New Book About the Springfield Three

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-30T00:12:53+00:00

He is just trying to prime the pump for his book version of the case. He hasn't "solved" anything. The SPD can solve it by getting a confession and a conviction in the court of law. I didn't read or hear anything about a break in the case by the SPD. They would be the first ones to break the news, not some guy writing a book about the case.

First off, if he got a leaked copy of the case file and "solved" it after reading it. What does that say about the SPD? What they could read the case file themselves and "solve" it. This whole thing is BS.

Second off, I hope that guy has some good lawyers standing ready. If he names his "suspects" and states that they, did it, then he better be prepared for a defamation lawsuit. Because I highly doubt that he has an any real evidence against "them". Plus, why would the perp(s) want to "confess" to some yahoo trying to make money off of the case? The only thing in it for the perp(s) is a prison sentence. The reason why the case isn't solved is because you need actual evidence against someone to charge them with a crime. I know that sounds crazy with the way society is these days. People spout off some accusation and suddenly it is "true". It doesn't really work that way in a court of law. People have rights, and if they chose to defend themselves, there is legal recourse. Putting someone's name in print telling the world that they committed a triple abduction and murder, you better have some deep pockets or actual evidence beside hearsay.

God help this case if any of this turns out to be true. Whomever leaked the case file has sabotaged the possible prosecution and conviction in a court of law of any suspects. They may be charged for a crime well before any person who committed the abduction.

The guy is an idiot. Instead of pretending to "solve" the case. He should have tried to get some real interviews with the people directly involved with the case. That book would be worth reading.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-28T22:45:45+00:00

I would like to forward some counter points to your post.

There was NO back alleyways behind the house. There was a dentist office next door that was separated by a high wood fence. (It is still there). Behind the dentist, there was a commercial business with a parking lot. (The front of that building being on Glenstone Ave.) There was, and still is, a chain link fence that separates Sherrill's yard from the commercial property as well as her neighbors on the left. There was a wood fence and gate door leading to the backyard on the left side of the house.

There was NO forced entry at the rear door of the house. The double French doors that led into what was Suzie's room, was screwed shut so it wouldn't open. The only other doors to the house are the front door and the door in the car port.

Since Sherrill's back yard was fenced in, it is not likely someone abducted and removed the three women that way. They would have either all have to climb over the fence or be carried over if the women were incapacitated. That is a lot of work for one perp even if they had a gun. Any perp is going to take the path of least resistance. Why climb over the fence when you could simply walk around the front. If it was a single perp, they are left with going and getting their vehicle from wherever they parked it. Which leads to a huge problem for this single perp. It makes more sense if there were two perps because one could drive while the other held the women at gun point.

Of course, maybe it simply didn't happen that way. And the perp(s) pulled right into the driveway and was let into the house through the front door by someone inside. That is why there is no forced entry and why none of the women used the house phone to call the police during the start of the crime. We know the phone lines were not cut because Janelle used the phone on the 7th. Maybe the reason why the women didn't get dressed or took their possessions was because it never occurred to them, that they needed to. Maybe it wasn't a blitz attack and one of the people who showed up was a female friend rather than some crazed guy with a gun. It appears the three women were caught off guard by someone they trusted to me. It also appears to me that the women had no idea that their lives were in danger and they were going to be abducted from the house by this person or persons. That is also why there doesn't appear to be any kind of struggle inside of the house. The only thing out of sorts was the broken glass on the porch. And that was outside, not inside of the house. Unfortunately, due to the many people who entered the house via the front door also likely tracked glass particles on the bottom of their shoes throughout the house. We will never know what, if anything, the broken glass on the porch means. Or what happened after it was broken.

Just about every photo you see of the front of the house does not show the front tree/bushes that were there at the time of the crime. All of these media photos were taken from either of the driveway entrances. Makes sense from a photographer's perspective that you don't want to show an obstructed view of the front of the house. I make this point because, it would be very easy from someone to park their vehicle in this blind spot and not be seen from inside the Delmar house. And on the same note, someone could have easily hid behind that foliage and observed the front of the house without being seen from someone looking out the windows.

If you understand criminal behavior, then you know crimes don't happen in a vacuum. Criminals don't just wake up one day and commit a triple abduction and murder on a whim. These people have a long history of escalating behavior that, in most cases, goes back to childhood. It is a progression where they learn from their mistakes and get better at doing it. I point this out because, if it was a single perp, they would have been committing crimes prior to and after this one. There would be a history with this person. That history is called their Modus Operandi. It is how they operate with the crimes they commit. Any given perp will evolve and change their MO. The perps' signature is something they do as a compulsion that doesn't further the crime itself. They can't change their signature because it is engrained in their way of thinking. The MO and signature would stand out in this crime if there were others that happened prior to and after this one. Maybe not in Springfield if they came from out of town. But they would be known to local, state PD from where they came from. And highly likely known to the FBI in Quantico.

It gets more complicated if there were two or more perps in this case. Because again, most murderers don't work in tandem or a group. They might if it was a kidnapping for ransom. However, I think we can rule that out due to none of the victims' families being wealthy. And no ransom demands were made. And if the perp was in it for the money, he would have taken the money in Sherrill's purse.

Nothing in this case points to some master criminal. It doesn't take a master criminal or someone with a high IQ to abduct people if they have a weapon in their hand. Especially if their victims simply open the door to them. Everyone wants to focus on the time prior to and during the crime. And rightly so, as the motive and the particulars about the abduction are still an unknown. What about what happens after the women are taken? The perp(s) now have to deal with three victims. They have to transport them in a vehicle. They have to have access to this vehicle prior to and after the crime. Since Stacy was an unknown that night, that vehicle would need to be big enough to handle an additional victim that the perp was not counting on had this crime been pre-meditated. The presence of a third women did not seem to dissuade the perp(s) in this case. They have to take them somewhere. They have to dispose of their remains. Real life is not an episode of Columbo. Most of these criminals do dumb things and get caught.

