Highway Patrolman with interesting crime history

[reuters]

I have no doubt you are right - there are even people who collect the same *model* of gun as used in famous assassinations.

You can either sell this one for a lot of money, or start making a long list of other guns you must now buy.

Sad to say, this may make you a target for thieves. It may be best to move it on.

Thank you sir. Appreciate your advices, the thieves aspect I never considered but you really got a point there.

 

[reuters]

Nice story and thanks for sharing. I remember the incident as reported on the evening news at the time.

Thank you sir. Yes I also remembered it very well, a friend called at night I think it was a Friday to tell me and I just thought that he had a few more drinks then he needed.

 

[reuters]

Very interesting, indeed!

Thank you sir, glad that you enjoyed it.

 

[reuters]

Wow, that's quite a history for your example.

So if I were to somehow LEGALLY export my two 6" HIGHWAY PATROLMAN examples to Sweden in the near future would they now be worth a small fortune?

Gotta strike while the iron is hot.

No unfortunaley not the HP's are in general less expensive over here than in US, the dollar is so strong against ur currency. On top of this it's a difficult process to obtain a permit, so the market is not so good. Happy to hear that you liked my story.

 

[MSgt G]

Very interesting story! Thanks for sharing.

 

[reuters]

Thank you sir for sharing the story and photos your Highway Patrolman.
I have one very close to your's in the same configuration. Here's mine - Serial number N 120632.

Thank you sir for sharing the picture of your HP, looks very much like mine and appears to be in extremely good condition.

 

[reuters]

Very unique piece, there. Thanks for sharing.
If it were mine, it would go into a safe deposit box, then I'd find the Barrett-Jackson equivalent of a gun auction and let 'er go. Think of all the nice Mod 27's or such you could have for what that might bring.
Else you'd have to turn that into a starter for a ghoul collection.

Thank you sir, appreciate the advice and the recommendation of the Auction. Have not decided yet what to do, but I'm not starting a ghoul collection

 

[rfo1]

That's a very interesting story, thanks for sharing.

 

[SDH]

Sounds like a story for Mikael Blomkvist at Millennium Magazine~

 

[CJSmith]

Then last week of May 2020 I was called by the same detective and informed that my gun was going to be released to me.

Are your pictures from before they confiscated the gun for testing or after they returned it to you? If after they returned, it seems like they really handled it with care. When your story started, I was wondering if your story would end in the investigators returning you a beat up gun. Great story.

 

[reuters]

Great story. Congrats on getting the gun back from the police. That can be very tough indeed even if it's not the gun associated with a crime. Many agencies have a hard time returning guns

You are dead right sir, it was associated with a lot of difficulties getting it back, kept for 2,5 years I almost gave up. Sometimes hard to control my temper when I was just fed BS-replies that really were no replies. I even threatened to involve my association The Swedish Gun Owners Association, like our NRA but much much smaller. Luckily the detective in question was a very nice guy, just doing his job. Thanks for enjoying the story.

 

[reuters]

Wow - familiar with the winding story of the Plame crime and the significance of the .357, but to find the potential owner sharing the story? Amazing!

Appreciate you sharing the story and for your unintended role in history. Great ending to the story - both the return and your good humor. I wish you well!

Thanks sir for your very nice reply. Yes it's a small world, here I am happening to unintentionally be the owner of the most (in)famous revolver ever heard of in Sweden, sharing this story with all the good old gentlemen on the S&W Forum. I'm happy to be a member among all this good people. Too bad only that I live in such an anti gun country where a lot of people view gun collectors as gun nuts.

 

[reuters]

Great story and provenance to accompany your revolver...

Bayou52

Thank you sir, yes I guess I got my ten minutes in the lime light here.

 

[reuters]

If the gun had remained in use, it is likely that it's internal ballistic markings would have changed over the years where it could no longer be matched to bullets fired from the same gun years earlier.

A very interesting story. Thank you for sharing it.

You are perfectly right here sir. This was also considered at the police/chief attorney press release, extensive firing could have smoothed out the tool marks of the rifling. However my gun was fired very limited, just a very slight drag mark on the cylinder and the ejector rod showed no bluing wear. The oil was so dried out that the cylinder could not be spinned. My estimate was that it was not fired for decades. Glad to hear that you liked the story.

