mecks home matched robert cowan. it goes without saying that i was highly irritated and embarrassed for the department. i initially on the latent evidence being misread, i tend to believe that was probably a training issue. it just was simply a situation where the original examiner was in over his head and couldn t handle it. armed with the fingerprint evidence and the ballistic test results, robert cowan was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. took him back to the office and i showed him where his fingerprints were definitely found inside of that house and asked him to explain that, and he just shook his head and he just kept his mouth shut and stayed silent and said he couldn t explain it. gerald cowan was also arrested for the murders, but he was later released because there was no forensic evidence linking
social security checks which he was trying to sell. he had all types of jewelry. but investigators did not find a .25-caliber pistol like the one used in the murder. investigators then compared the cowans fingerprints and those of the drug dealer with the fingers found inside the mercks home. they were astonished to learn that none of them matched. the cowan brothers looked similar to the men seen walking near the mercks home before the murder, but the neighbor couldn t make a positive identification. all investigators had against the cowan brothers and dan jones was possession of stolen property. we just got to a certain point where there was no fresh information coming in and there was still a lack of physical evidence tying the cowans to the crime scene. we would talk and he would say the same thing, we think it s the same people, but we don t have the proof.
was used to identify a murder weapon. the pistol used to kill cliff merck had been sold to a drug dealer by robert and gerald cowan, but for some reason, the cowans fingerprints did not match those found at the crime scene. the person who attempted the comparison was then able to make a match, and he failed to have another examiner verify his conclusions. this was a breach of protocol. the standard operating procedure in all crime labs requires a fingerprint examiner to have someone verify his or her conclusions. so the fingerprints were resubmitted for analysis, and this time, the results were verified by a supervisor. the fingerprints found in the
was used to identify a murder weapon. the pistol used to kill cliff merck had been sold to a drug dealer by robert and gerald cowan. but for some reason, the cowans fingerprints did not match those found at the crime scene. the person who attempted the comparison was unable to make a match, and he he failed to have another examiner verify his conclusion conclusions. this was a breach of protocol. the fingerprint examiner is required to have someone verify his or her conclusions. so the fingerprints were resubmitted for analysis, and this time the results were verified by a supervisor. the fingerprints found in the mercks home matched robert
that was cliff. he had his name on practically everything that he owned. he d take a some kind of etcher and etch his initials on it, you know, just for identification. jones denied any involvement in the murder and said he bought the gun from an acquaintance, robert cowen. a manuel known to law enforcement. man well known to law enforcement. he supported himself by stealing, robbing people and stealing from restaurants, that type of thing. he had a long record of robberies and use of narcotics. robert cowen also had a partner in crime his brother, gerald. the brothers were involved in criminal activity. a lot of small-time stuff, public drunk, a lot of narcotics usage, some assaults. forensic scientists tested cliff s gun to see if it was the one used in his murder.