You should have just stuck with your first thought.....
Your 2nd thought was a totally ridiculous & offensive statement on a very tragic situation.
OK, I apologize in that I see some people might find the thought offensive.
But, I submit others may not.
I think we all know about insurance money and horse harm cases of the past.
Most have heard the stories surrounding Alydar's death.
It didn't get much press connection, but the recent publicly identified mistress of John Edwards also had a family connection to a scheme to kill horses for insurance money. Rielle Burns, the mistress, was the daughter of James Druck. She was raised in Ocala horse country. James Druck was implicated in an insurance scheme to kill show horses. He was fingered by Tommy "The Sandman" Burns in a scheme to electrocute horses so the cause of death might look similar to colic.
http://www.ocala.com/article/2008081...aised_in_Ocala
I will admit that I have personal feelings and experiences about Louisiana I formed long before Katrina. I'll qualify that I've had some great experiences and met wonderful good people in Louisiana, too. In May I had a great time in New Orleans, and meandered west on I-10 and met some great people in Breaux Bridge. I've worked in Shreveport, and met many Louisiana natives around the country on business and in social situations. As a result, I've often jested with some seriousness that I thought if one was born in Louisiana there was some sort of inherent obligation to tell "a fib" at least once a day. Again, only partially joking.
We can go back to Huey P. Long, to Edwin Edwards, to Eddie DeBartolo and even to Jim Garrison and the Lee Harvey Oswald case and the history of graft, skimming, crime, and lying is well established for Louisiana.
OK. It's established in other places, too. But I think the fabric of Louisiana history makes it natural for some to have initial thoughts of possible criminal intent in this case.