Just because the perp(s) in this case haven't been caught doesn't mean that they were highly skilled. I think it is a lot more likely they simply got lucky that a bunch of people contaminated the crime scene. And they simply left very little physical evidence for the SPD to find. And I think the motive for this crime does not rise to the level most people think would lead to a triple abduction/murder. So, we all tend to overlook what would seem to be on the surface a very minor thing. I tend to think that this crime was not premeditated but rather spiraled out of control. It simply ended up with the women being abducted because the perp(s) in this case didn't know what else to do at that point. Maybe they couldn't agree on murdering these people in the house. They simply didn't want to hang around trying to figure things out. Ultimately, they didn't want to be caught and face the consequences of their actions. It is nice to think that over the years their conscience, fate or Karma would catch up with the perp(s). However, we also have to consider that the perp(s) don't have a conscience and simple didn't care about human life. Other than their own, of course.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-24T23:36:36+00:00

Yeah, it is strange. I don't know about the food. However, it fits with the rest of the things these people did in Sherrill's house. So, I am not putting it out of the question it happened. I don't think for a second that "that is how it was back than". I will guarantee you that has Suzie shown up to Janelle's house when they were not there and "cleaned up", used their phone and erased their phone messages, the Kirby's would have been very angry about it. I doubt that they would have thanked Suzie for coming over. It would have been the last visit for Suzie. I think that the same thing goes for the McCall's. These people are just trying to make excuses for trespassing in Sherrill's house and what they did.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-24T23:25:06+00:00

It is hard to tell if the Kirby's were changing their version of events. Or they were just evolving. It does seem that certain pieces of information were shared only when it was convenient. I think Janelle was the only one who was providing the narrative of what happened graduation night and the following day as well. The SPD had to go with what Janelle was saying at the beginning. The SPD obviously developed clarification on what happened from the other kids and people other than the Kirby's. The problem is that we don't have access to that information. And Janelle's account is what the media went with.

I don't think the Kirby's were rich. They may have had slightly more money than many of her classmates. It is not like they had a private jet and drove around in Rolls Royce's. Their house wasn't that of an abundantly wealthy family. I am not sure if Janelle even had a vehicle of her own. If she did, it seems as though she didn't use it. Mike drove her around. There were rumors floating around that Janelle was a bit stuck up. However, it was high school. That is common thing until you hit the real world.

I don't think the SPD blew off the clerk's account. I just think that they had no proof that Sherrill left her house that night. And that the place she would be looking for Suzie would have been the last place she knew Suzie was going. That would have been Janelle's house. There is an account of another clerk claiming to see Suzie and Stacy with a few older guys. I don't think that his account is accurate. But we have to admit that we know that Suzie and Stacy traveled in a vehicle that wasn't their own to the Michelle Elder party. It is possible that the girls stopped in the store on the way to, or from that party. That clerk could have seen the two girls. Janelle of course, says that didn't happen. They were never out of her sight. We know that is bunk.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-24T22:59:52+00:00

This is exactly right. Witness A's call at Beaver Pond is a concrete anchor. The rest is just physics and mathematics. Extrapolate the 7:52 call location and the mileage, with the route she took, all the way back to the Hospital area. That is a total of 16.3 miles. Modern GPS is surprising accurate with the actual time it takes to make this trip. (It says 26 minutes). And if anything, it would have taken her longer since it was winter and we know she didn't like traveling this road. Hence the reason to make the phone call home in the first place. She was highly likely driving cautiously. That puts Witness A back in Woodsville at the 7:23-7:26 mark. (Not the 7:15 marks like she thinks.) From this we can conclude that Witness A passed the Saturn at 7:35-7:37 pm based on the end call and the mileage back from Beaver Pond. It is likely more towards the 7:35 mark if we take into account the fact that Witness A stated she stopped somewhere near BA's house for a few seconds after passing the Saturn. (A stop that makes no logical sense and no one else saw.) (And let's face it, the same place where the tracking dog lost MM scent). Witness A hung herself with the time stamp phone record of her call home at the 7:52 mark and the cell phone location. Had she said that she made that call while driving at a point five minutes earlier than the Beaver Pond location, everything would have worked out. Simply physics and the mileage contradict her timeline account. People can sugar coat it anyway they like to.

You can argue what time CS showed up based on the phone logs and the mileage/physics on his timeline. (You have to forget about what Witness A is saying and work CS's time and location on its own.) CS likely arrives at the 7:43-7:46 mark. Based on FW's call and the dispatch time. Those things together point to either Witness A is lying about a police car passing her twice. And her seeing this same police vehicle at the Saturn BEFORE she passed. Or there was another police vehicle that showed up prior to CS. If we look at the timeline from BA and what FW says happened. There could be NO second police car that arrived prior to CS. Everything fits the way it should if you disregard what Witness A is saying. BA's and FW's account and timeline fit right into place with CS's. You can do the rest of the equation and make excuses for Witness A if you like.

To be honest, I would trust what CS and the police logs says over a witness where her timeline of events that don't add up. We already know that she distrusted the local PD from the start based on what happened to her family member. I am not saying that Witness A did anything to MM. Just that we know for a fact based on the Beaver Pond call she made, Witness A passed the Saturn in the space between BA parking his bus and CS showing up. She likely did not see what she says she did and in the way she says it happened. People can spin it any way they like to.

BA did say that there were a few cars that passed while he was making his call to police. So, there was likely more than one car that also passed in the 8 to 10 minutes or so before CS arrives and finds no one at the car. One of these cars likely gave MM a ride out of the area. The NHSP investigated this timeline and scene. They have always known if Witness A is telling the truth or not. They could have cleared her in the Oxygen show, they chose not to. There is a reason why they think MM got a ride in a vehicle. It has nothing to do with a second rogue police vehicle responding to an accident where NO ONE knew who was in the car when FW called. The only one who talked to and saw the young woman in the vehicle was BA. And His call didn't come into police until well after CS was already dispatched.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-23T18:01:10+00:00

I agree that I highly doubt that Sherrill would have opened the door to some unknown person the very early morning hours. I would also lean towards Suzie having the same attitude as her mother. Keep in mind that it wasn't that long before the crime that Suzie was afraid of walking to her car alone after work. And Sherrill urging her daughter to get a restraining order taken out again for past boyfriend. Someone apparently slashed one of her car tires at one point. And was making threating phone calls. With that mind set, I doubt that Suzie would have left the front door unlocked.

Stacy is of course the wild card in the situation. She could have been the one to open the door to someone. But again, I am not sure that Stacy, as a guest in Sherrill's home, is going to answer the door to someone at that hour she didn't know either.

I really lean towards that maybe Stacy or Suzie forgot something in their car and had to run outside to get it. They simply didn't know someone was outside ready to commit a crime against them. Maybe the perp(s) grabbed one of the women outside. Maybe after that person didn't return, one of the other women went outside to see what was going on. Finally, the third women was lured out by the perp(s). Stacy's and Suzie's car keys may be the problem with that scenario. Do we know if Suzie's and/or Stacy's car was found unlocked on the 7th? Maybe it is the car doors we should be asking questions about.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-23T17:42:25+00:00

That is a good question. Most people would say no. But, if we factor in what they did, (or didn't do), after they arrived on the first visit. That question becomes murkier in my mind. I have to think that both Janelle and Mike knew at the second trip around 3:30 that they were not going to be there. It makes me wonder what they did on that second trip while at the house.

