Car fire set off suspicions as crew fought it (Smith Tennesee License Scandal)

GoMemphis ^ | 15 Feb 2002 | By Bill Dries

[illstillbe]

A meaty bone for you to chew on *ping* to you Dog.

[Dog]

Kellett said two "bubble spots" on the back of the trunk indicate arson. "Something was pushing the fire. It was focusing it in a direction."

Someone explain how this fire was "pushed"...

[weegee]

PING - more details (this from the fire fighters on the scene on the crime).

[okie01]

Somebody went to a lot of trouble to make it "look" like an accident: moving vehicle leaves road, hits pole, burns up, cremates driver.

Yet, it so obviously wasn't an accident.

One wonders why they bothered. Why not a simple bullet-in-the-head execution?

The method itself raises questions concerning the motivation.

[JackelopeBreeder]

"We would spray an area that normally would go out, but it would keep catching back. That gives you a feeling that there was something there."

Sounds like Willey Pete -- white phosphorus. I think the only way to put that out is to totally remove all exposure to oxygen.

[null and void]

Without withnesses, the car would have had time to totally burn before the FD showed up. By then it wouldn't be clear where the fire started, how long it burned, and the accelerant would have burned off so it would extinguish normally. No-one would know it was on fire before it hit the pole. Just one more of the 50,000 people killed in a traffic accident in any given year...

[weegee]

Person(s) unfamiliar with modern forensic science?

[weegee]

This fire was intense. Could something like that be at risk of burning itself out if the fire grows too large, too quickly?

[Shermy]

Interesting.

Im inclined to think the pole wasn't part of a staging. Merely the thing that stopped the car which was slowing down anyway.

Perhaps the contraption intended to blow up the gas tank too, which might give a better cover story as an accident. But this didn't happen.

[okie01]

But this was a well-travelled highway. There was little liklihood that it would burn out before attracting attention.

[Dog]

I really want to think that this was caused by something out of this Ladies past other than this possible terrorist connection....

Because.....

This is truly chilling if this pans out to be connected to the 5 in jail. It would mean we have a sleeper cell in Tenn with possible New York connections who just told us they will go to any length to stay hidden...

Chilling!

[xm177e2]

One wonders why they bothered. Why not a simple bullet-in-the-head execution?

Obviously, they thought they could get away with it. Which means they aren't so smart. But they are ruthless, and they're still nearby.

[Dog]

This happened a 12:30 am ...midnight...might not have been any traffic...

[weegee]

As the inspector in Plan 9 From Outer Space said,"(she's) dead. Murdered! And somebody's responsible!"

Whoever botched this job may not be long for this world himself.

[Dog]

Anyone answer this .....

How hot would this fire have to get to burn her arms and legs off??

[null and void]

A few minutes delay in getting help might have been enough. If as the previous poster said had the gas tank had gone, the damage would be much less suspicious. Perhaps a bad timer/detonator set it off at a less than perfect time.

It pretty clearly wasn't an accident.

With slightly different timing, or hitting, say, an oncoming car it sure would have looked like one.

We're not dealing with nice people here...

[null and void]

Yup. That's exactly what it means...

[okie01]

"Perhaps the contraption intended to blow up the gas tank too..."

"Contraption." My thought, too.

The idea of Molotov cocktail thrown from another car makes no sense. How do you throw one inside a moving car, especially with the windows up (as I presume they were)?

Somebody would have had to waylay the lady, render her unconscious, douse her and the car with gasoline or some other accelerant, then rig it with some kind of device.

Then, and only then, move the car to this particular stretch of highway, start it rolling, bail out and activate the device.

The process requires at least one confederate...and some preparation time. I wonder where and when the lady was last seen alive...

[okie01]

"This happened a 12:30 am ...midnight...might not have been any traffic..."

Six witnesses saw the car leave the road.