Six years after Missouri police dominated Elizabeth “Libby” Caswell’s 2017 loss of life a suicide, her household and a nonprofit group that carried out an investigation into the case say she died by strangulation.
The Justice Challenge at Alliance for HOPE Worldwide, a nonprofit combating home violence and different types of abuse, carried out the investigation that concluded, “with out query, Libby Caswell was murdered six years in the past” in a motel room in Independence, Missouri, on Dec. 11, 2017.
“The Independence Police Division failed her, and their investigation was zero on this case, and so they simply continued to attempt to show suicide as an alternative of attempting to open their minds and doing the precise, correct investigation,” Cindy Caswell, Libby’s mom, stated throughout a Dec. 11 press convention with Alliance for HOPE Worldwide.
Libby, 21, was discovered useless in a motel lavatory along with her physique positioned in order that her face was turned towards a wall, based on Dr. William “Invoice” Smock of the Louisville Metro Police Division, the one police surgeon in the USA and the co-founder of the Coaching Institute on Strangulation Prevention. He oversaw the unbiased investigation into Caswell’s loss of life.
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Her boyfriend on the time known as 911 round 8 p.m. that day to report that Caswell had died by suicide after hanging herself with a belt within the lavatory whereas he was sleeping. When police arrived on the Sports activities Stadium Motel in Independence, the place they have been staying, her boyfriend was not current.
Police dominated her loss of life a suicide inside hours of arriving, based on the Alliance for HOPE. The nonprofit’s investigation revealed {that a} belt had been tied round Caswell’s neck twice and he or she had belt marks on her chest.
Gerald Fineman, a retired prosecutor working for the Justice Challenge, stated there was additionally a footprint on Caswell’s again, based on FOX 4 Kansas City.
“I’ve been investigating for nearly 40 years. … That is essentially the most horrible case I’ve seen in my complete profession the place a regulation enforcement company completely missed the boat,” Smock stated.
Smock stated he has introduced Caswell’s case to greater than 1,000 prosecutors and regulation enforcement personnel throughout the nation who consider her loss of life was “homicidal.” He additionally alleged that Independence Police “ignored” evidence on the scene, together with blood within the motel room the place Caswell died, her damaged fingernails and marks on her neck.
“The Independence Police Division didn’t do fundamental murder investigations [sic]. They didn’t get the video surveillance tape that was there and out there to them. They didn’t … accumulate the cell telephones of the people who have been current on the time. They didn’t observe up on inconsistencies in witness statements,” Smock stated.
The Alliance for HOPE additionally says it recognized three males who have been within the motel room the place Caswell was staying on Dec. 10, 2017.
“An eyewitness and caring particular person had paid for [Libby and her boyfriend] to remain at a special motel, and but at 6:30 within the morning on Dec. 11, there was Libby in a motel room with at the least two, and we consider three, males,” stated Casey Gwinn, president and co-founder of the alliance.
Independence Police stated in an announcement Monday that authorities held the crime scene on the Sports activities Stadium Motel on Dec. 11, 2017, “till detectives may interview witnesses and/or individuals which will have been within the room on the time.”
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“As soon as Investigators decided there was no want to carry the scene and no arrests have been acceptable on the time, the scene was launched, nonetheless the investigation continued,” police stated. “In the course of the course of the investigation, the case was reviewed by a number of detectives throughout the Felony Investigations Unit. At one time, the case was reopened on the request of Elizabeth’s household and Alliance For HOPE International. The FBI assisted IPD throughout that investigation.”
The case was additionally introduced to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Workplace “to find out if there have been any prison fees to be filed,” police stated. However the police division maintains that “detectives consider that given the proof that was out there, Elizabeth Caswell’s loss of life was most probably a suicide.”
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“The Independence Police Division welcomes any witness statements that haven’t already been given to investigators. We additionally welcome an investigation by an unbiased social gathering relating to this case,” police stated of their assertion.
Michael Mansur, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Workplace’s director of communications, stated the workplace “reassigned a second veteran prosecutor to evaluate the case a second time however decided that the proof was inadequate to justify prison fees for a number of causes.”
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“That prosecutor’s willpower and findings have been communicated to a member of the family earlier this yr. We’re grateful for the investigation by members of the IPD and the work of the FBI,” Mansur stated in an announcement. “The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Workplace has labored diligently to find out how Libby’s life ended and whether or not prison fees have been supported. We’ll proceed to have a look at any new proof.”
Coaching Institute on Strangulation Prevention CEO Gael Strack inspired different victims whose circumstances haven’t been correctly investigated by the Independence Police Division to come back ahead.
The Alliance for HOPE is asking Missouri Legal professional Basic Andrew Bailey and the FBI to pursue unbiased investigations into Caswell’s loss of life.
Authentic article supply: Missouri woman’s family believes her death in motel, ruled suicide, was murder: ‘Most horrible case’
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