(Currently working on my own crime story for a forensics class. Already have the crime plotted out, but I want to see what you guys can do with it)

At 1:17 AM, on September 6th, Security Guard Roy Shroeder called the local fire department to report a fire that had started on a sailboat at the South Fork Marina. When the officers managed to put the fire out, they discovered the body of 32 year old Charlette Strickland. She had been shot in the back of the head, had several compound fractures covering her body, and had been wrapped in a blanket, chained to the mast of the boat, doused in some kind of accelerant, and lit ablaze using a homemade Molotov cocktail. There had also been a symbol from a local religious group carved on the side of the boat.

The South Fork dock was in disrepair, with their lights and security system out of service since a storm had blown through the area. The security guard, Roy, hadn’t seen anything either. The prevailing theory is that the killer had cut a hole in the back fence, and entered and exited through there.

Examining her home in Ottermark, they found the local fire department already on the scene. Inside, they found that a fire had been set in the living room, made up of all religious objects in the house, and all photographs of Charlette Strickland. They also found several bullet holes in the walls of the home, from two different guns, and several valuable items missing, including cash, jewelry, and a set of rare coins that had recently been given to her husband Jerry.

The police were immediately able to rule Jerry Strickland out as a suspect, as he had been at the airport for the past several hours, and had witnesses to corroborate his claims. Roy Shroeder was also able to be eliminated, as the only way for him to get to the boat was through the dock, which had several rotting areas and would have been impossible for him to traverse in the dark. Work logs also showed that he could not have set the fire at the Strickland residence.

There were several available suspects though. Charlette was often described as bossy and confrontational, which rubbed several of her and her husband’s business associates the wrong way. This included Jerry’s business partner Ellis Carney, Jerry’s receptionist Esmeralda Blankenship, and her own scheduling manager Lula Parker, all of which had the Labor Day holiday off.

Charlette had been very hypercritical of a popular religious group, often harassing members of the community online and in person, and had often refused to do business for certain people in her area who were a part of this group. Her main 3 targets were automotive mechanic Flynn Vega, school teacher Rodney Bright, and telemarketer Ursa Love. All of them had also had the Labor Day holiday off.

Finally, police noticed that the woods around the South Fork Marina were often hangouts for local teenagers. And the police happened to find two teenagers in the Otterman area who had criminal records and had been caught behind the South Fork Marina. They were Dean Wagner, a gas station clerk who had been arrested for petty theft and vandalism, and Dustin Gray, a shelf stocker who had been charged with arson but had been let off with community service due to insufficient evidence of intent and his claim that the fire had been an accident. They both had also had the day off.

So, what do you think happened?