I caught a glimpse of this at Instapundit, then followed the link to Tam's place. Clicked over to the Daily Beast about a cold case that suddenly had gotten warm again.
An unspent .40-caliber round discovered between the bodies of two young girls found dead on an Indiana hiking trail in 2017 led investigators to their alleged killer half a decade later, according to a probable cause affidavit unsealed Tuesday.
A forensic examination showed the still-live bullet had been “cycled through” a Sig Sauer P226 owned by Richard Matthew Allen, who was charged last month with murder in the deaths of Delphi teens Libby German and Abby Williams.
I read through the article, and it didn't tell me how the girls had died, but a single .40SW cartridge was found between the bodies. Examiners say that they can match to a gun owned by the suspect. They can show that it was cycled through the action. I'd love to see that report.
This has also befuddled me. I've never heard of it being done without the cartidge actually having been fired in the suspec weapon. If it is a new technique they will have to lay foundation and have some sort of corroboration.
ReplyDeleteSame here, I can't figure out how they claim to be able to match a cycled but unfired round to a particular gun .
ReplyDeleteI understand they must have other evidence, but to me this claim would undermine the credibility of the police to a potential jury.
Extractor and chamber marks can be unique to a given firearm.
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