Warrensburg has had time to process the release of Ziyad Abid. Overwhelmingly, many people do believe that President Obama's visit directly correlated to his release. And truth be told, they will continue to believe it, no matter how little evidence that links them (currently-none), the rumor is still driving hoards of people to this page. The stats from this page are as follows, and as you can see, the traffic sources show that people are seeking information about it. Possibly to confirm what they think they know, and I do hope that they spend a minute or two opening their minds to the fact that there's another option.
It occurred to me the other day, to consider the most unpopular opinion of them all: that Ziyad Abid is innocent of all charges.
I reported in the first post that a rumor swirled about Blaine borrowing money from Abid to keep his bar(s) afloat. This would give Abid motive to want Blaine killed; Blaine owed him money, or, Blaine was not cooperating with Abid to either repay the loan. Either way, if money was exchanged, there was surely some sort of trail. Blaine didn't seem to be the kind that would have a Cayman bank account, so if he was to borrow, say, $10,000-25,000 from Abid, it would have appeared somewhere.
1) His bank account (wire transfer, unusually large deposit)
2) He used it to pay mortgages, renovations, etc, which would have raised red flags if traced back- "5,000 in a bank account and he didn't touch it, but paid payments, bills, and contractors"?
3) Found in his home after the investigation-
4) Blaine would have documented it or told someone about the loan, that could swear under oath to the information.
Anyway you slice it, Ziyad Abid was not going to walk into a bank and withdraw money of a significant amount; write a check, or authorize a large wire transfer to Blaine's bank account (which would easily be tracked by his social security number).
This author has to deduce that this rumor is untrue. Any appearance of impropriety, or paper trail would have been enough motive to keep Abid in jail.
Let's turn to Reginald Singletary. He had the motive, means, and opportunity to kill Blaine, and he first admitted in September 2012 that this is exactly what happened.
Motive: It has been reported that Reggie was fired from Blaine's bar a week prior to Blaine's death. He was angry, is known to have a temper (Case net reports that he was charged with a Protection Order from his wife/ex-wife (Adult Abuse w/o stalking, 2010), and originally admitted to this crime. At this time, he also implicated Ziyad Abid, with the story that Abid hired him. Police arrested Abid after Reggie.
Means: Reggie had a gun, obviously. What's unclear is whose gun it was. It likely wasn't Ziyad's, as he legally could not own a gun with nonimmigrant status in the U.S. If it was stolen or procured illegally, it would likely not be traced to Ziyad, so it was probably Reggie's. We do not know if the gun has been recovered.
Opportunity: Reggie worked for Blaine and he knew his schedule. He knew that Blaine was going to be going to the bar around 9 or so, and he knew that he lived alone. It is dark around this time in September in Missouri, so he knew he would have less chance of being seen. (But this was risky- at any given time, neighbors could have been outside or driving home)
Ziyad's attorney, Patrick Peters, has called Reginald Singletary a "pathological liar". (Note: please check out Peters' website, where this is the opening statement:
"You think the criminal justice system is fair? We don't want to alarm you, but it's you and your attorney against . . . the government. The same folks that can't fix a pothole are running the system, and if you think it's fair, you're in for a rude awakening...
Patrick & Shelley Peters"
http://www.peters-lawyers.com/If Reggie is a liar, and he knew he was caught, why not implicate his roommate, the wealthy Ziyad Abid, who could have also had the Motive, Means, and Opportunity.
Motive: If he really wanted to purchase Blaine's bars, killing Blaine could have been a way to do it. Note: I don't think he wanted Blaine's bars. Abid had no support in the US, and the Warrensburg bar market is not as fruitful as it used to be. He would likely receive his degree in aviation, return to Saudi Arabia, enjoy an aviation career like his father. He didn't need to buy a couple of bars in Warrensburg to be successful.
Means: Ziyad had the means to get a gun, or to promise Reggie a good amount of money (even if he had no intention of following through to pay) to kill Blaine.
Opportunity: If Ziyad wanted to do it himself, he could have. He could have known Blaine's schedule as well.
There are two distinct theories to this murder. You can think that Ziyad got off on a technicality, a good lawyer or a bad justice system. If you believe this, you have to admit that he left little room for mistakes. He didn't leave a trail of money or evidence. He didn't crack under pressure from investigators. (As stated before, anyone that Blaine let in on a possible loan, obviously didn't swear under oath or produce any proof that Abid had a hit on Blaine)
Or you can choose to believe that he didn't do it. He was simply a victim of circumstance, a poorly constructed confession that took 11 months to crack. He obviously wasn't loved by the media, with his smirk in his mugshot and his blasé attitude during all court appearances.
And finally, why did Reggie's story change? In the July 18 article in the Daily Star Journal, it was stated that Reggie wasn't willing to testify against Abid. Many people have claimed that Abid's family have paid Reggie for his silence. This is possible; however, Reggie is looking at life behind bars right now, so I doubt that he would give up any chance of acquittal or a reduced sentence, just for money for his prison commissary costs.
Whatever you choose to believe, any intelligent person has to admit that there are several variables here, and that if Abid really did get away with murder, either the state didn't do enough research to dig up the dirt, or Abid so carefully masterminded this entire situation, that the entire case hinged on Reggie's confession.
And if that's all they had, folks, the jury likely would have returned a not guilty verdict. It's tough to hear, because we want justice for Blaine, but at the same time, the state didn't meet their burden of proof. Whether it was "fair" or not means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Criminal Justice at its finest.
Sleuth
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