Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Dead Cat in the Shower and The Danger of Generating Theories Based on Limited and Imagined Evidence

I have written more than once of the danger of developing theories based on possible scenarios rather than on actual evidence, that when someone puts together bits of evidence in order to support a theory of choice rather than basing their theory on real forensic and behavioral evidence, a case can become convoluted and misrepresented. The number of theories in unsolved cases like Madeleine McCann and JonBenet Ramsey and many other less publicized cases escalates over time and more and more insignificant pieces of information become fodder for yet more theories. These bits of info are often given more meaning and weight than when the case was fresh simply because people are looking for a smoking gun that will break the case wide open and finally bring answers and closure. Likewise, for some solved cases like that of Steven Avery; speculation on who ELSE could have done it has spawned a dozen or more theories, most based on zero evidence or one bit of information from which a complete murder scenario and motive have been developed.

As an example of how speculation can spawn so many theories (in spite of the fact that just ONE thing happened), I want my readers to come up with their theory on the dead cat in Pat Brown's shower.

I will spare animal lovers a photo of the dead cat in the shower, but, suffice it to say, there was indeed, last night, a dead cat in criminal profiler Pat Brown's shower (this is a fact, not a fictional scenario). So suppose someone reported that they saw in Pat Brown's shower at 10 pm, an dead orange cat laying on a trash bag. There was blood about the cat's ears and mouth and the body was still soft. They also saw, on the dining table nearby, this odd piece of evidence: a check from Amazon with what appears to be blood on it.



The same person claims that they returned the next day at 3 pm in the afternoon and the dead cat and the bloody check were both no longer in the home of Pat Brown.

Okay, readers, what is your theory as to the dead cat in Pat Brown's shower? When I get ten responses, I will then discuss the evidence, the theories, and what actually happened.

So bring it on!

If you are new here, read the responses below - all the theories - and then go here for the answer: http://patbrownprofiling.blogspot.com/2016/04/why-there-was-dead-cat-in-profiler-pat.html

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown
April 5, 2016


Cover for 'Profile of the Disappearance of Madeleine McCann'


By Pat Brown

Rating: 1 star1 star1 star1 star1 star
Published: July 27, 2011

What really happened to Madeleine Beth McCann in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007? Was she abducted as the Gerry and Kate have claimed or did something happen to Madeleine on May 3 in the vacation apartment and the incident covered up? Criminal Profiler Pat Brown analyzes the evidence and takes the readers through the steps of profiling, developing a theory that is intriguing and controversial.



10 comments:

Unknown said...

As Pat Brown arrived home from work she checked her mailbox. Excitedly she seen a cheque from amazon so figured hey let's head back out to the bank and finish all errands for the day ( then she could relax with a glass of wine) , well in the excitement Pat failed to notice the kitty who had walked past her car until she heard the thump :|
In a panic , cheque still in hand Pat did the right thing by scooping up the poor injured kitty and bringing it int her home.. all while blood from the injury rolling down the paper that was in her hand. Pat entered the home and took the cat to the bathroom where the blood would not make a bigger mess in her gorgeously decorated home.
The poor kitty passed before Pat could get him/ her help so he was placed in a bag until Pat locates owner... or feels really bad she killed her own cat out of excitement of an amazon cheque.
Hehehehehe. hehehhe. That was fun lol..

Anonymous said...

My view is the cat was threatened then poisoned

Anonymous said...

I think Pat either accidentally hit or found the kitty and took it inside her house. She took the kitty into the shower to try and clean it up thinking that since it was still warm it could possibly be saved. The cat was no longer alive and she left it there while she tried to figure out what to do with it. In the meantime someone in her family or someone she knows came over to

Anonymous said...

A burglar jemmied the bathroom shutters open and climbed in. Whilst rifling through the cabinet looking for cash but only finding a single cheque,he was startled by the cat who jumped from his sleeping place on top of said cabinet. Jemmy still in hand burglar lashed out in frightened self defence and unfortunately mortally injured the cat. Our burglar happens to be a cat lover and tries to revive cat but sadly cannot and is now covered in blood. Now confused and worried he attempts to hide the evidence, finds a plastic bag to wrap the cat to dispose of the body and heads for the bathroom window exit. The house owner is arriving home and time to escape is short so burglar dumps cat in shower on the way out.

