Teenagers, necrophiles, grave diggers, your method sucks. You do realize that night is the time when they do their work? And when crazy emo/scene/goth wannabe crazy teenagers drink and do blowjobs.
I don't know.. Small towns always have their mysteries, those cops were probably crooked ones, and their real boss is the guy who is distributing the coke, not the government. Otherwise, they would question them all.
And I seriously doubt it that they released him. How the fuck they didn't realize that shotgun was loaded? "I didn't know it was loaded" is the most common case to fake. How old is your friend?
I'm not any teenager, necrophile, gravedigger, or crazy emo/scene/goth wannabe, I'm just a regular normal guy who love to enjoy the silent and calmness of the night times with a cup of tea, If not probably I'm in a deep slumber beside me wife or making love with her.
Weird case. It sucks that you don't know the whole case. But it depends if the shotgun was stolen, was it his dads, etc. If your friend had no criminal record, they might have took it in the consideration. Who knows...
The whole point is to kill someone and live normal life. Fuck running away. That shit is for the pussies.
Just because you wouldn't be able to live a normal life after killing someone, it doesn't have to mean other people can't.