"This appears…"

If you’re not aware of the man who has been arrested and charged with murdering a young girl with plans to eat her, go to the link.

In the linked article is this quote:

“Regarding a potential motive,” Purcell Police Chief David Tompkins said Saturday, “this appears to have been part of a plan to kidnap a person, rape them, torture them, kill them, cut off their head, drain the body of blood, rape the corpse, eat the corpse then dispose of the organs and bones.”

This “appears” to be the case? How many cases similar to this does this police chief see? It seems they know some terribly specific details to have it only “appear.”

Of course, this quote probably falls into the same category as expecting athletes to have something lucid and cogent to say at the end of the game. The police chief’s expertise is crime, not public speaking, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

But, my first read of that sentence was, “Huh?”

Comments

3 responses to “"This appears…"”

  1. psychowoof Avatar
    psychowoof

    See, I missed that when I first read the article.

    Although I did think it sounded a bit odd, I chalked it up to the “we don’t have a statement from the suspect at this time” type talk you hear often in police/court dealings. If the guy didn’t fess up to this plan, and there’s no hard evidence (like a diary/conversation) to support the plan, at this time, it’s speculation regarding the plan.

    Damn, I spend too much time with my CJ (criminal justice) kids.

  2. zerj Avatar
    zerj

    This reminds me when news reporters use “allegedly” after the conviction. I see that one way to often. If the criminal is found guilty I don’t think allegedly is appropriate anymore. Are they really that afraid of a slander suit? Their shouldn’t be any liability since they can just point to the legal court verdict.

  3. Bill Avatar

    When the Atlanta Courthouse shootings happened a year ago, they didn’t start using the term “alleged” for at least two days. All the reports were, “Brian Nichols shot and killed…”

    At the time I wondered what happened to Alleged? Never fear, it was back quickly.

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