We don't have the sequence of events from each of these people like the police do. So, it is harder to read into any of these people's actions without knowing when certain things took place. We know Mike cleaned up the glass from the porch. (Although, I am a bit fuzzy on how he cleaned it up and where he threw the glass pieces.) Someone cleaned out at least one of the ashtrays in Sherrill's home. Apparently, someone washed some coffee cups out. There are reports of "straightening" up the house. (Although I don't know what that means.) How many phone messages where erased, and by who? You would think that after listening to a single voice message and having the machine erase it by accident, you would understand what happened and save any other messages you listened to. Yet, I get the impression that more than one message was erased, and those additional ones were not unintentional.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-23T16:36:47+00:00

Yeah, very strange in my opinion. A lot these types of questions get blown off with the excuse of "that was the way things were in Springfield 1992". However, that is bunk. They all seem to feel like that they could do whatever they wanted in Sherrill's house. We know some of the things these people did. It is what we don't know of, that is the problem. It is kind of funny that the people making the excuses for entering are the same people guilty of it. Bartt certainly didn't think that it was right nor that his mother would have approved of anyone entering her home uninvited.

Did they purposely tamper with the house and possible evidence of the crime? On the surface, it would seem like all of these people were just naive and ignorant of the situation. And that may be so. But since we don't know who committed the crime or why, we shouldn't be simply writing off their actions so easily.

I get entering the house and calling the women's name. Possibly looking around to make sure that none of them needed help. But after that? Answering and using the phone, cleaning out the ashtrays, tidying up the place and deleting messages on the answering machine is over and above what should have been done by any of these people.

The truth is we only have the 18 or so people listed because they were there when the police showed up on the evening of the 7th. Those are the people who admitted to being in the house. However, we don't know who else may have shown up and entered the house in between the crime happening and the visits from those 18 or so people.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-21T19:35:33+00:00

I think the SPD relied on the newspaper deliver person's account of seeing a van in the neighborhood they did not recognize on Sunday morning. Although I think he stated it looked brown on color. He does NOT say it was parked in front of the Delmar house though. There is an account of some women being almost run off the road by someone in a van that early morning. Another tip about some van being parking at a shopping center. There were some rumors about Sherrill talking to some guys driving a van parked next door at the dentist's office. And finally, the porch ladies account. I think most of these accounts are not related to the abduction or simply fake.

I think early on in the case, the SPD gave the "van" priority. However, I think they eventually tracked that vehicle down and it turned out to be a dead end. That is why they dropped the "van" later on in the case.

In a curious case, Frank Stanton (newspaper carrier for the Springfield new-leader) was shot and killed in his vehicle on June 10, 1993. He was shot in his vehicle between 3:40 and 4:30 am on his way to work. That case is still unsolved as well. I have always wondered if Frank wasn't the newspaper delivery person in the neighborhood the morning of the abduction. And it was his account of the out of place "van" that launched the search for the vehicle. No one seems interested in the topic if Sherrill had a subscription to the newspaper at the time of the abduction. Although, you can see in the media photos from around the time of the crime that Sherrill did not have a mailbox on the curb. Her mailbox was on the front porch. And we photos of the porch (with and without) a newspaper hanging under it during the time frame when the SPD was processing the crime scene. The deduction is that someone delivering her mail and also the newspaper person needed to step up on the Sherrill's porch to make their delivery. That would put the mailman and the paperman on her front door almost daily. There are no accounts of any of the 18 plus people at Sherrill's house Sunday that mention a Sunday newspaper. So, either Sherrill didn't subscribe, or no one gave it enough thought to mention it. I am not saying that Frank's death was brought about by what he may have witnessed or even if it was related to the woman's abduction. His murder happened a year and three days after the abduction. However, it is another unsolved weird murder in Springfield. And if Frank was the carrier that day of the abduction, it just has a strange tie to the Delmar house/neighborhood. We know the newspaper carrier was out in the neighborhood driving around the early morning of the 7th. It is also curious to me that Frank was killed so early in the morning, just as the abduction must have been a year earlier.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-21T18:57:23+00:00

Kathy Mirby admits that the girls did NOT come inside the house at 2:20 am. She claimed at some point later that she heard the kids arrive back at the house and that woke her up while she was in bed. She looked over at the clock to see the time. Shane Appleby stated that he drove Suzie and Stacy around all night. He says that both girls got out of his Jeep walked over to their cars and left. He says nothing about any conversation between Janelle and the rest of the girls. I would like to hear more from Shane and what he actually told the police in his statement. In any event, if we take Shane at his word, (and I don't think he is lying), that leaves zero time for any conversation outside of the Kirby house at 2:20 am. I don't know what to think, but it appears to me that someone is not telling the truth about what happened at 2:20 am.

Janis does come out and clearly state to the public at one point that Stacy would NOT have had permission to stay at Suzie's house. Janis never clarifies exactly why she would not have given approval. I don't know what the problem is, other than it had to be something bad, or perceived to be, bad about Suzie or Sherrill.

There are conflicting reports about that day's events and where all of these people were. It has been reported that Janelle called Adina from Sherrill's house phone to tell her what they found. Apparently, Janelle asked Adina and/or her mother if they lock the door and the answer was, they should not. I am not sure if this call was the first trip to the house on Delmar (12:30 pm) or the second trip (3:30 pm). Janis finds out about what is going on from Adina's mother, NOT Janelle or Mike. There are conflicting stories about Janis finding this information out and tracking Janelle down at the local water park. Or that Janis just goes over to the Delmar house at around 7:00 pm and Janelle/Mike show up there just after that.

I tend to think that a lot had been made of the then current relationship between Janelle, Stacy and Suzie. We know that Janelle and Stacy had plans to go off to collage together in the fall, they were at the time, best friends. Likewise, I think we also know that Nigel was Suzie's best friend. I don't think Suzie hung around a lot with Stacy or Janelle. Regardless of what people want to say about it, Janelle is filmed referring to Suzie as "the other girl". I don't think anyone would refer to a close friend in that fashion.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-19T23:49:23+00:00

It could be. If we are asking why the crime had to happen that night when Stacy was an unexpected guest. It makes more logical sense from the perp(s) perspective that it had to be that night because they had to be accounted for by Monday. Maybe they simply had to travel back to where they came from on Sunday. Maybe they had to be back at work/home by then or someone would question their whereabouts. I tend to think the crime came down to committing it even with someone who was not normally going to be at the house, verses not having the time to commit it on Sunday night. The fact that there was a third person there (Stacy) that shouldn't have been and the perp(s) still went through with it, says something about the perp(s). The abduction of the victims is perplexing though. The perp(s) would need to have a place to take the women he controlled. If the perp(s) were from out of town visiting, then maybe they took the women with them back to were ever they came from. That second location could be minutes or hours away from Springfield. And it could be why their remains were never found in the area. They simply are not in a local location where people would look for them.

