Crime Scene -

So, it looks like Melvin didn't do it. Between the physiological profile and the ballistics, he's ruled out. But, it does seem that Monica was genuinely afraid of him at least for a while. He's mentioned in the letters from Lori, and she did file a report.

I think the idea of the photos being blackmail are really interesting. I wonder if that's it.

I want to know who is in the photos. In the phone log, there are a couple of calls to a Representative... we should see if anyone recognizes anyone in the photos. I will ask a detective question.

So that means we can remove Melvin Roberts from our list of suspects. One down and who knows how many to go? LOL I'm glad we don't have to waste our questions on Melvin now.

We also know what kind of gun the bullets came from that killed Monica. I was hoping all three bullets would come from three different weapons. Then we'd have three killers. That would be different. lol

So, we have 4 different manufacturers of .36 caliber weapons to search out. Do you think we'll interview anyone who doesn't own a gun?? I don't think so.

I agree, Anonymous, we need to find out the names of the men in those photos.

It looks like there are at least five people playing poker in the photo. I bet one of them is Rickie and one is the mayor.

It would make sense if one of the people in the photos was the Mayor and one the Representative. Good blackmail material. I think that whoever it is , she blackmailed someone to get the $10,000.
It was already mentioned she had a plan to get the money to go to Greece.
But as far as photos go, I also want to know who the clown is in the other photos. Got a feeling there might be a connection in there somewhere.

Is there any way we can find out if Rick is a recovering alcoholic? His coworkers said that he seldom drank but now he's claiming he was so distraught over the breakup that he's drinking to the point he has blackouts. Could be he's lying about that. And if he's so innocent, why did he retain a lawyer and won't let anyone question him?
I didn't think Melvin could have done it but it's nice to actually have one person ruled out. But as far as guns go, he did say he owned a .38 but nobody checked it because he said he shot her with a .45. Could be his gun and not him. I don't really think so at this point though.
The more I study this case the more questions I come up with. Good to see the ATD is up but I will ask the same questions here for our general discussion. It's good to talk this out from different perspectives. Someone might pick up on something I didn't.
1. Who sign's the visitor in and out? Through all the months there are several times when someone signed in but never signed out. Is there someone who does this or is it up to the security guard? If it is the guard then maybe he was off making his rounds when the visitors left. If that is the case, that means there was no one to see them leave. How do we know they didn't just hide and wait?
2. Monica had several folders on her file cabinet. One of them was marked "Gambling". What is in that file? Is it a previous story, old newspaper clippings or current notes that she was investigating? Does it have to do with the photos of the people gambling?
3.Nicole said Rick kept calling Monica because he couldn't accept that the relationship was over. When did they break up? If he couldn't get over it, then why did his answering machine say leave a message unless you were Monica? And why didn't he return her calls when she said, repeatedly that he could come back to work?
4. Monica also had a file marked "2007 Grand Jury report". Was that about the Roberts rape case? Combine that with the note "Acquitted" it might mean she thought something wasn't right and was going to re-investigate the case.
Always more questions than answers.

At first, as I was checking out the fingerprints taken from Monica's office, that there were two people's prints that we haven't heard about yet. Those two name's are Frannie Grace and Steve Barton. Maybe Frannie Grace is a member of the cleaning service that Craig Peques hired to clean up the mess in the office.
Eighteen coke cans was a lot of cans to just be laying around.

What do you guys think about the analysis of the handwritten note found in Monica's safety deposit box? That analysis seems to point to it being written by a male. I think it's possible that the note doesn't have anything to do with the murder. I mean, would we get that information this early in the case, which would clear every female in our list. I feel that it might be a red herring.

I think Monica and Rick acted like children in their relationship. The messages that are on the answering machines sound like something kids would do.

I'm not sure about the Gambling file. That's a good question. She could use that as proof of the gambling to blackmail someone. Makes me wonder if whoever killed her tried to find that file to get rid of it, after killing her, but heard someone coming and left without finding it.

I think the Representative could very well be in the photos.

EasTexasTic, do you think that Sidney the Clown is a local person impersonating a clown or maybe a "real" professional clown?