Sandra Cantu #2 4/09/09 - 4/15/09

[pink angel]

Excellent post JessStar and welcome! 

Yes the big question and the key to all of this is why would she drug a child if indeed she did.  Also, how is it possible there is nobody else involved.  Why would Fred Williams say the luggage was stolen from inside her car and that it had items for a rummage sale?

She told him one story. Told police another story and the press yet another story.

Perhaps she didn't count on him talking to the press.

[Northern Rose]

Sandra was dead before she was reported missing.
Suitcase was left in the driveway then gone when she got back, of course it was. But did Melissa move it? She's only 125 pounds. Sure adrenoline would help. Maybe that's why the suitcase was so close to the road in the pond, she couldn't throw it far because of the weight.
What about the beige truck that was by the pond?

If the luggage had wheels it would make it a little easier to roll but lifting it into a trunk? I think she had help somehow.

Maybe Sandra got into Melissa's car willingly.  Say the luggage just happened to be already in the car.  They go over to the church and Sandra is killed/dies.  Then it's at the church that Sandra is put into the luggage.  I still say Melissa had help and Fred Williams is real high on my list of helpers.

Absolutely possible that something happend and the suitcase was the handiest way to conceal.  How does the kidnapping charge fit with this? (that is the charge that has me the most confused right now on how things fit)

[pink angel]

this case is disturbing in oh so many ways! first of all, how do we warn our children against someone like this? We tell them to watch out for strangers, for inappropriate touches, someone who makes them feel uncomfortable etc.....but how do we warn or prepare them to look out for their playmates mother?????  your own neighbor? words fail me at the moment on that!

does anyone think that perhaps Sandra walked in while MH was doing drugs and MH felt that she might tell someone so she had to get rid of her? I can not for the life of me figure out why she would have killed Sandra...and the fact that she was already murdered by the time she was reported missing....it must have been really fast and from anger? her clothes and her flip flops still on her? nothing is making sense to me....
.

She went missing just after four and was reported missing at eight, IIRC.

It doesn't take long to molest and drug a child, sadly.

I realize that...

has there been mention that this child was molested or drugged officially?
are others thinking that MH molested this child? my mind can't go there....

No, nothing official.

I can't think of any other reason for drugging the child. It's all so wrong.

It doesn't take long to kidnap and murder either, sadly.

That's what I should have said.

[joesamas mama]

Sandra was dead before she was reported missing.
Suitcase was left in the driveway then gone when she got back, of course it was. But did Melissa move it? She's only 125 pounds. Sure adrenoline would help. Maybe that's why the suitcase was so close to the road in the pond, she couldn't throw it far because of the weight.
What about the beige truck that was by the pond?

If the luggage had wheels it would make it a little easier to roll but lifting it into a trunk? I think she had help somehow.

Maybe Sandra got into Melissa's car willingly.  Say the luggage just happened to be already in the car.  They go over to the church and Sandra is killed/dies.  Then it's at the church that Sandra is put into the luggage.  I still say Melissa had help and Fred Williams is real high on my list of helpers.

Klaas, can you help me? I haven't been keeping up with this case, but could you please tell me who Kyle is everyone is referring too? TIA JSM I just came here this morning because of the arrest haven't read anything in here. It is too too sad for me. TIA JSM

Story about Kyle - he was kidnapped and tortured:

http://www.ktvu.com/news/18183765/detail.html

Thanks Klaas, that is who I thought he was, breaks my heart about him. Is he safe now? TIA JSM

[pink angel]

Sandra was dead before she was reported missing.
Suitcase was left in the driveway then gone when she got back, of course it was. But did Melissa move it? She's only 125 pounds. Sure adrenoline would help. Maybe that's why the suitcase was so close to the road in the pond, she couldn't throw it far because of the weight.
What about the beige truck that was by the pond?

If the luggage had wheels it would make it a little easier to roll but lifting it into a trunk? I think she had help somehow.

Maybe Sandra got into Melissa's car willingly.  Say the luggage just happened to be already in the car.  They go over to the church and Sandra is killed/dies.  Then it's at the church that Sandra is put into the luggage.  I still say Melissa had help and Fred Williams is real high on my list of helpers.

