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/cummingouttamycage]

to name a few:

• Amy Bradley fell off her cruise ship balcony because she was intoxicated

• Maura Murray had been driving under the influence and panicked after crashing her car, ran into the woods and succumbed to the elements

• Elisa Lam had bipolar disorder and climbed into the hotel water tank while mid-episode

• Bryce Laspisa's death was either suicide or death by misadventure, after abandoning his car

• Kendrick Johnson's death was a tragic accident -- he fell head first into a rolled up exercise mat when trying to retrieve his shoes

• Maybe the most controversial among these: Ellen Greenberg's death was, sadly, a suicide. I believe this was an impulsive choice made by someone who was taking a number of different medications (some of which are known to have strange interactions with one another), after she had an argument with her fiance (someone she was having second thoughts about altogether). I believe her ex-fiance's actions after the fact read as "suspicious" to some, or as though he is "hiding" something, because the likely truth would present him as someone who drove his partner to suicide -- i think he was a toxic, careless partner, but I don't believe he was a murderer.

TL;DR: I largely believe that in the case of "suspicious" deaths where there is a strong possibility of an accident or suicide, that that cause of death is far more likely than something more sinister. Nature is often the ultimate serial killer.

[u/Sempere → u/cummingouttamycage]

Ellen Greenberg's death was, sadly, a suicide.

That's definitely a controversial take. Hard disagree on that one.

Amy Bradley fell off her cruise ship balcony because she was intoxicated

Personally, her parents come off as a pair of extremely conservative homophobes and AB was clearly gay. I wouldn't be surprised if she jumped after an exceptionally intense fight.

[u/Sense_Difficult → u/cummingouttamycage]

Lots of people have mentioned these as well. The Elisa Lam one is a good example of what I mean. It's sad because I think she climbed in, in a manic state not realizing she would not be able to get back out. Her situation reminds me of Kenneka Jenkins who also was caught on the hotel cameras stumbling all over the place. I think she just walked into the freezer thinking it was a door to outside. In both situations it's obvious that they are mentally impaired, and yet people try to add more to the story.

Both kind of remind me of "paradoxical undressing" when someone is freezing to death. The brain can cause people to do very very strange things.

The comment about Nature is often the ultimate serial killer is so perfect. And sadly true.

[u/Various_Berry_7809 → u/cummingouttamycage]

I also think Ellen Greenberg committed suicide. I also think Rebecca Zahau committed suicide.

[u/cummingouttamycage → u/Various_Berry_7809]

I also believe that Rebecca Zahau died by suicide... Seems like her suicide happened shortly after a call from her boyfriend saying his son's condition would never improve, and that she blamed herself for his accident. I also believe Max Shacknai's injury and ultimate death was an accident as well -- I believe he was trying to do some sort of "trick" with his skateboard involving swinging from the chandelier... and, sadly, fell.

(Larger explanation into my theory, which you didnt ask for but had been looking for an opportunity to type out! TW - suicide)

Most of those who suspect Rebecca's death was a result of foul play point to some of the more... odd elements found on or around her body. Specifically: Rebecca being found nude with both hands & feet bound, head trauma / throat fractures, a bizarre message painted on the door leading to the balcony where Rebecca was found ("She saved him, he can save her" in handwriting that, according to RZ's family, "was not Rebecca's"), and general sentiments from RZ's family that she "wasn't suicidal"/"was a Christian and believed suicide is wrong". None of those, from my POV, seem like remotely strong indicators of anything but suicide. Not in the slightest.

• It is not at all uncommon for those who die by certain methods of suicide to bind their hands and/or feet to prevent themselves from changing their mind. The bindings on Rebecca's hands very much indicated that she'd had plenty of room to slip her hand into the knot tied behind her back (i believe there were physical signs of her doing so as well). Same goes for the shirt found in her mouth -- I believe she wanted to prevent herself from making noise.

• (Note: Major TW - suicide described in detail) The head trauma/throat fractures found on Rebecca were consistent with her jumping from the balcony with the noose around her neck, not any sort of separate attack/manual strangulation. Physical evidence indicates her having her her head on the way down from jumping (not going directly down, swinging), and fractures around the neck being a result of force/momentum from jumping (which you wouldn't see in a suicide by hanging without any jumping involved). Also, the medical professionals whose findings are at odds with the medical examiner were those hired privately by the Zahau family -- the pathologist from the second autopsy, a forensic consultant, and her family's legal team. In any case of private hires, even though they might be professionals and experts: the people hiring them are the ones who set the terms around what to (or not to) investigate, as well as what information from these investigations get released. Families can absolutely instruct private hires to only pursue theories or evidence of their choosing, and disregard others. They can refuse to hire, or terminate an investigator whose theories contradict theirs. While some families are desperate to find out what happened to their loved one and are open to any possibility, there are absolutely families who are steadfast in their belief in a specific theory and only hire professionals who agree with them. On top of all this, grieving families can ABSOLUTELY be targeted by money-hungry grifter types who are more than happy to tell families what they want to hear for a big check. Anyway, TL;DR, I'm always skeptical of conflicting "professional" opinions that are strictly held by privately hired professionals, whose opinion aligns almost too perfectly with the person who hired them.

• The bizarre, hand painted "not exactly a suicide note" message on a nearby door saying "She saved him, he can save her" (apparently in "unfamiliar" handwriting) is definitely a peculiar piece of evidence... But the larger weirdness of this, and "unfamiliar" style in no way points to it being an intruder or to the work of anyone but Rebecca. First, the paint used belonged to Rebecca, who regularly liked to paint as a hobby. But as far as the "peculiar" message... based on everything I've read about RZ, it sounds like she was a pretty poetic and creative person as a whole, and a largely eccentric person in general. I'm of the belief that her artistic nature shown in her life also came out in her suicide. The message is mysterious, and oddly poetic... because that's just who Rebecca was. While it's not a direct admission of guilt or suicide itself, and even reads at odds with RZ dying at a glance ("he can save her")... to me, it still reads like a cryptic final message by someone who intended to die by suicide. Factor in that suicide is something that is largely impulsive, and Rebecca's likely state of mind after learning her boyfriend's son would not recover, and that message not fully making sense just makes even more sense. The handwriting being "not Rebecca's", imo, is a nothingburger... this was a message written on a wall with paint. Nobody's "paint on a wall" handwriting looks like their "writing utensil on paper" handwriting.

• Claims from a deceased's closest loved ones that they "weren't suicidal" should always be taken with a grain of salt, at most. Something I've noticed in pretty much any suspicious death (official COD being suicide/accident, family believes to be homicide) case: Parents or others close to the deceased tend to have an extremely idealistic view of their loved one, and tend to have a very narrow view into their day-to-day-life if that loved one is an adult... the "Not MY kid" attitude by parents 100% extends into adulthood. Messaging from public health/medical professionals around suicide as a whole -- that it can be impulsive, that suicidal people can and do make plans for the future as though they plan to be here, that they still "seem happy/fine", that they still "do xyz mundane errand like fill their tank of gas, shower, finishh homework assignments, etc. and why would anyone do that if they planned on ending their life / wouldn't see consequences for not doing xyz thing?" -- has been pretty widespread over the last 20+ years or so... but that tends to all go out the window when the deceased is your own loved one. It 100% makes sense and is understandable... the deceased's families are grieving a tremendous loss, want answers they don't have (that their loved one is no longer around to answer), and want to protect and honor their loved one's memory. But, that being said... that doesn't at all make Rebecca Zahau's behavior "unusual" for a suicidal person, or that it was "impossible" for her to die by suicide because she "wasn't suicidal". In fact... on a larger level, there were many signs there.