The case for and against Don.

There seems to be a lot of new people here so welcome.

One of the interesting parts of this story to me is Don. The boyfriend. To review some facts: he was with Hae until very late Jan 12th and then spoke on the phone with her until ~3am Jan 13th. They had planned to connect on Jan 13th ~ 10pm when Hae got off work. Don says he was working at a different store, but the only proof is a unique timecard. The first information provided to police showed that he was not working on the 13th. And according to Don, Hae had wanted him to call the school to get Hae and excused absence (ala Ferris Bueller) so they could spend the day together. When the police followed up, the manager said Don was working at another store that day. And an extra timecard was produced. The police accepted this and did not investigate further. They did not speak with coworkers in the store or any customer's Don may have helped. Later, Lenscrafters sends additional information to police indicating that the manager in question was Don's mother. We later learn that Don's manager (also a woman) in his home store is his mother's live-in partner. The police phone Don's home around 7pm and leave a message with his father. (Correction: Don says at trial that "when I got home from work my lab manager had called me up and asked me if I knew where she was at and that's how I found out. About 7:00.") But Don and the police do not speak until ~1:30am on Jan 14th. He says he does not know where Hae is. Three days later he informs police that Hae told him she was going to run away to California to live with a male relative. (I've always wondered why he didn't mention this during his first few interviews with police.)

Some other random facts:

• Don doesn't remember ever trying to call Hae's home or he pager after Jan 12th. (This seems odd to me as he was not in regular contact with any of her friends to get updated information.)

• He does remember thinking that he'd be a suspect so went back over the day to be sure of an alibi.

• He'd had some negative job performance reviews about getting along with co-workers and being truthful.

• Some of Hae's friends tell police that they do not trust/like her new boyfriend.

I know there are some here who do not believe Don should be considered a suspect. I've attempted to list only corroborated facts. The response is usually that these facts do not mean Don was involved in any way. Suffice it to say, we do not have all the information and more investigation 17 years ago would have been helpful.