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AnalysisMaura Was Driving West (Opinion) (self.MauraMurrayEvidence)

submitted by [deleted]

A topic to discuss where Maura was going has not yet been started. This theory is dependent upon her destination being West of the accident site.

This thread is to explore the possibility that the Saturn's driver could have been driving West when the accident happened. The presumption is that the Saturn driver drifted into the left lane while driving West, which would explain the driver side damage to the Saturn.

This theory is dependent upon two other discussions:

The route Maura took to the accident site (this precludes the possibility that she drove up Interstate 93):
https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yagz8/the_law_of_91_or_parallel_opinion/

The time Maura left Umass:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yaimu/time_maura_left_amherst/

This "mixed route" is plausible and possible explanation as to why the Saturn's driver might have been heading West when the accident happened, rather than East as generally believed. The "Mixed Route" was proposed by avamonroe, credit to him or her.

Note: It is almost impossible that she took I-93 - and therefore was heading West from it** https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yagz8/the_law_of_91_or_parallel_opinion/

Possible Reasons Maura was heading West - if the reason was not because she took the proposed "mixed route" shown above. In this case we presume she exited I-91 heading towards Bartlett only to take a detour (Note: detour idea debunked)

Possibility 1. The Saturn's Driver Took a Detour to Sight See the White Mountains ("Sight Seeing Theory") debunked - thanks to greenfilestripe & BonquosGhost.

How a detour for sight seeing could have happened: If she was in route to Burlington, Vermont, she might have wanted to take a short visit to the White Mountain National Forest before resuming her journey to Burlington, Vermont. This would mean that she:

  1. Was heading to Burlington, Vermont (Dependency)
  2. Left Umass at around 3:47. (Dependency) Note: If she left Umass at 4:30, she would not have enough time.
  3. Drove up Interstate 91 from Umass (Dependency) Note: She could not have taken MA-63 N, to NH-10 to NH-112 E, it would take too long. (Specifically, this means that the extra time available if she left at 3:47 would be used up by driving up MA-63 N, to NH-10 to NH-112 E - leaving no time available for the detour.)
  4. Exited Interstate 91 at NH-112
  5. Headed East on NH-112.
  6. Drove past the accident site and to the White Mountain National Forest.
  7. Spent a short amount of time there
  8. Made a U-turn on NH-112, heading West
  9. Was heading West at the accident site, drifting into the left lane. (She could have been distracted or dozing off and then hit the snow bank. Of course she would end up driving on the left hand side of the road, in the wrong direction, if she did.)

Evidence That Tends To Disprove Possibility 1 the "Sight Seeing Theory" 1. Sunset at Manchester, NH was at 5:08 PM on Monday, February 9, 2004 (EDT). This is the main debunking issue against this theory. There is no point in sight seeing if you can't see anything.

Source: Google search: https://www.google.com/search?q=sunset+time+february+9+new+hampshire&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=sunset+time+february+9+2004+new+hampshire

Possibility 2. The Saturn's Driver Took a Detour to Meet Someone

Specifically, she would have first drove East and then made a U turn at some point to return towards I-91.

The idea that she met someone and was heading back towards I-91 has some logical problems. I assume that the other person would have been driving and would be close behind her, allowing her to leave the scene shortly after the accident. Presumably, Butch Atwood would have seen this short-term tangent driver, presumably waiting nearby, within site and with no apparent reason to hide.

Counterpoint to the above: If Maura somehow was tricked into traveling to New Hampshire to meet a "bad guy" -- and this hypothetical "bad guy" intended her harm, he would have reason to hide.

Rebuttal: Law Enforcement did some searches on Maura's computer and found no evidence that she intended to meet anyone in New Hampshire. I do not believe that Law Enforcement has made any mention of finding evidence that she intended to do so. It is also my belief that they have stated that they don't even know where she was going.

Status:

Evidence That Weighs Against The Theory She Was Driving West
(Note - is not a critical factor, we can't prove the Saturn drove over the Westman's lawn)

** 1.The single tire tracks in the Westman's front lawn remain unexplained.**
These tire tracks were seen by two witnesses:
Dick guy: http://mauramurray.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-accident-probably-happened.html
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xHbAIcltYMI/TjavoJR1caI/AAAAAAAAATc/2-FtW-Ptbuk/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-08-01%2Bat%2B9.39.04%2BAM.png

The Westmans: https://catcherinthelie.wordpress.com/2016/01/09/go-westman-young-man/ "Tim indicates that her tire tracks were in his yard..."

