does the apple fall close to the tree?
This is an article from myhorrynews.com with Statement Analysis added in bold type.
The teenage son of the couple charged with murdering Heather Elvis says he and his younger siblings have lived in fear for months because of constant threats to their family.
They are afraid to leave their home and they don’t understand why someone would want to harm them.
“There have been men with rifles standing across the road looking up here,” said 15-year-old Christian Moorer. “It’s hard to just live our lives knowing somebody out there is threatening to kill you.”
Note that he does not say "us", but the second person, "you", reducing reliability in something this personally frightening. This is distancing language and it is not expected under a threat.
Note that somebody is out there, not trying to kill us, but "threatening to kill"
One should question if this 15 year old has been told these things and is entering into the language of another, and not in fear, for himself.
Christian’s parents, Sidney and Tammy Moorer, face charges of murder and kidnapping in connection with the disappearance of Elvis.
The 20-year-old Carolina Forest woman disappeared in the early morning hours of Dec. 18. Her vehicle was found the following evening at Peachtree Boat Landing in Socastee, about eight miles from her apartment and about two miles from the Moorers’ residence on Highway 814.
All activity to her cell phone ceased at 3:41 a.m. Dec. 18, and her body has not been found.
The Moorers were taken into custody on Feb. 21 after police executed a search warrant at their home. They were indicted on March 21. A trial date for the case has not been set.
Harsh reality
Tammy Moorer’s relatives say they have prayed for the family of Heather Elvis since they first heard she was missing.
They’ve hoped she would be found safe and returned to her loved ones. But they say some people have treated them harshly since Elvis vanished. The Moorers live just off S.C. 544 next to Tammy’s parents’ home.
Her father, William Caison, died of a heart attack in March and his family says it was the stress of the case that killed him.
The Moorers’ children — Christian, 12-year-old Nikki and 8-year-old Caison — have been living with their grandmother Polly since Tammy and Sidney were arrested in February.
Last week, a host of aunts, uncles and cousins gathered in the Caison home to discuss how they have been forced to live since Elvis disappeared.
From the beginning, family members say, the police focused primarily on the Moorers.
According to police records, Sidney Moorer and Heather Elvis were in a relationship last year. Joanne Todd Dry, Tammy Moorer’s aunt, said 38-year-old Sidney Moorer may have gotten mixed up with Elvis, but he’s not a killer.
Another aunt, Lisa Bonechans, said every family member, especially Tammy Moorer’s mother and children, have been scared for their lives for months.
“Our family shouldn’t have to live in fear just because the police say Tammy and Sidney did something,” she said.
Note "something" minimizes murder
Christian Moorer said the police have been called to their property dozens of times since December because people have come into their yard, thrown bricks at the house and even called on the phone threatening their entire family.
Waccamaw Publishers has requested reports about these incidents from the Horry County Police Department. Lt. Robert Kegler, the agency’s spokesman, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
It’s unclear what Kegler could say anyway because police are under a judge’s order not to discuss the Heather Elvis case. Family members said the police have searched both houses twice, trying to find evidence.
The first search came just a few days after Elvis was reported missing.
“They haven’t found anything,” Dry said. “And that’s why they’re trying to keep everybody quiet.”
Intense questioning
Christian Moorer said on the February morning that police arrested his parents, the three children were taken by investigators to a small office at Coastal Carolina University.
With no other adults present, Christian Moorer said the police interrogated him and his sister while their little brother remained in the car.
“They started off being nice,” he said. “Then they started telling me I was lying about things and I wasn’t. I was being very truthful with them.”
Christian said on the night that police say Elvis was murdered, he never heard his parents leave the house or any other noises.
As the family was recounting what everyone has gone through, one cousin started crying as she was looking at a picture on her phone.
Someone had just posted a picture in a private Facebook room of Tammy Moorer with a Photoshopped gunshot wound in her forehead.
Her aunt screamed that this is the kind of things they have been dealing with. They talked of a poster that had been circulated showing Tammy, Sidney and Tammy’s dad with the caption, “one down and two to go.”
Dry said the police told them that their complaint about the poster would be forwarded to the planning or public works department since it dealt with a sign.
Sitting on the floor near her aunt, Nikki said she is always scared. Christian just shook his head.
“I don’t understand how people can do this,” he said.
Bond denied again
Last week, Tammy Moorer’s lawyer asked Judge Steven John to release his client from the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on homebound security because the 42-year-old is pregnant and remains fearful for her life and that of her baby.
