This discovery suggested a scenario in which two of the men were bludgeoned in their sleep by Packer, the three remaining men awoke, and Packer shot them in the hips to incapacitate them (if the punctures are in fact bullet wounds). They then attempted to fight off Packer who was wielding a hatchet and he killed them all with blows to the head. He then butchered the men and used their flesh to survive in his snowbound state and during his journey. The differing states of decomposition of the bodies does contradict this theory, though it is plausible. It would seem unlikely that Packer had shot three of the five men in the hip, which is not by itself an outright kill shot, unless it was to debilitate them while he went in for the kill. Further analysis into the entry and exit geometry could be telling as to what their initial cause was, but no such examination has been done to date. His ultimate motivation for their murder has been debated heavily, and has several possible theories.