S31.E42: Murder On Red River

[SunnyBeBe]

A filmmaker tries to solve the 16 year-old murder of Jennifer Harris. The young woman disappeared and was later found nude in the Red River in Texas.  In retrospect, some allege that the investigation was not handled very well.  Can new eyes figure this out and is there any real evidence to revive this cold case?

https://www.cbs.com/shows/48_hours/video/2oaWSY9h3MuhcufOqW4oeDwXlRVA8nbF/murder-on-red-river/

[applecrisp]

Watched. For some reason I was not that impressed with the Boston PI but liked his point that why were they not looking harder at her partner? Seemed everyone thought it was the ex.

[sinycalone]

Since her body was so decomposed they could not tell the cause of death...I could not quite grasp why everyone was so sure it was murder.  Could it have been suicide or an accidental fall.  Yes, murder was a possibility...but so were the other scenarios.

And the man who had been d.a. (or assistant d.a.) had to face gossip/rumors for many years claiming he was involved with Jennifer and should have been a suspect.  He had never met her...or been involved with anyone who knew her.  Rumors almost ruined his life.

The Boston P.I. had another valid point:  why would anyone burn down that cottage 200 feet/yds from where Jennifer probably went into the river that very night.  Rather than hide clues, the fire only brought a lot of attention to the area.

Also the woman who claimed she saw a woman with long red curly hair being forced along the riverbank by three men...I did not believe her at all.  Her reason for waiting a year to report it seemed absurd.  More likely she waited until the reward money built up to a substantial sum...then created her tale.

[tobeannounced]

3 hours ago, sinycalone said:

Also the woman who claimed she saw a woman with long red curly hair being forced along the riverbank by three men...I did not believe her at all.  Her reason for waiting a year to report it seemed absurd.  More likely she waited until the reward money built up to a substantial sum...then created her tale.

I really hope she was lying because otherwise her and her mom are pieces of shit for seeing a woman in distress and saying, "That woman is about to get raped and murdered," and then doing absolutely nothing about it.

[sinycalone]

31 minutes ago, tobeannounced said:

I really hope she was lying because otherwise her and her mom are pieces of shit for seeing a woman in distress and saying, "That woman is about to get raped and murdered," and then doing absolutely nothing about it.

Did the narrator say both the mother and daughter had passed away....not sure when that happened though.  And you are right, you see a woman you believe is about to be raped murdered and you keep on driving?

[rwgrab]

5 hours ago, sinycalone said:

The Boston P.I. had another valid point:  why would anyone burn down that cottage 200 feet/yds from where Jennifer probably went into the river that very night.  Rather than hide clues, the fire only brought a lot of attention to the area.

Yes!  Just because two events happen the same night doesn't mean there's any relation.  I was actually cheering on that Boston guy whenever he was interacting with the folks down in Texas.  I get that the local team (and the filmmaker) are very dedicated and really want to solve the case, but they are making some pretty big leaps there.  First, they say that the mud on her body is only found at the bottom of the river at two locations.  That information is based on what some fishermen told them (not like, say, a scientist).  So they're already assuming that she entered the water at the place with mud on the bottom and that the fishermen are right about the entirety of the Red River.  From there, they assume that a fire that happened 200 yards from the river is related, despite having found zero evidence that she was even there after an extensive investigation.  Somebody really need to throw some water on that theory real quick.  Again, understandable that they let their minds go there, but there's really not any proof that any of this happened.  And this is all assuming she was murdered in the first place.  She was broke, back at home, didn't seem to have a plan for her life worked out.  I'm not saying she wasn't killed, but I could see a defense team introducing reasonable doubt by suggesting it could have been an accident or suicide.  

There's just not enough evidence here to ever convict anybody, let alone lead them to a killer at this point.  I mean, they showed that sad little wheely cart of like 4 boxes and 2 binders as everything they have to start with.  It's really too bad, but getting the family's hopes up isn't helping them heal.  And that brother-in-law who wants to create one of those 5-part ID specials on this?  To me, that doesn't feel like something that will either a) draw out a confession from somebody who's gotten away with this for 15 years or b) honor the memory of a cherished family member.  

[SunnyBeBe]

I agree that there was so much speculation in this case that it seemed to hurt, not help it.  One guy mentioned that many murders hinge on money, but, did they ever prove if there was a life insurance policy on the victim?  And, how would murdering her help the ex-boyfriend with the failed business venture?  She had already filed bankruptcy.  

The ex-husband's story of just riding around the night of the disappearance for 5 hours without seeing anyone or going anywhere did seem sketchy to me.  But, without more, I'm not sure they can pin it on him.  Didn't they say that he had a girlfriend or fiance by this time? Where was she that night and why was he not with her?  There seemed to be a fair amount of territory that was never covered.  Still, without some confessions, this might not be solved. 

The story of the woman who claimed she saw a red haired lady being held by several men, seemed highly suspect to me.  I do not believe it for a second.  It's a shame what some people will do for attention.  

[Koalagirl]

12 hours ago, sinycalone said:

Did the narrator say both the mother and daughter had passed away....not sure when that happened though.  And you are right, you see a woman you believe is about to be raped murdered and you keep on driving?

By the time the Boston investigator got involved in the case both the mother and daughter had passed away.

[SunnyBeBe]

I thought it was interesting that the detective, who got a call from a suspect ex-husband that he wanted to talk, but, he puts him off til the next day......he seemed to be very regretful that he did that.  I agree.  VERY odd, imo.  I mean....what was he thinking?

[LGGirl]

I feel bad for the family because it looks like LE never took the investigation seriously.   My take was that she was not viewed favorably by the locals because of her life choices.   I think the ex husband did it.  The police know it and figured she had it coming.  

Regardless, the case and how it was handled was all kinds of wrong.   

[missy jo]

I also think Mr "I Drove Around for Five Hours" Ex-husband did it. 

[Steph J]

16 hours ago, missy jo said:

I also think Mr "I Drove Around for Five Hours" Ex-husband did it. 

Agreed. Who just "drives around" for five hours. One hour? Sure, you're bored so you take a drive. But five??? Who has the money to just waste that much gas?