Seeds of Doubt Sowed All About

[XLFD]

On March 15, 2013 the public learned that Sean Phillips, the father of Baby Kate convicted of unlawful imprisonment and sentenced to 10-15 years, had filed his appellant's brief with the Michigan Appeals Court.  The local prosecutor among others were tapped by the media for comment.  here is a link to check out what is going on in that case:  Michigan v Phillips

 

The brief In the appeals process has a deadline of April 17 to be responded to by the Attorney General's Office, who is handling the appeal.  With Phillip's filing of the brief we find it is first reviewed by law clerks for structural defects, and issues of law, circulated around, and eventually finds its way  in front of some judges. 

 

 

As if in response, this week, on April 2 there was the notice of a press conference.  Chief Barnett of the Ludington Police Department (along with reps from the sheriff's office, state police and the MSU faculty) came out and gave the assembled news agencies a lesson in plant forensics, in detailing how they would use plant material from Sean's shoes to find Baby Kate by a two day field trip.  This was attended by many local media outlets that have been following the case for two years. 

 

Many people were notably deflated by the lack of any real revelations of the case, and shocked by the inability of the investigators to comment on anything other than plant forensics or the moss and sedge search party.  Our local newspaper, that has been very supportive of our local investigators the last two years, shocked no one by wasting some ink on an editorial that slammed and generalized about  the sizable internet community (mostly on Facebook and other social media) that have been wanting answers, or at least more information, from a justice system and local newspaper that are content with letting a few people sit on all the information.  A few people that have shown an unimaginable lack of imagination, and a more than competent level of incompetence throughout the whole proceedings, except when it comes to blocking the facts from the community.

Let's critique this editorial.  It makes the point the search has been like a needle in a haystack, but let's consider that every day the investigative team has sat on its hands, that more hay has been added to that stack.  If we believe that Kate was left out in the open in some "quiet place" for over two winters, particularly in a marshy, swampy acidic area as presumed, what will be left to find.  Predation, normal decomposition, and the impermanence of baby bone matter would make it nigh impossible to find anything that would resemble a baby. 

 

Let's not forget, Sean, who has military training, boasted to Dan Ruba that he could get rid of a body where no one could find it.  Would Sean leave a body out in the open in the first place?  If he did bury it, the passing of two winters would eliminate any trace of interment, the soil would likely decay the majority of organic matter.  Do we really plan or organizing a costly and very public two day search party for looking through a haystack that has no needle two years after the fact?

 

                                          COLDNews Mangling Editor Steve Begnoche

 

The top of the next column says:  "police see (the botanical search) as a lead worth pursuing."  I concede it would be, two years ago.  Two years ago we had a couple limited searches of the area around Sean's Victory Twp. residence and a park close to Ariel's residence, and who knows what else-- the public was rarely kept apprised, and the records have all been effectively sealed from their sight.  But the public wanted to help.  They wanted to find this baby, dead or alive.  There still is a lot of folks wanting to, but they know only what came out in the news and trial.

 

The Daily News' editorial board then generalizes that the online community says that finding the Baby shouldn't be difficult.  I follow the on-line community, and that is not the case.  They correctly question the motives and actions of those involved in this case whether it be Sean, Ariel, other relatives, and the officials involved.  There is plenty of drama and side issues, and plenty of backseat driving, but most is constructive.  Not pointless-- like the editor's assertion about the difficulty issue. 

 

 

COLDNews Editor Patsi Klevorn with her usual lack of good foundation 

 

The Daily News does not question why this botanical search was not taken in 2011, or even 2012, but is taken only now, in 2013.  The Daily News never questioned the lack of a timely Amber Alert the day Kate went missing.  The Daily News never tried to find out more information from the local authorities other than what was spoon-fed them by the authorities.  Every item of newsworthiness seems to have came from sources outside of our local newspaper, which has yet to investigate anything outside their pablum and constructively editorialize on a method and way to find Baby Kate.  Their lack of meaningful action during this time is almost as unbelievable as the local police's timely action.

