Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver

The Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver is the weapon type that investigators’ ballistic evidence linked to the killings of Mitzi Elliot and Johan Rilz. Though it was not recovered, its identifying marks made an absent object central to the case: the evidence connected the ammunition to a specific revolver model, while leaving the weapon’s location and possessor unresolved.

Identification and Forensic Evidence

At the Malibu beach house, investigators recovered bullets whose ballistic markings were identified as coming from a Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver. The shots had been fired at close range. The weapon itself was missing, so the identification came from the ammunition rather than from an examination of the revolver.

Connection to the Elliot Investigation

The ballistic finding bears on Walter Elliot’s account to investigators. He said he had gone to the house to confront his wife, found her and Rilz already dead, and did not own a .44 Magnum or any guns. The evidence identifies the type of weapon used, but the cited account does not establish who possessed or fired it. That distinction leaves the revolver significant as a forensic link without, by itself, resolving responsibility for the murders.