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Here is a spelling correction. The quotes in the previous post refer to Lucien Haig. The quotes were transcribed from an audio recording. The correct spelling is "renowned local [to Arizona] firearms expert Lucien Haag". [1]
Lucien Haag is also referred to in stories in April [2] and May [3].
Here is an update on Leslie Merritt Jr's gun. Authorities are keeping the gun for now. [1]
"Instead, DPS applied for and secured a search warrant from Granville, allowing them to hold on to the weapon."
Lucien Haag found that the bullets could not be identified as having been fired from the gun.
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The affidavit for the warrant, signed by DPS detective Trevor Graff, states that in addition to its initial ballistics testing linking the gun to four bullets in the supposed crime spree — testing later debunked by renowned local firearms expert Lucien Haag — DPS sought the opinion of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives on its ballistics work. [1]
The ATF's report, dated four days after all charges against Merritt were dismissed on April 25, backed up Haag's analysis. Haag, whom the Maricopa County Attorney's Office brought in to double-check the work of the DPS crime lab, wrote that DPS's testing had been inconclusive and "insufficient." The four evidence bullets provided by DPS, he declared, "could neither be excluded or identified as having been fired" by Merritt's gun. [1]
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There is more information about the disputed timeline of the shooting when the gun was in the pawnshop.
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But that revision failed on close examination, leaving DPS with a gaping hole in its narrative that remains unexplained. DPS insists that all four bullets came from Merritt's gun, though according to the time stamp from Phoenix's Mo Money Pawn shop, Merritt sold the gun at 5:31 p.m. on August 30, about four hours before the time of the final shooting, which is estimated to have occurred between 9:45 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. that same day. [1]
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Another story also has more information on the disputed timeline, involving a car that had a bullet in a tire.
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Another challenge with the case against Merritt: DPS documents released last month showed how Merritt's gun was under lock and key at a pawn shop by the evening of Aug. 30, when one of the victims first noticed a faulty tire. A bullet later was found inside of it.
DPS officials said the shooting had gone unnoticed for a while because it was a "run-flat" tire, explaining that its durability would make it possible for the shooting to have occurred days earlier. They adjusted their timeline accordingly, saying that what was believed to be the last shooting, on Aug. 30, actually was the first, occurring on Aug. 27.
However, the victim said he was sure he had no issues with his tire when he parked it at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Aug. 27. And a service technician said the car's pressure warning would have activated “within a mile” of where the puncture occurred. [2]
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[1]
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news...ll-trying-to-tie-suspects-gun-to-case-8477489
I-10 Shooter Investigators Still Trying to Tie Suspect's Gun to Case
TUESDAY, JULY 26, 2016 AT 1:27 P.M. BY STEPHEN LEMONS
[2]
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news...x-freeway-shooter-charges-dismissed/83415724/
State moves to drop charges against Phoenix freeway shooting suspect
Kathy Tulumello and Robert Anglen, The Republic | azcentral.com 7:39 a.m. MST April 23, 2016
[3]
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news...cs-report-phoenix-freeway-shootings/84281444/
A look inside the reports that unraveled the Phoenix freeway-shooting case
Megan Cassidy, The Republic | azcentral.com 7:26 a.m. MST May 13, 2016
Lucien Haag is also referred to in stories in April [2] and May [3].
Here is an update on Leslie Merritt Jr's gun. Authorities are keeping the gun for now. [1]
"Instead, DPS applied for and secured a search warrant from Granville, allowing them to hold on to the weapon."
Lucien Haag found that the bullets could not be identified as having been fired from the gun.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The affidavit for the warrant, signed by DPS detective Trevor Graff, states that in addition to its initial ballistics testing linking the gun to four bullets in the supposed crime spree — testing later debunked by renowned local firearms expert Lucien Haag — DPS sought the opinion of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives on its ballistics work. [1]
The ATF's report, dated four days after all charges against Merritt were dismissed on April 25, backed up Haag's analysis. Haag, whom the Maricopa County Attorney's Office brought in to double-check the work of the DPS crime lab, wrote that DPS's testing had been inconclusive and "insufficient." The four evidence bullets provided by DPS, he declared, "could neither be excluded or identified as having been fired" by Merritt's gun. [1]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
There is more information about the disputed timeline of the shooting when the gun was in the pawnshop.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
But that revision failed on close examination, leaving DPS with a gaping hole in its narrative that remains unexplained. DPS insists that all four bullets came from Merritt's gun, though according to the time stamp from Phoenix's Mo Money Pawn shop, Merritt sold the gun at 5:31 p.m. on August 30, about four hours before the time of the final shooting, which is estimated to have occurred between 9:45 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. that same day. [1]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Another story also has more information on the disputed timeline, involving a car that had a bullet in a tire.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Another challenge with the case against Merritt: DPS documents released last month showed how Merritt's gun was under lock and key at a pawn shop by the evening of Aug. 30, when one of the victims first noticed a faulty tire. A bullet later was found inside of it.
DPS officials said the shooting had gone unnoticed for a while because it was a "run-flat" tire, explaining that its durability would make it possible for the shooting to have occurred days earlier. They adjusted their timeline accordingly, saying that what was believed to be the last shooting, on Aug. 30, actually was the first, occurring on Aug. 27.
However, the victim said he was sure he had no issues with his tire when he parked it at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Aug. 27. And a service technician said the car's pressure warning would have activated “within a mile” of where the puncture occurred. [2]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
[1]
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news...ll-trying-to-tie-suspects-gun-to-case-8477489
I-10 Shooter Investigators Still Trying to Tie Suspect's Gun to Case
TUESDAY, JULY 26, 2016 AT 1:27 P.M. BY STEPHEN LEMONS
[2]
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news...x-freeway-shooter-charges-dismissed/83415724/
State moves to drop charges against Phoenix freeway shooting suspect
Kathy Tulumello and Robert Anglen, The Republic | azcentral.com 7:39 a.m. MST April 23, 2016
[3]
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news...cs-report-phoenix-freeway-shootings/84281444/
A look inside the reports that unraveled the Phoenix freeway-shooting case
Megan Cassidy, The Republic | azcentral.com 7:26 a.m. MST May 13, 2016
