Many people in their lives have occasionally attended the U. S. courtroom and testified. However, I have never been in court as a witness or testimony, even in a traffic court. Thus, my direct experience with the testimony system is limited, but this does not make me less attentive to details. Testimony is an informative tool for establishing the truth in troubling cases. It can often be confusing, but a careful examination of every detail can help reconstruct the actual events.
This case is confusing given the fact that Mr. L was killed in a place where members of criminal gangs were supposed to congregate. Brookman, Maguire, and Maguire (2019) note the cases that “involved gang and/or drug activity were less likely to be solved than those without these characteristics” (p. 150). Based on the presented data, I think the killer, in this case, is Sam, the bartender. First of all, “homicide is a social event; the offender believed or perceived something about the victim that influenced them to act” (Parker & McKinley, 2018, p. 85). Sam knows many details about what happened on the night of the incident. He knew about meeting Mr. M, and his behavior was suspicious. First of all, he stressed several times that the club was too noisy, which makes it clear that he does not want to talk about events. Additionally, going up to Mr. L, he immediately went back down, which is also suspicious.
The most compelling pieces of evidence were the facts that Sam had debts to dealers, as well as the missing Mr. L’s gun. Sam knew about the upcoming deal and stole money from the safe, but since he had no weapon, he used Mr. L’s gun. Sam is in debt to dealers, which explains his economic motive. I would counter these arguments by the fact that insufficient time had passed between Sam ascending to Mr. L and going downstairs. Moreover, the barback would have noticed the money and weapons that Sam would have carried out of the office. Therefore, several additional questions can be asked based on these statements.
References
Brookman, F., Maguire, E. R., & Maguire, M. (2019). What factors influence whether homicide cases are solved? Insights from qualitative research with detectives in Great Britain and the United States. Homicide Studies, 23(2), 145-174. Web.
Parker, B. L., & McKinley, A. C. (2018). Homicide event motive: A situational perspective. Salus Journal, 6(2), 78-95.