# Why do police think those two photos are the same person (Thompson murder)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 7, 2024, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312 "2024-12-07T16:57:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/1 "2024-12-07T16:57:26Z")
The news is plastered with one photo of a masked man with a backpack with light-colored straps, who could well be the killer, and another photo of a smiling guy (in Starbucks I think) in a coat that looks different to me in its details, and a backpack with very definitely black straps. I didn’t post the photos here because they are so ubiquitous but let me know if you can’t find them. Why do police think these are the same guy? To me they bear just a superficial resemblance: backpack and coat with a hood. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/2 "2024-12-07T16:59:41Z")
I have been thinking the same thing, The smiling pic almost looks female, although due to circumstances we know it’s a guy. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/3 "2024-12-07T17:00:14Z")
I think these are the pictures the OP is referring to: [https://images.app.goo.gl/Jg9D4BnL2JzTEPvj7](https://images.app.goo.gl/Jg9D4BnL2JzTEPvj7) [https://images.app.goo.gl/49cs8cNR9tGvxuHY9](https://images.app.goo.gl/49cs8cNR9tGvxuHY9) There’s also this one with no backpack: [https://images.app.goo.gl/8xBgHKZ4sp8pJyw39](https://images.app.goo.gl/8xBgHKZ4sp8pJyw39) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/4 "2024-12-07T17:06:15Z")
My guess, and it’s only that, is that the police have more images from the hostel which match up to the image of the shooter on the kill video. They’ve only released those two because those are the ones that give the best shot of his face, and therefore most likely to help identify him. (I know the pix that the OP is referring to, but I don’t remember which of the many articles has them, sorry.) ETA: robby added the two images while I was posting. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/5 "2024-12-07T17:11:18Z")
Exactly my question in another thread, better expressed herein. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/6 "2024-12-07T17:15:41Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > and a backpack with very definitely black straps Yeah, those two backpacks are different. No matter what the lighting situation is, in one, the straps are definitely lighter than the coat; in the other, definitely darker. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/7 "2024-12-07T17:18:48Z")
It’s nice to know others are thinking the same thing I have been thinking. I couldn’t figure out how they connected him as the same guy. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/8 "2024-12-07T18:07:58Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, those two backpacks are different. No matter what the lighting situation is, in one, the straps are definitely lighter than the coat; in the other, definitely darker. I don’t know about the jacket but the backpacks are definitely different. The heather grey backpack seen in the first linked image (and that the shooter was wearing in security camera video of the shooting) was almost certainly a [Peak Design ‘Everyday’ backpack](https://www.peakdesign.com/products/everyday-backpack) (or one of the knockoffs you can find on Amazon), which is purpose-designed for photographers and videographers and is quite distinct in its profile and features. I have two of these packs and recognized it immediately. I can’t see the second pack clearly enough to have any hope of identifying it but from the shape of the shoulder straps alone it is clearly not a PD pack. This doesn’t mean that it can’t be the same person but it certainly isn’t the same pack. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/9 "2024-12-07T18:26:21Z")
Let’s _assume_ the shooter swapped backpacks; wearing one before the crime and one during / after. Probably by having the second one initially inside the first, then swapping them in an alley someplace. The shooter would then face a choice: leave the first backpack in the alley or try to find a place to dump it on the street. OR, stuff it inside the opposite backpack. The upside to keeping them together is leaving fewer findable items. _If_ the shooter chose the second option, _and_ the nested backpacks have since been found, the police would then know to be looking for security footage of either backpack. And armed with that knowledge, they’ve now publicized cam footage of one person using two different backpacks. As we’ve discussed about the phone, there’s always a tension w the equipment used to commit a crime. Keeping it means if you get caught with it in your possession, the equipment links you back to the crime. OTOH, if you dump the equipment, then it can’t be tied to you later. But it can be tied to you _earlier_ by CSI-like means. DNA on it, fingerprints on it, video of it, etc. But that also requires the dumped equipment to be found. Which it may not, or may not be found quickly enough for reliable evidence to be extracted. The classic tactic was the gangland hit, where a “clean” gun was used and immediately dropped right next to the body. The gun was a lead, but a guaranteed dead end lead going forward in time. And if clean enough, backwards in time also. The question nowadays is how well that tactic can still work. How much “cleaner” does an e.g. gun need to be to survice 2024 CSI versus 1950 CSI? And how much perps, amateur or pro, believe the drop-it tactic can still work even if it can’t. ---
**Author:** ![CalJake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@CalJake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalJake)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/10 "2024-12-07T18:32:09Z")
I’m with Northern\_Piper here. Authorities have tracked the guy from Atlanta and back, and perhaps he wasn’t carrying the same pack for the entire trip. Photos can be from anywhere along that timeline, and these are the best photos of his face. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/11 "2024-12-07T21:26:35Z")
