Was there any audio on the tape of when she went to the convenience store to get the ibuprofen? If there wasn't, how did they know what she was looking for?
Whether or not the video contained audio is essentially irrelevant. I am sure that they (the authorities) interviewed the store clerk. He probably recalled the incident and recalled what she asked for.
It does seem odd, however, that a store like that would not have aspirin or ibuprofen, no? Isn't that exactly the type of product that they carry? And, if they were out of stock, what terrible coincidental timing to be so.
I agree it's also odd that she did not simply "settle" for another product as a substitute. But, she probably wasn't thinking or behaving rationally. She probably heard "no" to the ibuprofen request and got all flustered and ran out in a tizzy. In fact, her movements and body language in that video seem quite odd, I think.
I doubt she was looking for vodka in the convenience store. Didn't she already have a full (or half-full) bottle in the car? Why would she need/want more?
All valid questions. Really, who knows?
But, back to the original question, I believe that audio accompanying (or not) the video is not particularly meaningful. The store clerk was the "eyes and ears" for the police investigators.
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blazinglolita
9 years ago
Thanks for the reply, Joseph!
She did kind of look like she ran out in a tizzy. I feel like it makes sense if she would leave hurriedly if they didn't have what she wanted , I feel like I've done that before myself.
Here's another question for this and any other thing in general : how in the heck did the store clerk remember what she was looking for? There's some stuff that I may remember, especially if someone stuck out, but when police asked what one customer bought or ate or whatever, I would not remember that.
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JosephASpadaro
9 years ago
You're welcome.
That's a good question. My guess is that the customer herself - Diane - is what really stood out (to the store clerk). And, as a result, the entire episode/interaction stood out for him, including what she requested.
Remember, it was probably not your ordinary run-of-the-mill interaction. She probably came in all frantic and frazzled. Asked or "demanded" ... "where the hell do you guys keep the ibuprofen in this place? ... I don't see it anywhere!" ... probably in a loud and ostentatious manner. So, overall, the incident probably stood out for the store clerk.
Furthermore, the police went to interview him more or less immediately after the episode. Not three weeks later. So, it was still fresh in his memory.
So, yeah, the store clerk probably gets a million forgettable and unmemorable customers/interactions per day. I doubt that Diane Schuler was one, though.
She made a "big deal" and a "spectacle" of herself, when the McDonald's restaurant did not have the chicken dinner that she requested. I am quite sure she made a big deal and a spectacle of herself for the ibuprofen request, also. That seems to make sense.
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Gabe1972
8 years ago
Some people just have very good memories. It's not all that unusual. If I'm shown a picture of someone, or see someone I haven't seen in a very long time and only met once, I can recall the conversation I had with them, even if it was twenty years ago. Some people can just remember things that are otherwise quite inconsequential.
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. - George W. Bush
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JosephASpadaro
8 years ago
Some people just have very good memories. It's not all that unusual. If I'm shown a picture of someone, or see someone I haven't seen in a very long time and only met once, I can recall the conversation I had with them, even if it was twenty years ago. Some people can just remember things that are otherwise quite inconsequential.
Of course, as a general rule, that may be true.
But, it's highly unlikely for a convenience store clerk who interacts with thousands upon thousands of non-descript customers requesting non-descript items in non-descript transactions.
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Gabe1972
8 years ago
I suppose it all depends on how long it was afterward that the clerk was questioned. But, again, some people just have very good memories. There also may be something very specific about their interaction that triggered a specific memory of her for the clerk. Interacting with someone also helps people to remember, and it's not like your brain only has a certain capacity, that when it's filled up it starts purging old memories to make way for new ones.
If someone asked me about someone I met in the summer of 2015 and what I said to them I could most likely remember the conversation almost word for word, even if it was a ten second "Hi, nice weather" conversation. Again, some people just have good memories when it comes to some things.
I don't find it unusual at all that the clerk remembered her, especially if there was something that stuck out about her, and that doesn't always mean it's something that can be explained when asked.
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. - George W. Bush
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JosephASpadaro
8 years ago
I don't find it unusual at all that the clerk remembered her, especially if there was something that stuck out about her ...
I don't disagree. And that was the point that I was making above, in one of my earlier posts. Thanks.
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DanaShelbyChancey
8 years ago
I am like that too, I can remember exchanges with another person even if it was not that memorable.