 

[reuters]

Reuters: Thank you for posting your story. I have often thought about trying to obtain a "crime used" gun to go along with my document Police issue Smith & Wessons. However, documented crime guns seem relatively scarce as they are frequently held in evidence boxes at police headquarters. Even when police auctions are held where confiscated guns are sold, there is seldom any historical info available.

All of this is to say that I agree with an earlier post suggesting putting the gun in a well publicized auction. It would seem that this approach could yield the highest price. I admit that I am a little surprised that the newspaper articles did not result in interested parties tracking you down.

Crimed used guns are indeed scarce over here too. The only reason that I got it back was that it could not be determined with enough margin that this was the gun even if the investigators were pretty certain about it, this also led to the shutting down of the investigation.Will consider your idea about auction, I'm terrible at making business, so for the moment I just keep a low profile and watch my radar screen. Thank sir for reading the story.

 

[reuters]

Great story! We have a saying around here that one should “buy the gun, not the story” but with the police evidence history for provenance, that truism goes right out the window. You must decide for yourself whether you want to remain its guardian for a while or if someone else should. But if you do decide to sell it, a major auction house that specializes in such things would be the way to go. Even with the cost of your auction fees, the broader buying pool is all but guaranteed to bring you a better return, and all you need is two determined bidders with “deep pockets” to bid against each other and you win!

Meanwhile, congratulations on a very interesting find and I hope you will get to truly enjoy it regardless of what you decide.

Froggie

Thanks sir for enjoying the story of my gun adventure. The auction firms are definitely an option. However as I earlier said in on reply, for the moment I just keep a low profile, watching the radar screen and waiting for a person with deep pockets. I like the gun a lot and as we say over here it's not eating any bread from me if kept.

 

[reuters]

I agree with these thoughts. After all, it is not like it has history in your family. I would imagine you could sell it and then buy one exactly like it, without the criminal history, and still pocket a very nice profit.

Larry

Thanks sir. Good point, it's in fact the gun I like more than the history. I very much like all older N-frames, can not tell why but I especially like the HP/ M28 with the dull finish and lack of whistles and bells.

 

[reuters]

If it were mine I would place it in a reputable bank's safety deposit box and set on it a few years.

Your name is already out there as the owner and a couple of years will allow the serious buyers a chance to stew on it and then make a big offer in an effort to woo you into selling it.

At the moment I wouldn't even pretend to be thinking about selling it. Let them think you are going to hold onto it awhile and they'll worry about some anonymous remaining person sniping it out from underneath them without their knowledge.

Anonymous buyers scare collectors more than anything as the possibility of the trail going cold again will give them fits and nightmares.

Dale

Thanks sir, I really appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. I understand that you are experienced in this business. This suits me just fine since I'm a bit lazy. Business I regard as love, too eager and you are blowing it, sorry just me sense of humor. For the moment I just keep a low profile and let it sit in the safe, watching the radar screen for incoming potential customer. Thanks again sir very good pice of advice you provided.

 

[loknload]

Very interesting story and a nice piece!
Thanks for sharing!

 

[tenntex32]

Thanks sir, I really appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. I understand that you are experienced in this business. This suits me just fine since I'm a bit lazy. Business I regard as love, too eager and you are blowing it, sorry just me sense of humor. For the moment I just keep a low profile and let it sit in the safe, watching the radar screen for incoming potential customer. Thanks again sir very good pice of advice you provided.

Unfortunately if your name is now publicly associated with this revolver anyone that can read will know who owns it. It isn't rocket science locating someone's personal info/address on the internet nowadays.

It truly has a prominent place in Sweden's history, no matter how morbid and dark it may be to many people. I guess were I am going with this is by "let it sit in the safe" I hope you mean a reputable bank's highly secure safety deposit box and not a typical personal safe/gun safe in your home.

And don't forget about properly insuring it for the amount you or any professional appraisers there in Sweden may feel it is now worth. (It would probably be a very good idea to have it professionally appraised by more than one elite level appraiser there for documentation purposes...…...just be sure it never leaves your control when doing so.)

If you truly want to get top dollar when selling it you may want to contact a reputable auction house that has the ability to properly promote the upcoming sale on an international level amongst deep pocket gun collectors. Just because it was used in Sweden for the murder doesn't necessarily mean it will command the most money from a Swedish citizen. You can always set the reserve or minimum sales price at a level you want and if it does not meet that at auction then you can continue setting on it.

Something tells me you are going to do much better than your initial SEK 4,400 ($472 USD) initial investment.

Best of luck and thanks for sharing the history with us.

Dale