Absolutely possible that something happend and the suitcase was the handiest way to conceal.  How does the kidnapping charge fit with this? (that is the charge that has me the most confused right now on how things fit)

Even if she asked her to get in the car and go to the church to put up decorations with her and then murdered her. That's kidnapping.
She took her somewhere under false pretenses.

Kidnapping is forcibly, or by using fear, taking or holding or detaining a person, and carrying the person from one place to another. Kidnapping by persuading, enticing, or seducing a child under the age of 14 with misrepresentations or false promises also constitutes criminal kidnapping under California law. The California kidnapping law also specifically prohibits kidnapping of any person adult or child by making misrepresentations or false promises, if the intent is to sell the person into slavery or involuntary servitude or to use or employ the person for one's own purposes. Kidnapping for ransom or extortion, and kidnapping during a carjacking, are more severe crimes that carry additional penalties. All forms of kidnapping are felonies.

It's the fact, not the distance.

[JessStar]

Excellent post JessStar and welcome! 

Yes the big question and the key to all of this is why would she drug a child if indeed she did.  Also, how is it possible there is nobody else involved.  Why would Fred Williams say the luggage was stolen from inside her car and that it had items for a rummage sale?

I don't necessarily disagree.  But I'm not sure the "big question" is the key to winning a conviction. (FWIW, I think Monster Woman confessed.  So the questions of motive or guilt or innocence will likely be neither here nor there, unless they are needed for a capital conviction.  The only triable issue in the case is going to be whether she is criminally insane, because she's going to attempt an insanity defense, which will certainly fail.  Her actions after the event prove that.  Stupid, yes.  Criminally insane, no). 

Anyway, the "big question" of "why" goes to motive, which is not an element of the crime of murder (unless California law is somehow different than where I am--but I doubt it).  She killed this little girl by intentionally or with reckless indifference inducing her with a substance that had the likelihood of inflicting severe bodily harm or causing death.  Case closed.

My answer to Williams?  Because Williams is part of the bigger picture, not the Sandra murder.  You'll be hearing more about him, I bet. (BTW, anyone know what Williams does for a living to be able to afford a $1/2 million, 4000 sq ft home and that nice boat?)  After the crime had been committed (meaning after Sandra had already expired), and PERHAPS after the body had been taken care of, Monster Woman had to alert the others in her "church" of what had happened.  Fred Williams is one of the others. All of these guys fit the "disorganized" profile that I think we all can agree fits this case.  This was in no way an organized event.  They probably conspired together to make up a story that the luggage had been stolen.  Too bad they didn't think far enough to get their story straight as to what was in it.

This is, of course, all theory.  Feel free to poke holes in it!

[JessStar]

Welcome to Scared Monkeys JessStar    

Thanks MuffyBee! 

[klaasend]

http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1773069.html

Police: Inconsistencies led to neighbor's arrest
blindelof@sacbee.com
Published Saturday, Apr. 11, 2009


The arrest of a Sunday school teacher Melissa Huckaby, suspected of kidnap and murder in the death of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, ends the search for the killer of the little girl that has gripped Tracy -- and the nation -- for more than a week, a police spokesman said Saturday.

"There is still a lot of work to be done over the next several weeks to ensure that Ms. Huckaby pays for what she has done," said Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman. "There are no other suspects in this case and we do not anticipate any other arrests."

Huckaby, 28, was arrested late Friday night on suspicion of murder and kidnapping. Detectives said she provided officers with enough information during an interview to arrest her on probable cause.

Sheneman said there were no other arrests and no other suspects.

In a morning news conference outside the Tracy mobile home park where Sandra lived, the sergeant wasn't able or wouldn't comment on questions prompted by the arrest.

Sheneman said police had located a murder scene but would not elaborate.

As for a motive, he said, "I could not even begin to theorize what her motive is."

And he couldn't say whether Sandra's death was deliberate or an accident.

Tracy Police Chief Janet Thiessen has said that the little girl was probably dead by the time she was reported missing March 27.

Huckaby, who is refusing jailhouse interviews, is being held in the San Joaquin County Jail. Her first court date is Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. and she is being held without bail.

