I have recently had help from a very dear friend regarding the Department of Justice, Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation issued by David Burd into the ballistics evidence retrieved from Lake Herman Road.
The report clearly states that the submitted items corresponded with the use of a J C Higgins 80 pistol, ‘although it must not be assumed that the exhibits must have been fired in such a weapon.’
It also states that ‘All bullets submitted were Western copper coated .22 long rifle bullets, although some were damaged, it was possible to determine ALL but Item [1] had 6 right hand groove class characteristics.’
Item [1] was the bullet recovered from David Faraday’s head. This does not necessarily mean it was conclusively different to the other bullets, but nevertheless didn’t exhibit 6 right hand groove class characteristics, so possibly may have originated from a second firearm or shooter.
In the police report 9 bullet casings are listed, collected from the scene from Sgt Silva and Dan Horan. Additionally only 9 bullet casings were listed for testing in the Department of Justice, Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.
10 bullet casings were ejected at LHR and noted in the police sketches, one of which ejected into the front passenger side floorboard. The question is, was this casing ultimately left in situ and removed from the turnout along with the Rambler, subsequently being separated from the other 9 casings. The mention of only 9 casings in both the police report and DOJ report appear to suggest this.
If there were two shooters at LHR, then the presence of only one bullet with different characteristics may suggest this. One assailant firing into the Rambler and as Betty Lou Jensen emerges she is contained by this assailant, who ultimately unloads five shots into her back. David Faraday is then secured by the second assailant who delivers the single shot to his head, with the absence of 6 right hand groove characteristics.
This assailant however is situated somewhere close to the right rear wheel of the Rambler, on the right side of David Faraday, or is left handed securing him from behind. A bullet fired into David Faraday’s ear from this position would likely eject the shell casing to the rear, either directly, or off the Rambler door onto the front passenger floorboard. The casing that ultimately became separated from the rest and not tested at the DOJ.
The 9 casings were considered to have been ejected from the same weapon, but the 10th is not listed.
If this 10th casing can be found to have unique markings, coupled with the Faraday bullet ‘not exhibiting 6 right hand groove’ characteristics’, then a possibility exists for this bullet and the casing found inside the Rambler to be connected, implicating a second firearm and possibly a second shooter.
The DOJ has been contacted, it’s a long shot getting a positive response, but you never know.
Hi-
It is very likely that this is just poorly worded and that the bullet that entered Faraday’s head became so damaged that they were unable to determine the land and groove pattern. If that bullet had different characteristics from 6 RH, one would think that the criminalist would have reported those characteristics in the report. In contrast to the bullets that passed through Jensen, we know that the bullet that struck Faraday had to pass through the bone of skull, which may have deformed it significantly.
That missing casing is interesting. I remember being at Russ’ home for several days in 2003 and he told me that he had one of the shell casings from LHR. We looked through several ashtrays of junk trying to find it but never did. I wonder if the one he had is the missing one, since the car would have been placed in possession of the SO after the shooting, as seen in several videos. Maybe he took it as a souvenir.
It would be strange luck if the one bullet from a theoretical second gun became so deformed that the lands and grooves could not be determined AND that the casing was never submitted for analysis to the criminalist. I say, "You gotta show me!" One gun until proven otherwise.
Mike
Mike Rodelli
Author, The Hunt for Zodiac; 3.9 stars on Amazon and
In The Shadow of Mt. Diablo: The Shocking True Identity of the Zodiac Killer, a second edition in print format. 4.3 Amazon stars and great Editorial reviews. Twitter:@mikerodelli
That casing Mike could answer a lot. If it had different firing pin and breech mark impressions to the other 9, then by inference could suggest the Faraday bullet being the contributor, as he may have been restrained and shot by a second person. It is hard to believe that in the highest profile murders to date, the police and Department of Justice could seemingly allow such a glaring oversight, something utterly crucial to determining the nature of the crime. The mind boggles. 
Hi-
From my dealing with the police, nothing would surprise me. However, I am not ready to jump on board with the two gun theory until there is some tangible proof. It’s a long shot for me right now.
Off the top of my head, if this eventuality were to be true, I wonder if Crow will revert to his original story of seeing two men in the car that chased him.
Mike
Mike Rodelli
Author, The Hunt for Zodiac; 3.9 stars on Amazon and
In The Shadow of Mt. Diablo: The Shocking True Identity of the Zodiac Killer, a second edition in print format. 4.3 Amazon stars and great Editorial reviews. Twitter:@mikerodelli
In fact if you take William Crow’s second statement he actually didn’t say one person, this is what he said "After some moments, the other car turned around in the roadway and went back down the road from which we had come. I kept making macho statements, but not totally without some sense about me, I drove home. I did not see the car again. I could not see the passenger seat, but the driver was a man with short hair and glasses. I did not see his specific facial features."
He couldn’t see the passenger seat, so there still could have been two people, so I suppose he left the door open so to speak.
I have questions regarding the following statement:
"All bullets submitted were Western copper coated .22 long rifle".
Winchester Repeating Arms began operations in 1866. By 1931 they are going into receivership. Western Cartridge is formed in 1898. In 1907 Western changes their Maltese logo to Super X. Sometime between 1907 and 1937 Western creates Super X ammo. In 1931, Western acquires Winchester and by 1935 Western is now Winchester-Western. At the time of the Lake Herman attack the company was still Winchester – Western, a division of Olin Industries. Also at the time of the attack, Super X, was marketed under the company names Winchester and Western. When Western Cartridge was a separate company from Winchester the head stamp on the cartridges read WCC. When the companies were combined the head stamp read Super X (super over X).
Here’s the problem:
1. Why are they calling the maker Western? The head stamp, assuming the one circulating is correct, clearly identifies Winchester-Western.
2. If Super X was marketed under Winchester and Western as two separate companies then how do they know it was Western? Both had the same head stamp and both had the same specs.
Soze
Has it ever been determined from the angle of the shots fired how tall the assailant would have been? Seems to me it would be simple to determine how tall the shooter would be.
