Justice for Molly Young has now been delayed, and thus denied, for three long years since the 21-year-old Illinois resident was found dead in her ex-boyfriend’s bedroom by a single bullet to the head.
The shot that was fired at approximately five in the morning he claims to have never heard due to a night of out-of-bounds drinking, and no charges were ever filed in the case which was initially deemed a suicide and later ruled “undetermined.”
But, during the coroner’s formal inquest, the six perplexed jurors weighing the matter cited some serious lack of answers…
How did a right-handed victim shoot herself with the left hand?
Early in the morning of March 24, 2012, the day Molly Young’s life would end abruptly, she had been summoned via a text message from her on-again off-again lover Richie Minton, who said he was having an emotional crisis and needed her help.
Minton, a trained dispatcher, was scheduled to be at work at the Carbondale Police Department by 7:00 AM, yet he not only managed to sleep through gunfire, but his morning shift as well.
Shortly after 9:00 AM, he alleges he finally stirred from his drunken stupor and, spying Young’s lifeless body bleeding beside his bed, had a housemate dial 911 to report that his girlfriend had died of an intentional “overdose.”
Then, halfway into that clumsy conversation Minton himself took over, calmly explaining to his fellow police dispatcher “Amber” that it was not an overdose after all, but instead a bullet wound to the left temple.
The .45 caliber weapon he alleged the gun-shy victim used to soundlessly kill herself with was his.
Why did Carbondale cops arrive two hours before Minton’s 911 call was made?
That Carbondale officials would respond to a shooting death at one of their own employee’s homes is peculiar enough, considering the glaring conflict of interest, but others who live at or near the same housing complex reported even stranger developments.
They swore that CPD officers arrived hours before the incident was actually phoned in.
"I got up around seven or eight and a police officer woman was knocking on my door," said one tenant.
"I know of at least five individuals who could vouch for that," added a second.
And yet another neighbor backed them both up on this, insisting that a female officer from the Carbondale Police Department, “was at my door a little after seven. No doubt about it, she was at my door," and “she said there's been a homicide."
Why was the Molly Young crime scene sterilized?
Carbondale’s belated handover to the Illinois State Police of their already dubious investigation into Young’s demise that day did nothing to clarify things, unfortunately.
According to records, by that time a suspiciously scratched up Richie Minton had not only been permitted by his CPD work colleagues to wash himself before being taken in for questioning, but to change his clothing, too.
It therefore shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that no gunpowder residue was detected on his hands and no prints were found on his firearm -- not even the victim’s, who also, oddly enough, had no traces of gunpowder on her hands either.
"Cover-up and ineptness are twins," says a still-grieving father who’s been endlessly pursuing justice for Molly Young from the day she was found shot to death.
It’s a longstanding view of her cold case that has begun to rattle the nerves of some in his community, but, "this is not a conspiracy, it's not a cover-up," Carbondale’s police chief adamantly counters.
Maybe so. But it sure does walk and squawk like one, doesn’t it?
EPONYMOUS ROX @EponymousRox
