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@ Good In Parts, 7 Jan, 2016 – 9:51 pm
The club strip of the Cyclo Club Ugine is yellow with red and blue highlights (just like their logo)
http://cyclos-ugine.net/index.php
Although it is difficult to make out what SM was wearing on the day, to me, this
http://files.newsnetz.ch/bildlegende/138835/1707615_pic_970x641.jpg
looks like a plain white cycling jersey copiously soaked with blood on the front left-hand side.
@ M., 7 Jan, 2016 – 6:17 pm
If you have accessed the Facebook Pages of JT’s family, you would see there was speculation about whether he’d been murdered during that fateful September 2012, ‘why would anyone want to murder Uncle Jimmy’ or such, I can’t be bothered to go back over that.
This was apparently months before his family were told about Iqbals death, afterall they knew her as Kelly, they may never have known her by Al-Hilli and it was many months before her photo was released to the Press by James Mathews.
Did they really speculate that JT might have been murdered before they knew of the Chevaline murders? I was not aware of that, and I wonder what gave them that idea. Speculating wildly, it might have been something that “Kelly” told them …
What was “Kelly” doing when she went out “jogging” in Marrero, Louisiana, so close to the Michoud Assembly Facility?
What are the actuarial odds of “Kelly” having connections to the satellite industry both through her “friend” Sabah al-Shaikhly and her second husband Saad?
Would “Kelly” have been so eager to marry the (hapless?) Jim, manager of a dollar store, if he’d been back in his home town of Natchez, land of the Silver Dollar Group?
Jim may have returned to Natchez after Hurricane Katrina or for other reasons, but why do so many parts of that story seem like a cover?
As for Sabah, was he living in a trailer park and working in the satellite biz, or stacking shelves in the desert at a Lowe’s store (not unlike Jim who was the dollar store guy when “Kelly” met him)? Oh, sure, we should believe Sabah, who says to look at Mossad! Why? Because he’s a stocker at a big boss store, that’s why!
Is this rocket assembly plant the real reason for Lowe’s clerk Sabah taking “Kelly” to Louisiana to marry another retail clerk, the (hapless, yet bought off by the promise of a car in exchange for not sharing a marital bed) Jim?
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2015/11/michoud_layoffs_jacobs_technol.html
Big box store…spell check is annoying.
The Armstrong Tire Factory employed many in Natchez during the sixties, both black and white. But take a look at what some were doing on the side.
http://coldcases.org/cases/silver-dollar-group
Hmmm. That might be of interest to certain parties from middle eastern countries, if it were still going on around the time of the whirlwind “Kelly and Jim” story. “Kelly” was long gone by 2001, if I understand correctly.
What kind of people store that stuff at home, where they and their children live?
I guess it is ligitimate for us to ask,
what connections does William Brett Martin have to
1) Sylvain Mollier?
2) Eric Devoussoux?
3) Jean-Luc Falcy
4)The family Communal-Tournier?
5) the as yet unnamed motorcyclist from Lyon
6) Pappa Schutz
7) Mamma Schutz?
8) Claire Schutz?
9) Uncle Morange?
Police found traces of explosives, handmade belts, and the fingerprint of a Paris attacks suspect in a raid on a Brussels apartment, according to Belgian federal prosecutors. It adds to speculation the attacks were at least partly planned in Belgium.
from Russia Today
I would have guessed that a fast moving assassin would not wear gloves,
they would need every bit of dexterity and freedom available,
wearing gloves would be a disadvantage?
Even if the weapon was completely clean before “The Operation”
it would not have been the assassins thought out plan to bash in the brains
of a child with the killing weapon.
So, it is highly probable that DNA was left of the grip fragment.
It was probably cleaned by a FRENCH clean team.
Why did Iqbal choose a man from Natchez, “Traitor Town, USA” as her ticket to a green card?
M. & Peter
Thanks to you both. Somehow I had gained the impression that SM was wearing a club outfit.
