Originally posted by Herlock Sholmes
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My position is simple; the top step is level with the wall and cellar door (that's what the pictures suggest to me) - that is no place to check the padlock. Richardson pushed the backdoor open a little, glanced at the the cellar door, found it to be okay, and left for work. The door closed automatically as he left, as he said.
The only issue is why he made up the boot cutting story, but ultimately, Richardson cannot help us determine when the murder occurred.
Regardless, how much do we care what time the murder occurred, other than in relation to judging Cross as a suspect?
You ask why the police didn’t object but there’s a fair bit that they might have objected to but didn’t. Why did no one pursue the knife story that on the face of it makes little sense for example?
For me, it points to the fact that Richardson feels vulnerable in having visited the murder location but having no sense of the (possible) presence of the body.
Will he look silly? Will he appear to be hiding the truth of his knowledge of a woman being in the backyard - one that it may be thought he interacted with?
I think Richardson is scared, and the boot story is there to prove that he behaved innocently and did not see the victim.
How do we know that Chandler was correct in what he said. He might have been mistaken. After all he only ‘interviewed’ Richardson in the passageway during a difficult time and we don’t even know if he took notes? What if Richardson simply said something like “ I checked the cellar from the back steps and I couldn’t have missed a body had it been there.” Maybe he was reluctant to mention using a knife in case the police were suspicious of him and Chandler didn’t go into detail with him but just accepted that Richardson couldn’t have missed a body?
Was Chandler so reliable and trustworthy? He was demoted for drinking on duty not long after.
Was Chandler so reliable and trustworthy? He was demoted for drinking on duty not long after.
However, Baxter seems to have trusted him (by reading his tone and manner!), and therefore we have a discrepancy between what Chandler reports JR said on the day, and what JR testifies.
It's the discrepancy I'm interested in - I have no opinion on Chandler as such.
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