Hoping a friend of mine isn't a freakin' psycho...

Shouldn't Fucking be capitalized? It's a place name.

 

Welcome to Crazytown. Population: Gretchen Rocks.

 

That was odd.

 

I'll keep folks updated.

A little backstory: Alex, the soon-to-be ex, is decent kid. Works in middle management at the local bank. Their marriage began to dissolve after the second attack. The first one, she said she didn't know who it was. After the second, she said she suspected it was Alex. A little more than a month later, they were on the road to divorce and she moved in with a guy that lived around the block from them. (Things that make you go "Hmmmm.")

Now, I'm predisposed to believe Alex because I know him.

But there are just things in her account that don't seem to add up. First, he now lives with his mom, some 20 miles away from Gretchen's new home. Since she says she was abducted in her car and they found the car at the address where they found her (where they used to live), how did he get to her apartment in the first place, and how did he get from their old home to his mom's place afterwards? Mom's place is still about 10 miles from their marital home, where she was found. Also, the fact that she's found at the home where they no longer live is strange, especially with her car out front as a red flag for the search party ("Hey! Look here!")

Also, she's now living in an apartment. How does he gain access in the middle of the night without waking the neighbors? There's no mention of evidence of a break-in in the NJ story. How does the initial attack happen without someone hearing something? It's an apartment, which presumably means neighbors are on the other side of the wall. And what drug make you immediately "numb"? Christ, even anesthesia for surgery takes a certain amount of time to kick in.

And then, after one of the previous attacks, a note was found that was signed "Gretchen" but she didn't write. Somebody would have to be pretty stupid to try that one again, and I don't think Alex is that brand of dumb.

All this, and the previous false report charge, just weighs on my mind. I don't wanna gang up on the girl, because something seems to be going on, but all these inconsistencies... and the fact that she says she never remembers anything about the previous attacks... sounds fishy as hell.

 

UPDATE: Cops haven't talked to my friend Alex, and tho the lead detective says a crime has happened, he doesn't sound all that rabid that Alex did it. Nuance, tho. Maybe I'm reading into his comments.

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080701/UPDATES01/80701026

The items taken on the search warrant don't sound all that incriminating, either. I mean, they COULD BE, but all are things that have plausable explanations. (Right?)

 

Killick, I hope those aren't Gretchen's.

 

Yeah, that would be tough to explain away.

 

Non-update update: Not a peep over the last few days from the cops, or the local rag. I did hear that Alex has spoken to the cops, and was satisfied they're not going witch-hunt his ass. Also, my sis explains that their church is pretty strict, some sort of über-Baptist, and doesn't allow for divorce except under extreme circumstances. But, could this chick be perpetuating this just so she can stay at her church? Seems unlikely.

Oh, well. Will pass along more as I hear it.

 

LONG OVERDUE UPDATE: Don't know if anyone still cares (the local paper apparently doesn't) but this is finally coming to a head. Alex and his psych ex were in court this week, after she filed for sole custody of their two kids. While on the stand, she admitted to staging not only this last "attack" but also a previous one in which there was a fire. She still claims the first attack was Alex (oh, yeah, THAT'S believable...)

So, instead Alex now has sole custody.

Now, there's another problem. DNA test ordered by the judge (Alex's attorney requested it) has shown that the 4yo girl isn't Alex's. They had been married one year before she had the baby -- yep, she was cheating on him mere months after the wedding. Still, he considers the 4yo his daughter. Psycho's mom, still backing her daughter 100 percent, now has filed for custody of the 4yo, wants to split the little girls up.

Judge also ordered that the psycho relinquish their home. She hasn't lived in it for months, and Alex has been living with his mom. He went to the house, and the place is just trashed. Absolutely trashed. Walls beaten in, ceilings torn down, windows broken -- just trashed.

No charges filed on psycho yet, no newspaper story clearing Alex's name yet, and no decent home for the kids other than his mom's place -- but he's just happy to have the girls back.

 

I can't see Disney buying the rights to this story.

 

That's horrible, Killick. Best of luck to Alex.