I attended the trial, verdict & sentencing. I hold no ill feeling towards Oakes family or nor his mother.
It was Oakes that commited this crime. His mother is devasted and she should be. Oakes should have thought about his family before he commited murder. His story was complete BS and only his family believe it. Not the Jury, not the Judge, not any sensible person would believe his account of what happened. Mark Stover was a remarkable man and did nothing to deserve to have his life taken away.
Mark Stover was not "deranged" . The only evidence of this claim was by his exwife Linda Opdycke and the joke of a Defense team led by John Henry Brown. They tried to paint him as a mad man based on letters dealing with property division during their divorce. Mark did however steal Linda's garbage from the street and then and only then did she file harrasment charges against him. She wanted to destroy his life any way she could. He was over her, moved on and in a loving relationship, recently engaged when Oakes murdered him.
You called it right! Oakes got caught in the web of THE BLACK WIDOW.
Mark Stover was not the monster the Defense portrayed him to be. It was the Defense and Opdyckes desperate attempt to destroy this find man's reputation and it FAILED big time. No one believed this fairy tale, no one. So much evidence was suppressed in this case that showed Oakes was hired to murder Mark. Oakes choose to accept this mission without regard to the effect it would have on his children. I will never forget the sobs and cries of those poor girls. Was Linda Opdycke really worth it Mr. Oakes? She pulled your strings like a puppet. She got what she wanted and will soon move on.
LINDA OPDYCKE. She evoked the 5th Admendment refusing to cooperate. Suddenly last week after the Prosecution had presented their strong case she steps forward. Oh, and by the way she brings a silencer with her that she claims was in her house the whole time and the police overlooked. Prosecution did a wonderful job on cross and Ms. Opdycke left the stand looking foolish. Should have kept her mouth shut. Her testimony hurt her boyfriend Oakes and sure doesn't put her in a good light. Maybe now once and for all she will stop leaking to the press allegations of stalking by Mr. Stover that have no basis except what she has manufactured in her mind. Like the Prosecution said to her under cross "guess you don't have to worry about Mark Stover anymore ...your boyfriend helped you out."
His water tower escape has become a joke through out the NW. Rebutal witnesses on Friday show the water tower does NOT have a fence around it and the lowest rung on the ladder is only 5 feet of the ground. Michiel Oakes could have easily reached it without his ANCHOR LINE and WEIGHTS which by the way have never been recovered. Also the dock he supposedly threw the body off is old, rotten, missing planks with a fence in front blocking entry..making it nearly impossible to carry a body where full rigamortis had set in. Real question the jury will ponder is WHY is he lying about the events of the murder...what did he really do with his body? What horrific actions is he hiding?
I would suggest you spend as much time with your friend Michiel Oakes because I am afraid he will soon be going away for along time. I do however feel sorry for his innocent children, to bad their father didn't think of them before he became tangled in Linda Opdycke's web. They are the ones that will suffer the most. Oakes youngest daughter is living with her in Winthrop..if I was that childs mother I would remove her from that living arrangement ASAP. Linda will soon move on and maybe one day Michiel will tell the truth in this matter.
You obviously know nothing about this case and having seen every single bit of testimony in this case I can tell you that Mr. Stover never knew Michiel Oakes and Prosecution was able to call witnesses that placed Mark no where near Mr. Oakes when he said they had these "alleged encontures". Not to mention that Oakes account of the murder could have never taken place. Oakes, Linda Opdycke and John Henry Browne have had almost a year to come up with this story and this is the best they could do.
Defense's WHOLE case has been a major smear campaign of Mark Stover. Ms. Opdyke testified in court that she hadn't heard from or seen Mark Stover since April 08. Only after 1 incident in March 08 in which Mark Stover stole her garbage did she in fact manufacture a "log" she kept of alleged stalking incidents..none of which she had reported to law enforcement. This resulted in harrasement charges against him and thus a no contact order. Ms. Opdycke lives in some different reality and masterfully picked the perfect pawn to murder Mark Stover. Their plan / plot is laughable and contradicts evidence, testimony of numerous individuals & law enforcement. Rebutal of Prosecution on Friday shows everything Oakes testifed to under oath could never had happened.
I attended today's hearing and Prosecutions cross examination of Oakes was excellent! A lot more to it than what was in this article. He said there was no blood or clean up in Mark's home, yet evidence shows both clean up and blood splatter using chemicals that illuminate blood. A gun he tossed over an embankment at Linda Opdycke's Winthrop home smelled of bleach ( same with Mark's bathroom ) yet he said he never used bleach. He said he Mark let him in, and put his guard dog Ding outside ( never would have done that, Ding was always at Mark's side) then shot Mark then went outside and shot Ding all while Mark's 3 employees were on the property. Nothing Oakes said matches up with previous evidence and testimony - NOTHING. Oakes also testified he is madly in love with Linda Opdycke, who by the way took the stand today but not before pausing and smiling for the dozens of cameras in the court. Can't wait for the Prosecution to cross examine her!
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Medley