We have renewed activity in the Branagan case. Currently, we are actively investigating Holly’s former friends, classmates, and neighbourhood kids. What we are looking for is:
- abrupt behavioural changes right after the murder
- which one of her former friends/classmates committed suicide
- which one of her former friends/classmates has been committed to a psychiatric hospital
- which one of her former friends/classmates moved out of state within one year of the murder
- which parent of her former friends/classmates got a career promotion and moved the family out of state within a year of the murder
- which one of her friends published any articles or even books with a scenario that looks like Holly’s murder or, with details that match either Holly, Sean, or Mr. Branagan’s life
I believe that Holly was murdered by a fellow teenager. That teenager somehow contacted a parent after the murder. That parent showed up at the Branagan home with clean clothes and shoes and helped the teen clean up and get away.
Nobody who has committed a crime like this can keep that secret inside for long. They start talking, drop hints, change character, or if they don’t talk to someone at all, commit suicide. This isn’t exactly the secret that hearts were made for and when confronted with such a burden, the body will do the natural thing: spilled its guts!
You might not even realize that someone was actually telling you about a murder. They might have added a twist, may have minimized the amount of violence or, may simply have described their nightmare encounter as an assault on them.
