The police treated Terri's case as they do other cases. There was no evidence of foul play hence no intensive investigation. People are felled for unknown reasons quite frequently. And they are almost never murdered.
I doubt that Michael "lied" to the police at all. His story may have changed as he considered things or he could have not been accurate initially given the stress of the event. But neither of those involve "lying".
He told them all was sweetness and light between him and Terri on the very day they had had a huge brawl. That is not the confusion of the moment. That is a lie.
Think about that. Why would he deny they were fighting?
There was a nearly lifeless body face down on the floor. That would be evidence of foul play, wouldn't you think?
Terri's bloodwork showed two different tests indicative of violence but no natural cause for her injuries. That is strong evidence of foul play. But the two policemen closed their report in one hour and never even checked with the ER for a medical report on Terri.
>> People are felled for unknown reasons quite frequently.
Not if investigators, medical facilities and coroners make an effort to find what happened.
>> And they are almost never murdered.
Where do you get this stuff? The leading causes of death and injury to young women are 1) domestic violence, and 2) auto wrecks [only a nudge behind]. No other cause comes even close.
It is because violence is the leading cause of death to young women that it has to be eliminated as a possibility before you even think of looking elsewhere (Occam's razor). It certainly was not eliminated in Terri's case. Don't forget her abnormal blood tests, and don't forget that her bone scan was positive for multiple traumas.
Did they, now. In the next sentence, you yourself admit there was "no intensive investigation." One crummy hour on the scene hardly qualifies as an investigation at all. There was no forensic work done at the site, or anywhere. No follow-up on medical tests. No interviews with Terri's family and friends. No checking of Michael's statements.
On top of everything else, the original report was somehow destroyed, they say, and they recreated it, they say, but we have only one man's say-so, unsworn, that this was an "exact copy" of the original. The report is so compromised, it could not even be admitted into court. And so measly, it wouldn't be of any use anyway. In a word, this "investigation" and a couple of bucks will get you a cup of ghetto latte at Starbucks.