Sniper on the Loose (page 6 of 8)

Images from this article

Lisa Gizara/Workbook Stock/Jupiter Images

One mans confession led to another mans realization.

javascript:void(0);

There's some wacko who's killed a bunch of animals, and now he's shooting people—about a dozen shot and six dead. And the police don't have any idea who this guy is.

In Dangerous Waters

Horton's anxiety only grew when, on July 12, he heard on the radio about yet another victim, who was targeted on a deserted street the night before. Racking his brains to think what he could do next, he suddenly remembered a detail he hadn't revealed in the earlier calls to police. He phoned the tip line once again and said that Dieteman had told him his murder weapon was a .410 shotgun. The operator was silent for a moment and then asked Horton if he was willing to speak to an officer. Now his answer was yes.

"This is Officer Darrell Smith," said a voice on the phone. He proceeded to tell Horton that police had intentionally kept the media in the dark about the suspected weapon, so Horton's knowledge really got their attention. The two agreed to meet at a Mexican joint where no one who knew Horton would see them and get word back to Dieteman.

Obscured by the restaurant's dark lights, Horton sat down with Smith and the lead investigator on the case, Detective Clark Schwartzkopf, and shared everything he knew. The detectives took in the details of Horton's two bizarre encounters with his friend, then asked him to step out to their car. There they showed Horton a heavily pixelated photo. "Is this Sammy?" they asked. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was investigating fires deliberately set in two local Wal-Marts in June—near an area where the Serial Shooter had struck that same day. Horton stared at the photo. It was Sammy. Peering closer, Horton thought he could recognize the second man in the photo, too: Dale, Sammy's friend who'd picked him up from the bar in late June.

"At that point, I was certain," Horton says, and he told the cops that he'd do everything he could to help them catch Dieteman, even though he still didn't know Dale's address or last name.

Horton's biggest concern was how to investigate Dieteman's whereabouts without raising suspicions. He knew he was now wading into dangerous waters, and decided to send his sons to live with their mother, in case Dieteman heard about Horton's calls to the police and responded in a ruthless way.

• • Terrorism
• • Cracking Cases

• Stalker Uses GPS to Track Victim
• No matter where she went, he was there.
• 
• The Coldest Case
• Forty-six years after two cops were brutally murdered, an L.A. law enforcement team nabs the killer.
• 
• Two Million Reasons for Murder
• Justin Barber said his wife was killed during a late-night robbery. But the details didn't add up.
• 
• The BTK Serial Killer
• No one ever suspected this ordinary man could be the killer next door.
• 
• Vanished Without a Trace
• Thousands of adults vanish each year. Kristen Modafferi was one of them.
•