WHY PREMEDITATION MURDER BY A WEEK IS NOT A FACTOR THAT ARGUES AGAINST M1

Because I failed to take the time to edit my article which debunk his sinus theory, Richard Speights has made an untrue statement to imply that I am uneducated, stupid, and have a lack of medical knowledge.  His act of defamation is only based on my lack of editing.  However,  he implies I cannot write in the proper fashion.  I feel the truth is the best way to argue a lie, so I present a recent article to prove my writing ability.

 Please see my last article:   http://jodiariastrialtruth.blogspot.com/2014/07/prevent-stolen-valor.html

The article will clearly show that I am educated and able to express an idea through the written.  Speights has placed links to my unedited articles on his website, the following article being one of them.






Premeditated murder is that the plan to kill was present prior to the act.  There is no set time as to how long ...  it could be a short period or a long period.

George Barwood claims, " Premeditating murder by a week is not a reasonable claim."   He is using the alleged "trigger" point that is said to have caused Jodi to decide to kill Travis, which was the message sent via him on May 26th.  Because Jodi left for her trip on June 2nd which was a week later,  George claims that it shows  she did not plan to kill Travis. However,  when looking at all the factors that Jodi had to consider in planning to kill Travis,  the week makes sense.


Jodi lived over 1000 miles away from Travis
Jodi lived with her grandparents
Jodi would need a believable alibi for the trip.
Ryan had to be free for a visit
Jodi needed to find a gun
Jodi had a job as a waitress in a restaurant





MAKING THE PLANS
The following factors are not in consideration of what Jodi did on her trip,  it would be what she had to consider before leaving  in planning the trip and a murder.

A Long Way to Go
Jodi lived over 1000 miles away from Travis.  Considering the time needed to eat, sleep, get gas,  take bathroom breaks,  do the murder and cover it up,  Jodi would have needed to account for at least around 40 hours of time if she went straight to Travis's, murdered him, and came back home.


Where's Jodi?
Jodi lived with her grandparents.   In the time it would have taken her to go to Travis's and back,  she would have been missed.  Someone investigating the case would be faced with a missing Jodi for about a 40-hour time frame.  In addition, the would look for either credit card receipts for California or a large money withdrawal for gas expenses just before that 40-hour period of Jodi being missing.  Tie those events to having occurred right after the May 26th text message and Travis ending up dead - and things would look suspicious for Jodi.

Jodi needed a plan that would account for both the time she was gone,  and the money spent or cc purchases out of town. Just saying she stayed with a friend in Yreka would create the need for a witness and not account for the money spent.   Hence,  the need to come up with an alibi which would take her on a long trip and out of town - visiting Ryan.  But,  an appropriate time would have had to be set for a visit with Ryan according to BOTH their schedules. Setting up that date to visit could have an effect on the date Jodi was able to leave for her trip.  Ryan testified that it was not until the end of May that the date for the trip was made.


Time is a Factor

It would only take Jodi just over 12.5 hours of driving time to get from Yreka  to Ryan's house in West Jordan.  Mesa was very much out of the way.
Throw in Mesa, murder and a clean up in the mix between leaving Yreka and arriving in West Jordan,  and Jodi would not have arrived in West Jordan until around 29  hours or later after leaving Yreka.   Saying she stopped to sleep would not make much sense because it was the beginning of her trip.   She could claim that she broke down,  but that would lead to her needing verification and the need for a witness.   She could have said she visited someone during that time,  but again this leaves the need for a witness.  Finally,  she could have claimed she got lost,  but since she had a cell phone, it would seem strange that she didn't call for help.
The factor of a missing 16 hours requires that Jodi find an excuse to take her closer down to Mesa before visiting Ryan to help account for those missing hours.

Monterey on the Side
Jodi had to consider ways to get  closer to Mesa to help cover up the missing time that would be present if she took a side trip of Mesa and murder on her way to visit Ryan as her alibi.   Thus,  this involved activities to get her closer to Mesa.  Once such activity was a stop off in Monterey to "borrow" some gas cans.

IF Jodi purchased her own two gas cans,  she would have saved a LOT more money as compared to the money in gas that she would have spent to go down to Monterey from Yreka.  The distance is 410 miles and at 30MPG or less fuel efficiency Jodi would have used at least 13.5 gallons of gas just for the trip down.   At $4.50 a gallon that meant Jodi spent $60.75 on gas just to go down to get two gas cans she could have purchased for around a total of $22.00.     Thus,  the main purpose of going down to Monterey could not have been those gas cans. It is very likely it was to reduce that amount of time that would be missing by taking the murder in Mesa detour she took.


Missing Baby Pictures
Leaving Yreka, going to Monterey and then on to West Jordan would have accounted for some of that missing time because the drive time for that trip would be 19 hours and 45 minutes.  But, at that point,  she would still be missing almost ten hours after a stop in Mesa.  This meant that she needed to get even further closer to Mesa,  thus the excuse of going to see Daryl's sister's baby in Southern California to take some pictures.   However,  those pictures were never presented in the trial.    Without the excuse of visiting and taking those pictures,  Jodi had no reason to go further south to Pasadena because it would have been a lot quicker for Jodi to head straight to Ryans's from Monterey.   Pasadena was three hours out of the way.

