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Post by Michael on Feb 6, 2007 6:31:55 GMT -5
Which case..... The Blakely Coughlin? Grace Budd? Chilton Anderson attempt?
I can tell you've been working on something and the suspense is killing me. ;D
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Post by Michael on Feb 21, 2007 21:38:33 GMT -5
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kevkon
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Post by kevkon on Jun 27, 2007 10:07:29 GMT -5
From my point of view it is almost a certainty that the ladder was utilized in several locations or configurations. I know that's not a popular view to hold, but it works for me. I am curious as to the extent that the police looked into this. For example, it seems that the police wasted no time in putting that ladder up against the house in both 2 and 3 sections. There are photos taken the next day of this. Did they extensively check the wall and shutters prior to this? Also, I wonder how closely the plank on the ground was examined? The fact that the police erected the ladder in three sections causes me to believe that they must have felt, as I do , that this was probable.
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Joe
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Post by Joe on Jun 27, 2007 13:27:22 GMT -5
Kevin, I think there's a good possibility the wooden walkway was used as a footing point, particularly if the final climb employed the ladder's three sections, and if as you have previously pointed out, also made use of the open right shutter's inner "frame" as a top securing point.
The indentations in the mud, which align nicely with the use of two sections and the observed wall scrape marks, just seem to be far to the left to have been used as a footing point for the three sections. There are photos of this as well and it really stretches my imagination to believe anyone would have climbed that ladder torqued the way it was to the right.
There were no other indentations observed in the mud, so it seems likely the wooden walkway could have come into play. Regardless of where the footing point was, I'd want someone holding onto that ladder at its base two sections or three.
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Joe
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Post by Joe on Jun 27, 2007 13:51:44 GMT -5
I just had a thought in the scenario where three sections were used for the climb in which the child was abducted. Try this out...
Due to the warped feature of the left hand shutter and it's inability to provide a closed and locked pair of shutters, what if the kidnappers found that the right hand shutter was in such a favorable position that it could be opened, without having to climb the ladder and open it by hand? This could be accomplished by using the three sections as an "extension arm" to maneuver the shutter into a flush position against the wall. Once opened, the three section configuration could then be quickly put into position, the top of the third section resting within the right shutter's inner "frame." The ladder is then climbed for the abduction.
After the abduction, the third section of the ladder and child are removed by the first kidnapper and taken to the point about 75 feet southeast of the nursery. The second kidnapper then uses the now-two section ladder to quickly climb up and place the ransom note on the windowsill and close the window, before retreating with the two sections to join his confederate. At this point, the decison is made to abandon the ladder in it's separated form.
This represents a kind of economy of motion that I think might well have benefited the kidnappers timing. It might also explain why the ladder was found in it's partially disassembled form.
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kevkon
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Post by kevkon on Jun 27, 2007 18:41:38 GMT -5
Funny you should mention the possibility of using the ladder end to open the shutter. I was thinking the very same thing awhile back. I think it might be possible but only if one of the shutters is partially open and in no way secured. I keep thinking about the statement" fixed as best possible". What exactly does that mean? Anyway, the important thing to remember when discussing the ladder is it's extreme lightness. I think many people vastly over estimate the time and degree of difficulty involved in setting up and moving the ladder. The most difficult task is getting the dowels in place, but that can be mitigated to some degree by pre-assembling the sections. I would still like to be able to examine that plank under the window!
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Joe
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Post by Joe on Jun 27, 2007 19:32:32 GMT -5
The only hangup I can see with staging the ladder in its three section form is that the kidnappers would have had to have been close enough to the house to see the shutter in a position that they then realized they would be able to maneuver it with the ladder's top section.
However, and it's a big however, if they were previously aware of the shutters' inability to close and lock, ie. inside information, then they would have been in a much better position to know exactly how to stage the ladder. Unfortunately, I don't think there's any real way of proving this one way after the fact, but I think it's worth considering.
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kevkon
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Post by kevkon on Jun 27, 2007 19:58:05 GMT -5
It's a mystery to me why so little, if any, reporting on the visibility at Highfields on that night is to be found. Obviously the investigators saw the need to stage ladder reenactments, yet attempting this under similar lighting conditions seems to have not been a consideration. Too, bad since I think that this would have been most enlightening (no pun intended).
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Post by Michael on Jun 29, 2007 5:43:00 GMT -5
This is an excellent point.
It's one thing to consider the physical evidence and quite another different situation to consider it under the conditions in which it was made. In this case I believe they tell a much different story.
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