S03.E21: Trajectory

[cooksdelight]

The team hopes to uncover the truth behind the mysterious death of a young man.

[KHenry14]

I boggles the mind that anyone could believe that this case would be a suicide. Not only has no one ever killed themselves by that convoluted fashion, it made no sense that he do that after calling his Dad to come get him. 

 

I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Samantha tried to cop to a lesser charge. 

[meisje]

It was nice to see the DA working with the team in that fashion, quite a turn-a-round from last week's outcome. It made me wonder about why DA's aren't more involved, or at least supportive, since this must get them good press more often than not. In one sense, it does conceivably bias the outcome in favor of a grand jury indicting (that's an uphill battle in a cold case anyway though), but it must be nice for all of the team's work to actually feel like it's being taken seriously from the start.

 

I was surprised we didn't hear a little more about the victim's struggles since we usually get a very detailed story about pretty much every aspect of their lives that can be found, but maybe they were protecting his privacy surrounding his mental health? The "wife" gave me the heebie-jeebies in the first photo. What a creeper, and as it turns out, one of those not-so-bright criminals who can't stop telling everyone they come across that they're capable of committing the perfect crime. And she was quite the picture in those last shots of being handcuffed. How many years had passed? I missed some of the intro details, but got the feeling it was not that old of a crime.

[Ohmo]

I've noticed the screen at the end of episodes that asks LEOs to submit possible cases for the show.  I think that's the best way to do it---to have the submission process go through law enforcement.

 

Like the investigator mentioned at the beginning of the episode, I was also surprised that the show chose a case that was this recent.  Not that I don't think it was worthy.  I do.  I felt for Ben.  He seemed like a quiet guy dealing with mental health issues who wanted what many people want---a spouse and a future family.  He got involved with the wrong woman, and it seems that people were trying to tell him that Samantha was no good.  Unfortunately, she still had time to strike.  I got the sense that Kelly really had a soft spot for Ben (referring to his young age by calling him a baby), and she seemed ticked off at what Samantha did.

 

That said, I'd still be interested to know more about the conversation about selecting this case.

[attica]

I didn't buy the gun positioning on the hypothetical suicide. Even if he were shooting himself with thumb on the trigger, I don't think it would still line up with the skin injury they showed in the photo. The barrel would still be in the wrong position. But I'm not a pathologist.

 

Hearing the lady say Ben wouldn't kill himself 'because he had so much to live for' made me sad. Because for a suicidally depressed person, what you have to live for is so far outside of the calculation that it's actually unhelpful to the case. (Robin Williams is an example that comes to mind.)

[meisje]

I've noticed the screen at the end of episodes that asks LEOs to submit possible cases for the show.  I think that's the best way to do it---to have the submission process go through law enforcement.

 

This was the first time i noticed that screen, but I wondered if it was new or if I've just missed it in this latest batch of episodes. 

 

Unfortunately, she still had time to strike.

 

Two-and-a-half weeks into marriage no less. That is absolutely frightening. I noticed there was no talk of a motive on Samantha's part, other than her general persona, but there was no mention of a financial benefit. Was there some type of money paid to her as a spouse (with presumably no life insurance) I wonder, because it seems like killing him would leave her in a worse financial position, unless she had someone else lined up? It was disturbing to think that she kept a loaded gun in their bedroom when she knew that he could not (and should not) own one or even be around one at all due to whatever his issues were. Maybe she was hoping he'd use it if one was close by?

 

Hearing the lady say Ben wouldn't kill himself 'because he had so much to live for' made me sad. Because for a suicidally depressed person, what you have to live for is so far outside of the calculation that it's actually unhelpful to the case.

 

Yes, unfortunately an upswing is no indicator that a person has gotten outside of the grips of suicide. Plus, people often want to simply believe that people who are struggling have finally, or just simply, gotten better. It was good to see the possibility that it was not suicide was ever given as much consideration as it was, since a prior commitment would be all many people would need to hear before writing it off as suicide, even more so given that he had attempted suicide many times before.  I think it's fair to say that how his death was treated was not the standard.

