Oh! And he said to the cops, “I don’t really have a phone, so you know, my biggest fear is that Gabi will take off and leave me and…”
That’s why he kept the keys. But that is not something someone in a healthy relationship would even think, let alone say to the cops within minutes of being pulled over for speeding mind you. Not some other thing that would cause you to spill your heart out to the coppers.
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They left in early July—it all fell apart less than 2 months into a 4 month trip.
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Huh. In the body cam footage, it sounds like the cop asks how long they’ve been at it and he says something like, “4 months, 5 months?”
Maybe they started living in the van before they went on the trip, or maybe he was answering how long they planned their trip to be…thanks for the correction.
Either way, he’s being a jerk to call it her “little” project, even if they were only out for a week.
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But you got a small little insignificant detail WRONG, so it must be corrected!!! The misogyny is immaterial here!!! /s
Seriously, I hope they find this guy soon and figure out WTF happened.
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It didn’t pan out. Not the chins part, not the RV mitosis thing, not the living remains.
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Yep. So long as women’s societal value is dependent on men’s opinions of them first and foremost, there will always be an attitude that if a man doesn’t value a woman’s life, particularly if it’s seen as his woman’s life in any way, then neither should anyone else.
Also to anyone who is seeing all the red flags in this relationship and thinking “oh shit that reminds me I could be dead right now” …
hugs
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Right back at you!
I’m (hopefully) well past that part of my life, but sometimes I think back and think, holy shit, I can’t believe I’m still here. Either that or, holy shit, how does anyone ever dare to have kids?!?
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This is a crucial point.
It also helps me understand the situation with the police a little better. He had locked her out of the van…not his van, HER van. Basically, he had stolen her property, which was also the only rational option for getting to safety from their remote location (food, water, wild animals, heat, etc.). Her life was already imperiled when the cops stopped them, and they had enough information to realize that – they had her keep the van and took him to a motel for the night because they knew they needed to separate the two from each other – but of course they’re operating from ‘the girl is being hysterical, just let her calm down’ instead of ‘she’s acting that way because she’s in fear for her life’. The police didn’t treat it like the crime-in-progress that it actually was.
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Refusing to talk to the cops without a lawyer present is the smartest course of action for the innocent as well as the guilty.
Refusing to help an investigation in any way when you’re the only person who may have key information related to the whereabouts of a missing person sure sounds like a dick move though.
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There is no implication or consequence in criminal trials. Jurors in criminal trials in the United States are instructed that they are not allowed to draw any inferences from a criminal defendant’s exercise of his right to remain silent.
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Assuming they stay silent…
I get that in the US silence is an absolute right. But it must be tough not to draw inferences from it if a defendant later says stuff, and the prosecutor (assuming the accused takes the witness stand) asks the accused why they decided not to mention (X) when first questioned, seeing as it is now such a critical part of their defence. I assume the prosecutor is not forbidden to mention this. (??)
Any jury, even correctly instructed, might find that hard - subconsciously taking it into account remains a real possibility.
Though in most such cases I suspect the defence lawyer may advise their client not to give evidence in person and subject themselves to cross-examination, in any event.
The UK arrest warning specifically warns you that a prosecutor can - and likely will - make hay with such circumstances - where a defence relies on something introduced later after prior silence when asked about it.
Hey-ho - they guy was still a dick for staying shtum if he was innocent and knew something that would help find her.
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Wait, there’s more…
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The point is that the defendant does not testify at trial. It’s almost never worth it for a defendant to testify in a criminal trial, and most defense attorneys will correctly advise their clients not to testify.
And yes–in that case, the prosecutor doesn’t get to mention a damn thing about the defendant’s decision to remain silent, and the defendant is entitled to a no-adverse-interest instruction.
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I served on a jury where the defense chose not to produce any evidence, nor any witnesses in his favor, and we were instructed not to draw any adverse conclusions from that.
He was acquitted. Weird case.
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Ugh. The last person we need to hear from is Nancy Grace.
Still, the bodycam images are rather telling…
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Christ. She looks so scared.
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She sounded terrified in the bodycam footage and kept making excuses for the dickhead. Yet another tragic example of girl meets entitled toxic manbaby and loses everything. Fucking hell.
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Yeah, I didn’t watch the whole hour plus of body cam footage, but it was a pretty glaring contrast how she immediately took the blame for the van hitting the curb (though she wasn’t driving!) , but then when he was describing their “fight” or “altercation” he said something like, “I can’t change, my feet are dirty,” or something to that effect. Might seem minor, but it’s quite telling of the dynamic.
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