vasa croe wrote:Even the cops would not have thought it was gunfire is my guess....a 9MM would not have been any louder than some fireworks going off around the town.
I always found this to a very interesting summary of accounts of that evening as it pertains to the 'sounds'. It's by M. Butterfield and it deals with the hypothesis that a silencer might have been used. I thought it might be useful in what we imagine regarding volume levels of the shots.
I've quickly grabbed the relevant section but the full article can be found here.
http://www.zodiackillerfacts.com/The%20 ... 20Myth.htmAlong with a visual showing where George Bryant was in relation to the shooting.
George Bryant lived with his father, a groundskeeper, in a small house located in Blue Rock Springs Park, not far from the scene of the shooting. On the night of the crime, Bryant was lying in his bed, unable to sleep. According to his statements to police, he "reversed the pillow on his bed and laid on his stomach and looked out the window."
Bryant told police that he "could hear laughing and a few firecrackers but he couldn't see anybody." At approximately midnight, Bryant "heard what appeared to be a gunshot." The police report notes Bryant's comment that the gunshot "was much louder than any of the firecrackers."
A brief pause followed the first sound, and then Bryant stated he "heard what appeared to be another gunshot." After another "short pause," Bryant said he "heard rapid fire of what appeared to be gunshots." He then heard the sound of a car leaving the scene at a high rate of speed.
When compared with the statements given by Mageau, it seems clear that George Bryant heard the gunfire that wounded Mageau and killed Darlene Ferrin. Bryant stated that he heard gunshots at the exact time the shooting occurred. The distance between the scene of the shooting and Bryant's bedroom window is such that he would not have been able to hear the sound of a silencer but could easily have heard the sound of a 9mm pistol firing several times, and distinguish between those sounds and the sounds of the firecrackers he had heard earlier.
Bryant said that he also heard laughter at the same time he heard the firecrackers. In his interview with police, Mageau said that three cars pulled into the parking lot shortly before the shooting occurred. Mageau said he heard "some laughing and carrying on and a few firecrackers were set off" before the three vehicles drove away.
George Bryant said he heard one gunshot, then, after a brief pause, he had heard another. He said this second shot was followed by another pause and then rapid gunfire. Mageau told police that he "heard a muffled sound" and then felt pain. He then "heard some more muffled sounds" and felt more pain. According to Mageau, the suspect then fired at Darlene several times, walked away, returned, and fired several more shots into the vehicle.
Both Bryant and Mageau provided similar accounts: A sound, a pause, a sound, a second pause, and then several more sounds.