How to Sneak atop a Sorority Roof (Unresolved Plotlines)

[Rooster]

It's clear that both Sam and Frank made contact with Lila at the scene of the murder. How did they gain access to the roof of the building unnoticed/unseen? I'm just trying to envision Professor Sam Keating strolling through the sorority in the middle of the night on his way to the roof...and for that matter Frank. They would have stuck out like a sore thumb going through the front door. Was there someone letting them in the back door? Did Sam let Frank in a back door as he was leaving? One might speculate perhaps Lila let Sam in...but surely even accompanied, there's no way for Sam to duck around a corner playing it cool with Lila. But there's no evidence that Lila let either in, or had ever before.

 

Sam's laptop is Chekov's Gun. Eventually it will be established fact that Sam was on the roof where Lila died very close to her time of death. And that her phone left with Rebecca. It's entirely possible that Frank will Get Away With Murder. But it is also possible that some forgotten forensic evidence exists from the entry of the sorority - or even that a 3rd person, however unlikely, exists. Making this a criminal conspiracy. Regardless, if Frank gets away with murder then it should be explained - per the title - how.

[Rooster]

Having gone back and rewatched, I'm convinced the writers were completely cognizant of this question, because Sam's sister Hannah brings up this precise point to AK: "Not one girl in that sorority house saw him go upstairs to the roof that night." (HTGAWM S01E11)

 

Having established a timeline from episodes 14 and 15, we can tell that it takes Rebecca about 12 minutes to reach the roof from the security gate outside. After Rebecca gets to the roof, she lies in wait in the water tower because more students have come to the roof - making it clear that there's still waking traffic in the sorority house after 2:00 AM. How did both Sam and Frank pass unseen to the roof?

[Chicago Redshirt]

It's clear that both Sam and Frank made contact with Lila at the scene of the murder. How did they gain access to the roof of the building unnoticed/unseen? I'm just trying to envision Professor Sam Keating strolling through the sorority in the middle of the night on his way to the roof...and for that matter Frank. They would have stuck out like a sore thumb going through the front door. Was there someone letting them in the back door? Did Sam let Frank in a back door as he was leaving? One might speculate perhaps Lila let Sam in...but surely even accompanied, there's no way for Sam to duck around a corner playing it cool with Lila. But there's no evidence that Lila let either in, or had ever before.

 

Sam's laptop is Chekov's Gun. Eventually it will be established fact that Sam was on the roof where Lila died very close to her time of death. And that her phone left with Rebecca. It's entirely possible that Frank will Get Away With Murder. But it is also possible that some forgotten forensic evidence exists from the entry of the sorority - or even that a 3rd person, however unlikely, exists. Making this a criminal conspiracy. Regardless, if Frank gets away with murder then it should be explained - per the title - how.

TLDR: I wouldn't expect them to ever answer these and other questions fully. 

 

This is going off of memory, which could be faulty, but:

 

Sam and Lila were on the roof during the day. Sam then called Frank and told him to kill Lila. So the two were not as far as we know in the vicinity of the sorority house at the same time.

 

I will fanwank that the roof was normally secluded, and that in part would be why Lila and Sam would have met there rather than...well pretty much any place else in Philadelphia. I mean, it is still a stunningly bad choice for either of them to hang out, but such is life.

 

We also don't know the layout of the sorority house. It might be that there's some sort of fire escape that would allow someone to access the roof without going in, but that seems like a poor plan. 

 

I think Annalise made clear in exonerating Rebecca that computer wizardry showed Sam's cell phone was associated with the sorority house on the day Lila was last seen alive.

 

Seeing as how Lila's body was discovered well after her disappearance and then additional months passed while the police did their investigation and Rebecca and Griffin stood trial, the chance for forensic evidence tying Frank to the scene still existing at this point is basically zero. A witness who remembers seeing Frank is a possibility, but it would be again a strange one. This was portrayed as a highly publicized case. One would think the police would have already asked around to see if anyone had noticed any strangers, and the notion that someone would come forward at least six months into Lila's disappearance to give a description of Frank or Sam seems unlikely.