Where is MAURA MURRAY

III.
RE: The puzzling lack of breakage.
Whenever I’ve purchased booze, the clerk always places it in a brown paper sack and I believe most states require them to do so.
Question: When did Maura transfer the booze to her backpack? In the store? If she did it in the car, did she do it immediately after returning to the car, or did she wait until after the accident?
Observation: The box of Franzia wine was discovered on the seat behind the driver’s seat. I usually place a sack containing bottles of booze on the floor behind the driver’s seat. If Maura planned to sip mudslides during the drive north, she needed to have access to all three bottles to mix a mudslide. Therefore, she would have wanted to have easy access to them and would have placed the sack containing them within reach on the front passenger seat next to her or on the floor in front of it. She would not have transferred the bottles to her backpack unless she left it open and could reach the bottles without messing with zippers or cords.
Question: What container did she use to drink a mudslide? Could it have been the Coke bottle that Sgt Smith found beneath the Saturn at the accident site? A bottle isn’t an ideal container in which to add the ingredients for a mixed drink because of the small opening through which you have to separately pour each ingredient. Tough to do while driving, especially in the dark. If she did not use the bottle, perhaps it was introduced to the scene by another person. She took the booze, so if she did use the bottle, why didn’t she take it with her?

IV.
RE: the accident.
We know the impact caused the box of wine to split and splatter all over the inside of the car.
Question: What happened to the bottles, however? How did they survive the accident without breaking? Were they made of plastic? Were they in the backpack and cushioned from the impact by clothing surrounding them?
Question: If they were in the backpack, how did she re-pack the bottles after each drink? While driving after dark? And what about the tops or caps? How did she manage to unscrew each top, pour just the right amount into a container, retrieve the top, screw it back on, and replace the bottle cushioned just right in the backpack and repeat the process with the other two bottles while driving in the dark without losing a bottle top, or spilling booze all over her?
Question: Did she drink any booze at all on the trip?
Question: Sgt Smith has claimed that the SBD said the driver was so intoxicated that she had to steady her balance by placing her hand on the car. The SBD has since denied that he said she was intoxicated. Assuming the SBD did tell Smith that the driver was intoxicated, is it possible that he formed that conclusion based on the odor coming from the split box of Franzia wine since Maura, or the person impersonating her would have been drenched in wine? Is it also possible that the accident and the impact from the airbag knocked her silly and that is why she may have appeared unsteady on her feet? Was she even standing on level ground when she got out of the car? Wasn’t she standing on icy snow? Could she have slipped?
Conclusion: There is no convincing evidence that the driver of the Saturn consumed any alcohol during the trip north.

V.
Recommendation regarding critically important and necessary forensic analysis.

1. Dust the bottle for fingerprints and swab the mouth for residual saliva and DNA testing.

2. Dust the area of the Saturn for a palm print where the SBD saw the driver place her hand when she leaned on it for support.

3. Dust the steering wheel of the Saturn for fingerprints.

4. Dust for prints the area of the lid on the trunk where the person who opened and shut the trunk would have touched it.

5. Dust the connectors on the cigarette lighter cell phone charger for thumb and index fingerprints.

6. Swab the airbag for dried saliva and DNA test the swab.

7. Dust the airbag for fingerprints because the driver would have grabbed it to get it out of her way to get out of the car.

8. Check the receipt from the liquor store for Maura’s thumb and forefinger fingerprint using the ninhydrin process.

VI.
The results of the forensic tests that I have proposed should definitively settle the issue regarding the identity of the person driving the Saturn.

Snowy White wrote:

Bill ~
Agree that the concern is about possible impairment.
At the same time, her previous crash wasn't alcohol-related, even at 2:30AM...which speaks to some mature judgment.
therefore
Her transporting alcohol doesn't prove she was drinking it prior to her arrival from Amherst to Woodsville (assuming she made the journey at all).
To believe she had been drinking before crashing in Woodsville (or thereabouts) would also mean she'd have to have been drinking while driving.
If that were so, her driving would have been noticeably compromised before her arrival in Woodsville. Yes?

You need to remember that someone doesn’t need to be falling down sloppy drunk to be compromised or driving illegally. So I would say no to your question about being noticeably compromised in Woodsville. That doesn’t mean that a breathalyzer or field test wouldn’t have shown there was a problem. In many jurisdictions (most?) just having an open container in a vehicle is a chargeable violation.

