LAST EDITED ON Feb-14-04 AT 09:05 AM (EST)
 
Drop ship to a college theater group? Wouldn't they do their ordering through the university's drama department and the normal supply channels?
A merchant thinking of outdoor Christmas decorations? Somehow I doubt it.
Seems more likely that a man planning a murder would assemble his "kit" carefully and in advance. The tape was probably bought in an ordinary store where one would find such items. What kind of a killer would take tape from some special order?

I think the BPD missed out on a really promising lead here.

on-edit: Merchant ordering outdoor Christmas decorations: I can just see some merchant placing a special order for a box of duct tape! Its a low cost item its a low profit item. He is going to be ordering the outdoor decorations perhaps, but duct tape? I just can't see a roll of duct tape manufactured on November first winding up a retailer's shelves on December 24th. And I sure can't see it being special ordered in any manner for any reason at all. Electricians or sheet metal workers who actually handle ducts probably would not special order the item. And I doubt that even those businesses would get a roll of tape that soon. Now an ultra high volume retailer such as WalMart... yeah! It would have been on their shelves fairly promptly.
But not even McGuggens. Nope.