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The Seattle Police Department arrested SeaTac resident Kevin Cruz last week for the shooting deaths of two men at the Northlake Shipyard last November. Despite an exhaustive search, Seattle police failed to find Cruz's backpack -- which contained the murder weapon -- discarded in Gasworks Park less than a block from the scene of the crime. Not until a passerby spotted the backpack were police able to make an arrest. My dad was a Chicago homicide detective for 20 years. I called to get his perspective on the SPD's handling of this investigation.
So, Dad, the police went over the area with a fine-toothed comb and somehow missed this backpack. Did they fuck up?

I don't know the ground there; I don't know what kind of a search the Seattle police conducted in terms of going through garbage cans and looking under bushes. And there's no way of knowing how long that backpack was there. Maybe that backpack wasn't there during the search; it could have been there two hours before that passerby found it. Until the suspect tells you when and where he dropped the backpack, you have no way of knowing that the police overlooked it during their search.

Is it common for a murder suspect to return to the scene of the crime weeks later and dispose of the murder weapon?

No, it's not. So, yeah, I would assume the backpack has been there for a while, but I don't know how your police department conducted their ground search, so I don't want to criticize. But if a murder weapon is somewhere within four blocks of the crime scene, well, I would suggest that a good expanding area search, block by block, should have recovered the murder weapon sooner.

Did you ever overlook a murder weapon at a crime scene?

I've done those kind of searches, and sure, you miss stuff. You look in yards, under bushes, in trees, on rooftops, and you could miss something in a heartbeat. Cops are human. Then a jogger or a biker comes along and finds something you missed. That's quite often how we turn cases. You exhaust your leads, and something just turns up weeks, months, and sometimes years later. It's not like TV, you know.

COP TALK

by Dan Savage

Previously in New Column!

To the American Devils:

As you may or may not know, the International Islamic Front for Jihad has issued a crystal-clear fatwa [decree] to the Islamic nation to proclaim jihad [holy war] on the United States. Many of you wonder why. The haughty U.S. government is the leader of crime and terrorism in the world, especially in their provocation of the Muslim peoples, and our hearts are filled with hatred toward the United States of America and the American president that knows no words. However, there is ONE infidel who shall incur the wrath of Allah above all others -- and he is Inspector Gadget.

Of all the criminals who have blocked the efforts of the Muslim peoples, Inspector Gadget provokes the most disgust and revulsion. He is the demon incarnate, with abilities to produce jumping springs on both head and feet, helicopter blades from underneath his hat, as well as a painful boxing glove which pops out to bloody the lips of Allah's children. Even more offensive is that he owns a talking dog (filthy animal), and all his attempts to disrupt our jihad would never have succeeded without the intrusion of his infidel niece, Penny.

Therefore, our enemy -- our target -- is every American who continues to support Inspector Gadget, whether by directly fighting us, or paying taxes. Though we may suffer death or martyrdom, the International Islamic Front for Jihad will get you, Gadget. We will get you.

Osama Bin LadenAn Open Letter from Osama Bin Laden to America