Her arrest follows a week of intensive searching and interviewing by Tracy police and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The little girl's death caused an outpouring of emotion in Tracy -- a city of 78,000 people about 70 miles south of Sacramento -- and worldwide.

Sheneman said Huckaby's arrest, while calming fears, gives little solace to the community and Sandra's family. "There's no joy in this. An arrest has been made and we're satisfied with that at the moment," he said.

Police said the arrest of Huckaby was partially the result of a newspaper story.

In a Tracy Press story published Friday, Huckaby said that Sandra visited her home the day of her disappearance to play with her 5-year-old daughter. However, she told Sandra that her daughter could not play because she needed to pick up her toys. The Huckaby family's home is about 75 yards away, five doors down the street, from the Cantu home.

At another point, Huckaby said someone took her large, black suitcase that she had left in her driveway on March 27 -- the same day that Sandra was reported missing.

The little girl's body was found in a similar suitcase near her home on April 6 when farmworkers drained an agricultural pond. Sheneman said the suitcase was Huckaby's and that the farmworkers who discovered it, with Sandra's remains inside, have refused an award for locating the child.

The newspaper also reported that Huckaby was released from the hospital on Thursday. Huckaby said she had been in intensive care for "internal bleeding."

Huckaby is the granddaughter of the Rev. Clifford Lawless, whose Clover Road Baptist Church is just down the street from the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park where Sandra lived with her mother. Huckaby resided with her grandfather at the mobile home park and taught Sunday school at his church.

Police spoke to Sandra's family into the early morning hours and Sheneman said they were in disbelief that a neighbor is a suspect in the girl's death.

Angie Chavez, Sandra's aunt, told the Associated Press that she was heartened to hear of the arrest but had one question: "I want to know why she did it, if she did it," Chavez said.

She said Sandra's mother, Maria Chavez, remains devastated despite the arrest. "It's not over. This is just the beginning of a horrible nightmare," Angie Chavez said at the entrance to the mobile home park where Sandra lived with her mother.

Sheneman said it's statistically surprising to arrest a woman in a child homicide case. "Finding out that it is a woman who is responsible who for Sandra's kidnapping and murder and then finding out it is a member of the community is another blow," he said.

A public memorial for Sandra is set for 1 p.m. Thursday at Merrill West High School in Tracy.

[JessStar]

By the way, does anyone know whether they will be streaming the Public Memorial Service next week over the internet? 

[no rose colored glasses]

::monkey wide eyes::

Over yonder a person who is a poster claims to have gotten a call yesterday from a friend who's Tracy MIL works with someone who lives in the park and he said Sandra was the child months ago, that MH was questioned about drugging.

She was found behind a building and rushed to the hospital and it was found to be a drug overdose.


Take that for the telephone tag game that it is. It could be true being what we know now and why they were looking at her early in the game.

I had to walk away and go shopping, more confused now, then before. OMG, if this is the case, that Sandra was the one drugged, what is going on here?  Did LE not know this, what about Sandra's mom telling LE about this? There is just nothing to say if this is true. 

[no rose colored glasses]

WELCOME JessStar   Great first post, I asked also if the public memorial will be televised, I'm not sure, but I'll bet somewhere online we will be able to watch it.

[JessStar]

::monkey wide eyes::

Over yonder a person who is a poster claims to have gotten a call yesterday from a friend who's Tracy MIL works with someone who lives in the park and he said Sandra was the child months ago, that MH was questioned about drugging.

She was found behind a building and rushed to the hospital and it was found to be a drug overdose.


Take that for the telephone tag game that it is. It could be true being what we know now and why they were looking at her early in the game.

I had to walk away and go shopping, more confused now, then before. OMG, if this is the case, that Sandra was the one drugged, what is going on here?  Did LE not know this, what about Sandra's mom telling LE about this? There is just nothing to say if this is true. 

I don't think it could possibly be true.  It would be the proverbial 100 ton elephant in the room that no one saw, and I just refuse to believe it.  If a child is found behind a building OD'd on something and is rushed to the hospital, medical professionals are going to alert authorities-it is their duty.  If mom couldn't explain it, or produce a prescription, someone would have to.  Local media would have had a FIELD day with it--"Seven Year Old Child found behind building OD'd."  I can't for the life of me believe that an event that caused a child to be rushed to the hospital OD'd on drugs would be ignored.  But again, perhaps I just refuse to believe it, because I will cry incessantly if it's true, and I've cried enough over the past few days.   

