Post by Angela on Apr 21, 2009 10:00:15 GMT -5
Q: I’ve heard some confusing things about the window on the top floor of the Lawson cabin. Some people say there was not an upstairs window, but there have been some shown in drawings and old photos. I’ve heard that someone saw a person standing in the upstairs widow, when the bodies were first discovered. Then another person stated that there was no upstairs window, and that person could not have seen anyone.
In the pictures that are displayed on this site, there is indeed a window. For some of the children to sleep upstairs, there had to have been some light and ventilation. I am assuming that the people only viewed or remembered one side of the house, which I think the chimney was located.
The upstairs was an attic space converted into a bedroom, correct? Was the window always there since it was originally built? Or was the window added later on? Also, are there anymore statements or stories to lead to Charlie (or someone) actually standing in the window when they first found the bodies?
LD
A: The best guess is that Claude and Elijah saw Charlie when he went upstairs to get the children's pillows off of the beds. We know that he went up there because first of all, the pillows were taken and placed under their heads, and second, because a bloody hand print was found at the top of the stairs.
The timing of the killings are really uncanny to me, that Charlie was able to kill the family between all the people coming and going on Christmas, the busiest day of the year for guests. I'm sure glad that Claude and Elijah, or anyone else, didn't come in on Charlie at the wrong time. Especially in domestic homicides, it's too common for the killer to murder bystanders, even more so than in other murders.
The classic image of the house shows a side for which there isn't a window upstairs, and is the picture that most people see. It actually threw us off for quite a while, thinking that there wasn't a window upstairs. But, as you said, on the picture of the other side of the house, you can clearly see a window. That makes sense, as you pointed out, for all the reasons of having people live up there. I bet it was always there.
I believe the sighting of someone upstairs is attributed to Claude and Elijah Lawson, the first people on the scene.
Matt