PHOTOS: The Midlothian murder mystery continues to deepen days after a beloved fitness guru was found slain at a Texas church.
Police have stepped back from earlier assertions that the cop-imposter sought in the predawn killing of 45-year-old Terri 'Missy' Bevers, as she was preparing to hold her Monday morning exercise class, is 'male.'
"We are backing off our statement that the suspect on video was a man," a local law enforcement official told reporters today. "We said 'he' over and over again yesterday, and that was a mistake."
He added that, although investigators are still unsure of the killer's actual gender, "there's a lot of speculation, based on the gait and appearance, this person may be a woman."
Via Facebook, police have also released the below series of surveillance stills, with a few more seconds of live video, filmed inside the Creekside Church, in hopes someone will recognize the suspect's "distinctive walk."
Whoever the person is, they acted familiar with the layout of the building and might have even disabled some motion-activated cameras before the deadly incident, as no footage is said to exist where the assault itself occurred, or in other key places.
Additionally, a coroner has determined exactly how Ms. Bevers died in Monday's mysterious attack. However, on orders from detectives working the case, those findings are being kept confidential.
Thus, "only her murderer" and those involved in apprehending the individual presently know the manner in which the middle-aged mother-of-three was slain two days ago; albeit a motive, as with the killer's identity, still remains elusive.
Midlothian police did disclose that Missy Bevers briefly "struggled" with her unknown assailant and that first responders found "a lot of broken glass" at the crime scene near and around her body.
Although the victim's husband doesn't believe his wife was specifically "targeted" for homicide, the theory she might have "interrupted a burglary" is beginning to seem more and more unlikely.
According to police and church officials, despite the intruder "vandalizing" the building just moments before instructor Bevers' arrival for her weekly 5:00 a.m. 'boot camp' session, nothing apparently was stolen from the facility.
It's also no longer clear if the fitness trainer's "heavily disguised" assassin was armed either, since it appears she (or he) "used a pry-bar" to break-and-enter and didn't display knives or firearms once indoors.
That metal object may therefore be the murder weapon too, suggesting Missy Bevers died from blunt force trauma. Although, once again, detectives have declined to release these type of case details to the public, citing their "ongoing investigation."
They are confirming the Midlothian murder suspect suited up "in tactical gear" before coming to the church, including donning "a heavy helmet" with a face-guard, and various official insignias "designed" to make them "look like a police officer."
It is the cop impersonator aspect of the “extremely unusual" crime which has law enforcement concerned “something else" besides a robbery "was going on here," and why they're especially eager to take the killer into custody as quickly as possible.
To those aims, the Texas Rangers have joined forces with the Midlothian Police Department to help solve the murder of Missy Bevers, and an area business is offering a substantial reward for tips leading to the arrest and prosecution of her killer.
Anyone with such information is urged to contact the MPD at 972-775-3333, or Ellis County Crime Stoppers at 972-937-7297.
UPDATE 4/21/16: As suspected, slain fitness coach Missy Bevers did indeed die from blunt force trauma.
ReplyDeleteUnnamed sources revealed today that she received a mortal head wound during Monday's attack at the Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian Texas.
Her killer, believed by many now to be a woman who had specifically targeted Bever at her weekly exercise class, still remains unidentified and at large.
That suspect posed as a SWAT cop to enter the church at dawn, then used an "unknown instrument" to bludgeon Missy Bevers to death with.
This is likely the same "pry bar" the cop-imposter is seen in some surveillance tapes carrying while strolling through the hallways.
Cams positioned outside the church were found to be "malfunctioning" the day of the assault, so no footage of the perpetrator approaching the facility exists, as a result.
E.R.
I wonder exactly how those cameras were malfunctioning.
ReplyDeleteMe too -- good bet though that they were functioning just fine during Sunday services.
DeleteIf so, then the killer was likely filmed among the parishioners, dawdling in plain view while everyone else dispersed so to disable the cams for Monday's premeditated attack on Ms. Bevers.
(Hopefully, that possibility has been or will be explored.)
E.R.