Photos bring to life the day DA’s team (District Attorney Dave Conn and Pam Ferraro), the investigating detectives, and others on the forensic team went to the desert to identify, photograph. and establish the crime scene location. They depict Detectives St. John and Chuck Worthen looking at the photo Bill Bradford took of Shari Miller standing in a blue dress on one of the several rock formations.
What’s interesting about this photo is it captures St. John checking his watch to compare the shadows/sunlight of the LAPD photographer’s photo with the backdrop of Bradford’s to determine the time of day Bradford took his photos. Although the crimes occurred eight says apart in July, and the search team arrived a month later, they were still able to determine the probable times Bradford murdered both girls.
The girl in the striped top, standing next to John in both photos, was a model about the same height as Shari. She posed at different locations to help give authorities, and later the jury, a visual image of Shari.
My takeaway was the enormous effort the detectives, photographers, lab techs and other law enforcement officials, including the two DAs who would prosecute the Bradford case, what these professionals went through to get every detail right to convict and sentence Bill Bradford. Another takeaway was how seamlessly this team worked. Everyone knew his/her role and performed it with eagerness and determination to bring justice to Tracy and Shari.