Did Dawn help Ronnie kill the family???

[zzvampy]

I even doubt they lived in the same state!

Well, actually...

http://www.amityvillefaq.com/truthboard ... c&start=84

[Link the Labrador]

I even doubt they lived in the same state!

Well, actually...

http://www.amityvillefaq.com/truthboard ... c&start=84

Whoops, my bad. :3

[Brendan72]

Was Dawn a killer? The answer, in short is most likely no.

In fact I am almost 100% certain (not quite 100%, about 99.98%) that she was innocent of the whole thing and am 100% certain was a victim (and victim alone) of the tragedy.

[Howard64]

I still firmly believe that ronnie acted alone...

[112 Ocean Ave]

There was a motive that dawn and Ronnie both killed there family, the black shadow being dawn, but when dawn went back to sleep he killed her also. I really don't know on this one. What do you think?

[TigresMeow]

I don't think Dawn had any part in committing the murders. She was a victim just like the rest of her family. Some people like to drag her name through the mud though.

[Victoria Principles]

Not very likely. Let's see, Dawn killed the kids, went to sleep quickly after doing the deed, and then Ronnie finished her off. The autopsy reports showed all 6 died within minutes of one another. Do you really think Dawn would be able to fall asleep that quickly after doing such a horrific event?

[astonio]

The autopsy reports cannot verify they died within minutes of one another. Too much time had elapsed before they were discovered.

[kathyM]

Where would you get these autopsy reports anyway? Are those even available?

[Rokiisun]

Autopsy reports can predict a time in which death occurs but it cannot tell for certain when a person died, but even so they are not very reliable because it's using inductive reasoning, also bearing in mind that DNA testing did not exist in the early 1970s. For instance, the Defeos' deaths could have been predicted by the autopsies done on their stomachs to see if there was any undigested food still present in their bodies. As food takes about six hours to digest completely in the stomach and evidence from the crime scene photos and autopsies showed that a number of the Defeos had a late night supper, they could have predicted the deaths occuring between 2am and 4am in the morning depending on when the family members eventually went to sleep, but it wouldn't be able to explain that they all died at the same time (even though we know there is evidence to support this statement) because some stomachs did not have food in them, so you would have to look at other sources of evidence (crime scene photos etc.) to back up your reasoning - so autopsies back then were not reliable on their own, but in this day and age because we now know how to gather DNA from autopsies we can safely say that in present year 2011 they are more reliable than they were 1974.

As for the bodies being left for too long, the length of time does make a slight difference - if the bodies were found earlier then the autopsies would have been able to determine which stage the bodies were at in comparisson to another, which may have answered the question of: Did they die within seconds, minutes or hours within each other? Or would maybe have given the researchers a more accurate death time to go with. But because they were all found in the same stage of decomposing the only thing they could have gone with was the autopsy reports on their stomachs to predict the time of the deaths and evidence gathered from the crime scene (photographs, finger nails) etc.

[bella2005]

I don't think Dawn had anything at all to do with it but wasn't there something about her rigor mortis not being the same as the others?

[TigresMeow]

Dawn's rigor mortis was only partial but there can be many explanations for that. Temperature plays a part in it and does other things. With Dawn being the only victim on the third floor, it very well could be a temperature thing. Or, as some other people think, maybe her death wasn't immediate. It really is hard to say.

[Howard64]

I truly do not feel Dawn had anything to do with the murders.

[112 Ocean Ave]

The reason why i asked is because i saw some video on YouTube where it had different ways the murders could have happened, that was one of them

[Dan the Damned]

Merged a lot of older "Dawn a killer" threads together here. A lot of good information was getting soggy at the bottom of the forum...

[bella2005]

Dawn's rigor mortis was only partial but there can be many explanations for that. Temperature plays a part in it and does other things. With Dawn being the only victim on the third floor, it very well could be a temperature thing. Or, as some other people think, maybe her death wasn't immediate. It really is hard to say.

I hope her death was fast! I can't imagine her suffering through that wound. So sad to think about. I have always thought Dawn came home after everyone else was murdered and then Ronnie went up and murdered her. It would explain the rigor mortis and the fact that she was in a natural sleeping position.

[Victoria Principles]

Let's use some common sense here. If Dawn was involved, do you really think she would be able to fall asleep right away after murdering her siblings with a high powered noisy rifle like the Marlin was alleged to be? No other finger prints appeared on the rifle except for Ronnie's. The same weapon was used for the murders.

Also Ronnie found out that child killers are not popular in prison. If he could blame someone else for the murder of the 3 kids, maybe he thought he could convince other convicts that he did not kill his siblings.

[Shawn]

Let's use some common sense here. If Dawn was involved, do you really think she would be able to fall asleep right away after murdering her siblings with a high powered noisy rifle like the Marlin was alleged to be? No other finger prints appeared on the rifle except for Ronnie's. The same weapon was used for the murders.

Also Ronnie found out that child killers are not popular in prison. If he could blame someone else for the murder of the 3 kids, maybe he thought he could convince other convicts that he did not kill his siblings.

[bella2005]

Let's use some common sense here. If Dawn was involved, do you really think she would be able to fall asleep right away after murdering her siblings with a high powered noisy rifle like the Marlin was alleged to be? No other finger prints appeared on the rifle except for Ronnie's. The same weapon was used for the murders.

Also Ronnie found out that child killers are not popular in prison. If he could blame someone else for the murder of the 3 kids, maybe he thought he could convince other convicts that he did not kill his siblings.

I agree 100%!

[Shawn]

Dawn's rigor mortis was only partial but there can be many explanations for that. Temperature plays a part in it and does other things. With Dawn being the only victim on the third floor, it very well could be a temperature thing. Or, as some other people think, maybe her death wasn't immediate. It really is hard to say.

i have a question about this. Isn't it possible to also be in partial rigor mortis AFTER it has already set in? I was under the impression that rigor mortis does not last very long, so is it possible for a body to be partial RM before and after? Do you know what I'm suggesting?

Edited to add:

"Rigor mortis (Latin meaning "stiffness of death") is one of the recognizable signs of death that is caused by a chemical change in the muscles after death, causing the limbs of the corpse to become stiff and difficult to move or manipulate.[1] In humans it commences after about 3 hours, reaches maximum stiffness after 12 hours, and gradually dissipates until approximately 72 hours (3 days) after death.[citation needed] Heat sources such as fire can speed up the process of rigor mortis."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigor_mortis

[112 Ocean Ave]

Heres something for you all to think on..

IF mind you IF...Dawn Defeo participated in the killings how did Ronnie get her back in bed without a struggle and the shoot her? Mind you if he had shot her, he would have had to drag her or pick her up and take her to bed. No drag marks or blodd splatters were evident ( im assuming so) in the house the night of the murders.

Comments?

Hi Howard i was wondering the same thing thats why i posted that too. I really dont know for certain but i think that she was not involved. There are many many theories on what happened that night. Its hard to determine exactly what happened but i dont think she was.