need to add title here

Desperate Measures

February 9, 2013 7:45 PM

A married couple is assassinated -- could an online map have led killers to the wrong house? Peter Van Sant reports.

Who killed Dennis and Merna Koula?
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by martam86 May 1, 2013 12:53 AM EDT
The problem with prosecutors today is that, their job is to quickly convict someone so they can close the case and move on to the next. I know a man that was in jail for 20 years and finally was released because new forensics technology proved that he was not the killer. We have enough technology today, we should not be so hasty and lazy to make quick decisions to determine someones life. It is simple, this guy was being well taken care of by his parents which we all know makes a person lazy when they are fed spoon to mouth. There is nothing wrong with him signing his father's signature on a check and i can certainly understand him avoiding the whole issue knowing the problems it would bring up. He isn't the brightest crayon in the box but he, from what i can see, is ultimately honest. he did not kill his parents. Why on earth would he do that when he would get the money in the end when they die of natural causes anyways. And as far as his sister is concerned, she clearly has a seed of jealousy in her from all the years that the father has taken good financial care of her brother but not so much herself. She was also too quick to judge her own brother. She will have to answer to God for that and I hope she realizes this.
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by martam86 May 1, 2013 12:50 AM EDT
The problem with prosecutors today is that, their job is to quickly convict someone so they can close the case and move on to the next. I know a man that was in jail for 20 years and finally was released because new forensics technology proved that he was not the killer. We have enough technology today, we should not be so hasty and lazy to make quick decisions to determine someones life. It is simple, this guy was being well taken care of by his parents which we all know makes a person lazy when they are fed spoon to mouth. There is nothing wrong with him signing his father's signature on a check and i can certainly understand him avoiding the whole issue knowing the problems it would bring up. He isn't the brightest crayon in the box but he, from what i can see, is ultimately honest. he did not kill his parents. Why on earth would he do that when he would get the money in the end when they die of natural causes anyways. And as far as his sister is concerned, she clearly has a seed of jealousy in her from all the years that the father has taken good financial care of her brother but not so much herself. She was also too quick to judge her own brother. She will have to answer to God for that and I hope she realizes this.
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by wonderingonr April 27, 2013 9:47 PM EDT
From what i have read if i recall it correctly Eric Children did get a inheritance but it was not as large as one would expect.It appears that eric had blown a large part of the money before the murder.I wonder if lack of money was a problem for the eric koula defense.Though his lying was a bigger problem.Though a really pathological liar would have stuck to the lies no matter what it would seem.
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by SixthSense- April 27, 2013 6:37 PM EDT
Law enforcement & judicial system need to consider that circumstances can sometimes conspire to implicate the innocent... I believe an innocent man has been convicted. The sister's demeanour & dialogue gives me certain cause for suspicion -along with her readiness to blame Eric. However, also can't rule out the hit man / mistaken identity scenario (frankly I think it ridiculous that a reason law enforcement had ruled this out being that a chest of drawers were found opened in the bedroom & hit-men usually don't rifle through drawers .. this is Keystone Cops stuff)
As for the computer expert being consulted to pinpoint the last time the mother entered a keystroke on her computer before she was shot whilst using it.... well wouldn't the advent of rigour mortis 'potentially' stuff up the accuracy here?... also apparently the time of death cited by the computer expert doesn't tarry with eyewitness accounts of seeing the father alive ??
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by Tim-72 April 4, 2013 3:44 AM EDT
Reminds me so much of the blubbering William Macy( Jerry Lundegaard) car salesman character in Fargo!
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by QQQQIIIIIIIIIWWWWW March 30, 2013 2:21 AM EDT
I'm just completely shocked that a banker wuuld receive death threats. Who could possibly make death threats against a banker? They're such upstanding citizens and the epitome of honesty and fairness. I'm just shocked, shocked, I tell ya.
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by buzzzzub March 27, 2013 7:54 PM EDT
Why would he write a cheque he didn't need for that month when he would have inherited? Either he was an innocent man convicted because he did really dumb things or he is a dumb guilty man. The only thing I'm certain of is that he did really dumb things.
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by DavidD38 March 25, 2013 4:49 PM EDT
I NEVER would have thought the son did it. He seemed so guileless and sincere. As far as the 'assassin' theory goes, no 'profession' hit man is going to use a 22 caliber rifle to shoot someone!!!
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by Teddie Seeley March 20, 2013 3:18 PM EDT
Eric helped the prosecutor to convict himself. I'm not sure if he actually killed his parents, there wasn't enough evidence against him.
People keep saying he would have left evidence from the grouting he had done, what if he had worn coveralls? All he would have to do is take those off, and change his shoes.
The 911 call bothered me because he was giving too much information, and not stating the kind of help he needed. Maybe he was just terrified, and rambling.
Why did his lawyers not stop him from taking the stand? It gave the jury a chance to focus on him and not the so called circumstantial evidence, that the prosecution was using to try and convict him with.
Forging a check does not look good, but he says he was allowed to do that, why didn't his defense show proof of this fact, if he really had done it before?
The "Fixed you" note, and the phony stumbling around on the video, just made him look even more guilty or just plain stupid.
I think the Father had provided Eric with more money than he had the sister because he worked along side his Father in the business, until he sold it, and took away Eric's job.
It really bothered me that his sister, who proclaimed that her and her brother were so close, was so quick to believe that her brother could actually kill their parents.
And speaking of greed, the sister should know that her parents would not want their grandchildren to not have a portion of the estate, even if their Father had killed them. They should not be punished.
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by CryTears March 17, 2013 5:13 PM EDT
I think he's a lazy taker who didn't like hard working and he felt entitled to his parents money...
I'm not sure if he's innocent or guilty of murdering his parents.
One fact for sure, Eric is both dumb and devious!
This story just too full of too many misleading detales, so only God knows who did this and we may never learn the truth.
ATM machine statement rings all too true!
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