Out of the mouths of fictional characters often come significant truths. Here’s one from Michael Connelly’s wonderfully engaging Detective Harry Bosch in The Brass Verdict. He is speaking about the first forty eight hours after a homicide.
“The first forty eight. The chances of clearing a homicide diminish by almost half each day if you don’t solve it in the first forty eight hours.”
In the case of the murder of Stacey Burns, maybe the investigators thought they had it solved in the first forty eight hours, which led to a wide open investigation becoming a narrowly focused, tunnel vision, type of investigation.
If the chances of clearing Stacey’s murder diminished by one-half every day, where does that leave us today, almost six years later? If indeed it was “solved” in the first forty eight, then why hasn’t someone been arrested? If it was not solved in the first forty eight, what are the chances it will ever be solved?
Just wondering . . .
Duke
N.H. is different. Other states WILL try circumstantial cases and let the chips fall. We here in N.H. have not arrested anyone for murder w/o both a confession as well as at least two eyewitnesses in 20 years. Our leaders in Concord follow the national example. As long as they never do anything, they never do anything wrong. After spending a million bucks on a failed 30 year old quadruple murder case last year N.H.ag’s office went back to doing what they do best, destroying their opponents and lying to the people. When their suspect showed up in the first 48 with a taped alibi and his attorney in tow, it was over. But relax, the public is not in danger, remember.
After re reading “Agent for justice” I thought of something. Just weeks before Stacey was killed she told me about Ed backing into the fence at Carpenter school and smashing out a tail light. She had a little smile going on as this kind of thing was typical, He would flip out and his problems would snowball. What she didn’t know was that this incident would lead to a pull over that would lead to another D.W.I. That D.W.I.would be the last straw in a life that had spun completely out of control. Stacey never knew about the D.W.I. She had told me years before that a DWI could be a trigger. 13 days later she was room temp.
Deputy Vittum has actually told a lot here on this blog. Most of it false. Nor has he mentioned that he failed a polygraph test by the NH State Police. Wonder what he’s hiding?