Edited August 30, 2015 by meisje

[LIGirl]

Maybe I've watched too many crime shows, both reality-based and fiction, but why didn't anyone ever bring up testing for gun powder residue on Ben's hand as well as Samantha's?  Given the fact that Samantha says she was literally in another room - the bathroom - getting a positive result for gun powder residue on her hand would've wrapped up any doubts about suicide vs. murder almost immediately. I understand that as a small town, the police don't have as many resources as bigger cities, which the prosecutor or police officer said (can't remember who said that at the beginning), but I don't think gun powder residue testing is as hard to have access to as something like sophisticated DNA testing.  But who knows.  In any case, if they didn't do that test or didn't have access to it, that's fine, but I wish they would've brought that up and explained why.

 

And she was quite the picture in those last shots of being handcuffed. How many years had passed? I missed some of the intro details, but got the feeling it was not that old of a crime.

 

Right? I believe it was no more than 3 years since this happened some time in 2012.  And she looks like that after only 3 years?  Damn.  Had they not showed her in handcuffs and said it was her, I never in a million years would've guessed it was the same woman shown in the pictures or on tape being interviewed.  Time and/or life has not been kind to her.  I guess karma's a bitch, bitch.

 

I noticed the request for cold case submissions from law enforcement at the end of the episode, too, and I think they've showed it on other recent episodes as well.  I think - well, I'm hoping - that that's a good sign that despite Kelly's recent legal troubles, that this show plans to continue on no matter what happens with her.  If they were planning on burning off these recent episodes and cancelling it once they all aired, I am sure the producers/editors would have easily and quickly edited out that request before airing these episodes.  Fingers crossed!

Edited August 30, 2015 by LIGirl

[meisje]

 

I noticed the request for cold case submissions from law enforcement at the end of the episode, too, and I think they've showed it on other recent episodes as well.  I think - well, I'm hoping - that that's a good sign that despite Kelly's recent legal troubles, that this show plans to continue on no matter what happens with her.

 

Whoa, I am way behind because my jaw is wide open. I'm off to look into this legal trouble stuff; I can't believe I haven't heard anything about it! Straight to the other threads I go...

[Ohmo]

meisje, you'll probably want to look at the Episodes Added to Season 3 thread in this forum.  To get more context, you also might want to take a left turn at the 48 Hours forum and its All Episodes Talk thread.  (I think that's what it's called.)  The David Temple case.

[meisje]

Thanks Llgirl and Ohmo, I have no idea what to think. When I found the Temple case info I thought it might be one person who wasn't convicted (not too hard to believe given the lack of enthusiasm to convict for some of these older cases) deciding to try for some cash. It's easy to imagine his lawyer saying, "now let's sue TNT!" Then I found the rest, I think, about 35+ cases up for review. I've wondered if Yolanda not being around had some deeper meaning than wanting to spend more time at home, and now I'm even less sure. It's really sad news and I'm having a hard time believing that Kelly would be involved with such high-stakes unethical acts -- she really strikes me as someone who takes the time to put serious critical thinking into building the cases that require it, and I believe she has a talent in that area to make connections that not everyone in her profession will do. I really hope things get cleared up and the show continues as is.

 

Maybe I've watched too many crime shows, both reality-based and fiction, but why didn't anyone ever bring up testing for gun powder residue on Ben's hand as well as Samantha's?

 

Excellent point, and maybe I've been not watching enough crime shows! I'm trying to remember how commonly smaller/rural areas run these tests at the scene or at the station, but I don't know, seems like they would though especially given that they suspected something was off from the trajectory as soon as they arrived. There have been a couple of spouse-kills-ex/suicide? 48 Hours that I've seen where I don't think it was tested.They should live chat or tweet questions & answers occasionally.