I have always assumed that Maura wasn’t drunk at the accident in MA. Can’t prove it, but nothing in the report of that night indicates it as far as I know. Having an accident right after a night out with the girls is remarkably suspicious. It also wouldn’t’ be the first time a pretty girl got a pass from an officer for a violation but there is nothing to show otherwise.

Bill

Mason wrote:

We know the impact caused the box of wine to split and splatter all over the inside of the car.

I don't believe we "know" that. I believe that is speculation based upon some tests that someone said showed it could have possibly broken from the impact. Maybe some of the old forum people can speak to this.

Bill

Mason wrote:

Sgt Smith has claimed that the SBD said the driver was so intoxicated that she had to steady her balance by placing her hand on the car. The SBD has since denied that he said she was intoxicated.

I don't know where SBD says that she was intoxicated. I don't even know if he said that at all. Maybe the SBD said "she had to steady her balance by placing her hand on the car." He may or may not have said anything about her being intoxicated. I wonder if that was one of those things people screwed up. Other evidence still points to drinkning while driving.

Apparent physical condition in the report lists that she had been drinking. Why the officer listed that I don't know but it is in his report. The officers report also lists in plain sight behind the drivers seat a box of Franzia wine. He could also see red liquid on the drives side door and ceiling. Hea also found a coke bottle that contained a red liquid with a strong alchoholic odor.

2+2+2=6?

sorry meant to say:

2+2+2=?

I come up with 6, others??? I know I shouldn't lead like that.

Bill

I don't know if this is relevant or not, but has anyone talked about the fact that there is a city called Haverhill in MA that is around 20 miles from Londonderry, NH?

WTF-the-original wrote:

<quoted text>
I don't believe we "know" that. I believe that is speculation based upon some tests that someone said showed it could have possibly broken from the impact. Maybe some of the old forum people can speak to this.
Bill

I found the following in the Maribeth Conway article.

"The box [of Franzia] was damaged, perhaps in the accident, and reddish spots resembling wine were also found on the road, according to investigator John Healy."

WTF-the-original wrote:

<quoted text>
I don't believe we "know" that. I believe that is speculation based upon some tests that someone said showed it could have possibly broken from the impact. Maybe some of the old forum people can speak to this.
Bill

More from Conway's article:

"While later reports would suggest that a witness observed Maura intoxicated at the time of the accident, the source of that information is unclear. Circumstantial evidence suggests Maura may have been drinking wine prior to the crash, but Butch Atwood confirmed to a reporter for this story that Maura did not appear intoxicated when he spoke with her."

"A N.H. State Police "synopsis" released by Lt. John Scarinza four months later, painted a different view of their encounter: "When the passerby stated that he was going to call local law enforcement to come assist, Maura pleaded with him not to call police."

I agree that there isn't any convincing evidence that Maura had been drinking on the drive north.

Mason wrote:

<quoted text>
I found the following in the Maribeth Conway article.
"The box [of Franzia] was damaged, perhaps in the accident, and reddish spots resembling wine were also found on the road, according to investigator John Healy."

It was never clear to me if the box, usually with a plastic bladder was breached or not. The box could be broken relatively easily but breeching the bladder would be much more difficult. I was always under the impression that she was holding the open coke bottle while driving and that is what splashed on the headliner and door. I could be wrong but, that is how I pictured things in my head.

Bill

hi all, umaass track had a big meet febot 04.it satarted at 11 a.m. Kate Markopouolos was there and ran. i am assuming she made it back to Amherst to join mrMurray and Maura for dinner.If Maura did email her teachers and bosse how would she know for sure that the story would not get back to a friend or someone and would not call her at home.Were her friends in on it her leaving .Someone posted that a death in the family is the only way to miss anything in nursing school.Has anyone here ever bailed on school .I am wondering what the process is .Does the school give you some kind of consent form for your teachers so grades are not affected and you can make up the work.Was this ever started.It was reported that her friends were worried about her not being in class before she was declared mising.take care philip

WTF-the-original wrote:

