Monday, February 21, 2011

The Tara Grinstead and Jennifer Kesse cases.

I just finished watching the 48 Hours on ID episode "Stolen Beauty". I'm not going to say a lot about it right now, because it's late. I just wanted to get a few of ideas out.
  1. Why did Marcus Harper (Grinstead's ex-boyfriend) lawyer up if he were truly innocent?
  2. Why would Harper tell Greta Van Susteren that Tara threatened suicide? Clearly that is an outrageous thing to say. Only an angry person would do that and why would he be angry with her if she is missing? Unless he knows something.
I don't care if Harper does have a "solid alibi", I think he's not telling the full truth.

I don't believe the Grinstead case is related to the Kesse case, but if I were the Orlando Police Department, I would cross all my T's and dot all my I's anyway. They said she worked at Westgate, which is a resort, complete with painters and construction workers just like at her condo. Who said she never arrived at work, or at Westgate's parking lot? She just didn't make the meeting.

The police never considered an alternate scenario. What if the killer was a Westgate owner, guest or worker? I know her car was found close to her condo property, so it looks like the killer lives in the area, but that could only look that way. What if the killer had at some point left Westgate and followed her to her condo? It could have been days before so he knows where she lives now. He could park his car on her condo's property, take her, drop her car off nearby (as he did), walk back to her home, get in his car and head back to Westgate.

If they want to connect the cases, perhaps they need to be looking at owners, guests and workers that are from Georgia who were there as far as a week or so before, up to and after the murder.

It's just to rule it out is all. Again, I don't believe they're related but it's worth the time to check. It doesn't sound like they have.

Either way, those cases are indeed sad. I can't imagine what the families must go through with the not knowing. My prayers are with them.

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February 24, 2017
Update, there has finally, after all this time, been an arrest! Please see Tara Grinstead: Finally an arrest!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Marcus Harper was the guy in the military his DNA and fingerprints are part of his service record

Anonymous said...

According to the show, "Stolen Beauty", in the Kesse disappearance, "day workers" were remodeling, as well as staying in condos in Kesse's complex, and had upset and intimidated her with stares. Has anyone thought to check Ocilla and the surrounding areas for similar construction/remodeling perhaps utilizing the same day-workers? This might provide a common thread. If that is the situation, identification might be possible.
Also, were surveillance cameras checked at other sites further along the path of the person of whom they DO have a picture?

ChoctawStorm said...

I have to comment on your post, MagnoliaSouth. In the case of Marcus Harper "lawyering-up"... The main focus of the police is to clear the case, not protect the rights of those they question. "Lawyering-up" is no indicator of guilt or innocence, as frequently those that consult an attorney when being questioned by the police are quite anxious to help. I'm sure you know that there are innocent men and women in prison that are there simply because they thought, "I'm innocent. As long as I have done nothing wrong, why SHOULDN'T I answer questions without an attorney present?"