A friend of Kathleen Murray's has reportedly given a statement to New Hampshire's Cold Case Unit that Kathleen - in a drunken state - stated that Tim Carpenter's alibi for the night Maura Murray disappeared is false.
The person who gave this statement was part of a Facebook group that has been discussing a scenario in which Tim Carpenter was responsible for what happened to Maura Murray.
The story that has taken on a life of its own online in recent days goes like this - Kathleen met Maura on Monday and Maura was driving her to a rehab facility in New Hampshire. But Tim Carpenter followed them to Rt. 112, where he raced ahead of them and braked, causing Maura's car to smash into the back of his red truck. Then he put Maura in the trunk of the Saturn while Kathleen drove further only to get in the accident by the weathered barn. Following the accident, Maura and Kathleen were put in the truck. Maura's body is said to have ended up at a landfill in Mass.
Where did this narrative come from exactly? According to evidence emailed to me earlier today, it comes from several women on Facebook who claim to be friends with Kathleen - Noelle Hallstrom Pelillo, her daughter, Sara, and Melissa Bridges. Noelle was the moderator for a Maura Murray subreddit (she has trolled several people who have commented on the case). Melissa used to have a crime podcast and "befriended" Kathleen over Facebook.
While Noelle spun the narrative, Melissa seems to have kept to what she had heard directly.
Noelle has told people that this information was given to Julie Murray who instructed Melissa to go to the police.
I have a lot of problems with this theory, not the least of which is the time it takes to remove a body from a trunk and get it into a truck without being seen. And to then drive it into another state. I've met Tim Carpenter and the things he told me have checked out so far. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't be vetted like anyone else who knew Maura.
The danger of rumors like this is how fast they can be viewed as fact when people want a resolution. I think of the Lisa Pruett case and how a bunch of kids hijacked an investigation that nearly put an innocent man in prison. Here's a narrative started by an Internet troll as an idea that has now apparently progressed to police statements and calls for Art Roderick to assist the cold case unit on this lead.
We know the police took Kathleen's DNA to compare it to evidence found in Maura's abandoned car earlier this year. Now it seems we know why. It's important to remember that when crazy stories like this appear, they still have to do their due diligence to rule it out.
If you have any information about this case please contact the Cold Case Unit.
**UPDATE**
I took this post down yesterday at the request of several people, including Melissa. I'm putting it back up because I am concerned about what is planned with this info. They asked me to take it down because they were planning a sting operation on Kathleen outside the scope of official law enforcement.
As it was relayed to me by two different people involved in it, the plan was to send Melissa and Sara up to Vermont -both wearing a wire - to get Kathleen drunk and ask her about Tim. Why? Because the Cold Case Unit reportedly won't look further at Tim without probable cause to do so. A confession by Kathleen ostensibly would be that probable cause.
However, after sleeping on it and thinking about it, I am very concerned for the safety of the women involved in this illicit sting as well as Kathleen, herself. First of all, Kathleen once blew a .352 when she was driving drunk. That's brain-damage level of intoxication. These women could not possibly hope to drink her under the table. Added to that is the group Kathleen runs with up in Vermont, who are dangerous and unsavory people. Finally, what good is a confession if the subject is impaired. What defense attorney wouldn't love this case.
This is all kinds of bad. And there's a dozen scenarios that could have played out in Vermont that could have legitimately hurt people. People could have died.
I don't want to disappoint my friends for putting this post back up. And I honestly feel bad for making these Internet sleuths look bad. They're not bad people. I've certainly crossed the line a couple times with my approach to this case (and consider myself a recovering true crime addict). They mean well. But... what a clustercuss.
This is not the answer to the Maura Murray case. But I do believe it's finally moving in the right direction, as they consider scenarios in which Maura was not traveling alone, and possibly died at the hands of someone she knew.
The person who gave this statement was part of a Facebook group that has been discussing a scenario in which Tim Carpenter was responsible for what happened to Maura Murray.
The story that has taken on a life of its own online in recent days goes like this - Kathleen met Maura on Monday and Maura was driving her to a rehab facility in New Hampshire. But Tim Carpenter followed them to Rt. 112, where he raced ahead of them and braked, causing Maura's car to smash into the back of his red truck. Then he put Maura in the trunk of the Saturn while Kathleen drove further only to get in the accident by the weathered barn. Following the accident, Maura and Kathleen were put in the truck. Maura's body is said to have ended up at a landfill in Mass.
Where did this narrative come from exactly? According to evidence emailed to me earlier today, it comes from several women on Facebook who claim to be friends with Kathleen - Noelle Hallstrom Pelillo, her daughter, Sara, and Melissa Bridges. Noelle was the moderator for a Maura Murray subreddit (she has trolled several people who have commented on the case). Melissa used to have a crime podcast and "befriended" Kathleen over Facebook.
While Noelle spun the narrative, Melissa seems to have kept to what she had heard directly.
Noelle has told people that this information was given to Julie Murray who instructed Melissa to go to the police.
I have a lot of problems with this theory, not the least of which is the time it takes to remove a body from a trunk and get it into a truck without being seen. And to then drive it into another state. I've met Tim Carpenter and the things he told me have checked out so far. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't be vetted like anyone else who knew Maura.
The danger of rumors like this is how fast they can be viewed as fact when people want a resolution. I think of the Lisa Pruett case and how a bunch of kids hijacked an investigation that nearly put an innocent man in prison. Here's a narrative started by an Internet troll as an idea that has now apparently progressed to police statements and calls for Art Roderick to assist the cold case unit on this lead.
We know the police took Kathleen's DNA to compare it to evidence found in Maura's abandoned car earlier this year. Now it seems we know why. It's important to remember that when crazy stories like this appear, they still have to do their due diligence to rule it out.
If you have any information about this case please contact the Cold Case Unit.
**UPDATE**
I took this post down yesterday at the request of several people, including Melissa. I'm putting it back up because I am concerned about what is planned with this info. They asked me to take it down because they were planning a sting operation on Kathleen outside the scope of official law enforcement.
As it was relayed to me by two different people involved in it, the plan was to send Melissa and Sara up to Vermont -both wearing a wire - to get Kathleen drunk and ask her about Tim. Why? Because the Cold Case Unit reportedly won't look further at Tim without probable cause to do so. A confession by Kathleen ostensibly would be that probable cause.
However, after sleeping on it and thinking about it, I am very concerned for the safety of the women involved in this illicit sting as well as Kathleen, herself. First of all, Kathleen once blew a .352 when she was driving drunk. That's brain-damage level of intoxication. These women could not possibly hope to drink her under the table. Added to that is the group Kathleen runs with up in Vermont, who are dangerous and unsavory people. Finally, what good is a confession if the subject is impaired. What defense attorney wouldn't love this case.
This is all kinds of bad. And there's a dozen scenarios that could have played out in Vermont that could have legitimately hurt people. People could have died.
I don't want to disappoint my friends for putting this post back up. And I honestly feel bad for making these Internet sleuths look bad. They're not bad people. I've certainly crossed the line a couple times with my approach to this case (and consider myself a recovering true crime addict). They mean well. But... what a clustercuss.
This is not the answer to the Maura Murray case. But I do believe it's finally moving in the right direction, as they consider scenarios in which Maura was not traveling alone, and possibly died at the hands of someone she knew.