[O4Bull]

Excellent post JessStar and welcome! 

Yes the big question and the key to all of this is why would she drug a child if indeed she did.  Also, how is it possible there is nobody else involved.  Why would Fred Williams say the luggage was stolen from inside her car and that it had items for a rummage sale?

I don't necessarily disagree.  But I'm not sure the "big question" is the key to winning a conviction. (FWIW, I think Monster Woman confessed.  So the questions of motive or guilt or innocence will likely be neither here nor there, unless they are needed for a capital conviction.  The only triable issue in the case is going to be whether she is criminally insane, because she's going to attempt an insanity defense, which will certainly fail.  Her actions after the event prove that.  Stupid, yes.  Criminally insane, no). 

Anyway, the "big question" of "why" goes to motive, which is not an element of the crime of murder (unless California law is somehow different than where I am--but I doubt it).  She killed this little girl by intentionally or with reckless indifference inducing her with a substance that had the likelihood of inflicting severe bodily harm or causing death.  Case closed.

My answer to Williams?  Because Williams is part of the bigger picture, not the Sandra murder.  You'll be hearing more about him, I bet. (BTW, anyone know what Williams does for a living to be able to afford a $1/2 million, 4000 sq ft home and that nice boat?)  After the crime had been committed (meaning after Sandra had already expired), and PERHAPS after the body had been taken care of, Monster Woman had to alert the others in her "church" of what had happened.  Fred Williams is one of the others. All of these guys fit the "disorganized" profile that I think we all can agree fits this case.  This was in no way an organized event.  They probably conspired together to make up a story that the luggage had been stolen.  Too bad they didn't think far enough to get their story straight as to what was in it.

This is, of course, all theory.  Feel free to poke holes in it!

Hi,
first, WELCOME to the cage...
I get a feeling from your posts that you're a no nonsense kind of monkey, I like that.  You said to poke holes, but I really have some of the same feelings you do.  I do want to ask if you know for certain where Fred lives?  They're saying over yonder that he lives in the MHP.

[JessStar]

WELCOME JessStar   Great first post, I asked also if the public memorial will be televised, I'm not sure, but I'll bet somewhere online we will be able to watch it.

Thanks for the Welcome!  Please let me know if you hear anything about it being televised, and I'll do the same.  I was "twittering" with Fox40 yesterday about it and was told that a decision to allow cameras has not yet been made.  I was told that if cameras are permitted, they will provide a stream (assuming that's allowed).

[klaasend]

By the way, does anyone know whether they will be streaming the Public Memorial Service next week over the internet? 

I have no idea but hopefully they will.  I'm sure we'll know when it's closer to time.

[O4Bull]

::monkey wide eyes::

Over yonder a person who is a poster claims to have gotten a call yesterday from a friend who's Tracy MIL works with someone who lives in the park and he said Sandra was the child months ago, that MH was questioned about drugging.

She was found behind a building and rushed to the hospital and it was found to be a drug overdose.


Take that for the telephone tag game that it is. It could be true being what we know now and why they were looking at her early in the game.

I had to walk away and go shopping, more confused now, then before. OMG, if this is the case, that Sandra was the one drugged, what is going on here?  Did LE not know this, what about Sandra's mom telling LE about this? There is just nothing to say if this is true. 

Well,
I just read over yonder that it was Sandra, but it's hearsay IMO.  If it's true then I have to think they (LE and family) weren't able to prove MH gave them to Sandra, just that she was last with MH.  I dunno, really just speculating because I can't for the life of me believe the family would let her go anywhere with or around MH if they suspected her of such. 

[Kat_Gram]

Excellent post JessStar and welcome! 

Yes the big question and the key to all of this is why would she drug a child if indeed she did.  Also, how is it possible there is nobody else involved.  Why would Fred Williams say the luggage was stolen from inside her car and that it had items for a rummage sale?

