Think we should talk about her car. Not only that Ted Bundy liked to cut off heads from girls who had been driving VW Beetles, but also there are some other points:

According to various forums as well as the pictures I do not believe anymore that someone could open the front without getting inside the car. Now the motor is behind or in the front? The front in fact has to be opened by pulling a plug inside, either near driver’s left foot or middle console, probably depending on the model type. Anybody an idea if the back could have been opened without getting inside the car?

If so, her killer might have convinced her to open the car (‘battery must have been dead until then’~), maybe took this opportunity to take her and cut her throat.

This one appears as if even a key was required to open the motor area of the Beetle..you can clearly see the distributor cap, too. So z had to open the back of the Beetle..and this clearly appears to having required a KEY FOR THE LOCK. This again leads to the conclusion that Z must have touched the keys of CJB or at least a second pair of it.

Now as it is said, the keys were in the ignition..so the question is

– did Z or her killer put them back in place?
– did CJB open the back of the beetle, with her killer offering help, then tried to start the Beetle?
– was the car manipulated somehow in advance?
– as her window appears to be open, was CJB even communicating with her assailant about any car trouble?
– or have there been two pairs of keys?

imo it is not conclusive that the killer had pulled out the distributer wires without keys, therefore presumably without the agreement of CJB. He must have talked to her, she or he then opened the back of the beetle, with her trying to start the engine (without success, as distributor cap was dead already).

Her killer therefore understood, how necessary a distributor cap would be to start the car.

And, he somehow convinced her to open the back of her Beetle, although her car was presumably working very well. Not only that, he was able to accompany her approx. 100 yards away from her car.

So why had she been doing all that? Her last walk might have been at knifepoint, but all the stuff before?

Did somebody mention to her that the car had some trouble, although it actually had not? Somebody who had seen her arrivnig at the parking lot? So he must have been some hours around at the campus..

Then again, was she pulled outside the car? The open window indicates that she may have had communicated with her killer. So does the open door of her car indicate that she left the car in a hurry or at least had no chance to close the door.

What I don’t buy is Zs story about that he had manipulated the car in advance. Or that his bet was on the battery getting empty. Or that he had opened the back of the Beetle, without keys. And I also don’t buy it that she had just started to letting her car be repaired without any troubles before.

QT