More Gun Confusion

It is now five days until Frances Newton is scheduled to be executed and the situation surrounding the murder weapon appears even murkier than I first thought.

An article by Jordan Smith in the Austin Chronicle gave a pretty thorough description of the situation. Basically the questions are how many guns were recovered, exactly which gun was tested and was it really a match?

Newton admits removing a Raven Arms .25 caliber gun from her husband’s apartment. She claims that she found the gun while looking around to insure that he was being honest about no longer using cocaine. This is that gun which Newton later put in a duffle bag, stashed in an abandoned house and then informed the police about where they could find it.

Ok, that’s one gun, and this is the gun which the DA claims was immediately tagged upon recovery, tested and found to match the bullets recovered from the victims. So what’s this about a second gun? Well, according to Newton and her father, a Harris County Sheriff's Sgt. said that police had actually recovered two guns. In court this same Sheriff’s Sgt. was a bit vague on this point, "I believe we talked about two pistols," he testified. "I know of one for sure, and there was mention of a second one that Ms. Newton had purchased earlier."

A second gun that Ms. Newton had purchased? How many guns did she need?

To further confuse the issue an ADA by the name of Roe Wilson, during a videotaped interview, appeared to confirm that there was a second gun "Police recovered a gun from the apartment that belonged to the husband, [It] had not been fired, it had not been involved in the offense. It was simply a gun [the husband] had there; so there is no second-gun theory."

However Wilson and her boss, DA Chuck Rosenthal, quickly retracted the admission and the ADA told the Houston Chronicle that she'd simply "misspoken."

Well lady that was one hell of a misspeak. Was there a second gun or do you make yourself look like an idiot regularly? I guess since you "misspoke" this couldn't have been the same gun the Sherrif's deputy talked about huh?

Then in August Houston law students managed to locate Harris County investigators that provided testimony that police may have recovered at least two identical .25-caliber Raven Arms pistols. In separate affidavits, two police investigators recall tracing firearms recovered in connection with the murders. One said that he was assigned a gun found in the abandoned house, which he traced to a purchase by Newton's boyfriend's cousin. He also discovered that the purchaser had also bought a "second, identical gun"; but he didn't follow up on the second gun, because "he felt there was no need to do so."

Another police report written by a Houston detective reported that he had traced yet another firearm recovered in connection with the case which he said also ended up with Newton's boyfriend.

So how many of these damn guns are there? Possibly a whole bunch and here’s why. The .25 caliber Raven Arms pistol is the quintessential “Saturday Night Special.” According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) the Raven Arms .25 caliber pistol has consistently been among the most frequently recovered and traced crime guns since 1991. There is no question that Newton’s hubby had been involved in both drug use and drug trafficking so it’s not surprising that .25 caliber Ravens are showing up.

But notice something interesting here, the mention of Newton’s boyfriend. It seems that both Francis and hubby were engaged in extra marital affairs. So just out of curiosity, how did a hand gun purchased by Newton’s boyfriend's cousin (according to the police investigator) end up hidden in hubby’s apartment (according to Newton)? I guess it’s POSSIBLE the two were acquainted but the smell of fish is getting stronger and stronger.

To be honest perhaps the apparent confusion and chaos here is simply the result of me having inaccurate or incomplete information. Perhaps someone else, like the DA, has a more complete picture and knows that there is no real question as to Newton’s guilt (*cough, cough*). Yeah, right, this is Texas we’re talking about. I’ll believe there’s no reason to question the situation right after someone convinces me that the invasion of Iraq was justified.