<quoted text>
It was never clear to me if the box, usually with a plastic bladder was breached or not. The box could be broken relatively easily but breeching the bladder would be much more difficult. I was always under the impression that she was holding the open coke bottle while driving and that is what splashed on the headliner and door. I could be wrong but, that is how I pictured things in my head.
Bill

You may be right, but did how it end up under the car? Was it between her legs and when she pivoted her lower body to get out of the car, it fell out of the car as she stood up? Certainly possible and just as possible that she did not notice that it had fallen, particularly if it rolled under the car, which implies a slope of some sort that also might explain her reaching out with her hand to steady herself, if in fact that happened.
I'm hoping, however, that there are prints on the bottle that do not match her prints. That gives us a suspect to investigate regarding her disappearance.

The problem is her car remained unlocked - so any prints coudl be from anyone that was curious about the case. I am certain whatever prints the police have they wont release for years. Look at the Adam Walsh case - they thought he was the killer since 97 - and just now confirming - after the killer is dead.

In the past, I recall we tried all sorts of 'experiments' with a box of wine to see how easy-or difficult - it would be to break. IIRC, one of the forum members went as far as dropping a box from the roof of his house and that didn't even break the bladder. IMO, I don't see how the heck a box of wine would break in this sort of accident unless a sharp flying object had enough velocity behind it to puncture the box. Maybe apples to oranges but I was rear-rended by a drunk going 40mph, I was at a dead stop. I had 4 bottles of champagne lying "freely" in my trunk; trunk was pushed into my backseat...not one bottle was even slightly damaged!(yes - I was thrilled LOL)

Dawn wrote:

The problem is her car remained unlocked - so any prints coudl be from anyone that was curious about the case. I am certain whatever prints the police have they wont release for years. Look at the Adam Walsh case - they thought he was the killer since 97 - and just now confirming - after the killer is dead.

Dawn,

Maura locked the car. The cops didn't get inside until the next day when they executed the search warrant.

Fortunately, Sgt Smith wouldn't let anyone near the car, including the Fire Dept and EMTs, or they might have contaminated the scene. This means the Coke bottle might yield some interesting evidence.

Hopefully they seized and tested the evidence that I recommended before they released the car.

People who have criticized Sgt Smith for not allowing the EMT and fire personnel to get near the car criticized him unjustly because he did exactly what any trained police officer would have done.

ScooterD wrote:

In the past, I recall we tried all sorts of 'experiments' with a box of wine to see how easy-or difficult - it would be to break. IIRC, one of the forum members went as far as dropping a box from the roof of his house and that didn't even break the bladder. IMO, I don't see how the heck a box of wine would break in this sort of accident unless a sharp flying object had enough velocity behind it to puncture the box. Maybe apples to oranges but I was rear-rended by a drunk going 40mph, I was at a dead stop. I had 4 bottles of champagne lying "freely" in my trunk; trunk was pushed into my backseat...not one bottle was even slightly damaged!(yes - I was thrilled LOL)

You're the only person I know of who was rear ended while stopped by someone going 40 mph and associated the word "thrilled" to that experience. You are my new hero.

Seriously, I understand why you did. I also would have.

I can just imagine the scene when folks were testing boxes of wine. Now that has to be one of the finest moments in the long and storied history of scientific experiments.

White Wash wrote:

Sorry FireCat doesn't fit the MO that the Murrays
are stating!
Close Family!
Talked to Mom every night!
Sister daily!
Father close!
So for her to up and leave just doesn't fit!
But Billy stated that Fred didn't know they where "engaged to be engaged"
I don't see her taking off without calling her
family of course someone speaking to her last
probably would know that she was struggling.
<quoted text>

WhiteWash, I have to respectively disagree. I always was close to my family, always spoke to at least one of them daily, HOWEVER, they had not a clue as to several serious problems in my life during my 20's & 30's...and yes, taking off for a couple days I did indeed for reasons probably not "acceptable." I just always came up with a reason as to why I "wasn't around" when they tried calling me.

Can anyone tell me...are we absolutely sure there wasn't another drinking container, i.e. cup, glass, etc, found in Maura's car?

I am curious. What if we petioned the Govenor? I already sent a letter through the website to Mr. Lynch. I just think we can speculate all day - we need action. Any advice for those of you have been here a long time?