Post by sammyt on Feb 6, 2018 16:03:43 GMT
I know. The question was how suspects were cleared back in the day. Sorry for the confusion.
In a 1993 interview with The Sacramento Bee, detective Shelby said there were around 5 - 6 thousand suspects but they were all either not 5' 09 or they were too careless. The EAR was exactly 5'09 and he was very careful.
So, many suspects were cleared because they were not 5' 09 Shelby said, including himself whom was cleared because he is 5'10. Shelby himself was too tall to be the EAR.
We're taller in the morning and shorter in the evening.
When the Guinness Book of Records measure a giant, they take six measurements spaced throughout the day and average out the different measurements.
The extent of the temporary height loss depends on your starting height (some giants can 'lose' several inches of height throughout the day) but an average man can expect to 'lose' between 0.5-0.9 inches height throughout the day.
A guy who stands 5'10" in the morning, could easily be 5'9.25" by evening time.
A guy who stands 5'9" in the morning, could be only 5'8.25" by the evening.
I'm sure many of us have had afternoon or evening medicals and thought to ourselves: 'I was sure I was taller than that!'
I reckon (unless he had a long sleep and practiced yoga before his evening activities) EAR was near his minimum height when he struck in the very early hours.
I doubt if there was a standardised morning measuring time for the EAR suspects, so I hope Shelby didn't measure EAR in at 5'10" one morning, or at 5'8" one evening.
Imagine EAR's smugness if and when he was told he was the wrong height and was free to go...