But there are some people who are pathetic! One Sunday my husband was sick and sent me out on a run for something from the drugstore. I had a conversation with the clerk, and went home.
Then, what I got wasn't what my husband wanted, so he sent me out again, to the same store, and I got something else. And the same clerk, half an hour later tops, did not remember me from before. Pathetic!
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Gabe1972
8 years ago
For sure, that's a bit pathetic. To not remember someone from a half hour before shows that said person doesn't pay a whole lot of attention to things, to say the least. LOL.
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. - George W. Bush
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JosephASpadaro
8 years ago
Unfair comparison.
You (the customer) made one trip to that clerk. So -- for you -- the transaction/experience was somewhat significant and memorable.
In that same half hour, the clerk waited on 50 other customers. So, no, none of those 50 transactions/experiences will be as significant or as memorable to the clerk.
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Gabe1972
8 years ago
If you are a clerk, and you wait on someone, then wait on them a half hour and fifty customers later, and you don't remember them, you are definitely in the wrong profession, as probably greater than 99% of clerks would remember someone from a half hour before, even if they had a nonstop line of customers for that half hour.
Secondly, the person said they had a conversation with the clerk, which is something that actually requires direct responses and not simply active listening. For a clerk to not remember someone that they directly helped, and conversed with, a short time earlier is quite unusual.
It's not an unfair comparison at all. Is it an exact comparison? No, but hardly too different to be considered unfair.
In fact, I'll do a little experiment tomorrow, just for S&G. There's a gas station/convenience type store that I have gone into about three times in the last thirteen years about ten miles from here. I am going to be going by there tomorrow, and I will stop in and will buy a pack of gum, but first will ask where the gum is (it will only work if the store is the same setup as it was last time I went in, with the candy being a couple of rows in (if it's right there by the entrance this time it will taint the experiment as they will think I'm a bonehead for asking where the gum is)). I have to go by there again on my way back, which will be about three or four hours later, and I will stop back in. If it's the same clerk, I will ask the person if they remember me. I will be honest and let you know if they do or not. When I go in I won't do anything unusual that would surely make them remember me. Just a regular customer transaction and on my way.
We'll see what happens.
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. - George W. Bush
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JosephASpadaro
8 years ago
Well, keep us posted.
But a population of exactly one is hardly a good data set for a quasi-scientific "experiment".
And -- by the way -- if the gum is right by the entrance, can't you just select some other item to inquire about?
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Gabe1972
8 years ago
Oh my. That's what I said. If they've changed the store and the gum is now right by the entrance (it wasn't two years ago when I went in, ( as in the couple rows in remark?)) I will ask for something else, lest I look like a bonehead for asking for something that is right in front of me.
And no, I never said what I am doing is a definitive answer to the argument. I'm just curious to see if other people are like me, in that someone will remember me after a few hours and a few dozen, or maybe over a hundred other customers.
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. - George W. Bush
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JosephASpadaro
8 years ago
Yes, I understood that you don't consider this to be a "definitive" and conclusive experiment.
In your original post above, you said that you will ask for the gum if it is not right there in front of your eyes.
In your original post, you did not say that you would select a different item, if the gum were inconveniently located.
In fact, in your original post, you made it sound (implicitly) that -- if the gum were indeed inconveniently placed -- you would call the whole experiment off.
Which is why I added the suggestion about simply selecting another item, in lieu of the gum.
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Gabe1972
8 years ago
You are right, I didn't state that I would select a different item. That is what I intended to do, if the given situation occurred, though you couldn't have possibly known that.
In the end, it doesn't matter anyway, as I didn't go until Thursday, and by that time had forgotten about it while on the way there. I remembered on the way back through, but at that point there was no reason to stop.
There is always next time, and if I remember, I will do what I proposed.
It's ironic that we are talking about remembering something and I forgot to stop. LOL.
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. - George W. Bush
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kurt7825
8 years ago
"as probably greater than 99% of clerks would remember someone from a half hour before, even if they had a nonstop line of customers for that half hour. "
How do you know this? are you even basing this on scientific studies or making it up? lol
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jennifer_libby
8 years ago
It's possible they showed the clerk the video footage within 24-48 hours of her coming in and he was able to remember by seeing her.
