Because Malcolm Wallace was not a very good shot . It took Malcolm Wallace to start bludgeoning Henry Marshall with a blunt object and then shoot Marshall " 5 " times with the victims own rifle and then he pumped him full of Carbon monoxide from his truck and then he dumped his body on his own land . Corrupt Sheriff Howard Stegall immediately ruled it a suicide which was quickly confirmed by the Justice of the peace , Lee Farmer who saw no pictures of the victim . What was Malcolm Wallace's fingerprint doing on the 6th floor on a box in the snipers lair ? Nathan Darby had a 34 point match on the print which belonged to Mac Wallace !