I do still think that (in addition to any blood) probably the right sleeve is highlighted in red because WBM mentioned ‘red’ in an interview when he described the events. At least I think he did. . .
Another thing that I thought that WBM had mentioned was that in the initial section of the climb he had seen a motorcycle and/or a car. Unfortunately I cannot now find anything to support this.
You don’t suppose Addie’s Antiques, or any other of the merchants in Addie’s Antique Mall sold Swiss Lugers, either in-store or online, do you? This kind of item might appeal to an ex-cop far more than old doilies and dolls. Nestled next to the old-fashioned fudge…a Luger, subsequently used in a crime far away. I suppose that may be too convenient. However, there is a bustling trade in Luger ammo in Natchez, and gun ranges to use them. Check for yourself. Weapons and antique weapons in Confederate country would hardly be a surprise.
This is the land where you can find billboards for shops in border towns that read “Ice Cream & Guns”. Just in case you treat your kids and suddenly realize you’re fresh out of guns.
http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=56
Lugers were taken by Allied troops as trophies of war.
Q
A green card is a green card is a green card, I guess.
Needs must… but in this case there does seem to have been quite genuine affection at the very least. Not to mention some continuing contact via email after her marriage to SAH.
Q
Indeed, but not from Switzerland!
Having said that, I have recently argued that although the identification of the weapon as a Luger is probably sound, it was not necessarily of Swiss issue.
Michael Norton
I agree on both counts. There are a number of possibilities that could render any DNA unrecoverable. Firstly the fragment could have been completely soaked in Zainab’s blood (and skin cells from the wounds) so that PCR just could not discriminate. Secondly, well, sheer incompetence I suppose.
Alternately, Eric’s long game includes a disinformation strategy. Notice how they seem to have a DNA sample that can eliminate suspects? But the only ones they publicly talk about are from the bumper and the footwell. Those two do not seem to be clearly linked to the killer.
So, is he holding out on us? I hope so. A little less conversation a little more action please, mister Proc.
Another curious thing about Jim Thompson’s Natchez, MS is the steel industry.
https://www.mississippi.org/news-room/great-river7-25-2014/
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/07/25/steel-fabricator-great-river-to-add-25-jobs-move-headquarters-to-miss-from/
Industrial pressure vessels are manufactured there.
after 2 years of a difficult investigation on MC
“Une petite erreur stratégique” …
… “Une erreur” …
http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/chevaline-un-pistolet-charge-d-espoir-21-12-2015-5391505.php
Have a good 2016
for change our vision of old Luger
http://trabuc.perso.sfr.fr/mapage/les-luger-ou-parabellum.pdf
@ Good In Parts, 8 Jan, 2016 – 5:01 pm
I do still think that (in addition to any blood) probably the right sleeve is highlighted in red because WBM mentioned ‘red’ in an interview when he described the events. At least I think he did. . .
I am not aware of any such remark, and I believe that your memory is playing tricks upon you. Anyway, it would be a mighty odd coincidence for a murder victim who indubitably bled a fair bit (after all, SM did not die instantly) to wear a cycling jersey with an asymmetric red patch that just happened to be situated in the area where shots hit him.
I have just had an odd idea: an old Luger is just the kind of gun that an increasingly paranoid SAH seeking to purchase an illegal firearm “for self-defense” on this holiday would likely have ended up with. A proper underworld armourer would have sorted him out with an ex-Soviet-Bloc military pistol, but any bent bric-à-brac dealer in the region could have been persuaded to part with such a Luger. It would also be sound business practice for such a dealer to deliver the gun and ammunition in sterile condition, without any dabs or DNA on it – after all, who knows where that gun is going to end up?
Peter, good thinking …… the man at the campsite ? This man supposedly tapped on the car, no DNA traces or gloved hands ?
SAH, feared for his life, already in possession of a Taser.
They obviously have other DNA that was sufficient to get Eric D off the hook.
