For purposes of finding reasonable doubt at a trial, yes, absolutely. That said, a competent defense counsel had best do better than that.
For purposes of finding likely suspects and bringing them in? Absolutely not. The cops’ job is not to build an airtight case to bring to trial. They’re investigating and collecting evidence and likely suspects, not presenting a case to a judge or a jury.
The affidavit says that a “single source of male DNA” was found on the knife sheath.
And that’s where we’re at right now. We know how they were able to focus on a likely suspect based on the affidavit and that will bring in more evidence as they examine the car, apartment, and parent’s home.
From the description in the affidavit, this would seem to be the model of knife that the knife sheath belongs to.
They aren’t telling the general public everything because we don’t have the right or need to know.
I’m pretty sure they have many, MANY things they aren’t sharing, because why would they.
I do agree that LE folks can be lazy and stupid and wrong but this is a big case and the entire country is watching. They can’t make mistakes because …well…I don’t know. It is Idaho after all. I could sure see Arizona cops fucking this up.
I just heard that while the police were surveiling his parents home, he was seen wearing surgical gloves when he put his trash in his neighbors can. That’s a bit suspicious.
My thoughts are with the families of the victims.
I guess since they had the sheath, that was why the police immediately said they were looking for a Ka-Bar type knife. Why it was sometimes reported as a “Rambo type” knife I have no idea. Totally different knife types.
Totally different to a knife buff, but “Ehh…close enough” to the vast majority of people.
When I image-search for “Ka-Bar knife” and “Rambo knife”, I do in fact get different-looking knives (most notably, the “Rambo knives” usually have deep serrations on the back of the blade). But all of the knives of both types that I see could reasonably be described as a “hunting knife”, a concept that would not be unfamiliar to Idahoans.
I have no idea what a “Rambo knife” is (a Bowie knife?), but a Ka-Bar is a common combat knife/utility knife, not something weird or rare.
As far as I know, police don’t have to have “beyond a reasonable doubt” evidence to investigate someone. That’s jumping right to what is required to convict but not to investigate, though I’m no lawyer of course.
Some people are making it so that police can’t look into a suspect unless they have irrefutable proof of guilt already, but I don’t know how they’re supposed to get that proof if they’re not allowed to investigate the suspect unless they’re found standing over the victim with a knife that exactly matches the wounds.
Also, the police in this case have been really tight lipped all along. We don’t know if they have more evidence that they haven’t released.
I get it, prosecutors and police make tons of mistakes. I want any accused suspect to have full representation and not get railroaded for something they didn’t do. At the same time, I think his frequency of visits to the area and the suspicious phone activity are probably enough for them to at least start looking at this guy. Again, not a lawyer.
Correct. Some investigations require no evidence or even suspicion of wrongdoing: for example, they can run a check on your car’s license plate simply because they see it.
To detain you, they need “RAS”: Reasonable Articulable Suspicion that you have committed, are committing, or are about to commit a crime. To arrest you, they need Probable Cause. To convict you, a jury needs proof “beyond reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty”.
In the movies it’s an oversized survival knife with a hollow handle that contains fishing line, hooks, rope saw and a compass on the end. Looks good on screen but not really as practical as a Ka-Bar.
I was referring to the fact that the sheath says Ka-Bar right on it. Pretty hard for even a Barney Fife type cop to miss.
The same reason every black semi-automatic rifle is an assault rifle. Clueless reporters and/or sensational writing.
Don’t forget “Writing for the clueless general public, not for specialists in whatever field.”
There appears to be a serrated-edge version of the knife in question, which might move it towards Rambo territory.
What (given my only experience is with penknives) is the serrated edge for?
Extra damage? Cutting wood? Scraping fish scales?
Cutting wood or rope or anything where a saw is more appropriate than a simple slicing edge. In more dire situations, it gives you something to cut with if the main blade edge gets dulled.
Except, at least on the pictures I saw, the serrated edge looked like it would make a terrible saw. It looked more like they were intended as barbs, so that if you stuck it in flesh, it’d be hard to remove and do more damage if you did.
The Ka-Bar knife is the classic military knife. It’s intended to kill people. It also has utility uses like cutting parachute lines if your hanging in a tree.
I used to carry one in my hiking gear. I finally switched to a lighter weight utility knife.
