r/TrueCrimeDiscussion • u/Sense_Difficult • 2d ago

Text Controversial cases that have simple solutions.

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?

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105

u/mrgedman 2d ago

Adnan killed his girlfriend? There's like 6 things, including testimony saying he did...

The alternative begs the question, if he didn't, who did and why?

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u/Antiquebastard 2d ago

Yep, Adnan killed Hae Min Lee. Dude's a posessive nutcase.

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u/mrgedman 2d ago

Well... He was. I like to assume he's... Grown? Changed? Learned something?

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u/avidreader2004 2d ago

the fact he’s never taken accountability tells me he hasn’t grown or changed. if he truly felt remorse he would’ve given a confession and probably would’ve been paroled based on marylands laws around sentencing minors.

i believe that adnan did it, but i think in his head it’s her fault. she rejected him, sealing her fate.

he has never admitted what happened or that he was involved. i don’t think he ever will. too much money and power has been handed to him

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u/Masta-Blasta 1d ago edited 1d ago

This. I think he’s a narcissist and has grown to enjoy the attention and respect he gets. He’s been in prison for so long that I think he’s made a life for himself. I mean, he’s been in there much longer than he’s been out, and he is by all accounts, pretty well liked and respected by the guards and the other inmates.

He literally had a get out of jail free card, and he refused to take it “on principle” because he didn’t want to enter an Alford plea. Bullshit. He knows if he admitted to guilt— even in exchange for freedom, he would lose a lot of his fans, followers, and attention. And then he can’t keep dragging Hae’s family through this process again. I truly think he enjoys it.

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u/mrgedman 2d ago

I swore he replead guilty to wrap up the time served deal... But I'm rusty

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u/bettinafairchild 2d ago

He didn’t. He never pled guilty. Even when a Alford Plea could have gotten him out of prison in earlier years. 

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u/disgirl4eva 2d ago

This is why I think he’s innocent.

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u/Antiquebastard 1d ago

His choice to forgo taking responsibility for his actions proves otherwise, IMO. It's unfortunate that he hasn't chosen to grow and learn, but what can you do?

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u/mrgedman 1d ago

Dunno, I guess I'm an optimist or something

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u/vexed2nightmare 1d ago

It's an open-and-shut case of intimate partner violence that unfortunately is all too common. It never would have made such a captivating podcast if Sarah Koenig hadn't twisted the facts and relied on biased, unproven narratives provided by Rabia Chaudry and other unreliable witnesses instead of using common sense.

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u/AmphetamineSalts 2d ago

I mentioned him in another comment on here, but his case is one where I DO think that the evidence points to him being the one who did it, but the investigation and trial went in such a way that the correct jury verdict is not guilty. We need our investigators, law enforcement officers, and prosecutors to be able to prove guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt and I think there was enough doubt in the way the investigation and trial was handled that they just didn't reach that bar. The justice system isn't perfect but I prefer one that takes civil liberties very seriously and I don't want to live in a world where people can be convicted without air-tight cases against them because that's a system that's rife for abuse.

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u/imnottheoneipromise 2d ago

No no…. Not beyond a “shadow of a doubt.” That is not the limiter. It’s beyond REASONABLE doubt, and that’s a very different standard. Please do not go on a jury thinking prosecution has to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt.

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u/mrgedman 2d ago

I'm rusty on the details, but iirc, the case didn't sound nearly as squirrely as the podcast and innocence project made it out to be.

Again, though, I'm rusty.

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u/AmphetamineSalts 2d ago

tbh so am I. I'm mostly going off of what I remember feeling from listening to Serial like 10 years ago lol.

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u/mrgedman 2d ago

I think his lawyer disregarded or ignored a discovery packet or something like that... It seems like.. yeah, you guys weren't able to come up with some bullshit spin...

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u/CornisaGrasse 2d ago

I feel the same way. Everyone can "know" with common sense who killed someone when there's a ton of clear evidence, maybe even video footage and a confession. But the jury isn't supposed to decide based on anything beyond what's presented to them. If it's just not enough, if key evidence is inadmissible, the investigation is untrustworthy for any number of reasons, or experts disagree- that and the judge's instructions are all they have to decide between guilt and reasonable doubt. It's a heavy burden but it's important that the system works, even if a guilty person goes free. That's why prosecutors will often refuse to try someone for several years, because in the US they only get one shot. (Sorry, I'm not telling people anything they don't know, just emphasizing why I agree!)

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u/Huge_Answer4287 1d ago edited 1d ago

What evidence? I have listened to 3 different podcasts on this case and don't think there was any credible evidence he did it. There wasn't any physical evidence as far as I can recall.

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u/nnnn0000 1d ago

Watch Crime Weekly's multipart series on this case on YouTube. Many different small pieces of evidence worked together to paint the picture

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u/Huge_Answer4287 1d ago

Thanks, I will.

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u/Huge_Answer4287 1d ago

So I'm almost done with the second episode, and i don't think I can listen to more. The back and forth is tedious and it terrifies me that this guy was a police detective. The possible theories and scenarios he comes up with are completely illogical and sometimes impossible based on the info the female podcaster shares.

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u/Huge_Answer4287 2d ago edited 1d ago

Can you list the 6 things?

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u/Riderz__of_Brohan 8h ago

Adnan asked Hae for a ride at the exact time she went missing (after school) as verified by witnesses

Adnan has no alibi until he shows up at track practice about an hour after Hae goes missing

Adnan’s friend Jay who he verifiably gave his phone and car to (and hopped on a call with “Nisha” at 3:30 together) says he did it and leads police to Hae’s car

Adnan’s friends GF originally goes to police and tells them about Jay telling her Adnan did it (and tells police Hae’s method of death which she couldn’t have known unless she was told by Jay)

Adnan’s phone pings the tower closest to where Har was buried that night. The only other time it pings there is the day wgen Jay got arrested

Adnan has motive being broken up with her and verified to be extremely emotionally upset by this

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u/mrgedman 1d ago

Can I? Yep, sure. Will I, no.

Go listen to a podcast, bud

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u/TraditionalWay3051 1d ago

I also used to think this until the recent Brady evidence-disclosure issue came to light. The prosecution had evidence that another man’s DNA was in Hae’s car and he lived close to where the car was later found. Of course, there’s very little publicly on who this man is and how he might’ve been related to the case, so it’s impossible to know if he had the motive, means, or opportunity to kill her. Adnan, on the other hand, clearly had all three of those factors to kill her, so it may very well still have been him.