cement. It did not belong to the pool contractors.

If only...

He hadn't told Amber he was going to be more exclusively hers at the end of January while his wife was missing.

If only...

He did not immediately start changing things. The Land Rover, Laci's belongings, Asking about selling the house, Using the baby's room as a storage room after saying he was too heartbroken to go in there and it would remain untouched until there was someone to fill it. It doesn't speak of him missing his wife or feeling for her comfort to change familiar things when what she would need after an ordeal would be the security of that familiarity...it also says that he didn't miss her as much as he claimed to be ordering porn channels days after she went missing.

If only...

GPS tracking did not have him repeatedly driving so far to look out over the water he and his family were insisting was a waste of time to search. And not just on days he knew searches were occurring...he went there when no searches were going on...WHY? After all the trouble his family went to to try to direct the searches away from the bay....why go anywhere near that water? And if, on the days there were searches, why go there thinking you are undetected? Why not take an interest, thank the searchers or join the shore search?

If only...

His family had shown any consideration for the feelings of Laci's family. JP calling the Covena address "OUR" house...locking them out of the home, changing the locks, making them go through lawyers to go inside while they offered the home and the pool to the defense team. Asking the Rochas to put off giving their daughter/grandson a decent burial until after SP is acquitted...and making that email public in a bid for sympathy. imo

If only...

The Petersons hadn't set up a seperate hotline that picked and chose which tips to pass along, rejecting anything they didn't like.

If only...

He hadn't changed his appearance. Going back the the familiarity thing for Laci...what would she have thought if she had returned to see SP looking so completely opposite of the way he did when they were together?

If only...

He hadn't purchased a car under his mother's name, with cash, and been driving south of his family's home with $15,000 dollars cash, camping and survival gear and water purifier, with his brother's ID, only to be arrested at Torrey Pines and claim he was meeting his family to golf. An avid golfer who had considered it as a career....had NO CLUBS WITH HIM.

So many other If onlys...

LadyMarchHare

Ig only........the list goes on and on

[deputydi]

Where is LadyMarch? I wish she'd come back into the discussion.

That post expresses so beautifully what all of us have been trying to say. We've been doing it in bits and pieces -- she put it all together. Now, maybe the NGs will understand what Circumstantial Evidence really is.

[Cadillakin]

Originally Posted by deputydi

Where is LadyMarch? I wish she'd come back into the discussion.

That post expresses so beautifully what all of us have been trying to say. We've been doing it in bits and pieces -- she put it all together. Now, maybe the NGs will understand what Circumstantial Evidence really is.

She posts at Court TV. I asked her permission to post on WS when I was a poster there.

[deputydi]

Originally Posted by Cadillakin

She posts at Court TV. I asked her permission to post on WS when I was a poster there.

Thanks for the info. Please tell her we miss her. I posted at CTV before, during and after the trial -- until I got banned. Seaward reported something I said (I never even found out what it was). I never rejoined -- that's when I came over here.

[TopGunner]

Beautiful Cadi ~ Lady March said perfectly what I've been trying to spit out for some time now, give her our thanks.

[Cadillakin]

Originally Posted by TopGunner

Beautiful Cadi ~ Lady March said perfectly what I've been trying to spit out for some time now, give her our thanks.

Actually TG, it was your posting on another thread that inspired me to find this one and reprint it... You too are a great poster. This is the one, from today... http://boards.crimelibrary.com/showpost.php?p=8954601&postcount=64

I don't know LadyMarch, never interacted with her, other than the once, to ask her if I could repost this particular posting.

[TopGunner]

Originally Posted by Cadillakin

Actually TG, it was your posting on another thread that inspired me to find this one and reprint it... You too are a great poster. This is the one, from today... http://boards.crimelibrary.com/showpost.php?p=8954601&postcount=64

I don't know LadyMarch, never interacted with her, other than the once, to ask her if I could repost this particular posting.

Awww.......thanks Cadi! You know, I'd be interested in knowing how everyone heard about this case, when it became *personal* if you will, because I do think everyone has some emotional investment. It's one of those "where were you when 9/11 happened?" questions. I'd like to hear it from the NG's too. And not "the media convicted him", and "rush to judgement" answers - what, specifically, made you believe he was innocent or guilty - just stick w/the facts.

Also - I've asked this before, but I don't think I got a great response. IMO, I do believe ISP is a sociopath. I believe he is completely without consicious - not wired like the rest of us. So, even though it's clear he KNEW right from wrong...he planned it out, and clearly knew the consequences if found quilty, AND cannot ever be set free because he could kill again (I still wonder about Kristen Smart), my question is - should a sociopath be held accountable like a normal person, or should they be delt with more like the criminally insane? Is it their FAULT that they are nuts?

I do not have an opinion on this one way or another, yet. Obviously I think he should be behind bars for the rest of his life, and I also believe he's dangerous and cannot be free'd, but are they in a different catagory?

Is a sociopath insane?

[deputydi]

Originally Posted by TopGunner

Awww.......thanks Cadi! You know, I'd be interested in knowing how everyone heard about this case, when it became *personal* if you will, because I do think everyone has some emotional investment. It's one of those "where were you when 9/11 happened?" questions. I'd like to hear it from the NG's too. And not "the media convicted him", and "rush to judgement" answers - what, specifically, made you believe he was innocent or guilty - just stick w/the facts.

Also - I've asked this before, but I don't think I got a great response. IMO, I do believe ISP is a sociopath. I believe he is completely without consicious - not wired like the rest of us. So, even though it's clear he KNEW right from wrong...he planned it out, and clearly knew the consequences if found quilty, AND cannot ever be set free because he could kill again (I still wonder about Kristen Smart), my question is - should a sociopath be held accountable like a normal person, or should they be delt with more like the criminally insane? Is it their FAULT that they are nuts?

