Doreen and Stephen Marfeo

[LooksLikeCRicci]

Originally Posted by justins5256

I found the details about Doreen abruptly quitting her job to make changes in her life interesting. She had also had an affair some years prior and had contemplated leaving Stephen to go with her lover. My gut feeling is that she wanted out of the marriage, told Stephen this, he flipped, and killed her. I think he disposed of her body (where, is the real mystery) and wrote the letters as a means to try to divert the investigation in to other areas.

In cases where I have a TRUE victim of domestic abuse, this happens more often than you'd think. A lot of it is to try to get out of the situation with as little confrontation as possible. Moving and switching jobs are good ways to sever ties with a person you may not want to be with.

And yes, I agree about the typewriter. Wasn't that in the UM segment? I thought it was very convincing of his involvement and/or guilt. I completely missed the part in the suicide note about being alive "nine years too long." In retrospect, that does sound awfully incriminating. Right up there with "I love my wife and would never hurt her INTENTIONALLY."

[MegtheEgg86]

Always thought Stephen Marfeo was guilty.

I know the police searched the area around where Stephen committed suicide for any evidence of Doreen's body and found nothing, but I strongly feel that they were probably on the right track. I would not be shocked in the least if she was eventually found in that vicinity.

[Necco]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

Always thought Stephen Marfeo was guilty.

I know the police searched the area around where Stephen committed suicide for any evidence of Doreen's body and found nothing, but I strongly feel that they were probably on the right track. I would not be shocked in the least if she was eventually found in that vicinity.

I don't think Doreen is in Barkhampstead. It is two hours from Johnston, RI.

And this may be unpopular, but I'm not entirely convinced Stephen killed Doreen. I think he knew more than he was saying, but I'm not convinced he killed her.

A few things: The type written letters were analyzed by a Dr. Murray Miron in the psychology department at Syracuse University. Dr Miron's bad analysis of David Koresh's writing played a big part in the fiasco that was Waco.

Check out this link:
https://books.google.com/books?id=WJ...racuse&f=false

In addition to this, at this time, Syracuse's psychology/education department was in the middle of a "breakthrough" that would eventually turn into a heartbreaking fraud for thousands of parents: facilitated communication for severe autism. Heralded by Syracuse as a wonder, proper scientific method was ignored and eventually facilitated communication was discredited in most cases.


I'd also be very curious to know Stephen's father's name. That may hold a clue to what happened if he didn't kill Doreen.

[TheCars1986]

Not going to toot the Stephen Marfeo is innocent horn, but for every piece of evidence used against him, I could see a counter argument for his innocence. I find it odd that even though his lunch break on the day Doreen disappeared was unusually long (70 minutes, IIRC they said he usually only took 20 to 30 minute breaks), that's still not enough time to murder someone and hide their body to where it still hasn't been found all of these years. But, he did have 2 full days, since he didn't report her missing until 2 days after her alleged disappeared date. One thing in Marfeo's favor, IMO, is the fact that he and Doreen had $50,000 in a joint bank account. That's a lot of money. It's not like they were hurting for cash, and a murder for insurance money makes no sense since Doreen is still classified as missing. I still ultimately think he's guilty. The typewriter used to write the letters to police were found in Marfeo's mother's house. Unless someone was trying to frame him within his family, I don't see how anyone other than Marfeo would be the writer of those letters.

[wiseguy182]

I haven't posted on this one much, but I've always thought he was guilty as sin and have never waivered on that. Came off horrible in his interview. I really can't tell you how awkward it was watching him sip that coffee at the end of the segment, as if he was expecting her to stroll in anytime and pick up where they left off. Yeah, right. What he did 9 years later clinched it for me.

My first reaction is that Rhode Island is the Ocean State, so I figured he might have dumped her body in the ocean. If that's the case, it is probably not retrievable, which would explain why she hasn't been found in 25 years. I could be wrong.

[LooksLikeCRicci]

TheCars1986, have you listened to Serial? It's a podcast about an old murder case from Baltimore, I think.

Prosecution alleged the murder was committed in the span of 21 minutes.

[Necco]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

The typewriter used to write the letters to police were found in Marfeo's mother's house. Unless someone was trying to frame him within his family, I don't see how anyone other than Marfeo would be the writer of those letters.

I am not certain he's not guilty.


But if you're interested in why this might be more complicated than it seems, google "marfeo 1966"

Politics in Rhode Island have been very, very complicated for a very, very long time.

[Necco]

And why would he write letters implicating himself in murder when Doreen was only missing?

[wiseguy182]

Originally Posted by Necco

And why would he write letters implicating himself in murder when Doreen was only missing?

That's a good question. This may sound weird, but I wonder if that was his way of confessing to get it off his chest.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

This may sound weird, but I wonder if that was his way of confessing to get it off his chest.

I always thought that was exactly what it was. I think deep down, Stephen Marfeo always wanted to be caught. I'm not sure if he would be the type to ever outrightly admit to killing Doreen (which I absolutely think he did). But I don't think he would've pitched the biggest fit in the world had he actually been picked up.

[WishfulDreamer]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

I always thought that was exactly what it was. I think deep down, Stephen Marfeo always wanted to be caught. I'm not sure if he would be the type to ever outrightly admit to killing Doreen (which I absolutely think he did). But I don't think he would've pitched the biggest fit in the world had he actually been picked up.

I agree with this, but I also think he had somewhat of an ego. His attitude in regard to the police detective Nardolillo (in the article you posted earlier) indicates his arrogance and possibly explains why he never actually confessed, even before he took his own life.

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by Necco

And why would he write letters implicating himself in murder when Doreen was only missing?

I wonder if it was a reverse psychology type thing. Maybe he figured if he implicated himself the police would think he was innocent because why would someone write such a letter to implicate themselves?

Additionally, the first letter didn't implicate Stephen at all. Rather it suggested possible suspects as Doreen was supposedly having affairs (none of these claims checked out, btw).

My gut feeling is that the point of both letters was subterfuge.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeCRicci

TheCars1986, have you listened to Serial? It's a podcast about an old murder case from Baltimore, I think.

Prosecution alleged the murder was committed in the span of 21 minutes.

No I have not, but I know a lot of people who loved listening to it.

I think the letters were a way of either trying to get heat off of Marfeo or his backwards way of confessing to what had happened.

[purpletentacle]

That kind of typewriter evidence is supposed to be damning, but charges were never filed.
I find the author of the letters a subject of intrigue, since they are so dubious, you have to wonder who would write something like that.

I think it's less likely that Marfeo killed his wife since the murder of his cheating girlfriend was so sloppy in comparison.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Originally Posted by purpletentacle

That kind of typewriter evidence is supposed to be damning, but charges were never filed.
I find the author of the letters a subject of intrigue, since they are so dubious, you have to wonder who would write something like that.

I think it's less likely that Marfeo killed his wife since the murder of his cheating girlfriend was so sloppy in comparison.

I find it more likely, actually. I believe what happened was that when he learned his ex-girlfriend was "cheating" on him, he probably had flashbacks to Doreen and just lost it. He knew he wasn't getting away with this one, so he killed himself instead of getting caught.

That's just how I see it, anyway.