The Note Before Death

An Unsettling Discovery

On the evening of September 18, 2021, police in Flagstaff, Arizona, were called to the home of 27-year-old Rachel Moreno, a local artist known for her surreal paintings and eccentric personality.

Her roommate, Megan Harris, had returned from a weekend trip to find Rachel lying motionless on the floor of her bedroom. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene from a single stab wound to the chest.

But the strangest detail wasn’t the manner of death — it was what Rachel had left behind. On her desk sat an open notebook with a single sentence written in large, shaky handwriting:

“If something happens to me, it was not an accident.”

The Life of a Free Spirit

Rachel was known around Flagstaff’s small but vibrant art community as a free spirit. She often exhibited her paintings at local coffee shops and farmers markets. Friends said she was “fearless but private” -- open about her art, but guarded about her personal life.

In the weeks before her death, she had been more anxious than usual. She told a close friend she felt she was being followed. When asked by whom, Rachel reportedly said, “I don’t want to make things worse by saying their name.”

No Signs of Forced Entry

Detectives found no signs of forced entry into the apartment. There was no damage to the locks, no broken windows, and no signs of a struggle beyond the immediate area of the bedroom.

The murder weapon -- a kitchen knife -- was found in the sink, wiped clean. The only other clue was Rachel’s note.

Three Key Persons of Interest

The investigation soon revealed that Rachel’s personal life was far more complicated than most people knew. Detectives focused on three individuals:

• Ethan Doyle, her ex-boyfriend, who had a history of controlling behavior and had been seen arguing with her outside a bar two weeks earlier.
• Carla Benton, a fellow artist who had accused Rachel of “stealing” one of her concepts, leading to a heated public argument.
• James Moreno, Rachel’s estranged older brother, who had recently reappeared in town after years away, asking Rachel for money.

Each had potential motives -- jealousy, anger, or financial desperation -- but each also claimed to be elsewhere at the time of her death.

The Surveillance Break

After combing through hours of neighborhood security footage, investigators spotted a hooded figure entering Rachel’s apartment building at 9:17 p.m. the night before her body was found. The person’s face was obscured, and the footage ended before showing them leave.

Megan, the roommate, claimed she had left for her trip earlier that afternoon and had locked the apartment door behind her. This meant Rachel must have let the person in willingly.

Ethan Under the Microscope

Phone records placed Ethan Doyle within two miles of Rachel’s apartment at the time the hooded figure appeared on camera. When confronted, Ethan admitted he had gone to “talk” to her that night, but insisted she was alive when he left. He claimed she was upset but refused to let him inside.

Detectives found this statement suspicious -- how did Ethan’s phone GPS place him near the building for over 40 minutes if he never entered?

The Trial of Public Opinion

Rachel’s death became a heated topic on local social media. Some were convinced Ethan was guilty. Others suspected James, her brother, pointing out that he had vanished from town immediately after the murder.

Meanwhile, the note Rachel left continued to haunt the investigation. Had she known her killer? Was she afraid to speak their name out loud because it was someone close to her?

Unanswered Questions

By December 2021, police had enough circumstantial evidence to arrest Ethan Doyle for second-degree murder. His trial is scheduled for mid-2025, and prosecutors plan to present the note as evidence of Rachel’s fear in the days before her death.

Still, some locals believe the case isn’t as straightforward as it seems -- and that the true killer may still be free.

Rachel’s story is a grim reminder that sometimes the most important clues aren’t found in fingerprints or DNA, but in the words a victim leaves behind. Her final note is both a warning and a mystery -- one that may take years to fully understand.