I do not have an opinion on this one way or another, yet. Obviously I think he should be behind bars for the rest of his life, and I also believe he's dangerous and cannot be free'd, but are they in a different catagory?

Is a sociopath insane?

You ask some interesting and thought provoking questions.

I believe he is a sociopath and yes, he should be eligible for the DP and executed when all his appeals fail. A sociopath knows the difference between right and wrong, but just doesn't care. Legally, he is not insane. His mind just works a little differently than ours. It is my strong opinion that Scott was raised to believe he was one of the "entitled" few. From what I've read, the golden boy was denied nothing and never made to own up to his mistakes. His parents appeared to raise him with the belief that everything bad that happened was someone else's fault, someone else's influence, they had it coming, Scott had no choice, etc.

For probably the first time in his life he is being made to pay for something he did and his parents still have those blinders on. Actually, it's pretty sad to think that they created this uncaring, unfeeling, narcissistic human being. And now he sits on Death Row because he murdered his pregnant wife because (I believe) he couldn't face the failure a divorce represented. I don't think Amber was the reason he wanted out -- IMO it was a carefree lifestyle the 30 year old Scott longed for. A divorce would have tarnished his "perfect" image and never in a million years would anyone suspect him of anything if his pretty wife just disappeared.

Well, guess what, Scott. This time too many people saw right through your facade.

As for your first question I remember hearing about it shortly after Christmas but I didn't get hooked until several weeks later when I started to question Scott's behavior. I really, really wanted to believe he was innocent but the more I watched him, the more suspicious his actions seemed. When I started posting on the CTV board I was looking for REASONABLE reasons to believe him. Obviously I couldn't find any. During the trial, the more details I learned, the more convinced I became. No reasonable doubt here -- in fact, no doubt at all.

[Sturgeon_Moon]

Originally Posted by Cadillakin

Part 2

If only...

His fishing gear had been used...or even opened.

If only...

He had told anyone where he was that day on any of the calls he made including the one to his own father, an avid fisherman, while he was at the bay. It is true he might not tell his father about purchases he's made, and I can see that he might not mention the boat if he was at the golf course...but while you are boating, and fishing, and you never even mention in passing that you are at the bay much less in a new boat? Incredible.

If only....

He wouldn't have said the boat was a surprise for Laci, when she was pregnant, and the last time they were on a boat together she was sea-sick, making it an unlikely surprise....and forgetting that his phone voice message to his wife tries to establish that he was calling from Berkley (as though she knew his plans) when everyone assumed he was golfing and he said fishing was a spur of the moment decision.

If only...

He had indeed put the umbrellas he was "loading" away at the warehouse like he said he was going to.

If only...

He hadn't lied about the cement. It did not belong to the pool contractors.

If only...

He hadn't told Amber he was going to be more exclusively hers at the end of January while his wife was missing.

If only...

He did not immediately start changing things. The Land Rover, Laci's belongings, Asking about selling the house, Using the baby's room as a storage room after saying he was too heartbroken to go in there and it would remain untouched until there was someone to fill it. It doesn't speak of him missing his wife or feeling for her comfort to change familiar things when what she would need after an ordeal would be the security of that familiarity...it also says that he didn't miss her as much as he claimed to be ordering porn channels days after she went missing.

If only...

GPS tracking did not have him repeatedly driving so far to look out over the water he and his family were insisting was a waste of time to search. And not just on days he knew searches were occurring...he went there when no searches were going on...WHY? After all the trouble his family went to to try to direct the searches away from the bay....why go anywhere near that water? And if, on the days there were searches, why go there thinking you are undetected? Why not take an interest, thank the searchers or join the shore search?

If only...

His family had shown any consideration for the feelings of Laci's family. JP calling the Covena address "OUR" house...locking them out of the home, changing the locks, making them go through lawyers to go inside while they offered the home and the pool to the defense team. Asking the Rochas to put off giving their daughter/grandson a decent burial until after SP is acquitted...and making that email public in a bid for sympathy. imo

If only...

The Petersons hadn't set up a seperate hotline that picked and chose which tips to pass along, rejecting anything they didn't like.

If only...

He hadn't changed his appearance. Going back the the familiarity thing for Laci...what would she have thought if she had returned to see SP looking so completely opposite of the way he did when they were together?

If only...

He hadn't purchased a car under his mother's name, with cash, and been driving south of his family's home with $15,000 dollars cash, camping and survival gear and water purifier, with his brother's ID, only to be arrested at Torrey Pines and claim he was meeting his family to golf. An avid golfer who had considered it as a career....had NO CLUBS WITH HIM.

So many other If onlys...

LadyMarchHare

Bravo.

[Sturgeon_Moon]

Originally Posted by deputydi

Where is LadyMarch? I wish she'd come back into the discussion.

That post expresses so beautifully what all of us have been trying to say. We've been doing it in bits and pieces -- she put it all together. Now, maybe the NGs will understand what Circumstantial Evidence really is.

That should do it.

[Sturgeon_Moon]

Originally Posted by Cadillakin

She posts at Court TV. I asked her permission to post on WS when I was a poster there.

Thank you, that was excellent.

[Sturgeon_Moon]

Originally Posted by Cadillakin

Actually TG, it was your posting on another thread that inspired me to find this one and reprint it... You too are a great poster. This is the one, from today... http://boards.crimelibrary.com/showpost.php?p=8954601&postcount=64

I don't know LadyMarch, never interacted with her, other than the once, to ask her if I could repost this particular posting.

She is wonderful. Say for us.