In my opinion, the proposed "mixed route" is the best explanation for the driver side damage.

The "Mixed Route" was proposed by avamonroe, credit to him or her.

There is another good theory/explanation about how Maura might have ended up the way she did, here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4xgb1r/maura_murrays_accident_opinion

I'll keep this here so the logic used to draw the conclusions can be seen, modified, corrected and analyzed.

Edits: Numerous -> Add information about departure times and make clear what I'm talking about, add links, status and factors against the idea.

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[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I doubt very much she would have been able to see anything outside after 6pm on a cold February night. Sight seeing is a dead end for me

[–]BonquosGhost 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Everyone assumes she went I91 North from the UMass area to NH on the way to Bartlett or wherever. But she never got through to make reservations for a Bartlett condo. She had looked up and also printed directions to Stowe and Burlington Vt, so why would it be that strange that she drove up I93 North through the middle of NH, Then may have took an exit that took her over Rt 112 heading west? Maybe the tracks show otherwise and I wasn't sure this angle had been considered at all. Not that the outcome is much different though. It's just everyone thinks she was facing the wrong way in the road, which she may have spun around, or that she was just heading west all along.....I don't think she would casually go sight seeing at night in the winter on a back road for the fun of it, then head back, unless she got completely lost on her way.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Lets analyse this possibility. What we know is that Maura Murray checked her voicemail at 4:37 PM after she purchased the alcohol and after she withdrew the money, so we can assume that her departure time was about 4:30 ish. So we can use simple math to figure this out....

  • Distance using I-91 North 152 miles (2h32min)

  • Distance using I-93 North 181 (3h25min)

Alright, so if we know she left at approximately 4:30 PM here would be the approximate timelines for each route:

  • 4:30 + 2:32 = 7:02 PM for route I-91 North

  • 4:30 + 3:25 = 7:55 PM for route I-93 North

Of course this is not taking into consideration traffic or any stops to fill gas or what speed she was travelling, however from this little scientific experiment, Maura driving West is very unlikely since it does not match up with the timeline...

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, if she took MA-63/NH-10 and NH-112, I agree, there is no way she would have any extra time. No way she took I-93.

However - if the liquor store was her last stop before leaving 3:47, she has 1:10 (less time to gas up the car) unaccounted for. I'd say an hour.

So yes, she definitely could have taken a shirt sight seeing detour to check out the White Mountains before heading back to Bennington.

Discussion about I-91: https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yagz8/the_law_of_91_or_parallel_opinion/

Discussion about time Maura left Umass: https://www.reddit.com/r/MauraMurrayEvidence/comments/4yaimu/time_maura_left_amherst/

If we can establish that she left at 4:30, then we can say there was no way she was heading West.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I've thought this scenario is possible too. The WTH moment for me is the two stories concerning the liquor remaining in the car. Some say it was all accounted for; others say not. With such sterling certainties, it's no wonder this case is mired in Development Hell.

Maybe she did reach that UMASS cabin, turned back to do whatever business. Perhaps she couldn't get in. Or some other happenstance ensues. Pure spec.

She dropped cash for some transactions, a card on others. Which makes me believe she still had a wad of cash on her. Potential target. I'd like to know if any cash got thrown around that general area later that night and no one's chirped about it.

The big problem with this theory is: How did The Saturn sustain that damage? To be consistent, the snowbanks weren't high enough on that side of the road to cause the damage. Again, a stationary object. I think it likely, due to the gas remaining, she either gassed up off i91 downstream, or got it locally and joy rided/checked out her accommodations. Remember, she was looking for a room for at least two people.

[–]BonquosGhost 0 points1 point  (1 child)

In places I've seen people say that the snowbanks were 2 1/2 to 3 feet high on the sides of the road which is untrue. Just watch the WMUR video from 2 days later and if there was 6 inches out there they were lucky. No snow had fallen so plow trucks probably hadn't been around there lately either. I do think the extra booze she had was to "meet" up with others somewhere.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup ... and "they" aren't talking! No wonder Renner puts so much stock in his theory. Me? I think a crime is afoot.