It seems logical to conclude that the press conference and the meaningless exercise publicly called for was our officials response to neutralize Sean's appeal, which has some valid points about the original trial.  The judges who will decide this issue cannot help but see the news splashed all over the mid-Michigan newspapers and get the impression that Sean Phillips killed Baby Kate and left her body out in the wilderness in a place that he refuses to disclose.  The timing of the conference is tactical, and keeping it in the news by waiting three months to search, is also tactical.  The appeals court judges need to be sure to see it during their deliberation time.

[Willy]

If they know what plants they are looking for they don't have to wait until June. A well trained botanist knows where those plants grow and can spot the plant stems without leaves. The ideal time to search would be when there is no foliage. X is correct. To much time has been allowed to pass. 2 years of plant growth over a shallow grave would easily conceal where a tiny body had been put to rest. If they"re going to search they should do it now before the leaves obscure any potential burial sites.

[XLFD]

Any person with internet skills can search sites devoted to sphagnum and sedge grass and use the information collected by the LPD and Dr. Telewski to look for possible areas, information that was collected in June 2011 and most likely analyzed ad nauseum over the next couple months for clues. 

But the public isn't allowed to have that investigative information thanks to the abuse of the FOIA by the prosecutor and our other local agencies.  I hate to sound like a voice in the wilderness-- check that-- a nagging voice in the wilderness singing the same tune, but why is this data being withheld from the public?

[Lisa O'Brien]

Well if they can narrow down the area - they can bring is dogs to search the area- just as some dogs are trained to sniff out drugs they have dogs that can sniff out decomposition.

[XLFD]

That would've been great advice in the summer of 2011, when we had basically the same amount of evidence we do now. 

[Lisa O'Brien]

no doubt - it would have been prudent to do it then. I'm still holding out hope that he did give her to someone else. 

[Willy]

Good point about the dog Lisa but with wild animals potentially devouring any evidence it still seems a long shot waiting for 2 years to conduct this particular search. I hate talking about this but if the baby was put in a shallow grave the body was small enough that a carnivorous creature could have carried the corpse, in it's entirety, away.  

[XLFD]

That hope is still a very valid possibility Lisa, and if Baby Kate ever does show up, I give it over a 50% shot that she will be alive.  I base that percentage on the premise that whosoever is responsible for her disappearance never talks. 

Breaching the 'hating to talk about this' subject, I believe if Sean did dispose of a baby's corpse, it will never be found without his revealing that information. 

[XLFD]

An interesting side note to the ongoing Baby Kate melodrama is that Kate's maternal grandmother, April Lange, who has been an interesting part of this case in her court testimony and her evolving views, had attended this news conference, but two weeks later, she herself is making the news.  She effectively was found guilty of stealing and using for her own benefit some credit cards.  She and a 20 year old woman spent about $3000 in the area until they were caught, and sentenced this week to 9 months in the County Jail. Read more here.

 

Ariel Courtland, April's daughter and mother of Baby Kate, attended the court hearing.  Even if you feel that Ariel is guilty of something heinous, an accessory, or just a contemptible person, you have to feel a great deal of pathos for her.  Her father was an unsavory character who didn't play a part in her life, her mother has just got a half of a year in the clink, her baby-daddy is set to serve 10-15 years (less if his appeal works, more if he is eventually charged with murder), two of her siblings were killed at a young age by their own hand.  She may not know what really happened with Baby Kate (and if she does she has to keep that secret locked within herself), and she and her surviving daughter are living in a fishbowl. 

Think of it.  Every time she goes out in public, the furtive glances are there, the suspicions, the scrutiny over any actions or emotions.  If something does crack, or just appears to crack, it will be posted on Facebook, Twitter, and maybe even national media.  It's an awful lot to endure, and if she does not have anything to do with Kate's disappearance, I deeply sympathize with her plight and wish her the gift of perseverance. 

[XLFD]

My doubts of her innocence hinge more on the behavior of all the officials involved, than anything about Ariel.  I am under the belief that the evidence they have, that they are withholding from the public, points somewhere beyond what their established story is, and what Sean's penitentiary confession is.