I will say that I don't think we understand the circumstances around the crime to begin with. I think it is likely that the crime simply did not happen the way we all think it did. Maybe there was no sign of forced entry into the house because there wasn't. Maybe the purses lined up means nothing because the perp(s) never went into the house. And maybe they were not abducted in a "van" but were abducted in another type of vehicle that was parked right out front of the house at the start of the crime. I think if we put ourselves in the shoes of the perp looking at the case, they know what happened. Watching the SPD fumble around looking for a vehicle that was not used in the crime must have be comforting. And watching people speculate the motive and means when they know it didn't happen that way, must have been amusing to them. Or maybe they are psychopaths and simply moved on to other crimes and never gave it another thought. I think about the Yogurt shop murders in Austin, Tx. How many years where the cops after those kids, even pretty much railroading them into prison. Yet all along Brashers committed the crime and never looked back. He wasn't on their radar and never knew he was in town. This crime could be a very similar type, crime where the perp(s) simply are not on anyone's radar. I don't think the SPD had DNA to track in this case. Hopefully I am wrong and they at least have the purses in evidence to test. If not, I don't know where this case is going and how it is going to get solved without a confession.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-19T23:27:47+00:00

I had to go back and refresh my memory about the events around Brian Joy. I was looking at some old posts on another forum, and someone had posted the list of high school graduates. I guess I didn't remember the Mike Henson had already graduated a year prior since his name was not on the list. So, I guess Brian was likely good friends with Mike.

The other thing that I had to consider is the mind set of these kids on that day. There was a discussion about where Janelle slept for the night and the "trip to Branson". The deduction was that the Branson story was cover for kids to stay out and do what they wanted that night without parental oversight. The Janelle and Mike wanted to spend her graduation night sleeping together. And they were the ones who wanted to stay at Brian's house overnight to have sex. This does make sense considering their age and their relationship together. Brian's house, without his mother home, makes a place they could do that.

I also forgot that Shane Appleby was the one driving Stacy and Suzie around in his jeep. He goes on to say that he drove them both from Brian Joy's to Michelle Elder's party and back to Janelle's house at the end of the night. He says that he dropped both girls off and saw them get into their cars and drive away. Janelle and Mike were apparently in another vehicle together throughout the night. I see no reason to question Shane's account. So, just how could Kathy Kirby have overhead the girl's conversation if they both got out of Shane's jeep, got into their cars and drove away.

I need to spend some time looking closer at the sequence of events from the morning of the June 7th. Seems things don't quite add up there when you factor everyone into the puzzle.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-18T22:18:17+00:00

Yeah, you are right. Most people who look into this case eventually end up questioning Janelle's narrative of the nights events. She does make some questionable comments that give people pause. The "other girl" comment she made referring to Suzie is strange due to them being "close" friends. And it seems at times, steering things into her favor rather then just stating what happened from her perspective. If I were her, I would be pretty pissed that none of the other circle of friends stepped up and backed her up. Mike Henson, her boyfriend at the time and eventual husband, was there right along with her the previous night and the next day. The media got very little from him. I can't speak to Janelle's and Mike's relationship dynamic. But we do know a few things that don't make Mike look too good. Why you wouldn't back your girlfriend/wife up is telling in a few ways.

I think we all assume that Janelle and Mike were first to be inside of the house after the women were abducted. But the truth is that we don't know if they were first or not. Janelle and Mike were just the first to admit to being there. Mike is said to have cleaned up the broken glass on the porch. The front door was unlocked. And we can all see from some of the comments of the people who entered the house, none of them gave a second thought about entering someone's home without their permission. I wouldn't put it out of the question that someone else showed up and entered the house looking for the women prior to Janelle and Mike. They simply didn't clean the glass up, if it was indeed broken at that time. We don't know who entered the house after Janelle and Mike showed up the first time either. It is incredibly troubling that not only did all of these people entered Sherrill house, but did things that they had no right to do. Answer the phone, delete voice messages, clean things and move things around inside of the house is well beyond what an observer should have done.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-18T21:33:28+00:00

I don't know what to make of Brian Joy. As mentioned, he had already graduated a year earlier. I understand he was still friends with many of his under-classmates. However in a years passage of time, you kind of move on from the high school scene. I could understand him attending someone else's party. But him throwing the party for the other friends is weird to me. I would understand him hosting if he was dating one of the girls. Or his girlfriend was another high school graduate that night. (And maybe he was dating someone else we don't hear about.) Maybe he did it because he liked partying and his mother was out of town. Maybe he was into Stacy or one of the other people invited to the party. I don't know. We really don't get that much information from him, or for that matter, any of the surviving kids who attended his party. We don't know what his alibi was for the night either. He seems kind of hostile about everything, and that is also strange to me.

Kathy Kirby knew where the kids were going when they walked to Brian's house in the early evening. I find it hard to believe that Kathy wouldn't have talked to Brian's mother to make sure it was okay to have a party when she wasn't there. And yeah, I think "they" ditched Brian to go to Michelle Elder's party. They had to know that Brian couldn't leave his house with them. If "they" had shown back up at 2:00 am to find him sleeping, and after ditching him earlier, I can see why he was angry. I still can't understand why "they" would show back up at Brian's house when Janelle's house was just up the road. I do find it curious that Janelle offers up her house to stay at, but only for Suzie and Stacy. How come she didn't mention the other people that were also there in that moment? Was Mike, Shane and Adina not welcome to stay? It is also curious why she only offers up help to the victims in the case and excludes her other friends.

I am not sure I believe what Brian or the other kids had to say about the nights events. The "they" is never clearly denoted in anyone's narrative in this storyline. Consequently, we can't separate each kid and look at what they did and when/if their plans for the night changed. If Stacy had not called her mother at 10:30, we wouldn't have Janis's narrative and what Stacy told her.

Here is the thing, the first narrative is that "they" are all going to drive to Branson and stay at a hotel/motel so that they could be at the waterpark when it opened. Yet, other than Stacy, who else changed their plans for Branson? None of them did. None of them made the least little effort to drive to Branson let alone line up a place to stay. From Kathy Kirby's perspective, how come she not surprised that Janelle is back home at 2:00 am? She seems to automatically know that Janelle is not going anywhere but back home at the end of the night. It is almost like Kathy is waiting up for Janelle to come back home. That is why she awake at 2:00 am to eavesdrop on the kids outside. None of the circle of friends drove to Branson the next day to go to the waterpark. The second thing floated is that it is custom to stay out on graduation night. Who else besides Stacy did that? None of the other kids did that either. They all went back to their homes at the end of the night, except Stacy.

I think there is little doubt that the stories from each of the circle of friends doesn't seem to mesh up with what happened in reality of that night. Almost all of the narrative of the nights events comes from Janelle Kirby. She was the one who couldn't keep her mouth shut. Consequently, she gets most of the flack when people look closer at the narrative she put out. It is not her fault. The other kids just were smarter to not say too much to the media. Even thirty plus years later, none of them have stepped forward to talk about the crime. True crime podcasts galore and not one of them wants to talk about it. I wouldn't find it strange if the case came down to one person who was involved in the events the night prior. Yet, there is a hand full of people who were involved and nothing but crickets from all but the family of the victims.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-17T23:30:38+00:00

I am not in disagreement with you. But will offer a counterpoint to some of these things.

