I've felt from the beginning that the knife itself likely tells a lot about whomever bought it, so was a little disappointed when they
disclosed that it wasn't necessarily a Ka-Bar, as I'd hoped early on it might help lead them to the killer. There are a LOT of different types of long, fixed blade knives, and reasons for owning them, and knowing exactly what it was could, I believe, open the door to understanding this individual's hobbies, where and how they spend their time, possible online activity, etc. I'd personally be obsessing over answering exactly what he used, along with all the rest of the things they're having to look into.
So this will seem random to anyone who's not familiar with knives and knife collectors, but for any of you who are - doesn't that description sound like it could be more of a heavy chopper, like a ESEE, kukri, or even a hatchet? All my opinion as always, but I'm not speculating wildly here - I own all three (and several ka-bars) because I've spent a lifetime enjoying camping and backpacking. "Tears" is an odd word to use IMO, and I'm not all that sure how you get there with an actual combat knife - when I read the above post again a moment ago it dawned on me that their actual description of
"edged weapon like a knife" leaves the door open to many very specific types of bladed tools. Someone early on said something to the effect of "find the knife and you find the killer" and I've agreed with it all along. 2 cents on a Thursday afternoon!