Johnny S. Clarke & Lisa Straub- young Ohio couple murdered

[imsuchawildflower]

I surmise that the perpetrators entered the Straub house while JC & LS were gone, with knowledge that LS's parents were gone on their cruise; knowledge that JC & LS were away from the house; with knowledge that they could enter without forcible entry by opening the garage door automatically and then using the house key in the garage to unlock the door inside the garage which led into the house; and with the expectation of finding a safe full of money and being able to take that and any drugs introduced into the house by JC & LS after her parents left on their anniversary vacation.

This method of entry into the house was known to JC, his mother Maytee and perhaps others who had been guests of the young couple at the house on a prior night. Since JC had to pick up LS from work, that meant that she did not drive her car to TGIF's and that her car was left in the driveway of the home. The car would have contained an automatic garage door opener, and the car was either unlocked or easily opened with a tool carried by the perpetrators. They had knowledge that there was a key in the garage which unlocked the door leading from the garage into the home.

They had knowledge or a belief formed from some source or sources that the safe existed and contained a large some of money. This belief could have been formed by bragging by JC, or by speculation by his mother Maytee or by any of the others who had been guests of JC & LS at the home.

The expectation of the perpetrators was that they could enter, take the safe and any drugs in plain view and leave before JC & LS returned home, which meant that someone furnished them with information as to where JC & LS were, and approximately how long they would be gone; and/or expected to have some means by which to delay the couple's return until they, the perpetrators, could leave. If Tiffany was to be picked up by the couple before going home, a call from Tiffany telling them to delay stopping at her home until she had first "run to the store" could have been that intended delay. Why would she have to "run to the store" before being picked up? Why couldn't she just have asked JC to stop at a store for her after picking her up?

The perpetrators either didn't own guns or deliberately carried none to eliminate the risk of a gun specification in the event they were apprehended, and I surmise that they originally had no intention of encountering or harming the couple. This opens up the possibility that JC's mother, Maytee could have involved.

I believe the plans went awry when they were unable to find a safe anywhere in the house, including ransacking the upstairs bedrooms and punching holes in the upstairs walls and moving pictures on the walls. They couldn't find a safe either because it didn't exist, or because LS's parents removed the safe to the home of another family member, e.g. the fire chief in MI, before leaving on vacation. This fruitless search led to the perpetrators' extreme frustration, anxiety and anger, which was the emotional state they were in when JC & LS came home earlier than expected, I speculate because LS may have insisted on stopping home immediately to shower and change after work.

I further surmise that the perpetrators had no original intention to encounter or harm the young couple, but in the state they were in when JC & LS encountered them, they were frustrated and angry and concluded that they would have to overpower JC & LS and force LS to tell them where the safe was. They had found a key, which they thought might belong to the safe, although it did not.

Therefore I raise here the possibility that this was not a planned killing, but one arising out of their frustration not only from not finding a safe, but also because JC & LS were not only unable to tell them where to find a safe but, miscalculating and underestimating the perpetrators and mistakenly relying upon the street knowledge they acquired from the friends with whom they associated, they resisted their efforts and foolishly taunted, ridiculed and defied the perpetrators; this heightened the anger level of the perpetrators and in the madness which followed, led to the couple being suffocated by tape and bags while being questioned, because the perpetrators were now desperate to avoid being identified once the left.

The original expectation of the perpetrators, who may or may not have included Maytee and/or Tiffany in their scheme, was that JC and LS would come home and find that the house had been ransacked and robbed in their absence, that the safe if any was gone, and they would call the police and report a robbery.

Absent Tiffany's statement to Maytee about the interrupted phone conversation between her and JC, Maytee's heightened anxiety and speculation about the kids being "abducted" would seem to point towards Maytee's advance knowledge and/or involvement; why would a mother react with that extreme behavior merely over not hearing from her adult son for a few hours; but given Tiffany's story as to what she told Maytee about the "Hey bro what are you doing here…" phone call, it could explain and absolve Maytee of any advance knowledge or involvement, so that comes down to Tiffany's credibility. Ironically, Maytee's guilt or innocence hinges on the credibility of the young woman she now despises.

Why did Maytee mention that she had seen many times entry to the house being made with a key in the garage? Why did Maytee mention as significant that Lisa's car (which no doubt contained a remote to activate the automatic garage door opener) was in the driveway?

It furthermore seems odd that JC's father would exclaim words to the effect that the perpetrators brought the duct tape and bags with them. Why would he have an opinion on whether they brought these items with them or simply found them in the house? Of course he was shocked and horrified to find his son and girlfriend dead, but what prompted him to say that, unless their suffocation and death was also a deviation from some plan of which he had advance knowledge?

Could JC's parents have been expecting a phone call from their son exclaiming something like: "Ma, we've been robbed! We just came home from Lisa's job at TGIF's and the house has been ransacked and everything's a mess! I just called the police!" A far cry from what went down.

Just a few thoughts I had over morning coffee.

Wow...thats alotta musing over coffee...Im guessing you had a whole
pot of coffee! LOL
I didnt find anything that wasnt plausible, or has been proven wrong..
you may seriously be very close to the truth, or have it dead on.
Seems very realistic to me...until someone elses posts. LOL
This case has my head spinning...
The only thing I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt, is that
this needs to come to an end and soon...i cant quit thinking about
the terror those kids felt, and the despair their parents now feel.
I keep putting myself in the Straubs shoes, walking around the house...
looking at this, touching that...remembering every moment with their
daughter...doing their best to not forget anything, because thats all they
have left is the memory.