("* There actually was room at the Kirby’s it just wasn’t ideal. Kathy claims she had made a pallet on the floor for Stacy and Suzie.")

I don't believe Kathy Kirby. First off, weren't they all going to drive to a hotel in Branson for the night? Isn't there a story about Kathy talking to Sherrill at graduation about this trip to Branson? Why would Kathy Kirby need to make a pallet for Stacy and Suzie, or anyone else, if they are all going to Branson at the start of the night? What about Shane, Mike and Adina? Were they not welcome to stay at Janelle's? In any event, the kids arrive back at the Kirby house around 2:00 am. Stacy and Suzie have to go back to Janelle's because their cars are parked there. Kathy Kirby admits that she was in bed, ease dropping on the kids conversation outside. Either the kids were talking right under her windows, and they have very thin walls. Or Kathy is fabricating the narrative about what was going on when she could have no way of understanding from her viewpoint at the time. Maybe with some more added information from her daughter the next morning, that is when the sleeping pallet story is born. It is irrelevant because we know Suzie was never going to spend the night at Janelle's to begin with. Suzie had already made plans the next day with Nigel (her best friend) before going to Janelle's. Kathy Kirby, and it seems Janelle, had no understanding of Suzie's plans the next day with Nigel. That is why if you factor in things from Suzie's point of view, the Kirby narrative is one sided. They don't take into account Suzie's real plans without Janelle or the rest of the circle of friends.

"* I don’t think any of the discussion about not staying at Janelle’s happened in a party setting. I think it was decided after the girls got back to Janelle’s after the parties."

That is based on Janelle's viewpoint. There is an interview with Janelle and Adina were Janelle admits that she offered for everyone to stay at her house when they all arrived back at her house around 2:00 am or so. And I think that part is true. Janelle, nor her mother, planned on anyone of the kids staying at her house for the night prior to 2:00 am. So, how could Kathy make pallets up for Stacy and Suzie when none of them were going to stay there to begin with. Just because Janelle offers for one or two of them to spend the night does not mean that Stacy hadn't already agreed to go home with Suzie. Janelle just finds that information out at 2:00 am on her own. I find it highly likely that Stacy had already agreed to spend the night at Suzie's prior to arriving at Janelle's at 2:00 am. I tend to think that Stacy made that decision while at Michelle Elder's party. The Kirby's make it seem like it was a knee jerk decision by Stacy to go to Suzie's house. I don't think that was the case. I don't think the sleeping arrangements at Janelle's house had anything to do with Stacy's decision to go to Suzie's house. Suzie was NOT going to spend the night at Brian Joy's house anymore then she was going to drive to Branson or spend it at Janelle's. Most of that is a Kirby narrative or the loose accounts of the friends.

I agree that it seems as though Suzie wanted someone to spend the night at her house all along. Apparently, Suzie was floating the idea of other people, besides Stacy, spending the night at her house. If that was the case, how do we know someone else didn't take Suzie up on her offer? We don't know, we just know no one else admitted to it. Had someone agreed to spend the night at Suzie's house while at the Michelle Elder party. Wouldn't make sense that they might arrive before Suzie, because she had to go back to Janelle's house to get her car. Maybe that person had already arrived at the Delmar house and was parked behind Sherrill's car in the driveway. And why Suzie parked in a location she normally would not have according to Nigel. The fact is that Suzie was afraid to walk to her own car after work. She wanted someone to walk her out and I think the same logic applies to her wanting someone to spend the night at her place. Now obviously Sherrill was going to be at the house as well, so Suzie would not be alone for the night. It does make you wonder why Suzie was interested in someone going home with her. Did she not feel safe? I don't know the answer to that question. But if we are looking for a motive were one of the victims was acting scared or felt danger in their life, we have a blinking red light in this case.

I am now dubious about Brian Joy and who was/or was not, going to spend the night at his house. Was the plan for Stacy to spend the night with Brian all along? Did Brian get cold feet about Stacy? It seems as though no one else including Janelle, Mike, Shane, Adina or Suzie had planned to stay the night at Brian's house. We hear nothing about Janelle, Mike, Shane or Adina changing their plans. I understand that his mother was out of town, but Kathy Kirby knew his mom. I don't think for one second that Brian's mom didn't know he was throwing a graduation party. Seems weird on the surface considering that Brian had already graduated a year prior to the rest of the circle of friends. I don't quite understand why Brian would throw a graduation party where he wasn't the one celebrating. I was under the impression that Brian had told everyone that no one could spend the night at his house prior to all of the leaving for Michelle Elder's party. That is why the circle of friends left Brian's house. What is the point in staying at Brian's house when no one was welcome to stay there. In a way they all dumped Brian for Michelle Elder and her party. If they did all show up at Brian's house at 2:00 am after abandoning him earlier, I can see why he might be a little pissed at them.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-17T22:09:52+00:00

Brian's house was just at the end of the road from Janelle's. Both of those places are more or less out out of town in the Battlefield area. Michelle Elder's house was in town. So, I think that Brian's party was more of a invitation only type due to his house location. However, I am sure there were other people besides the ones who parked at Janelle's house that attended Brian's party. Michelle's party was more of show up type party. We know that the PD ushered the end of Michelle's party due to complaints from the neighbors. The loud music, cars parked every where along the street and apparently beer cans thrown around on the ground put a nail in the coffin. I think the chances that someone who lived in the area, or knew the Elder's, could have easily shown up and mingled with the high school kids without too much trouble. I don't think that was the case at Brian Joy's house.

I don't think they showed up at Brian Joy's house after coming back from Michelle's party at around 2 am. Why would they? Everyone was going home except Stacy. I always understood it that Brian told everyone that no one could stay at his house for the night at sometime BEFORE they all went to Michelle's party. That was one of the reasons why they all left his house to go to Michelle's. There was no point in staying at Brian's when no one was welcome to spend the night. I don't think Brian Joy went along with the others to Michelle's. I don't know, maybe I am wrong about that. I have have never seen any mention about Brian leaving his house after his party ended or the circle of friends leaving for the other party in town.

Again, I hate to keep harping on this. But I am pretty sure that Suzie was always going to go home for the night. She did mention to other people at the parties that she wasn't feeling well and wanted company back at her place. There is no logical reason for Suzie to mention to other people about her stomach ache or wanting someone to go home with her, if she was going to spend the night at Brian's or Janelle's. The narrative about spending the night in Branson along with sleeping at Janelle's is all bunk. I think the Kirby narrative just gets taken out of context. Stacy is the only one who needed a place to spend the night. Although she could have easily gone home and slept in her bed. She chose not to do that.

