Records raise question: Baseline Killer or Killers?
'Suspects' cited in autopsy reports
Judi Villa and Lindsey Collom
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 20, 2006 12:00 AM
A business owner reportedly saw "suspects" with a "drawn handgun" standing over one of the victims slain by the "Baseline Killer," raising questions about whether more than one gunman was involved, according to autopsy reports.
The autopsy reports also reveal that some of the victims slain by the Baseline Killer were shot in the head at close range, and at least one apparently tried to block the bullets with her hand.
Autopsy reports on five of six of the victims reveal a similar pattern of gunshot wounds, with at least one mentioning "large caliber" bullets. Bullet fragments were recovered from four of the five victims whose autopsies were available. advertisement
Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill declined to comment on weapons information Wednesday night, saying the information would only help the suspects.
"When you give out information to the public, you have to decide: Are we educating the public or are we educating the suspect?" Hill said earlier in the day.
The Baseline Killer is linked to six slayings since last September. He also is believed to be responsible for a series of sexual assaults and robberies that began last August.
Autopsy reports indicate four of the five victims were clothed when their bodies were found. The autopsy report on the sixth victim was not available.
The reports say a witness saw more than one suspect standing over the body of Tina Washington, a 39-year-old preschool teacher and mother of two who was snatched from a bus stop at 40th Street and Southern Avenue and killed on Dec. 12.
Only Kristin Nicole Gibbons, 26, whose body was found March 29, was undressed.
Autopsy reports also shed new light on the city's other serial predator, the "Serial Shooter," who is believed to be responsible for 34 shootings since May 2005. Five people have been killed.
The Serial Shooter reportedly used small-caliber weapons in three of the five fatal shootings, according to the reports.
Four victims were shot in the torso or chest; one was shot in the neck. The autopsy of the shooter's most recent victim, Claudia Gutierrez-Cruz, 20, indicated she was slain by shotgun. Gutierrez-Cruz was walking on a sidewalk in Scottsdale when she was killed May 2.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0720serial0720.html
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Yikes! Now there might be 2 Baseline killers??
I'm still not sure how they think the Shooter shot all these people when different guns were used? Because they drive down the street and shoot at people walking by themselves?