Trayvon Martin. Three years ago today.

[RobertSF]

32. But what did happen that night?

After studying the timeline, the evidence, and the distances involved, I concluded that George Zimmerman circled around Retreat View Circle and came up to Martin Trayvon at his dad's girlfriend's condo's back yard.

Here, for the timeline, are some distances and speeds.

Times taken from official record except for time when encounter began.
7:11:48 GZ starts running
7:12:08 GZ stops running
7:13:39 GZ ends call to NEN
7:15:11 Encounter begins (estimated)
7:16:11 First 911 call comes in
7:16:56 Shot fired

Distances calculated with Google Maps and mappedometer.com.
125' Twin Trees to upper T via footpath
100' Upper T to Retreat View Cir. via footpath
470' Retreat View Cir. top to bottom
100' Retreat View Cir. to lower T via footpath
410' Lower T to altercation point via footpath

Various walking and running speeds.
3.0 mph = 264 ft/min = 4.40 ft/sec
3.5 mph = 308 ft/min = 5.13 ft/sec
4.0 mph = 352 ft/min = 5.87 ft/sec Brisk walk for someone in their 20s.
4.5 mph = 396 ft/min = 6.60 ft/sec
5.0 mph = 440 ft/min = 7.33 ft/sec
5.5 mph = 484 ft/min = 8.07 ft/sec Easy jog for someone in their 20s.
6.0 mph = 528 ft/min = 8.80 ft/sec
6.5 mph = 472 ft/min = 9.53 ft/sec
7.0 mph = 616 ft/min = 10.27 ft/sec

And here's the graphic map.


In my scenario, Zimmerman is parked close to the where the footpath starts. He sees Martin start to run, exclaims, "Shit, he's running!" and jumps out of his car.

Martin, the faster runner, reaches the T and goes down the footpath to his dad's girlfriend's condo. I don't think Martin saw Zimmerman get out of his truck. He may even question whether he imagined that that man was staring at him and following him in his car. After all, he doesn't live there, so there's nobody with a score to settle with him. So, reaching the condo, he lingers outside, talking to Dee Dee on the phone. Dee Dee says that he told her he was just outside the condo.

Meanwhile, Zimmerman believed Martin was headed for the back entrance. He said so to the operator, so he goes past the T and reaches Retreat View Circle on the other side. Then, still on the phone with the NEN operator, he walks down Retreat View Circle towards the back entrance. Reaching the back entrance, he doesn't find Martin, and his call to the NEN comes to an end. Zimmerman figures Martin escaped and decides to walk back to his truck via the footpath.

At this point, Zimmerman is walking up the footpath while Martin is outside the condo he's visiting, still talking to Dee Dee. He tells Dee Dee that there's that man again. Dee Dee advises him to run, but Martin says he will only walk fast. And so Martin starts walking fast up the path and away from Zimmerman. Zimmerman by now has seen Martin, and is walking fast after him too. One witness said they were running, one about 10 feet ahead of the other.

About 60 feet from the T, Martin stopped and ask why Zimmerman was following him. Zimmerman ran up and yelled, "What are you doing here?" Zimmerman grabbed Martin by the front of his clothing and tried to take him to the ground. Martin resisted but dropped his phone while saying, "Get off... get off!"

In the tugging, the two moved a few feet North, and then Zimmerman dropped his flashlight on purpose to draw his gun. He intended to intimidate Martin into stopping struggling and submitting. That's when the voices changed from loud, angry shouts to a voice, Martin's, screaming, "Noooo! Noooo!" and "I'm begging you!"

Then Zimmerman fired, and Martin collapsed.

If we take Zimmerman's word at face value, that he simply walked from Twin Trees to Retreat View Circle and then returned, where Martin ambushed him at the T, the timing doesn't work. Even if he delayed a full minute, looking up and down Retreat View Circle before returning, he would have still been on the phone with the NEN operator when Martin supposedly jumped him.

He has almost THREE MINUTES of unexplained time to account for, and that's why I think he took the long walk around and up the footpath.