1) The gun has never been recovered, but the gun 'stolen' from her grandfather's house was a black automatic or semi-automatic .25 gun 3" x 4" loaded with 7 hollow-point bullets. Prosecutor Martinez said the bullets were manufactured by Winchester.
2) No ammunition was found in TA's house.
3) We have not heard anything about ammunition recovered from the grandfather's house, if any.
4) Reportedly none of the knives at TA's house match the suspected murder weapon. I strongly suspect she brought it with her as her main weapon, a typical "up close and personal" method. IMO she used the gun to control TA the 8 minutes he was in the shower 'posing' for her final photos of him. I do think she tried to take a shot of TA after the first stab, but he pushed back so all that was captured was the ceiling.
From the description in the autopsy report, the knife imo would have to have a triangular blade, like a typical chef's knife. I've attached a sample here showing the points on the blade that correspond to a 3/4" stab, a 1" stab, a 1 1/4" stab, a 1 1/2" stab, and a 1 3/4" stab. The knife wouldn't have to be as long as the one in the photo, but it would have to be at least as long as the 1 3/4" width mark in the photo to inflict the 1 3/4" wide (by 5 3/4" deep) wound. The blade made two triangular chips to TA's skull, so it had to be strong enough to cut through bone.
The tape at the 1 3/4" width of the blade corresponds to the wound on TA's abdomen, which was 1 3/4" wide by 5 3/4" deep. That corresponds exactly to the knife pictured, where the 1 3/4" width occurs at the 5 3/4" depth. The tape at the 1 1/2" point corresponds exactly to the first stab wound, a 1 1/2" wide by 3 1/2" deep stab to the heart. That also corresponds exactly to the knife pictured.
View attachment 31069
5) No side views of the casing that I know of, but if there had been blood on the sides of the bullet casing, that most likely would already be known. So- red herring, imo. The ME testified that the gunshot was not fired at close range as there would have been stippling on the skin, and further, he believed the gunshot was inflicted after TA was already dead, because he saw no evidence of bleeding.
6) The camera had to be in her hand at the time the ceiling photo was snapped as Detective Melendez testified the photo was snapped when the camera was at least 2 or 3 feet above the ground. The shutter can't go off by itself in mid-air, imo. It's believed she had already stabbed him at least once (and possibly more, imo) when that photo was snapped, when he had begun to push back.
Detective Melendez testified the last two photos were snapped while the camera was on the floor, upside down. He demonstrated how the shutter could be activated by the slightest pressure from anywhere on the back of the camera. Thus, JA accidentally took them with her foot.
7) The rope story is JA's. There has been no evidence a rope was used that day or ever. JA took the knife with her, so she's the only one who can answer that question.
