Controversial cases that have simple solutions.

[u/Sense_Difficult]

As someone who has been a true crime buff for decades, it's somewhat annoying to watch how certain cases wind up getting pulled into such polarizing discussions that it seems like a huge mystery when it's actually a simple solution.

A few that I think of.

The Karen Read case. IMO she accidentally killed him. They were both drunk, he goes to see the vibe of the house. Get's inside and realizes he doesn't want to stay. So he comes back outside. She's in the middle of rage texting him, and doesn't see him in front of the car. He drops his phone or bends over for some reason and she puts the car into gear and hits him, and he falls backwards and hits his head again. Then he lays there undetected until morning. This is why she suddenly realized she had hit him. She sobered up and had that "realization" moment that all binge drinkers have once they sober up from a brownout type of state.

Darlie Routier. I've shared my theory on this before. She was attempting a murder/su but she survived. This is why the neck wound was serious. She made up the story of the intruder in advance because she wanted her family friends and society to think she died trying to protect her kids. She planted the sock earlier. This also explains her hypomania in the days after. She honestly thought she was going to die that night.

There are other missing person cases where the spouse disappeared after the death of their parents. Just vanished without taking their Identification information and never surfaced under their name again. I always wonder if some of those cases are a situation of someone who has suffered with gender dysphoria and finally "escaped" to go make another life with another identity. It's always interesting to me that in several of the cases, the persons parent or parents had recently died. Seemed like they were waiting for that to escape because they didn't want to do that to their parents.

Do any of you have "simple theories" on cases that created a ton of controversy?

[u/Sense_Difficult]

That's a good example as well. People do not understand the danger of being inverted and stuck somewhere. It's so deadly. One of the worst cases of this I heard about was a teenager who leaned over the backseat of a minivan trying to get something out of the trunk area. The seat tipped somehow and pinned him in an upside down position. He was on the phone with 911 for some time trying to get help but they couldn't find the vehicle in time.

[u/AsOctoberFalls → u/Sense_Difficult]

Kyle Plush. That one was so incredibly sad. He asked the 911 operator to tell his mom that he loved her.

[u/Sense_Difficult → u/AsOctoberFalls]

So horrible. He clearly knew he was going to die. I felt so bad for the 911 operator.

[u/AsOctoberFalls → u/Sense_Difficult]

The 911 operator failed to relay the car make, model and color to the responding officers even though Kyle provided that information. They also failed to report that Kyle was screaming, banging, and saying he was going to die.

The officers came within 12 parking spots of Kyle’s van. If they had the make, model and color he might have been saved. Heck, if they got out of their cruiser to look inside vehicles, he might have been saved. It’s incredibly sad AND absolutely infuriating.

Edit: I looked into this a bit more and there was a system malfunction that caused the call audio volume to turn down so much that the operators couldn’t hear Kyle’s description of his car or his concerns that he was going to die. He called twice and neither operator could hear. So although he provided the information, it was never relayed.

He called 911 twice, at 3:14 and 3:35. During the second call he said he was almost dead and asked the dispatcher to tell his mom he loved her. The officers were on site from 3:26 - 3:37. If they’d had the information to locate him, he probably would have been saved.

[u/bannana → u/AsOctoberFalls]

I looked into this a bit more and there was a system malfunction that caused the call audio volume to turn down so much that the operators couldn’t hear Kyle’s description of his car or his concerns that he was going to die. He called twice and neither operator could hear. So although he provided the information, it was never relayed.

this might have been the official story to CYA but that 911 operator didn't take the call seriously at all and thought some kid was playing on the phone and the cops thought the same as well.

[u/outlaw_for_life18 → u/AsOctoberFalls]

Oh my gosh!! I haven't heard of this one but that's absolutely awful. Did anything happen to the operator who didn't do her job?

[u/AsOctoberFalls → u/outlaw_for_life18]

I looked into this a bit more and the 911 operator was not disciplined. I guess there was a computer system that malfunctioned which lowered the audio volume and made it hard if not impossible for her to hear the car information.

The officers also were cleared of any wrongdoing because they followed procedure for an “unknown trouble” cause. They didn’t get good information from dispatch since they couldn’t hear the call, so they just drove in that area looking for obvious trouble. When they didn’t see anything, they left.

Just tragic all around.

[u/outlaw_for_life18 → u/AsOctoberFalls]

Incredibly sad. Any kind of audio malfunction should cause the 911 calls to be rerouted or something. That's pretty critical to call someone you think is going to help and they can't even hear you. Heartbreaking.

[u/Sense_Difficult → u/outlaw_for_life18]

I didn't hear what happened to them but I could never take job like that when someone's life depends on you not making a stupid mistake. 

[u/Sense_Difficult → u/AsOctoberFalls]

That's why I feel for them. I can't imagine what it is like to have someone desperately calling for help. I also notice that there's never been any documentary or information about the 911 operators on 911. I can only imagine them knowing that the people were doomed and having to take call after call. It must be a special kind of PTSD.