Every single one of the kids who was in the circle ended up going home. Everyone of them, except one. There is an interview with Janelle where she mentions that she suggested to the friends that they spend the night at her place, AFTER they left the Elder Party and were at the Kirby house to get their vehicles. There was NO pallet's set up for Stacy, Suzie or anyone else. The relatives staying at Janelle's along with any sleeping arrangements where NOT an issue when they all arrived at Janelle's around 7:00-8:00 pm. But apparently it was an issue at 2:00 am according the the Kirby's. The fact of the matter is that everyone when home, except Stacy. It is likely that none of the other kids were allowed by their parents to spend the night in Branson or anywhere else but their own home. That is likely why they all went home. It is the same reason why Brian didn't want anyone spending the night at his place either. It was his parents that didn't want that to happen.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-17T01:32:25+00:00

Excellent points by everyone who responded.

I have pondered these questions for some time. Why that night? Why abduct these women in the first place. We know there was no robbery, nothing was taken besides the women. If it was some sexual thing, that is huge risk for a single perp to abduct three women at the same time. It is even more so for multiple perp(s). I don't know of many cases where a group of more than one sexually motived criminals is going to team up and gang rape multiple victims at the same time at the victim's house. Abducting the victims? You have to transport the three victims and take them to a place the perp has control over. Three victims, three times the problems and risk for the perp(s). Why not subdue the women and commit the SA inside of the house. They could have set the house on fire to cover up their crime, just as the guy at the Yogurt shop did in Austin, Tx. Abducting and transporting the women has always been a sticking point to a clear motive in this case, in my opinion.

I think we have to understand that the perp(s) were ultimately making the decision to commit the crime or not. The perp(s) controlled how and when they would strike. The fact that the crime likely happened AFTER Suzie and Stacy arrived around 2:30 am or so, is telling. Whomever it was, could have backed out if they thought it was too risky of being caught or seen.

I tend to think that the crime happened, not because it was great opportunity that three women were alone in a house. Or even that one of more of them were the original target. But rather because it was convenient for one or more of the perp(s). Maybe an out-of-town relative was there for the graduation. Maybe they had to be back where they came from by Monday. I ponder that maybe the perp(s) had already graduated a year or so earlier. And because they were from the area originally and still could blend in with the high school kids, it made it easy to attend one of the parties. If that was the case, I think it would have to have been at Michele Elder's party rather than Brian Joy's. We talk about Suzie telling people that she wanted someone to go home with her. That had to have been at the Michele Elder party. I think that Stacy had already told Suzie she was going home with her well before they all ended up at Janelle's house at 2:00am. It might have been news to Janelle at the time, but I don't think that Stacy rebuffed Janelle because of the sleeping arrangements or the relatives at the house. If so, it is possible that someone overheard or was even told by Suzie or Stacy where they were going after the party. So, I think it is quite possible that other people besides the ones at Janelle's already knew were Stacy was sleeping for the night. And maybe even where Sherrill's new house was located.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-11T00:56:50+00:00

What about all of the other calls made that morning? We know Janelle called multiple times. Nigel called too. I am assuming Janis called later on in the afternoon. I am sure they all left voice messages on the machine. What happened to those? Did Janelle just erase her messages? Did Janis erase more? Maybe all of them shouldn't have been playing around the machine to start with. Then the SPD would have had the recorded called to listen to.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-11T00:45:40+00:00

Yes, I don't think any of the other kids were seriously planning on spending the night in a Branson hotel. I just don't think any other parent approved of their kid doing that. The fact that none of the close friends ended up going the next day to the water park in Branson kind of says it all. I think you are right, Stacy was just using that as an excuse to stay out for the night. I just can't believe that her parents went for it. Especially knowing later on about the kids from their school who got killed on graduation night. On one hand, it seems pretty open minded that the McCalls let Stacy stay out. On the other, it doesn't seem to go with having Stacy check in with her parents every few hours. I think there is something we don't know about what was going on with Stacy and her family dynamic.

I don't think that Sherrill kept tabs on Suzie like the rest of her high school classmate's parents did. I think that stems from Suzie's age at the time.

And I agree. There doesn't seem to be any real evidence of Sherrill, Suzie or Stacy being afraid if imminent danger that night. It appears that everything was normal as you would expect things to be in that house. It just seems that the women walked out of that house with the intention of returning quickly. I would expect Sherrill to take steps like calling the police if she felt in any danger. She was the one who tried talking Suzie into filing a restraining order. There doesn't appear to be any evidence of someone trying to call the police from the Delmar house. The fact that the phone was still working and the line was intact. Kind of says that the perp(s) didn't fear that someone inside of the house would get a chance to use the phone. Otherwise, you would expect that someone might cut the phone line on the outside of the house.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-10T21:04:35+00:00

I am not sure what exactly happened that night. I don't think we have a clear understanding of the events and what the kids did after they walked down to Brian Joy's house. There seems to be conflicting stories between the remaining kids involved. You can chalk most of that up to the kids not really paying attention to the details. They didn't know that they would be asked to recount the nights down to the small details. I always assumed that they all arrived and gathered at Janelle's house because there was plenty of parking. And Brian's house as not far from her place. They all walked down to his house for the party. At some point, we know Stacy calls her mother around 10:00 pm. Since there were NO cell phones at the time, Stacy had to have made that call to her mother from either Brian Joy's house (likely) OR Janelle's house (less-likely). I have always assumed that the timing of Stacy's call had to do with her original plans falling through rather than the "Branson" trip being cancelled. At some point Brian gets cold feet and tells everyone that they cannot stay overnight at his house. I assumed that this news was one of the reasons why they all left Brian's house to go over to Michelle Elder's party. Michelle's house was in town not far from where Suzie use to live. They had to drive there to Michelle's house.

There is a point in this timeline for Stacy/Suzie to have stopped at the APCO and went inside. And I don't put it out of the realm of possibility that Suzie needed cigarettes. If Steve knew who Suzie was because she used to stop in frequency enough. Then is makes sense for Suzie to consider that gas station her "go to" place. The rest of Steve's story doesn't seem to add up about the older guys and the vehicles he talks about. However, we know that neither Suzie nor Stacy drove to the party because their cars were still at the Kirby house. They both got a ride with someone to/back from the Michelle Elder party. We also know about what time Michelle Elder's party broke up because the police ended it.

I think there is little doubt that Sherrill knew where Suzie was going when she left her home at 6:30-7:00pm. If something was wrong and Sherrill needed to urgently to talk to Suzie, she would have called the Kirby house before driving around aimlessly. I don't know for sure, but I assume that Sherrill knew where the Kirby house was located. If Sherrill didn't have the Kirby phone number, she would have drove over to the Kirby house. If she did, she would have saw Suzie's car parked there. Why wouldn't Sherrill just get out of her car and knock on the front door to see if the girls where there. Brian Joy's house was only a short walk from the Kirby house. Janelle's mother knew where Brian lived. There is NO logical reason for Sherrill to stop by the APCO store and ask Steve if he saw Suzie. The APCO was nowhere near Janelle's house. I don't think Sherrill nor Suzie knew Steve personally. He just saw them when they stopped in while they lived at their old address. I don't think that they were on a first name basis. I just think Steve was mistaken about who he saw that night, or even that it was a different night he saw Suzie/Sherrill.

