Almost immediately after the arrest, authorities threw a cordon of silence around the investigation. Lancaster County Prosecutor Donald Totaro has repeatedly declined through a spokeswoman to be interviewed.

In the week since, however, court papers and the lingering messages that the Ludwig and Kara posted on their blogs have provided clues, not just to their personalities but to nature of their relationship.

And in a stunning development on Monday, authorities disclosed that Kara, for whatever reason, had gone willingly with Ludwig after the homicides.

According to court documents filed in Indiana and reported by the Associated Press, Kara told investigators that she had run to Ludwig's car after the shootings, and told him that she wanted to stay with him, to "get as far away as possible, get married and start a new life," the AP reported. Prosecutors in Lancaster County said kidnapping charges against Ludwig would be dropped.

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Indiana authorities also said in court filings that Ludwig had confessed to the killings and had told where in his wrecked car he had stashed the murder weapon.

In court papers filed last week, Ludwig's public defender had hinted that Kara was not the terrified hostage authorities had suggested she was.

At the time, experts were skeptical of the defense strategy, noting that while public defender Spahn may have been hoping that the tapes would help him chip away at the kidnapping charge, a critical charge that could have augmented the prosecution if it decides to seek the death penalty against Ludwig, it was a risky strategy.

It was far from clear that the news would do much to bolster the defense. Even with her reported admission that she chose to flee with Ludwig, it could be argued, experts have said, that the young, impressionable girl was deeply traumatized by the slaying of her parents.