Fargo
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- Oct 22, 2022
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I find the unspent round interesting as well. According to the PCA the round was cycled through a firearm at some point and ejected. Both require an intentional act. You have to rack the slide to chamber the round. Then you have to rack the slide again to eject the round.Thank you! I agree with you—haven’t heard any indication that shots were fired that day. But I’ve seen quite a few people who assumed that the presence of a ‘bullet’ on the scene would mean that a shot was fired. So I think that calling the ‘round’ a ‘bullet’ helps lead to unnecessary confusion
And the presence of an ‘unspent round’ is interesting. Why was it there? Are there any other cases where that’s happened, and been relevant?
My theory for quite some time was that the killer used a gun to threaten them, and then something more silent to kill them.
MOO
The most logical and straight forward explanation for an unspent round to be located at the crime scene is that there was already a round in the chamber during the commission of the crime but the slide was racked as an act of intimidation. We've all seen this dramatic action in movies - a gun is being used to menace and then to illustrate the threat is serious serious the actor dramatically racks the slide to up the threat. This sound is loud and alarming and intimidating. It's a signal that someone means business.
And I think that's why the gun was racked at the crime scene. Some loss of control was happening so the slide was racked as a threat, an act of intimidation, but with a round already in the chamber that round would have ejected as the new round chambered.
An alternative explanation is the gun was intentionally unloaded before leaving the scene. This would involve removing the magazine and racking the slide to eject the round in the chamber. But I think in this scenario the round would have been picked up and taken from the scene. The PCA says the round was located between the bodies so it shouldn't have been hard to find if he looked for it.
Either way, in looking back over the events he should have put 2 and 2 together and realized he left a round there even if he didn't realize it or think it important in the heat of the moment. And he should have ditched the gun. If he did know in the moment that he'd lost the round and spent time unsuccessfully looking for it, he should have ditched the gun.
Racking that gun at the scene and then not getting rid of that gun afterwards is a costly mistake. It's exactly the kind of mistake that leads to solving crimes. I personally would have disposed of every single thing I was wearing or carrying after committing a double homicide.The devil is in the details. My opinions only.