I don't know either, but Melissa told different stories to the police and then to the newspaper. Maybe she told this Fred different lies also. But I still want them to look at Fred real good.
Surely to God when the police first spoke to Melissa they looked at her criminal history, even tho it was petty, there were some mental sissues there. And it was one of the last places Sandra was or was going to. So this bunch , Melissa and her Grandparents were q'd early on.
It wasn't the police investigation that solved this, it was the reporters story of what SHE reported after she spoke to Melissa on the phone. They had the reporter on a CNN by phone interview.     

[klaasend]

There is a guestbook here for Sandra to leave condolences:

http://www.legacy.com/gb2/default.aspx?bookid=455392392545

[JessStar]

Excellent post JessStar and welcome! 

Yes the big question and the key to all of this is why would she drug a child if indeed she did.  Also, how is it possible there is nobody else involved.  Why would Fred Williams say the luggage was stolen from inside her car and that it had items for a rummage sale?

I don't necessarily disagree.  But I'm not sure the "big question" is the key to winning a conviction. (FWIW, I think Monster Woman confessed.  So the questions of motive or guilt or innocence will likely be neither here nor there, unless they are needed for a capital conviction.  The only triable issue in the case is going to be whether she is criminally insane, because she's going to attempt an insanity defense, which will certainly fail.  Her actions after the event prove that.  Stupid, yes.  Criminally insane, no). 

Anyway, the "big question" of "why" goes to motive, which is not an element of the crime of murder (unless California law is somehow different than where I am--but I doubt it).  She killed this little girl by intentionally or with reckless indifference inducing her with a substance that had the likelihood of inflicting severe bodily harm or causing death.  Case closed.

My answer to Williams?  Because Williams is part of the bigger picture, not the Sandra murder.  You'll be hearing more about him, I bet. (BTW, anyone know what Williams does for a living to be able to afford a $1/2 million, 4000 sq ft home and that nice boat?)  After the crime had been committed (meaning after Sandra had already expired), and PERHAPS after the body had been taken care of, Monster Woman had to alert the others in her "church" of what had happened.  Fred Williams is one of the others. All of these guys fit the "disorganized" profile that I think we all can agree fits this case.  This was in no way an organized event.  They probably conspired together to make up a story that the luggage had been stolen.  Too bad they didn't think far enough to get their story straight as to what was in it.

This is, of course, all theory.  Feel free to poke holes in it!

Hi,
first, WELCOME to the cage...
I get a feeling from your posts that you're a no nonsense kind of monkey, I like that.  You said to poke holes, but I really have some of the same feelings you do.  I do want to ask if you know for certain where Fred lives?  They're saying over yonder that he lives in the MHP.

Thanks 04Bull!  I appreciate the welcome.  Let me try to hunt down the article I saw on that.  I'll let you know.  As for the "no nonsense" part, I hope that's not a bad thing here.  I'm not trying to profess the truth, I'm just really stating my opinion.  I don't want to turn anyone off.  But I work in a no nonsense profession where part of my job is sifting through evidence to separate the material from the immaterial and writing about it in a persuasive way.  And I suppose it's just rubbing off. . . 

[O4Bull]

Excellent post JessStar and welcome! 

Yes the big question and the key to all of this is why would she drug a child if indeed she did.  Also, how is it possible there is nobody else involved.  Why would Fred Williams say the luggage was stolen from inside her car and that it had items for a rummage sale?

I don't know either, but Melissa told different stories to the police and then to the newspaper. Maybe she told this Fred different lies also. But I still want them to look at Fred real good.
Surely to God when the police first spoke to Melissa they looked at her criminal history, even tho it was petty, there were some mental sissues there. And it was one of the last places Sandra was or was going to. So this bunch , Melissa and her Grandparents were q'd early on.
It wasn't the police investigation that solved this, it was the reporters story of what SHE reported after she spoke to Melissa on the phone. They had the reporter on a CNN by phone interview.     

agree with you there, KatGram.  It almost came across like the media was doing LE's work.  How many times was it reported that LE didn't know things that were being reported by the media.  Either LE was playing dumb, or they really are incompetent.  I am disturbed about the kissing incident and the drugging incident if indeed it's true going unpunished.  Not a good time to say this and I'm going to get slammed for it most likely, but who was supervising little Sandra?