S01.E04: The Deadly Playdate

[zoey1996]

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Uncovering the identity of the person who killed an 8-year-old girl in Fort Wayne, Ind.

I haven't watched this one yet, but I thought I'd start the episode thread.

[Razzberry]

CeCe does it again!   Ugh, I hated that ugly slack-jawed creep for what he did.  His punishment will be that's taken care of the rest of his life, food, lodging, medical.  He didn't look too upset.

[Driad]

I like that CeCe explains what she does with the DNA: comparing the matches, finding ancestors, etc.  Probably she also uses Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA, but is saving those explanations for later.

[SunnyBeBe]

I thought this was a good episode. I'm wondering if I can do that tracing like she does. It must take a lot of experience, but, I'd like to give it a shot. 

So, in the original investigation, someone had reported seeing a dark blue pickup truck.  Turns out, that was not the case with the killer. He didn't drive one. You really have to be careful of eye witness testimony.  I'm so skeptical of it. 

The killer really showed his ignorance by leaving used condoms EVEN after DNA became widely used to convict offenders. Plus, he didn't know how to spell AND, instead using AN.  I'm amazed that he never told anyone like in bragging. 

Also, I would be inclined to think that he must have murdered and/or sexually abused other children over the years.  He was rather young at the time he murdered April Tinsley.  The girl didn't know him.  There was no reason he couldn't have let her go.  He is a very heartless sociopath for sure. 

[Driad]

17 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

he must have murdered and/or sexually abused other children over the years.

Presumably the police are having his DNA checked against samples from other crimes. If that area has a backlog of unprocessed rape kits (as many do), I hope this will be incentive to process them.

As for bragging, it sounded as if he had no friends and kept to himself at work.  But from his bragging on the barn wall and the notes, I wonder if he sometimes drank too much and bragged in a bar, but nobody reported it.

[SunnyBeBe]

This is one case where stranger danger was real. I bet those who worked along side him freaked out when news of his crime was released.  

[Rickster]

I’ve seen two episodes, this one and the premiere. The problem I had with the premiere, that it was too much about the star and not enough about the process and the case, was toned down quite a bit here (although not enough, IMO).
 

I was curious though, about how these methodologies work with families that are relatively recent immigrants to the US. My parents arrived here in 1950, with half the family from Eastern Europe. My girlfriend’s ancestors arrived here from Italy in the early 1900’s. How much research can they do into whatever databases exist, none of which are in English? Or do they not bother with that sort of case.

 

[Driad]

Shows such as "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr." use local researchers to find and translate the records.  If a suspect had relatives in another country, the police etc. could probably contact people there for help.

[Mermaid Under]

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The killer really showed his ignorance

Oh sweet lord, don't attack , I'm not defending him, but I think the killer had what used to be called retardation, and would now be called impaired mental ability, or something like that.   I don't think he was capable of being clever, so ignorance was pretty much all he has to show anyone, ever.  There was a throwaway line in the episode where the murderer's brother said that he had always been "slow".

Obviously he was deemed mentally capable of being tried (I assume, since he was tried) but this guy was no BTK killer - I can't imagine being in prison is much different than living in a trailer alone, working at Walmart.  There isn't much closure in the resolution of this crime.

Edited June 19, 2020 by Mermaid Under
editing is good

[Razzberry]

It's hard for me to  believe this guy didn't give off a creepy vibe, or his brother never suspected.

[Mermaid Under]

On 6/19/2020 at 11:58 PM, Razzberry said:

It's hard for me to  believe this guy didn't give off a creepy vibe, or his brother never suspected.

A creepy vibe isn't against the law, or I know a lot more people who would be in jail. 

With his diminished mental capabilities, this man probably gave off the same odd vibe his entire life.  It was implied that he had very little contact with people, and it didn't imply that he and his brother were in contact at all. 

[Suzysite]

I really like this show, but I've learned not to watch it right before bed.    There's much less what's-that-noise-outside when viewed in broad daylight.  

[maggiegil]

I like the show but now at episode 4, its getting a bit much that we have to have an explanation of Cece's background, how she came to genetic genealogy, connecting adoptees and then started working for parabon etc. every time. I like the explanation of the family trees etc but they seem to give the same background for Cece getting into the field every time. They seem to really pad the show too much

[rhys]

2 hours ago, maggiegil said:

I like the show but now at episode 4, its getting a bit much that we have to have an explanation of Cece's background, how she came to genetic genealogy, connecting adoptees and then started working for parabon etc. every time. I like the explanation of the family trees etc but they seem to give the same background for Cece getting into the field every time. They seem to really pad the show too much

I agree. This was really brought home on last night's episode too. It's a bit...exhausting. And I like her! I'm hoping this doesn't put off new viewers.

These cases are so sad and need to be solved.

I wish more time was spent on the math. That's so baffling to me. 

[SunnyBeBe]

On 6/19/2020 at 2:37 PM, Mermaid Under said:

Oh sweet lord, don't attack , I'm not defending him, but I think the killer had what used to be called retardation, and would now be called impaired mental ability, or something like that.   I don't think he was capable of being clever, so ignorance was pretty much all he has to show anyone, ever.  There was a throwaway line in the episode where the murderer's brother said that he had always been "slow".

Obviously he was deemed mentally capable of being tried (I assume, since he was tried) but this guy was no BTK killer - I can't imagine being in prison is much different than living in a trailer alone, working at Walmart.  There isn't much closure in the resolution of this crime.

Apparently, he was competent to stand trial.  Even some teens are prosecuted as adults, though, he was not a teen age wise, he may have been immature.  However, he was mature enough to attempt to terrify other potential victims and harass the families of the victims by leaving those threatening and taunting messages, along with used condoms.  To me, that takes it to a whole other level.  

Edited June 24, 2020 by SunnyBeBe

[Mermaid Under]

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he was not a teen age wise, he may have been immature. 

I don't think it is a question of maturity or immaturity.  This program always seems determined to end with the idea that Cece has given the survivors a sense of closure.  I have trouble believing that 

the victim's mother and cousin could feel anything was resolved or closed because this (I hesitate to say man) was sent to prison.  He didn't seem capable of understanding anything.

[Razzberry]

On 6/21/2020 at 6:50 AM, Mermaid Under said:

It was implied that he had very little contact with people, and it didn't imply that he and his brother were in contact at all.

Living in the same area, it's a reasonable assumption that they had some contact.

[MicheleinPhilly]

On 6/24/2020 at 6:54 AM, maggiegil said:

I like the show but now at episode 4, its getting a bit much that we have to have an explanation of Cece's background, how she came to genetic genealogy, connecting adoptees and then started working for parabon etc. every time. I like the explanation of the family trees etc but they seem to give the same background for Cece getting into the field every time. They seem to really pad the show too much

This x 100. 

Just watched episode 4 last night and we were remarking on the fact that they repeat the same information over and over in every episode. I'm assuming it is so that people can feel comfortable dropping in on any episode and getting up to speed, but I wish they would find a way to condense that into the intro.