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[–]Southern_Dig_9460 21 points22 points  (2 children)

In my county a while back there was a serial rapist that assaulted 4 women. The then Sheriff said they have the suspects DNA and several leads with solid suspect in mind. 10 years later no one was ever arrested and a Newspaper doing a article on the 10 year anniversary spoke with a new Sheriff that was 2 sheriffs removed from the original. He said they had no suspects or lead’s because he didn’t leave any DNA or prints behind and wore a mask so no description available. It sparked outrage in the community because the retired sheriff had lied about evidence but he said the lies were justified because no more rapes happened after his Press Conference

[–]Emitex 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Very interesting. I think here the ends definitely justified the means.

[–]iblamesb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Where can I read more about this case?

[–]Fresh-Hedgehog1895 7 points8 points  (14 children)

Police typically do not reveal suspect's names in active investigations unless they are seeking the public's help in finding and arresting the person.

If police have a good suspect, they may or may not release that ("we are following up on leads" is typically what they say), depending on the situation, but they will still not reveal the person's name for fear of compromising the investigation.

I've long thought the police have probably investigated and then cleared (or maybe not cleared) suspects who were a much better fit than Arthur Leigh Allen, they just never let the rest of us know.

[–]doc_daneekaI am not Paul Avery 7 points8 points  (7 children)

Case in point: several years back, we had an active serial killer in Toronto. The cops were denying that serial murders were even happening while they were doing surveillance on their suspect and planning his arrest. The first real news in the case was that a man had been arrested for 8 murders. As it happens, he was arrested while he was quite possibly in the middle of killing a 9th victim too, so good timing there at least.

[–]JazzlikeSort 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Police in Canada can lie. During the interrogation, they told Jennifer Pan (Markham girl who had her parents killed) that they were waiting on satellite thermal footage from the night of the murders.

[–]doc_daneekaI am not Paul Avery 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Police in Canada can lie

Is there a place where cops literally aren't allowed to lie at all?

[–]Fresh-Hedgehog1895 -1 points0 points  (2 children)

I'm in (well, near) Toronto. Is this Bruce McArthur you're referring to?

[–]doc_daneekaI am not Paul Avery 0 points1 point  (1 child)

He's the one, yeah.

[–]Fresh-Hedgehog1895 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I couldn't recall how many murders they wanted McArthur for, but I remember he was in the act of getting ready to kill his next victim when police broke into his apartment. That's was insane.

[–]Mobile-Boss-8566 -1 points0 points  (1 child)

There was that “don’t F with cats” guy, that internet sleuths were after. He was considered a serial killer, right?

[–]doc_daneekaI am not Paul Avery 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As far as anyone can tell, Magnotta only killed one person

[–]Equal-Temporary-1326 1 point2 points  (5 children)

Interestingly, retired Vallejo PD cold case detective Terry Poyser said back in 2018 that ALA was still the prime suspect, so presumably the 2,499 other guys that were investigated weren't as good as suspects as him for whatever reason(s).

[–]Fresh-Hedgehog1895 2 points3 points  (3 children)

Interesting, I didn't know this.

[–]Equal-Temporary-1326 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, if ALA is still somehow the best suspect, then those 2,499 other guys were presumably even less interesting somehow.

That's why I suspect if he's ever identified, it's going to be like the Golden State Killer where he was really just never on anyone's radar which was a part of why he was so hard to find.

[–]karmaisforlife 3 points4 points  (1 child)

https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article210320689.html

"Our Vallejo suspect is probably still the best lead," Poyser said of Allen. "There are probably 30 different circumstantial things that point to him. ... He was extremely intelligent but a deviant dude."

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He was a nasty man

[–]BlackLionYard 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Cops have always added PR spin when answering tough questions from the press. I wouldn't make more than necessary of Lee's remarks here, and I would point out that the Netflix show only included fragments of what Lee and others in LE publicly stated at that time.

In the end, the best answer to your question is that as a rule of thumb, cops do not like to knowingly tip their hand. And, the best way to gauge whether or not an investigation is going anywhere useful is whether or not any arrests are made. In a sense, Z didn't have to ponder how many suspects the cops were pursuing. The more time that went by, the safer he knew he was. This is why I lean towards that idea that the gap between LHR and BRS can be explained, at least in great part, to Z gaining confidence that LHR had effectively become a cold case with little chance of being solved. When he finally took credit, he got all the glory, so to speak, but at very little additional risk.

[–]1Tim6-1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think media strategies are a lot different today than they were back in the late 60s.

My impression is that most media reporting was focused on public confidence and deterence, and individual investigators and departments handle media as they saw fit.