This case does remind me of the boys on the tracks, to be honest.
I think the radio being found is indicative of foul play in Norman's death, unless for some reason it was something that Norman himself had been playing with out in the woods. Don't know why he would do that though.
And the fact his wallet was missing with $140 gone as well seems to indicate his death was also foul play.

Always leaned to it being foul play. Norman isn't the first nor the last poor sap to stumble upon something illegal and get whacked over it.

Always leaned to it being foul play. Norman isn't the first nor the last poor sap to stumble upon something illegal and get whacked over it.

Agreed. Nor would this be the first time police have covered things up for whatever reason and called the death a suicide (we’ve seen it plenty on UM).

I did a little digging and discovered that finding radios and phones for drug drops on private property is not as uncommon as one might think. Not just drugs either, other property has been trafficked this way. What’s worse is that homeowners can be arrested for it even if the contraband isn’t theirs. But owning hundreds of acres of land you don’t regularly patrol is perfect for traffickers.

It is more likely that Norman was murdered. I just don’t see suicide in this case.

Yep, radio and other evidence clearly points to drug linked death with authorities covering for it. This one will never be solved.

I can't recall if the radio was taken by the police or not. A little surprising otherwise that UM wouldn't have at least had a picture of it taken by the Ladners.

This sort of reminds me of the Permon Gilbert discussion on the board. The theory that drug runners wanted to use his plane and when he said no -- they just murdered him?? Seems like a wild reaction that opens up a giant can of worms.

Here with Norman -- you are using their land to air drop drugs and the instant a child happens upon you -- you just murder him and leave him there to open up another can of worms? Just seems illogical, if not super dumb. I realize that describes a lot of criminals but these two seem like a stretch to me.

This sort of reminds me of the Permon Gilbert discussion on the board. The theory that drug runners wanted to use his plane and when he said no -- they just murdered him?? Seems like a wild reaction that opens up a giant can of worms.

Here with Norman -- you are using their land to air drop drugs and the instant a child happens upon you -- you just murder him and leave him there to open up another can of worms? Just seems illogical, if not super dumb. I realize that describes a lot of criminals but these two seem like a stretch to me.

With what we know now about the Permon Gilbert case, the theory that he was killed over drugs seems a little more viable. But I don’t think the plane guys had anything to do with it. Having dealt with plenty of pot dealers in my life, I can tell you that it’s incredibly stupid to approach a perfect stranger and ask them to run product for you. Especially if it pertains to coke and other stuff that carries stiffer charges. Too risky. If they did ask Permon multiple times they were incredibly dumb to do it. Plus we don’t have solid evidence Permon was asked, we have his word and I think one or two statements.

We do have a piece of physical evidence in Norman’s case and that’s that crazy radio. If there was already an operation going on and Norman happened upon it, I can see him being shot for it. Maybe he was on the defensive (which I would be on my own land too) and a fight broke out. Would explain how he was shot lying down, he was being held down at the time. I think you are much more likely to be assassinated as a witness to an event vs. being asked repeatedly to run stuff by stupid dealers. But ultimately both will bring you attention and likely leave evidence against you. I guess it wasn’t a problem as neither case has been definitively solved.

It would be fascinating to see the police file. Is the call of suicide due to lazy police work or a cover up?

I definitely believe based on the hard evidence that Norman was murdered. He came across something illegal in the area and was killed for it, most likely a drug smuggling operation. He recognized somebody as part of the group engaging in the activity, probably an upstanding member of the community. It would not surprise me if it was somebody from local law enforcement, a city council member, etc.