KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 29 (UPI) -- Kansas City police have reopened the investigation into the 1970 assassination of a black politician who was also a former police officer.
The shooting of Missouri Assemblyman Leon Jordan is the oldest crime ever referred to the city's Cold Case squad, The Kansas City Star reported.
The Remington Wingmaster shotgun used in the killing was found this summer in the trunk of a police car almost a quarter-century after it was disposed of. The gun is believed to have been sold at auction in 1976 when the case was closed, purchased the next year from a dealer by the police department and briefly returned to the evidence room in the 1990s when it was used to shoot a suspect.
The gun had been reported stolen from a hardware store in Independence, Mo., in 1965 and found in a vacant lot after Jordan was killed.
Investigators have also located old fingerprint cards. Linda Netzel, director of the crime lab, said modern techniques may uncover clues.
Capt. Rich Lockhart, a department spokesman, said there appear to be no records on why the shotgun was removed from the evidence room in the first place. The department began a search after the Star, preparing a 40th anniversary story, asked about existing physical evidence.
