Post by dbw on May 6, 2014 21:49:48 GMT
I know that ballistic testing was done for the crimes you listed, but I do not know the results from inter- county comparisons. This information is usually recorded and archived by the California Department of Justice and I doubt that they release the information on unsolved cases, unless they choose to do so.
I do know that Contra Costa County did a very extensive study of the weapons used by EAR, including attempting to trace guns stolen in every burglary in the right time period in Sacramento and Contra Costa County. It is believed that EAR had quite a number of guns at his disposal, because he also took guns from Sacramento rape scenes and from burglaries that were most likely EAR casings of neighborhoods.
Crompton was extremely thorough in this check. He obtained lists of all .45 automatic and .357 magnum caliber guns purchased during this time period and all stolen during this time period. It was determined that EAR used a .45 in attacks 16-22, but switched to a .357 in attacks 24-39.
Last Edit: Apr 2, 2014 at 8:51am by portofleith
Port, do we know whether the .45s and .357s used were the same weapons or different .45s or .357s in different attacks? If, for example, he used the same .45 for attacks 16-22 or the same .357 for attacks 24-39 it would cut down significantly on the number of guns he had access to. I realize victims wouldn't have the serial numbers or ballistics, but perhaps they could identify the finish of the guns? Is it possible that the guns he used were stolen from victims?
Just a thought . . .