I've always thought, from the killers point of view, he probably thought he got lucky acutally. They were riding together, and the police determined that he came up behind her and knocked her in the head with something. I'm thinking she fell, and her foot stuck on it's own. The horse may or may not have run off on it's own, no one knows the guy killed himself in jail.
The story goes, he then just went home, and then that night after midnight he went back out to find her. When he did he says the horse was standing still but she was still hanging from the stirrup. he got her off, then went to the closest house, (it was after midnight), and called for help. The story was told on the morning news radio that an unidentified woman on a horse was killed, and the gave the area of the accident which is why people thought it was me.
This guy, before we realized he had done it, told us the back of her head was gound off from being drug, brains leaking out, IF that is true,it drug her a ways I would say. What I have heard about what tipped the police off that the guys story might not be true, is there was blood on the opposite side of the horse and saddle from the side she fell too.
I have a feeling he didn't think about the horse dragging her to death till it happened as it did.
Becky
OK - having it happen 'by accident' when they were both out riding sounds a lot more plausible to me than setting it up. I had it wrong in my head, that he was home when he killed her, and tried to set it up so the horse would drag her off. I pictured that not going very well.