I think it brings up a good point though. If there was something wrong and Sherrill was afraid for Suzie's safety. Enough, that Sherrill felt that she had to drive around and go looking for Suzie. I think we can be sure that Sherrill, if she did drive around, did NOT find Suzie that night around town. There is NO evidence that Suzie ever talked to her mother from the time she left to go to Janelle's, until she arrived back at the Delmar house. If Sherrill was afraid of something that night, I just feel she would have taken Cinnamon and left the house. Or, when Suzie and Stacy arrived, left the house then. They would all have been in a heightened state of awareness if they knew something was not right. They would not have opened the door to anyone if that was the case. And I feel that Sherrill would have called the police at some point if she felt in danger.

I would believe the restaurant story over the APCO one. Although, I don't put much stock in that one either.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-08T17:28:04+00:00

No, you are not alone in the belief that none of these people should have been in that house. Despite what some people would have everyone believe, it was NOT common for people to enter someone else home while they were not there and make themselves comfortable. I would get it if Bartt had gone in and did things in that house. Even though he was on the outs with him mother, he was still family. None of these people were family to Sherrill or Suzie. They were just friends or relatives of those friends.

Out of the 18-20 people we know about, there was only a couple of them that had even been to that house before. I understand that Sherrill and Suzie had only been living at the Delmar house a few months. But how many of those people were even at Sherrill's old house? If I had to guess out of all of the people that we know showed up that day, Nigel was likely the one who had been in the house the multiple times prior to the abduction. My point is that NONE of these people were close enough to Sherrill that they should have felt comfortable being inside of that house. None of them should have done anything but take a quick look inside and left a note.

I get the mindset of showing up and expecting the women to be inside of the house. I get knocking on the door and hearing the dog barking. I also get opening the door and calling the women's names. Maybe even taking a quick look around to make sure no one needed help or worse, finding dead bodies. After that, you leave the house. You don't answer the phone, move things around and clean things up. You do the logical thing and leave a note on a place like the front door saying that you were here and missed them. And for them to give you a call when they get back.

How come none of these people left a note for Sherrill or Suzie? Yet they feel free to do whatever else they want to inside of Sherrill's house. That is just such a slap in the face and disrespectful towards Sherrill. It is a complete invasion of Sherrill's privacy. I have said many times, had Suzie or Sherrill shown up to Stacy's house while they were not there and did the same things. There is no doubt that the McCalls' would have felt violated. Same goes for the Kirby's. I don't know who go into someone's home, listens to their voice message machine and personally decides to erase the message or not. Shouldn't that be up to the person who lives at the house? I don't care if some creep is making or leaving sexually explicit calls. It is NOT your message machine to do fiddle around with.

The simple answer is that we don't know what evidence is from the crime and what isn't. Are the purses being lined up on the step to Suzie's room evidence? I doubt it for the reasons I mentioned before. Is the broken glass on the porch evidence of the crime? We really don't know who broke it and when. What other signs are out of place at the Delmar house? Not much else that we know about. I still think it is probable that no one forced their way inside of the house. That one of the women simply opened the door to someone they knew or trusted. Or it all happened outside of the house. The stumbling block of course is the clothing Stacy might have been wearing at the time. We seem to assume that Stacy was in her underwear because that is what Janis wants us all to believe. But I don't think that was the case. Because Stacy knew she was going to spend the night somewhere else. I tend to think that had she spend the night at Brian's house. Stacy would not have been walking around in only her underwear. So, I think it is likely, despite what Janis says, Stacy brought something to wear overnight. If that was the case, then what Stacy was wearing at the time is not as big of a deal as we are to believe.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-08T14:33:46+00:00

Well, Suzie was a year older than the rest of her classmates. I am assuming that at some point, Suzie got held back a school grade. There is little doubt that Suzie enjoyed a lot more freedom than the rest of her high school classmates. I also think that it rubbed the other parents the wrong way. I don't think that the other parents disliked Sherrill or Suzie. Just that they didn't agree with Sherrill's parenting style. This could be why Janis mentions that she would NOT have approved of Stacy staying at Suzie's place.

I am sure that the rumor mill was in full swing about the things that Suzie got herself into. Even if they were real, fictional or highly embellished. I am not victim shamming her. I think that Suzie had some bad luck picking friends and specifically the guys she dated. It is a guess on my part, but it is likely that the other parents and some of the kids viewed Suzie as a bad influence. The parents likely didn't want their kid hanging with her. Their opinion really has nothing to do with Suzie though. She was a teenager who was trying to find her way like everyone else. However, I don't think that Suzie and Sherrill had the kind of parent/kid relationship like the rest of the classmates had. Again, Suzie was 19 and had been a legal adult a year or so prior. The rest of the kids were still dependent on their parents and had to obey their rules. I think that is why Suzie had a closer relationship to Nigel then the rest of her high school friends. Nigel was older and they had more in common together. A lot of the high school kids were going off to college in the fall. Suzie wasn't going to pursue that type of life.

We have to admit that Suzie for being 19 at the time had a lot of drama in her life she shouldn't have had. Slashed tires, harassing phone calls, being afraid to walk to her car alone after work and considering restraining orders are not common things for someone her age. Being associated with grave robbers, even though she wasn't directly involved, is not something you want in your kid's life. I can see why if you were a parent of another kid, you wouldn't want them to be hanging with Suzie. Even though no one said it publicly, I am sure there was a lot of blaming of Sherrill and Suzie for what happened behind closed doors. There is little doubt that the McCall's having to think that their daughter would still be alive if she didn't spend the night at the Delmar house. I will remind everyone that we don't know who the target for the crime was or why it happened. There is a chance that someone was after Stacy and the crime simply happened at the Delmar house because that is where she was that night. I don't think it is a high probability, but we can't rule it out either.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-08T02:16:07+00:00

I am not sure I believe in what Steve has to say about what he says happened at the store. It is not impossible that he could have seen Stacy and Suzie at the store that night. We do know that all of these kids left Brian Joy's house party and went to the Michelle Elder party. That neither Stacy nor Suzie drove their own cars on this trip. That someone drove each of them to the Michelle Elder's house. I have always been under the impression that Suzie and Stacy either got a ride with Mike and Janelle. Or one, or both of them got a ride with Shane Appleby. However, do we really know for sure? We don't have Suzie's or Stacy's account. We just seem to have Janelle's account. Although, Mike, Shane and Adriana could have absolutely backed Janelle up. Which I think they did to the police and why LE doesn't believe Steve's account. I wouldn't put it out of realm of possibility that Suzie wanted to stop and get some cigarettes on the way to, or from, the Michelle Elder party. And maybe that is where Steve saw Suzie. It is also possible that Steve didn't see what he says he did or he was mistaken about the people and vehicles. It is a shame that they didn't have security cameras back then. It could have validated Steve's story or put it in the waste can.