GIP, Peter – British Coroners Inquest:
http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/al-hilli-french-alps-murders-ruled-8082588
“He did recall having seen a cyclist, wearing red, white and black, in the distance ahead of him earlier during his ride.”
Judy Weatherly the day he was driving my car and a man ran into us….only 2 days before he passed away….. He was so sweet to the guy after he got me calmed down …I talked the police into letting him go without a problem….Jim laughed at me the rest of the day…then we went and got his truck which he loved so much…yet I can’t bring myself to get in it because he died in it…..Thank you my brother for being the :ROCK…..and loving me so much and everyone you ever met….
13 September 2012 at 06:25
Is this the reference to him being targetted in the days before he died ?
@ M., 9 Jan, 2016 – 9:34 am
Okay, I stand corrected on the cycling jersey.
Regarding JT, I had not seen those loved-up photos of JT and “Kelly” before:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/5748973/FBI-think-secret-husband-James-Thompson-killed-by-poison.html
(…) “I really believe he died of a heart attack. But some strange things did happen during his marriage to Kelly. I suppose it could be a possibility.” (…) “We believed her reasons. But thinking back, it was very sudden. Maybe there is something that we didn’t know about her life. And maybe someone thought my brother knew about it.” (…) Judith also revealed that two weeks before Jim died he made an odd request to a niece. She explained: “He called her and said, ‘If anything happens to me, go through my room. There is something there that will surprise you’.”
Surely that must be the quote of the day:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2684400/Al-Hilli-Alps-muirder-Police-investigating-deaths-British-family-shot-French-Alps-reveal-wife-secret-ex-husband-died-America-day.html
Miss Martinolich said that her father was friends with local mob bosses but did not have any enemies.
According to the Parry bible, there was more going on than a man running into Judy Weatherly’s car two days before JT died: “She [Judy Weatherly] even claims that there was an attempt on Jimmy’s life a few weeks before he died when a woman jumped in front of him when he was out on his motorcycle” (p. 168).
Thus, either Judy Weatherly is a fantasist making up stories as she goes along, or JT’s last few weeks on Earth were quite accident-prone.
To paraphrase Parry pp. 164-165, before she left for the UK, “Kelly” told JT to keep their ongoing e-mail communication a secret, because it could get her into a lot of trouble if found out (by Saad?). JT duly did keep it a secret, even from his best friend. “Jim was a very paranoid kind of person. He was scared of being overheard”, according to Judy Weatherly.
The questions that I ask myself: 1. Why would “Kelly” willingly take such a huge risk that could potentially end her marriage to Saad? Emotional attachment to JT? If so, it must have been an enormously strong attachment for them to keep in touch over 12 years. 2. Whatever the precise nature of the bond between JT and Kelly, JT would surely have made inquiries if the communication between them had ceased abruptly. In other words, this ex-cop would have found out quite quickly that she had been murdered, and would have come forward as a witness, one assumes. His family, though, only made the connection after the authorities contacted them. Did somebody go through his belongings after his death and remove the “surprise” that he had mentioned?
If I may let my imagination freewheel a little: JT is said to have been an ex-cop and former oil rig worker (where? In Iraq?).
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2689398/Was-Alps-massacre-wife-REAL-target-This-week-emerged-secret-husband-died-SAME-DAY-murdered-Now-Mails-uncovered-drastic-new-evidence.html
Good ole boys like that usually don’t befriend Iraqi exiles like Sabah Alshaikly, and they usually know better than to participate in immigration fraud. However, they might be prepared to help the gubernment. What if JT was Kelly’s agent handler, who first helped her establish a “legend” in the US and, after she was reassigned, kept in touch with her via e-mail? Perhaps I am emotionally shallow, but I simply cannot believe that Iqbal and JT were merely exchanging idle chit-chat after she had been married to another man for 12 years and had given birth to two children. If, however, they had “business” to discuss, that would be another matter …
Peter, Judy is JT’s half sister, Alshaikly married her daughter, they have children together.
