Post by zforce on Aug 24, 2020 21:51:12 GMT
In Shelby’s book he mentions that VPD had developed a criminal profile of their suspect that had him living outside of town and riding a bike to and from a place of employment located in town. How the profiler came up with this and how McGowen locked in on Exeter based on that info are a complete mystery.
Something about VR’s behavior during their encounter clearly left the impression that the guy had some kind of LE training.
McGowen would actually speak to cadets following the incident, because tactically the way he held his flashlight was protocol and a great example of how not to get killed in the line of duty, but he also went to scope out incoming recruits just in the event his guy was one of them.
He would also later work the Visalia stalker cases of the 1980’s, and in at least one home set an elaborate indoor alarm system as part of a stakeout - which the suspect tripped before fleeing down a ditch behind the home, and before LE stormed in. His personal notes only bolster my belief that he also suspected the 80s stalker to be VR.
Still the biggest mystery in regards to McGowen is how he came to suspect a cop from Exeter, and then how the dots weren’t connected to JJD....particularly being that he was convinced EAR was VR. His personal notes are clearly circling the wagon, and it seems a meeting with anyone at Exeter PD about his suspicions would have alarm bells going off on JJD.
According to his partner John Vaughn, the official line as to why Sac blew them off is they didn’t want to create hysteria over their suspect being a murderer if it wasn’t conclusive. The differing suspect descriptions actually created a lot of doubt right up until JJD was caught. If McGowen had ever seen a picture of JJD everything would have been over.
Which brings us back around to the oddity of the VPD profile saying the killer lived 10 miles outside of town and then McGowen looking for cops in Exeter. Something had to have pushed him in that direction, so I wonder if it came via a tip, but if that were the case it would seem the tipster would be able to directly identify JJD.