The point is, they knew they screwed up right from the start. They had a vehicle riddled with bullets, a suspect dead on the ground, shot in the back, and no visible weapon on the suspect. They knew they had to start lying to cover their own asses. Some of them (OSP) came up with better lies then others (FBI).
There is no moral justification for shooting a suspect in the back, just because the cops THINK he might be armed. Legally yes, they can get away with it. The cops in this country can get away with killing any one for any reason. But all it accomplished was to give these militia nuts a martyr.
I have no idea what you think Finicum did to deserve the death penalty. He didn’t hurt any one. He didn’t kill anyone. He definitely deserved 5 or 10 years in a federal prison for taking over government property. But the death penalty, I think not. Most of these people deserve to be in a mental hospital, not even in a prison, let alone being executed for their crimes.