The references on Facebook were before the ‘news’ of Kellys death was apparently reported by the FBI to the family, according to JW, whilst the were still in mourning.
I think JT (married a few times) held a flame for Kelly her and maybe she him, she was asked to leave America by her family, she did, I have no doubt she never let it be known she had married, hence the arranged marriage with SAH which is null and void, due to a divorce taking place after the event.
It is an obvious source of blackmail, but by whom ?
“Miss Weatherly said: ‘Jim died around 3pm on the same day as Iqbal.
‘There was some speculation that somehow he might have been poisoned. Joshua (Mr Thompson’s son) had a visitation from him and he showed him a little brown bottle. He came to him in a dream and said he was poisoned’.”
!!!
M. & Peter
Thanks M. – getsurrey.co.uk would have been the last place I would have checked!
The incident I was thinking about was the one when out on his MC – it also seems to be about the right timeframe to prompt JT to call a niece (two weeks before he died) to say ‘If anything happens to me, go through my room. There is something there that will surprise you’
Parry p164 notes that Dr Alabdi claimed that Iqbal made out she was terrified of using the internet and didn’t want an email address “She would say, ‘What if people know where I am?’ Maybe she wanted not to be known”
My perspective is that that she probably had been using someone else’s PC, at a guess one of SAH’s (unless she habituated internet cafes which I doubt * ).
Which would take us back to my old favourite, the hackers who somehow got SAH’s online account passwords (possibly the same crew who tapped his bank account). If they keylogged SAH, then they also keylogged anyone else using the PC, eg Iqbal.
.
Peter – as to JT as ‘handler’ – you are right, it certainly fits and would be an ideal way of justifying using a covert communication channel when under interrogation.
However to my mind JT seems more like some kind of ‘safe house’ to hide out if something had gone wrong, after all she did ‘change’ her name to Kelly.
Which would make Mom the handler. Now if she had been killed as well… Oh wait!
One thing to note is that she left the US (and JT) at the behest of her Mom, to go to Abu Dhabi, not to go straight to the UK or indeed Sweden. She did not meet SAH until three or four years later I think (Parry p164 is slightly misleading about this, when he writes “not that long afterwards”).
On balance I think that Iqbal may well have been concerned about being ‘found’ (especially while in the UK) but that the concern related to her personal life catching up with her, not an undercover life.
.
By the way, it is worth reading the ‘Le Parisien’ article linked in a post above by Bacchus – Thanks Bacchus!
Notable factoids, no serial number on the fragment of grip and the hayseeds ‘neglected’ to get a search warrant when they visited LMC!
(*) But why do I doubt that? Well, her persona ostensibly was that of someone who was reluctant to go out in public, in fact slightly reclusive. But hang-on, some at least of her persona was fabricated, so who knows?
Old Swiss Lugers in good condition have an investment value of about $6000 U.S., from what I’ve read. They are sold without guarantee of being able to fire. U.S. collectors seek these out. If you were wanting to invest in a weapon, and had ever been on some sort of watch list, a weapon that may not function and is purely for investment purposes surely wouldn’t be of much concern to authorities. A Taser would be, though.
If you had a collectible of some value, and were worried about break-ins, would you store it in a bank?
Judy Weatherly was involved in an $89,000 lawsuit by late December 2011.
http://m.wdsu.com/Sisters-Contractor-Take-Battle-Over-Elevation-Money-To-Court/10975314
Previously, she had been facing criminal charges over an old church in Natchez that she bought for a redevelopment that never happened. She had said she bought the church sight unseen on the recommendation of her brother, Jim.
http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2009/10/27/former-first-baptist-church-tumbles-down/
Jim seems to have taken over operation of his mother’s antique store in Natchez soon after she bought it in 2007. His mother’s obit said she had to give it up six years before her death in 2013, so she couldn’t have run it for long.
More on the 2011 death of a subcontractor working for Judy Weatherly’s company, Fusion:
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/10/osha_issues_serious_violation.html