> [@CalJake](#): > > Authorities have tracked the guy from Atlanta and back Point of order: the bus which he took to NYC originated in Atlanta, but they don’t know where he got onboard. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/12 "2024-12-07T21:38:16Z")
The other possibility is they have a good idea who they think he is, but no specific hard evidence (probable cause?) to arrest him, not enough tying the person wandering NYC with the person actually doing the shooting except some odd and questionable photos. I saw something saying they’d found the backpack where it was dumped in Central Park. Odd no mention of the bike, either stolen, rented or bought. An electric bike is not a trivial item. And if he arrived by subway as alleged, a convenient item to have or find already at the scene. I certainly would not be confident stashing an electric bike downtown and expecting it to still be there much later. Someone on TV mentioned that silencers are restricted weapons, the one he used caused the gun to jam suggesting it was home-made. Do long distance buses make people walk through metal detectors like airports? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/13 "2024-12-07T21:59:27Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Someone on TV mentioned that silencers are restricted weapons, the one he used caused the gun to jam suggesting it was home-made. The suppressor may have not been homemade (although that is easy to do even with just a hand drill, the right size hand tap, and some readily available items from your local hardware store) but it clearly wasn’t correctly fitted to the gun (i.e. it didn’t have a stiffer recoil spring or was somehow interfering with the slide correctly returning to battery after each shot). Suppressors can be legally purchased in many states just by paying for a federal tax stamp and filling out a form. For example, [here is what you have to do to purchase a suppressor in Georgia.](https://gunrightsattorneys.com/silencer-in-georgia/) (I’m not suggesting that the one used by the shooter _was_ purchased in Georgia, just using it as an example since he was known to have travelled from that state.) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/14 "2024-12-07T22:09:52Z")
The discussion was that also if it was a recognizable suppressor type and legally purchased, the BAFT have a database they can go through because of those forms. there were also reports that he was on the phone and dropped his phone afterwards during the getaway which sounds pretty inept. This kind of makes you wonder. What can you get from a locked phone? Phone number? EMIE, s/n, etc? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/15 "2024-12-07T22:10:04Z")
Isn’t the story that in those face shots he’d lowered his mask to flirt with the hostel staff? In that case, I’d assume the police have statements from said staff that it’s the same guy who was going around masked the whole rest of the time. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/16 "2024-12-07T22:11:17Z")
Supposedly those are video captures from a Starbucks not far away a bit earlier? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/17 "2024-12-07T22:31:05Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > saw something saying they’d found the backpack where it was dumped in Central Park. Odd no mention of the bike, either stolen, rented or bought. An electric bike is not a trivial item. And if he arrived by subway as alleged, a convenient item to have or find already at the scene. I certainly would not be confident stashing an electric bike downtown and expecting it to still be there much later. My guess based on the evidence that’s been made public is that he ordered an inexpensive Chinese e-bike off Amazon (they’ve got some in the range of $300 these days) using a pseudonym, paid cash for it via Western Union, had it delivered to the hostel, and staged it in the alley the night before, without its battery. He brought the battery with him on the subway ride to the scene of the crime. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/18 "2024-12-08T00:30:44Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > The heather grey backpack seen in the first linked image (and that the shooter was wearing in security camera video of the shooting) was almost certainly a [Peak Design ‘Everyday’ backpack](https://www.peakdesign.com/products/everyday-backpack) (or one of the knockoffs you can find on Amazon), which is purpose-designed for photographers and videographers and is quite distinct in its profile and features. The Peak Design backpack is ideal if you want to hide a second backpack inside of it. You can remove all the interior dividers leaving a backpack shell with huge side openings where you could easily stash a fully loaded backpack. The shell has enough body that an observer wouldn’t see the shape of what’s inside. Great photo backpack. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/19 "2024-12-08T00:42:57Z")
I have a hard time believing that the shooter would be dumb enough to lower his mask and reveal his face anywhere near in the vicinity of the shooting. As in, anywhere within a 20-mile radius. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312/20 "2024-12-08T01:39:37Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > An electric bike is not a trivial item. And if he arrived by subway as alleged, a convenient item to have or find already at the scene. Well, yeah, that’s why they’re already on the scene, because they’re convenient. Does NYC not have rentable ebikes and scooters all over the place, like other cities do? Though of course, those things are all tracked, so if you use one in a high-profile crime, you’re pretty much guaranteeing a trail, for as long as you stay on it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-police-think-those-two-photos-are-the-same-person-thompson-murder/1011312.md?page=2)