Sandy Hook: Grief Shared, Answers Denied.

In response to the commentary which ran in the Hartford Courant on July 27th,tilted Our Grief Denied: The Twisted Cruelty of Sandy Hook Hoaxers, Ablechild understands Mr. Pozner’s frustrations with those who suggest there is more than is being admitted to in regard to the 2012 tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

While Mr. Pozner believes the “hoaxers” intend to draw more people into “this destructive tale of misinformation,” one could argue that the investigation, itself, is partly responsible for the nagging questions about what transpired on that dreadful day.

Almost immediately Ablechild believed that public disclosure was necessary in order to understand the motive behind the brutal attack and, in the spring of 2013, Ablechild sued the state to obtain Adam Lanza’s medical/mental health and toxicology records. The state denied Ablechild’s request based on an arbitrary ruling that the non-profit was not a stakeholder.

In December of 2013, the investigative report was released and Ablechild has since read (several times) each and every page of the heavily redacted report. There are numerous oddities within the investigative report that scream for answers and, more importantly, leave one questioning why investigators failed to follow leads and provide the public with all the investigative material.

First, why is the public (including the victim’s families) being denied disclosure of Lanza’s medical/mental health records and toxicology report? It is natural to assume that there would be some interest on the part of the victim’s families to want to know what drove Lanza to this deadly act. This information might shed some light on those questions. A year and a half later this information still is a mystery.

Additionally, in regard to investigative questions, one cannot help but wonder what the odds are that 148 bullets/bullet fragments were extracted from the crime scene and none – zero – can be matched to the barrel of the Bushmaster Rifle reportedly used in the shooting incident.

More bizarre is the stamped envelope that was retrieved from the Lanza home and addressed “For the young students of Sandy Hook Elementary School.”   This envelope was tested for fingerprints and DNA. Both Nancy and Adam Lanza were eliminated as contributors, but a DNA “hit” was made and it belongs to a known convicted felon in New York.

What was in the envelope and how did the DNA of a convicted felon find its way onto the envelope and into the Lanza home? It’s anyone’s guess because the State Police did not feel it was necessary to answer those questions in the report.

One also has to wonder how it is possible that the weapon used to kill Nancy Lanza- the Savage Mark II rifle – does not have any fingerprints or DNA for Adam Lanza, but the cartridges of the weapon tested does have a DNA “hit” for some unknown person.

It also is curious that the ballistic tests done on the only two weapons reportedly used in the shooting – the Bushmaster Rifle and the Glock 10mm – came up with interesting findings, including “No positive identification could be made to any of the bullet evidence submissions…”

There also is the issue of the Garmin Nuvi information provided to track Lanza’s whereabouts leading up to the shooting. Based on the investigation, there are two Garmin Nuvi models – a 550 and a 200. Which one was actually taken into custody? Reports are provided for both the 550 and the 200.

The questions surrounding this investigation are too numerous to go into in one piece, but the point, of course, is that there are too many questions. There is too much stonewalling, beginning with the redaction of so much of the report. And the investigative information that was provided is, frankly, shoddy.

Certainly one can sympathize with Mr. Pozner’s need to grieve, but the nation was drawn into this horrific event with the families and also is trying to make sense of such a senseless act. Moreover, enormous amounts of money have been appropriated in the aftermath of Sandy Hook to increase mental health services throughout the nation. These costly legislative measures were passed based on absolutely no information that Adam Lanza lacked mental health services and, in fact, based on the investigative report, it appears it is quite the opposite.

Mr. Pozner cannot ignore that Sandy Hook spawned a nation-wide attack on the 2nd Amendment rights of every American, and many of the families have been outspoken supporters of these efforts. While Ablechild holds no opinion on this issue, it seems unrealistic on the part of the victim’s families to so publicly support these restrictive efforts and not expect those who oppose the issue to question the facts that caused the action.

Based just on these two legislative measures, mental health and gun control, it seems unreasonable that the public would simply ignore the facts of this investigation. It is unclear whether or not Mr. Pozner read the entire investigation, but Ablechild believes the families of the victims deserve better. Questioning the investigation isn’t the problem. An inadequate investigation is the problem.