Archives: Examining Item 57

Item 57 is one of the smoking guns of this case. On February 17th, 2015, investigators were notified about a bullet hole in the living room ceiling. Based on that information, authorities returned to the Crowley residence on February 18th, and found a bullet (Item 57) in the attic above the living room. The bullet weighed 180.18 grams and is the heaviest of all six spent rounds. Like Items 45 and 53, “white material” was also observed on this spent cartridge. The nose of the bullet was partially expanded. “Characteristics of the hole,” BCA Crime Scene Lead Joe Cooksley wrote in his report, “and its surrounding area indicated that a projectile was traveling generally west to east as it entered the ceiling and exited in the attic.” After examining the bullet hole in the living room ceiling, authorities found Item 57 in the attic above the living room, near the front door. There was no blood on this bullet, but the nuclear DNA profile matched David Crowley. The DNA profile did not match Komel or Raniya. An email exchange between BCA Analyst Kathryn Roche and Detective Tommie Booth stated no one had been charged with committing a double murder-suicide. “Good morning Kathryn,” Detective Booth wrote on February 17th , 2015, at 8:04 a.m. “Nobody has been charged in this case, so I am giving you permission to use up some evidence in its entirety for DNA analysis. If you need anything else please feel free to contact me. Thanks for all your hard work!” Attempting to connect Item 57 to the alleged murder weapon, authorities compared the bullet recovered to a bullet fragment found in the living room, labeled as Item 31. Originally, the bullet fragment labeled Item 31 was not included in the Firearms examinations. “I spoke with Joe Cooksley,” BCA Analyst Lisa Kinsella wrote on April 14th, 2015, at 10:14 a.m., “regarding Item 31 (labeled as “bullet fragment(s)”). It isn’t included in the FA assignment. We discussed that I will add Item 31 to the FA assignment to document it and examine it for suitability comparative exams.” The bullet fragment labeled as Item 31 weighed 19.14 grams. The fragment was noted to have a “hair-like substance” and a torn jacket. The fragment was compared to Items 42, 44, 45, 53 and 57, but not to Item 43. According to the BCA Firearms report, “Item 57 against Item 31 showed the presence of matching features. This means that Item 1 fired 31.” New podcast episodes every month! You can download The Gray Stage book by Greg Fernandez Jr. for free or order a physical copy at Lulu.com. You can read all of the reports and see the crime scene images at TheGrayStage.wordpress.com.