Shattered Hopes: The True Story of the Amityville Murders - Part II: Mob, Mayhem, Murder

Ryan Katzenbach announced that he found hand notations made by Police ballistic expert DellaPenna indicating that the jacketed bullet marked into evidence by police as item 33 weighed 169 grains, had 8 lands and grooves remaining and was .363 in diameter and the paper with these notations is shown on screen. Katzenbach then announces that these characteristics are associated with a .38 special and that DellaPenna misidentified the bullet at a .35 rifle round. It is factually incorrect that these characteristics are associated with a .38 special. A jacketed .38 special round weighs 148 grains and is .357 in diameter. The fragment weighed more than a complete jacketed .38 special round and was larger than the diameter of a .38 special round. All .38 special revolvers in existence at the time the murders were committed had 5 or 6 lands and grooves depending on the manufacturer. The gun that fired item 33 had at least 8 lands and grooves but most likely more. This evidence proves the complete opposite of what Katzenbach contends. It proves item 33 was not a .38 special but could very well have been a .35 rifle round as the expert determined.

Follows Shattered Hopes: The True Story of the Amityville Murders - Part I: From Horror to Homicide (2011)