Detective Kevin Wakefield was the first investigator at the apartment after Raychel's murder. He has been on the force for over 10 years. That being said, he told me he was changed after witnessing the crime scene. "It didn't look like a homicide, " he said, "It looked like a war had broken out."
While I have viewed photographs of the crime scene, I have decided that under no circumstances will these photographs be shown on this web site. First, I believe it would be unnecessarily upsetting to those who loved Raychel Wagner. Second, in the near future I will provide a sketch by Detective Wakefield which will detail the crime scene well enough for my purposes. Finally, I believe images like these help feed the underground trade in horrific images and I will not enhance that trade.
Regardless, I can tell you that the entire one-bedroom apartment was a disaster. Det. Wakefield and I agree that it is usually relatively simple to follow the footsteps of a fight; however, this crime was different due to the amount of debris in the room. Almost nothing in the room escaped the wrath of this crime. Tables were broken, chairs were splintered, and everything that wasn't nailed down had been thrown. Even a wall in the living room had become an unwitting participant. There was a dent in the wall about three feet wide by two feet high. It is believed that Raychel had been thrown sideways into the wall by the killer due to the drywall crumbs found in Raychel's hair. Whoever had thrown her was extremely strong, or extremely angry.
During our conversation, Det. Wakefield told me that every officer who entered the site noted one obvious point. Raychel Wagner had fought her attacker from the beginning knowing that she was defending her life. The damage in the room could not be created by a single person attacking a wilting flower of a victim. Raychel had entered death as she had lived, fiercely. Having learned much about Raychel through this web site, that does not surprise me in the least.
While forensics typically looks at debris of this nature as a windfall, it made the discovery of a murder weapon an art form. After sifting through the debris, and marking the location of each major piece of shattered room, forensics made their initial determination of a murder weapon. It was a tequila bottle -- specifically a bottle of Jose Cuervo Gold. This determination was eventually confirmed despite the fact that the entire bottle was never recovered. The neck of the bottle could not be found anywhere in the room. Det. Wakefield agreed with forensics that the killer had most likely taken the weapon with him or her. That was unfortunate, as it could have had damning fingerprints on it.
There is one additional oddity about the tequila bottle: When he was interviewed by the police, Kyle McAllister stated that he and Raychel did not have any tequila in the apartment, having drained the last of their tequila the previous night. If he is to be believed, then one can theorize that the killer brought the murder weapon with him or her. Whether the bottle was brought intentionally as a weapon, became a weapon of opportunity, or was an accident altogether is something that only the killer knows.
Although the debris may not have told us much about the progress of Raychel's last moments, the numerous voids of blood in the room told a detailed story. The patterns and splatters (particularly those on the walls) immediately confirmed what we already knew from the damage: The fight had been very high energy.
After reviewing blood patterns and the debris Det. Wakefield believed he had a correct pattern of Raychel's last moments.
"Raychel's body crashed and bled out in the hallway connecting the living room to the dining room, clearly in view of the front door." |
The struggle began in the living room and continued there for some time. He stated that this was a surprise to him since the living room is a good ten feet away from the front door. That meant that Raychel had invited the killer in and possibly talked to him or her. I admit that while I cannot disagree with his finding, I can disagree with the strength of his conclusion. It is also possible that Raychel had opened the door, invited the killer into the room, turned, and walked deeper into the apartment (which automatically means "into the living room"). The killer could then attack Raychel with her back turned, most likely without the use of a weapon, yet. The sheer amount of debris combined with the lack of blood spatters in the living room indicated the opening act of the fight began there. The conclusion of that portion was the already mentioned depression in the drywall which Raychel was flung into. At that point, the fight made a clear transition from assault to murder.
Whether Raychel got up on her own from the impact against the wall or was dragged up is unknown; however, the fight then moved from the living room to the dining room and kitchen. It was at this point that a weapon became involved because several voids began to appear on the dining room walls and the kitchen floor. Again, more debris was involved, more than likely by Raychel as she did not seem to use a weapon of her own. The struggle remained in the kitchen until one clearly fatal strike was made with Raychel leaning against the refrigerator (determined by the lack of blood around the strike zone). After that strike, Raychel was beyond assistance had an ambulance arrived immediately. And still she fought her attacker.
Raychel fell against a hallway wall and left several bloody handprints on her way down. It is likely that she was being stabbed as she went down. The murderer now went into overdrive and repeatedly stabbed Raychel with the tequila bottle until well after she should have been dead. Raychel's body crashed and bled out in the hallway connecting the living room to the dining room, clearly in view of the front door.
But it did not end there. As has been stated before, the killer attempted to move Raychel's body after that. We know this due to a heavy blood trail which flowed behind the area where Raychel was discovered by police. The killer had apparently dragged Raychel's heavily bleeding body ten to twelve feet down the hallway and stopped. We do not know why this occurred. While it has been theorized that the killer wanted to take the body out of plain sight, the extensive blood and debris makes the idea of moving the body ridiculous. Regardless, that is what happened. Raychel was moved further down the hallway toward the bedroom.
I strongly disagree with this next part. The police took the bedroom sheets into evidence for DNA testing despite the fact that the crime did not occur in the bedroom (or even seem to relate to the bedroom). When I prodded Det. Wakefield about this tactic, he fell back to the typical police response. The whole apartment was a crime scene and he was playing "a hunch." I've used that one before when I had nothing to go on, but with all of this evidence in the real crime scene, I was disappointed in the lack of professionalism shown here.
To no great surprise, the police found DNA on the bed. With Kyle McAllister's forced cooperation, they determined that there were two separate DNA patterns found on the bed which did not match Kyle McAllister or Raychel Wagner. These patterns have not been identified yet, and while it may amuse some to find out who they belong to, I personally doubt that it has anything to do with the actual crime itself. It is clearly a case where the police are interfering with lives, not running an investigation.
I will ask one thing of everyone who knew Raychel who wishes to help in the investigation of Raychel's murder. It is far less intrusive than checking your sheets. I request that everyone who knew Raychel and went to Kyle's apartment within six months of her murder to please come by my office and submit to a fingerprinting. I am asking this on a voluntary basis because I do not currently have the legal mandate to force anyone to do it. Perhaps I will if someone refuses, but at this point I ask that everyone stop by my office by mid-December so that I may trace some additional evidence found at the scene of the crime. It would be greatly appreciated.
