Philip Fraser

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

Originally Posted by rusty spike

Maybe I'm mixed up in the details, but I thought the hitch hiker (suspect) was dropped off by a motorist driving north. The suspect then entered the diner and then paid before going out to find Philip, who was parked on the side of the road (looking through his car). I looked for some notes to clarify which direction the motorist was originally driving, but didn't see any notes. I thought the re-enactment had the hitch hiker and vehicle going in the opposite direction, but the re enactment could be wrong.

Suppose my understanding is off and the motorist was heading south, why did the hitch hiker bail off a ride that was already going south? (assuming the original ride was going south to begin with). If traffic is sparse and people have misgivings about picking up strangers, sort of makes you wonder why ask to be let off if a ride is traveling the direction you want to go.

I wonder if the person who dropped him off at the cafe ever spoke to someone about it? I would think if they were a local they would have. he was a drifter so he could have been looking for the right opportunity to take advantage of someone.

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

Originally Posted by zack007attack

Maybe the motorist who dropped off the hitch hiker originally offered to take the hitch hiker as far as he could without going off his own planned route, so the 40 Mile Flats Cafe was the best place to drop him off and find his next ride. So it's plausible the motorist was going to turn west or east, or was heading home and his residence was in close proximity to the cafe.

that sounds eerily similar to the Dorothy Donovan segment. I think if it were a local that dropped him off...they would have found out about Phillip's murder and come forward to give information. but in that area local could be a relative thing considering how rural it is there.

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Here is a map showing Philip's journey from Anchorage to where his car ultimately ended up in Prince George. Taking into account that this hitchhiker did not harm the person who dropped him off at the 40 Mile Flat Cafe, something triggered him from the time he got with Philip to where Philip's body was found roughly 3 hours south from the cafe. So Philip was murdered not that long after picking up the hitchhiker. We know they conversed because the Olson's said the hitchhiker was giving them information under the pretense that he was Philip. But why kill him? If the hitchhiker wanted a ride south (in the direction he went in after dumping Philip's body), he had one with Philip alive...because Philip's ultimate destination was Seattle. I think Philip sensed something was off about this guy, and instead of heading south on his intended journey, he started to travel west back in the direction of Alaska, which would have sent him back through Canadian Border Services. Which is ultimately what I think set the hitchhiker off. The hitchhiker wanted to get out of Canada. Killing Philip and using his passport and identity could have accomplished this. He was on the run from something before he killed Philip, IMO.

good points. I brought up the Dorothy Donovan segment because it involved a desperate hitchhiker who was triggered by being dropped off in the middle of nowhere. which is similar to your theory if Phillip was driving him somewhere that he didn't want to go, then that would have most certainly triggered a confrontation. It's tough to say what really happened. The murderer could have seen Phillip as a good target to steal his identity as a means to get to his next location. he could have felt threatened by Phillip for some reason as if he felt that Phillip would turn him into the authorities somehow as you pointed out the threat of a border checkpoint. I just read that Michael Wayne McGray was a suspected serial killer that was a drifter and kind of fit the profile of Phillip's killer.

[Gelatinous Goo]

Originally Posted by zack007attack

or was heading home and his residence was in close proximity to the cafe.

I think this theory to be highly improbable. If this person lived close to the cafe, the Fraser murder would have been all the talk for miles around and the odds of them not coming forward with information would have been slim to none. The only two things preventing them from coming forward would be if they were extremely antisocial themselves and didn't bother talking to anybody, or if they moved away/dropped dead shortly thereafter and were therefore less likely to be privy to the Fraser story.

[Clockwork]

Originally Posted by Gelatinous Goo

I think this theory to be highly improbable. If this person lived close to the cafe, the Fraser murder would have been all the talk for miles around and the odds of them not coming forward with information would have been slim to none. The only two things preventing them from coming forward would be if they were extremely antisocial themselves and didn't bother talking to anybody, or if they moved away/dropped dead shortly thereafter and were therefore less likely to be privy to the Fraser story.

Or scared to come forward because they would put themselves out there and were afraid of a killer on the loose.

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

Originally Posted by macbeth06

He was killed by the hitchhiker he picked up

this is one of my new favorite posts.

[SageSlowdive]

Originally Posted by DALLASTEXAN!!

this is one of my new favorite posts.

[jets4life]

Originally Posted by Gelatinous Goo

I think this theory to be highly improbable. If this person lived close to the cafe, the Fraser murder would have been all the talk for miles around and the odds of them not coming forward with information would have been slim to none. The only two things preventing them from coming forward would be if they were extremely antisocial themselves and didn't bother talking to anybody, or if they moved away/dropped dead shortly thereafter and were therefore less likely to be privy to the Fraser story.

I agree with the points you raise. For one thing, the nearest town was hundreds of kilometres away, and there is really nowhere that a person that dropped him off could turn, aside from heading back up north for hours. It is far more likely that whoever picked him up, may have took a dislike to him, and wanted to drop him off at the nearest stop, and the cafe just happened to be there.

[jets4life]

Originally Posted by Clockwork

Or scared to come forward because they would put themselves out there and were afraid of a killer on the loose.

Highly doubtful considering the tip would ahve been anonymous, and the fact that he is nearly certainly a transient.

[Clockwork]

Originally Posted by jets4life

Highly doubtful considering the tip would ahve been anonymous, and the fact that he is nearly certainly a transient.

To be a fly on the wall to know what conversation led to Philip getting shot.

[mwcarolina]

my guess in this case is the hitchhiker likely (after he did his crime) went back to his hometown (wherever that was) destroyed the ID, spent the money he stole and likely either did more crimes and got locked up or just got away with what he's done. My guess is he didn't live near Fraser which is why he got away with his crime

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

Originally Posted by mwcarolina

my guess in this case is the hitchhiker likely (after he did his crime) went back to his hometown (wherever that was) destroyed the ID, spent the money he stole and likely either did more crimes and got locked up or just got away with what he's done. My guess is he didn't live near Fraser which is why he got away with his crime

yeah you can drive for many miles out there without seeing anyone, but a few cars passing here and there or maybe a random road stop restaurant like the one in the segment. what strikes me is that he was a drifter and those were rural areas so there is little chance that he was a local as no one recognized him and no one else came forward after the segment who could positively ID him. I wonder where he was coming from/what brought him to that part of canada.

[mwcarolina]

Originally Posted by DALLASTEXAN!!

yeah you can drive for many miles out there without seeing anyone, but a few cars passing here and there or maybe a random road stop restaurant like the one in the segment. what strikes me is that he was a drifter and those were rural areas so there is little chance that he was a local as no one recognized him and no one else came forward after the segment who could positively ID him. I wonder where he was coming from/what brought him to that part of canada.

Exactly my thoughts, he was a random drifter. I know the segment thought he may have stole his identity, but I think once he discovered that Fraser's death didn't go unnoticed, he likely dropped the idea of impersonating him. He likely is now living somewhere else with his family and isn't giving a second thought on the guy he killed which is sad

[blacksymbiote]

Do you guys give any credence to the Blair Adams theory?

[XCalibur]

Originally Posted by DALLASTEXAN!!

yeah you can drive for many miles out there without seeing anyone, but a few cars passing here and there or maybe a random road stop restaurant like the one in the segment. what strikes me is that he was a drifter and those were rural areas so there is little chance that he was a local as no one recognized him and no one else came forward after the segment who could positively ID him. I wonder where he was coming from/what brought him to that part of canada.

Maybe he was from Alaska just like Phillip and simply decided to to head to the lower 48