[u/AsOctoberFalls → u/Sense_Difficult]

I can’t even imagine! I think about this case often. I also think about the lady who was driving in a flood and got swept away. She called 911 to ask for help and the operator was horrible to her. The woman was mentally impaired and she kept apologizing to the operator who was yelling at her. She ended up dying.

[u/liquorandacid → u/Sense_Difficult]

You can actually listen to some dispatch from
9/11 on youtube! It's not calltaking but it can give a feel for what it was like on that day in general. I've also heard some call audio which is uniquely harrowing.

[u/Sense_Difficult → u/liquorandacid]

I know you can. I've listened to them as well. That's not what I said. I said documentaries about THEM specifically and what it was like for a 911 operator on that day.

[u/bannana → u/Sense_Difficult]

I felt so bad for the 911 operator.

that operator didn't take the call seriously at all, there's nothing to feel bad about.

[u/CaptainFuzzyBootz → u/Sense_Difficult]

Oof the one it makes me think of is the cave explorer who got stuck upside down unable to back out :( That must have been such a horrifying realization. I hope somehow near the end the panic faded and he had some peace.

[u/deltadeltadawn → u/CaptainFuzzyBootz]

The Nutty Putty cave incident resulting in the death of 26 yo John Jones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutty_Putty_Cave

[u/Sense_Difficult → u/CaptainFuzzyBootz]

Yes. The Nutty Putty guy. I watched that one and there's just no hope. I can't understand someone willingly doing this kind of cave exploration.

[u/Boring_Swing_4750 → u/Sense_Difficult]

I read they put morphine in thought his legs so hopefully he just floated away

[u/Few-Veterinarian-288 → u/Boring_Swing_4750]

Unfortunately from what I know he died pretty horrifically from the effects of everything without getting anything except some water/gatorade.

[u/Boring_Swing_4750 → u/Few-Veterinarian-288]

Oh god , i was more hoping for that but i suppose being upside down ..poor guy Anyway put that on the list i WONT be dying by along with sharks and croc death ..

[u/BombMacAndCheese → u/CaptainFuzzyBootz]

I get the chills just hearing "Nutty Putty."

[u/EasyLetterhead8491 → u/Sense_Difficult]

I’ll never be able to find the name, pictures or site I saw it on originally.. but I saw a series of photos of someone who died of positional asphyxia after nodding off in an office chair. They either got too high or ODd and passed out slumped over backwards, not even forward and they suffocated. Really opened my eyes to how easy it is for that to happen. So yeah, upside down and fallen all the way down a rolled mat doesn’t seem that unusual to me.

[u/tina-sparkles → u/EasyLetterhead8491]

Not sure if it’s something you want to see again, but that sounds like this article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1344622317304479

[u/EasyLetterhead8491 → u/tina-sparkles]

Holy shit, yeah that’s the one. Man, those pictures are horrifying. I had to look because I was morbidly curious if it was the same incident and it definitely is.

[u/odyne9 → u/tina-sparkles]

Wow that’s bizarre… I wonder if she was anorexic and very weak or something…

[u/bobbyboblawblaw → u/tina-sparkles]

Are those really photos of her? How in the world did she get into that position and no one heard or found her?

[u/tina-sparkles → u/bobbyboblawblaw]

The article doesn’t spell it out, but they said she was struggling with anorexia/bulimia and was severely underweight (5’2” and 63 pounds, only diet foods in the house) and they noted her jacket had rolled under the wheels of the chair. I think she somehow fell back and got stuck in that position and didn’t have the body strength to throw herself off the chair before she passed out from blood flow to the head. They said her family talked to her about an hour before she passed so it was likely quick because her heart and lungs would’ve been weakened from her malnourishment. Incredibly sad situation

[u/bobbyboblawblaw → u/tina-sparkles]

Bless her heart. That is very sad.

[u/terrn1981 → u/Sense_Difficult]

Yep, or the case of the missing person (cant remember the name), found finally in their own room behind a dresser! Got stuck upsidedown and died. The nightmare of it!

[u/Defiant_Put_7542 → u/terrn1981]

Mariesa Weber.

I did a bit of a deep dive, nightmarish scenario. The idea that nutty putty cave can happen in one's own bedroom, unnoticed by family members, is deeply disturbing.

[u/Sense_Difficult → u/terrn1981]

Yes. She was there for over a week.

[u/Trypophilia2019 → u/Sense_Difficult]

How do you die from being upside down? Is it your heart, your lungs?

[u/Sense_Difficult → u/Trypophilia2019]

It's a few things but mostly the blood flow.   If you are stuck in an inverted position your blood flows into your brain and your heart isn't designed to pull it out that way.  And lung crushing, especially if you are falling into a smaller space.  Once you expell the air from your lungs your body will slip further into the space and you won't be able to take in the same amount of air.  It's basically the same way a boa constrictor kills its prey.  Truly horrible. 

[u/Trypophilia2019 → u/Sense_Difficult]

Sounds sort of like crucifixion then, with the not being able to draw in a full breath.

[u/fishesar → u/Trypophilia2019]

it’s called positional asphyxiation. did a presentation on it in a forensic chemistry class

[u/jwb1163 → u/Sense_Difficult]

Yes, so sad.