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Punkinhead2160
8 years ago
The convenience store had two cameras. The video we saw in the documentary showed Diane coming in and out of the store and the second camera showed the clerk and cash register area and the clerk never even looked up at her. I doubt the clerk had any useful information. And in what universe does a convenience store not sell some kind of pain reliever, if that was what she was looking for. I believe Mr. Ruskin was the one who mentioned pain relievers but I believe he was speculating as to why she went into the store. For some reason people picked up on that and ran with it. I can't remember exactly how I came across this second video view but it's out there.
The autopsy made no mention of an abscess tooth and she lost several teeth and had a broken jaw from the impact so I think an abscess tooth would have been noticed. I believe the dental records that the SIL and Danny had were not current. The whole excuse of an abscess tooth has absolutely NO basis. The Ambien excuse doesn't fly with me either. Toxicology reports (which are online) DID NOT show Ambien present so I can't buy that excuse.
I don't subscribe to the suicide scenario. I personally believe she was very drunk, possibly in a blackout and was just driving on autopilot.
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JosephASpadaro
8 years ago
Thanks.
It has been a while, so I don't remember all the specific details.
But, I thought that she had asked the clerk for aspirin or ibuprofen or whatever, no?
If she did not do so, how do we know that she needed/wanted a pain reliever product?
For some reason, I thought this to be fact. I did not think (or realize) that it was simply an attorney's speculation.
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Punkinhead2160
8 years ago
My understanding is that Mr. Ruskin speculated that might be a possibility, but since there is no audio he stated he didn't know for sure.
We don't know if she needed/wanted a pain reliever. As I stated, Mr. Ruskin mentioned this as a possibility. I think Danny and Jay brought up the abscess tooth excuse and this is why he stated pain relievers as a possibility. I haven't found anything stating otherwise. If you do, I would love to read it.
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JosephASpadaro
8 years ago
It's been a while, so the exact details all escape me.
I thought that she had a conversation with the clerk, asked for aspirin, he said "no", and she left all in a tizzy and frustrated.
That has been my impression all this time.
I definitely thought that the store clerk had interactions with her, and that the police interviewed him. This is where I had assumed the information came out about her requesting pain relievers, which the store did not have.
In an above post, however, someone (maybe it was you?) said that the clerk had no interactions with Diane Schuler.
Who knows? It's a very intriguing and yet frustrating case. By nature, we all want "answers". And, sometimes, there are none to be found.
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i_am_switch
8 years ago
in re: why would she go in looking specifically for Ibuprofen and then leave without looking for something else...
If you believe the abscessed tooth, she would be looking specifically for an anti-inflammatory, rather than a run of the mill pain killer. Inflammation pain won't be fixed by a simple tylenol. You can take low grade opiate pain killers and they'll do nothing on a bad abscess.
Here is probably the theory that they (her family) was going with. She had this tooth pain caused by the abscess that was gradually getting worse as she was at the campground. She left with the kids (why she took them I'm not sure) with the pain continuing to get more intense as the day went on. She stops and gets food for the kids, and everything seems fine. She stops to get some pain killers and they don't have anything for inflammation. She grabs alcohol that she has with her, because she evidently didn't have anything else, and slams some back. She's slamming because the alcohol is going to burn like crazy on contact with the abscess. She starts with one drink, then hits a few more to try to make the pain go away. She's already been driving irrationally and aggressively because of the pain.
Eventually the liquor catches up to her, and she pulls off and starts vomiting. She calls her brother and says that she isn't feeling well and is spotted by a few passing vehicles like she was in the vomit position. She then smokes some pot to try to keep the vomiting down, re-focuses herself, and tries to get her head straight. She feels better having smoked a joint and chucked her stomach.
She returns to driving, but is having problems with vision (from the liquor/THC/vomit combo), and the pain is coming back in again. She hits the bottle some more. She sees the signage for the "wrong way" "exit only" but because it isn't on the exit itself, she blasts right through it. She drives for a while without noticing she is in the wrong lane, and then gets into a head on.
Whether or not there is any truth to that I don't know. I buy the knock out drunk argument more than the murder-suicide argument, that's for sure.
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JosephASpadaro
8 years ago
She drives for a while without noticing she is in the wrong lane, and then gets into a head on.
Wouldn't a person know pretty much right away that you are driving in the wrong direction?
You see a bunch of cars (let's say, 25) all going north, and you (one car) is going south. What are the odds that you are correct and that the other 25 drivers are all mistaken?
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