Sacramento police find themselves confronted with the coldest of cold cases:
Police in Sacramento, Calif., are investigating the death of a 62-year-old man who died from a shooting—36 years after it happened.
Walter Johnson Jr., who was left paralyzed from the 1977 attack, died from complications related to his paralysis, leading police to rule his death a homicide. They are asking the public for help in its investigation.
It’s technically the fourth homicide in the California state capital this year.
According to a press release issued by the Sacramento Police Department , Johnson was driving to his parents’ home on April 9, 1977, at approximately 3:48 a.m. when three unidentified men blocked the roadway. They confronted Johnson in his vehicle, and a struggle ensued. Johnson was shot in the upper body. The suspects then robbed Johnson and “fled in a red or brown Ford Pinto.” The three suspects—described as Hispanic adults—were never apprehended.
This isn’t a statute of limitations case (there’s none for murder anyway), this is a causation case. If the cops find the shooters, the DA will have to tie the death to the shooting 36 years ago. That’s no mean feat.
Yeah, but they couldn’t have gotten very far in a Pinto.
Only 4 homicides so far?That’s a weekend in Memphis!
That’s a slow morning in Chicago.
We had a similar case here in Vegas some years back. The son of a man I worked with was shot in the neck by a couple of guys trying to jack his car because it had wheels they wanted. My friend’s son threw the car in reverse and they shot him. He lived about 7 years, but was never right after, and had lots of physical problems which ended up with his death. The LVMPD went ahead and changed the charges against the 2 perps to murder. It was easy for them, however, since they were still in the pen from the original charges regarding their attempted murder w/a deadly weapon, and attempted grand theft auto.