Attorney Greg McCollum said Tammy had been to hospitals in Loris and Conway and both facilities confirmed she was pregnant.
“She was trying to get pregnant prior to her arrest,” McCollum said during a bond reconsideration hearing Friday. “This is something she and her husband [Sidney] were trying to do.”
Senior Assistant Solicitor Donna Elder questioned whether Moorer is really pregnant, saying Moorer refused medical attention after receiving positive pregnancy tests.
“I do not believe it is a foregone conclusion that she has a viable pregnancy,” Elder said. “Ms. Moorer has continued to refuse prenatal vitamins and prenatal care. She refuses to be seen by an OB-GYN.”
The revelation of Moorer’s possible pregnancy had been widely discussed on social media in the weeks prior to Friday’s hearing. But Friday was the first time her pregnancy was discussed in open session.
It wasn’t enough, however, to sway the judge, who upheld his March 17 decision to deny bond. John said the court would treat Moorer as if she was pregnant, but stated her pregnancy didn’t warrant release from jail.
“The previous decision to deny bond continues in full force,” he said.
John also wanted Tammy Moorer’s condition monitored closely and any anomalies put in writing.
“If the defendant refuses to accept these services, I want that noted in the record,” he said. “It will be documented in writing.”
At one point during the hearing while John was in the process of denying bond, Tammy Moorer spontaneously spoke aloud, interrupting the judge.
“Excuse me, but can I say something,” Moorer said. “No ma’am,” John sternly replied.
After consulting with his client, McCollum said Tammy Moorer wanted to express concerns about conditions at J. Reuben Long where, McCollum said, Moorer is exposed to bedbugs and fellow inmates have HIV, herpes and other ailments.
“She doesn’t think that in her condition it’s healthy, appropriate or safe,” he said.
John said the court can’t force Moorer to accept services, but he reiterated his desire for the jail to document any instance of her refusing health care.
“At this point in time, it’s not the court’s responsibility to force her to seek medical attention,” he said. “The court will consider her to have a viable pregnancy at this time. She will be afforded the full services of the J. Reuben Long [Detention Center] health center as well.”
‘Our family is sticking together’
In the past, Moorer has had two miscarriages and McCollum said he fears she and her unborn child may experience medical complications if she’s allowed to remain behind bars.
“She’s in the second trimester right now,” he said. “She’s pregnant.” Security was tight for Friday’s hearing, with deputies turning away two citizens for inappropriate dress. Inside the courtroom, a man sitting among Elvis supporters had his cell phone confiscated for taking photos before the hearing.
Note the additional words "right now" and the redundant and unnecessary "she's pregnant"
This is sensitive. Is it due to deception, or is it due to not being believed?
At least one other man was ejected for unspecified reasons while a Caison family member broke into tears following John’s ruling.
Outside, after the hearing concluded, deputies had to disperse a small crowd that had gathered and was engaged in a shouting match in the parking lot of the Horry County Government & Justice Center.
Also in court Friday, McCollum restated that his client is innocent.
“There’s a misconception and misbelief about the lack of evidence against Tammy Moorer,” McCollum said. “There’s been a lot of speculation that they found forensic evidence, that they’ve found a hair sample or a tissue. That’s absolutely not true. There’s no evidence to link Tammy Moorer to the disappearance or possible death of Heather Elvis.”
This is not to say that she is innocent as the article says.
McCollum said law enforcement focused on the Moorers almost immediately after Elvis disappeared on Dec. 18, and that arrests were made to quell public pressure.
“The desire for law enforcement to do something, it’s my belief the method of arrest was done in such a way that [the Moorers] would be taken into custody, they could be interviewed and that [law enforcement] would crack the case,” McCollum said. “They arranged to have her [Tammy Moorer] arrested with the intention of trying to get some kind of incriminating statement.”
Elder took exception to the notion that law enforcement buckled under public pressure, noting that investigators didn’t file charges until two months after Elvis disappeared.
“This is not a case where law enforcement rushed to make an arrest because of public pressure,” she said. “This is a case where law enforcement, contrary to public pressure, they waited.”
Back home after the hearing, Christian Moorer fought back tears. He said he wasn’t sure how his family would endure this.
“Our family is sticking together,” he said quietly. “It’s tough when you hear and see these things about your parents and you never know when someone out there is going to try to kill you. But we’ll just keep praying. That’s all we can do.”