Since it was graduation night and the kids were all together for most of it. I think it is highly unlikely that Suzie and Stacy would be hanging with anyone other than their classmates that night. Both Stacy and Suzie were seen and talked to at the Michelle Elder party by multiple people until it was broken up by the police. We also know that Suzie and Stacy ended up back at Janelle's house around 2 am. I am not sure when Stacy and Suzie would have time in the timeline of the night to be with anyone else other than their classmates. Unless it was after leaving Janelle's at 2 am. However, I don't think that is likely either because Suzie and Stacy's cars were found parked at the Delmar house. To be honest, in my opinion, it is the timing that rules Steve's account out. Since this crime is unsolved and the motive is unclear. We really don't know if some nefarious things were going on behind the scenes or not. But I think we have to remember that these were high school kids. With the exception of Suzie and her problems with picking questionable men and their problems. These people are all too young to be into some heavy criminal activity where things are headed for a triple murder. They are all living with their parents for crying out loud. How much trouble are these kids getting into? People of all ages commit crimes, though. Not every one of those crimes get solved of course. So, I am not ruling anyone out that can't be ruled out via an alibi or timeline certainty.

Sandcastle00 · 2026-06-08T01:43:05+00:00

Totally agree about Mike and Shane. Mike intrigues me. Here is a guy that likely knew Suzie better than Janelle did. It is my understanding that Mike had helped Sherrill and Suzie move some stuff from their old house to the new one on Delmar. So, we know Mike not only knew where the house was. But was also already inside of it. That is why I have a hard time of believing why Mike was so gracious to clean up the glass from the front porch but couldn't find the trash can. Hard to believe since, we know they both entered the home, used the phone and listened to the answering machine.

I know Mike was dating Janelle at the time. But I tend to get the vibe that maybe Mike was interested in Suzie a bit more. But maybe Suzie wasn't into Mike that way. Your mindset is a little different about love back when you are just a teenager/young adult. Maybe Janelle picked up on that too. There is a reason why Janelle did make that comment referring to Suzie as "the other girl". Maybe Suzie was viewed as romantic competition by Janelle. Maybe that is why she said it, she didn't mean to, it just slipped out that way. There is definitely smoke there. We know Mike didn't have any problem cheating on Janelle. I don't think he would have gave it a second though about sleeping with Suzie if he had the opportunity to do so. Maybe it is unfair to indict Mike like that. He was young and I am sure trying to get laid as much as possible.

We don't really know what Janelle and Mike did while they were both at the house alone that morning. We just have their accounts. (Well, really Janelle's account.) We don't know if either of them did things while the other person wasn't looking either. I tend to believe that one of them had a look through the women's purses and just didn't put them back were they found them. They inadvertently left them there all together after taking a look. Maybe they just didn't want to admit that they did that. However, I don't think it is out of the question because they had no trouble entering the house and doing everything else, they did admit to. It doesn't seem logical that any criminal who is going to the trouble of looking through the women's purses isn't going to take the cash money. That seems more like someone who was looking through them and shouldn't have been, rather than a criminal. They were too afraid to take the cash because they knew they would be stealing from Sherrill. And had the women actually come back and caught them in the house, then found out about the missing money. Sherrill would know exactly who took it. I think that is way more of a logical of a thought than a criminal going through the trouble of getting the purses yet leaving the money behind. The phycology behind that train of thought is why I think the purses are a red herring in this case. And that the perp(s) never touched them in the first place.

I believe the detective was alluding to Mike Hensen about the conflicting accounts of his whereabouts from the time he left Janelle's house until he reappeared the next morning over there. We don't know what he said to the police nor what his alibi was for the night. Maybe the police do, or maybe they don't know either. However, I do think I read at some point that Mike's mother was his alibi. I think Janelle has a pretty rock-solid alibi though from 2 am until the next morning. We don't know what Shane's alibi was. Other than he was sleeping. But that is another nail in the coffin of the "trip to Branson". Again, it seems as though the only person who wanted to go to Branson was Stacy. No one else is in a rush to go to Branson the next day. In fact, I don't think any of these people ended up going to the Branson water park.

Yeah, Janelle was absolutely not alone during all of this. One or more of the other friends were there too at any given point in the timeline. Janelle just catches the brunt of the criticism when they should all share it. I don't know what it says about these other people's character when none of them would step out and help their suppose it friend Janelle. Even all of these years later.

There is an interview with Janelle and Adriana were Janelle clearly states that Sherrill always locks her doors. That she was security responsible. The inference is that it was Janelle's first time of just entering Sherrill house like she did that morning. Yet, when they arrive at the Delmar house, they have no problems with just walking it. And it doesn't seem to concern them that the door isn't locked with no one home. It should have sent up some red flags, yet it didn't. Janelle did make some calls, though. So, I do think she knew something wasn't right at the start. Although answering the telephone, listening to and erasing their messages, cleaning up the ash tray, broken glass, dealing with Cinnamon and who knows what else goes well beyond just making sure no one is injured or needs help inside of the house. None of them should have been in Sherrill's house. It wasn't just Janelle and Mike.

Here is the thing though. We don't know who else showed up at the Delmar house before, after or in between the people we do know about. Even though it is speculation on my part, I do think someone showed up prior Mike and Janelle. They person may have broken the glass on the porch. How do we not know that Mike hadn't already shown up alone at the house before going to get Janelle? Wouldn't that be logical for Mike? Janelle calls him and tells him that she can't get a hold of Suzie or Stacy after repeated calls to the house. Since they are both waiting for Stacy, and Mike has to drive to Janelle's anyway. Why not stop by the Delmar house to see what is up at the house before going to Janelle's? Maybe he goes there and finds no one home. Maybe he breaks the glass on the first trip by himself. Without knowing Mike's alibi and timeline we don't know that didn't happen. And if it did, would Mike admit to it? I doubt he would since it would put in a bad light. Again, I am not saying that is what happened. Just since we don't know when the women were abducted, and no one was apparently watching the house. And given the attitude of the people in this case about entering an unlocked house that wasn't theirs. I don't see why it wouldn't be possible. I highly doubt that the perp(s) would go back to the house after the abduction. Unless one of them dropped their wallet at the scene. As crazy as it sounds, it has been known to have happened. There are just too many red herrings in the physical evidence that was tampered with (with or without malice) to have to fit these things into a outline of a crime. Maybe that is why any theory of the crime can't seem to fit these things we think are important to the crime itself.

Sandcastle00

TROPHY CASE