Cheryl said...

The check was thrown into the garbage by accident. The garbage was brought into the house and put into bathtub to search for the check. Check found with catchup or something looking like blood from being in the garbage. Cat jumped into tub to go threw the garbage looking for some goodies and got catchup on ears and mouth and then took a nap on the garbage dreaming of food. By the next day the garbage was put back out , check cashed , tub scrubbed and the cat was back to looking for something to get in to.

annie haley said...

My theory on the tragic incident of the poor orange cat in Criminal Profiler Pat Brown's shower is as follows:

At around 9:40 PM , Pat made her short journey to pick up her mail at a nearby FedEx office. She collected all her miserable bills, letters, and noticed the Amazon envelope!
"Oh good! A check from Amazon! Maybe I can finally fly first class on one of my trips!" she exclaimed to herself. As Pat walked out to the parking lot to her red convertible with its top still up since it's still too darn cold, and carrying her mail with her right hand, she noticed that there was an injured orange cat next to her car! "Oh Poor guy!" Pat, being the kind soul that she is, gently picked up the injured cat with her left hand and felt the blood from his wounds. "He must have been hit in the parking lot just a bit ago since he is still warm and breathing! Pat put the cat down on the ground, switched hands to open her car door, which left the bloody print on her disappointing Amazon check.
As Pat is a huge fan of having practical items such as garbage bags in her car, she found one, took it out and placed it in the front seat of the car and put the injured cat on it and drove it home so she could see what the injuries of the cat really were.

Pat arrived back at home at 9:55 with her groceries and mail. She brought in the cat first and put him the shower since he was obviously bleeding from his injuries.
She brought in her groceries and mail and her daughter, Jennifer came over to visit.
She had noticed her mom's arrival and wanted to visit. She walked in to the house, greeted her mom and went to use her bathroom. She noticed the injured cat who was still warm and soft because he was badly injured but was still alive! "Oh my mom rescued another poor soul thought Jennifer!"

They chatted for a while and said good night to each other.

The next day, Jennifer came to visit at 3 pm as she usually does since she lives in the house next to Pat's. "Hey, mom," said Jennifer, what happened to that orange cat?"
"Oh, you mean the one in my shower? His injuries were too severe and he passed away right after you left last night."
"I buried him in the backyard this morning and cleaned everything up!"

How's that theory?

Poor kitty!!!🐱

Pat Brown said...

Okay, guys! Let me step in here!

This is a TRUE story....I really had a dead cat in my shower. Some of the theories are so outlandish that it seems you are making up stuff that completely is just fictional!

What I want you to do (and some have done this) is to TRULY try to come up with a reasonable theory of what happened. What I want to show you is how close you come, discuss how you based your theory on evidence or how you filled in stuff that was not based on evidence or how you twisted evidence or ignored evidence or assumed stuff.

So, do your BEST to come up with a rational analysis of what happened!

curt said...

Not knowing how old the cat was, I would suspect poisioning. The cat vomited blood on the check and died on the table. The cat was picked up and placed in the tub using the bag as a way to not contract grems. The next day, the cat was taken to the vet for disposal and the check was deposited

Martin Roberts said...

Hello Pat

Since reference is made to your home (not apartment) I assume you have an outside mail box. You walk to the end of your drive to fetch your mail, opening the item of most significance immediately. Unfortunately you then notice your pet lying in the road nearby, having been hit by a car. You carry both items indoors (cat bleeds onto cheque) leave the paperwork on the table and take the cat to the shower to clean it up a touch. Both cat and cheque are deposited appropriately at the earliest opportunity.

Verdict: Death by misadventure (although what became of the poor creature's other eight lives I have no idea).

Regards

M.R.

Pat Brown said...

My response to your theories is too long to write here, so please read the next blog!