The trip to Yreka to Monterey to Pasadena area and then up to West Jordan would have taken Jodi 21 hours without a stop in Mesa.   Thus reducing that missing time that would occur from the Mesa murder detour to just around 9 hours that Jodi would have had to cover, and an excuse such as it being sleep time would fit very well.  At that point,  Jodi had little else to use for a cover up as there was no further reason that she could  give to take her closer to Mesa.  In addition, her stop in Pasadena was just around 30 miles before I - 15 that would take her up to Ryan.

Adding up the Time
Considering those already mentioned stops she needed to take to make the alibi and missing time look good,  Jodi would have needed about 29 hours and 20 minutes of time just considering drive time from Yreka to West Jordan with the murder in Mesa detour.   She also  would need to take time out for things such as gas stops,  bathroom breaks, and incidental occurrences between Yreka and her arrival at Ryan's - increasing that time to 30 hours.  There would have been a need to add in the time spent visiting with Daryl to help her alibi about the gas cans,  at least 6 hours,  so she would have had to allow for at least 36 hours of time for her plan leading up to her arrival at Ryan's.

Making the Alibi Look Good
In order for the alibi that the trip was to see Ryan appear valid,  Jodi needed to spend some time with Ryan.   Driving as far as she did just to spend a couple of hours with a guy would look suspicious when an ex-boyfriend was killed during the time she planned a sudden trip.   Thus,  this makes it pertinent to allow for some amount of time to spend with Ryan in the murder plan,  around 18 hours - including time needed to sleep.   Jodi also had to consider the amount of time it would take her to get home from Ryan's house.  It takes about 12.5 hours to drive from West Jordan to Yreka.
This takes the total amount of hours that she would have to allow for her plan up to be at least 66.5 hours or 2 and 3/4 days.  It would have been prudent to allow a little extra time away from home in case the unexpected happened,  thus a total of 3 days.

Needing a Weapon
In planning a murder,  one always needs a weapon.  Given the fact that Jodi was a woman,  a gun would have worked best to murder him quickly.   Jodi would have had to consider where to get a gun.
Ask a friend?  No....  that leaves a potential witness that could rat her out.
Buy one legally?  No ......   that would link her to the make/ model that killed him and leave a witness.
Buy one illegally? No.....  that would leave a witness and run the risk of her getting caught in the purchase of a gun,  thus ruining her plan.
Borrow one from grandpa?  No....   that would pose a question about where the gun was if a search of the house occurred.
Borrow the gun and then put it back before a search is done?  NO....  definitely NO.  Ballistics would link the gun found in the house to the murder making Jodi have a direct connection to the murder. No,  a very foolish thing to suggest.
 What is left that can help her find a gun?   Would would show that she did not have access to a gun,  and leaves no direct witnesses?    AH!   Stage a robbery.   This would create official documentation which would show she no longer had access to the gun that shot Travis.  It could only distance her from the crime.  They would have to place her there first,  and Jodi was working a plan to ensure that would not happen.
But,  staging a robber takes time.  Jodi would have had to assure that she was the only one in the house before doing it.     Jodi had that chance on Wednesday,  May 28th,  2008.

Jodi could have left Wednesday after the robbery, completed all those tasks she needed to complete, and make it back in town by Saturday.   However,  it would look awfully suspicious for her to had left the night of or the day after the gun robbery to go on her trip and while she was gone have Travis shot with the same type of gun that was reported stolen from her home.   Thus,  this meant it would be important for Jodi to wait at a few days before leaving to reduce the suspicion.

Damn Work!
The fact that Jodi was working would have played a big part on the time she decided to leave.   She could have called in,  but this would have brought on suspicion if she called in sick to take a three day non-urgent trip to visit some guy she met a couple of months prior.   And,  Jodi was trying to reduce as much suspicion as possible.    Jodi could have switched with a coworker to get those three days off,  but that takes both time and a coworker willing to pick up shifts.  Finally,  Jodi could have asked a favor from her manager to get said time off - except for the fact that if Jodi left two days after the robbery that would involve the manager giving Jodi the weekend off.  Weekends are the busiest time for restaurants and the time when more help is needed.   Such a request for time off for a nonessential trip is more than likely to be denied during the busy period.  Finally,  it is very likely that due to her poor finances and knowing that she was taking this trip that would cost her so much,  Jodi wanted to work the busy time during the weekend as this also would be the most financially beneficial time for a waitress.  



It was a MONDAY,  June 2nd that Jodi started her trip.
Considering all the factors,  this does not seem odd at all.


In Summary

The conclusion is that premeditation by a week does not seem unlikely at all when considering all factors that a person would have had to deal with to plan, prepare, commit murder, and take steps to cover it up via an alibi.  This is especially true when the victim lives over 1000 miles away from the killer, and the killer has a full time job and family that would have missed her.

George Barwood's insistence that a week long premeditation does not fit is unfounded.  His statement only holds true in relation to a crime of passion,  as a crime of passion is murder that is in regards to someone blowing up and acting out irrationally through emotions.  A crime of passion does not last a week because those emotions calm down.   However,  a premeditated intent to kill does not.

proofread and edited on July 26, 2014.