* The first article reported that Martin was paranoid because of his addiction to Purple Drank, an intoxicating concoction of codeine, juice and candy.
* The third article reported that Martin paid for Purple Drank by burglarizing homes.
This here is my fourth and final article in this series. Soon I will resume writing about the Ferguson incident.
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On February 26, 2012, the day of Martin's death, the sky began dark in southern Florida at the following times:
* Sunset = 6:21 p.m.
* Civil twilight = 6:44 p.m.
* Nautical twilight = 7:11 p.m.
The sky was cloudy, and rain was falling.
The expressions civil twilight and nautical twilight are defined as follows:
Civil twilight is defined when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon. .... in the evening it is called dusk.
This is the limit at which twilight illumination is sufficient, under good weather conditions, for terrestrial objects to be clearly distinguished .... the horizon is clearly defined and the brightest stars are visible under good atmospheric conditions in the absence of moonlight or other illumination.
.... in the evening after the end of civil twilight, artificial illumination is normally required to carry on ordinary outdoor activities.
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Nautical twilight is defined when the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon.
At the ... end of nautical twilight, under good atmospheric conditions and in the absence of other illumination, general outlines of ground objects may be distinguishable, but detailed outdoor operations are not possible, and the horizon is indistinct.
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In order to make another mixture of Purple Drank, Martin walked to a store to buy Skittles candy and Arizona Watermelon Fruit Juice Cocktail, his favorite additives to the main codeine ingredient.
The store's closed-circuit camera recorded him paying the cashier for the candy and juice at 6:24 p.m.
Instead of walking directly home to make his Purple Drank, however, he waited until the sky became dark.
First, he stayed right in front of the store and asked three men to buy him a cigar that he could use to make a marijuana blunt. (Martin was too young to buy the cigar himself.) By the time the three men bought the cigar and gave it to Martin and then he walked away from the store's front, the time had become 6:30.
The distance from the store to the apartment complex was about a half-mile, so Martin could have reached the complex by about 6:40 -- a normal walking pace is three miles an hour, so a half-mile is ten minutes.
However, Martin apparently found a nearby place, covered from the rain, and smoked his blunt for a half-hour. He did not enter the apartment complex until about 7:05 p.m. A few minutes later, Zimmerman saw Martin casing homes there to burglarize.
The main reason why Martin dawdled for that half-hour was that he was waiting for the sky to turn dark enough for him to case homes without being seen. When Martin entered the apartment complex at 7:05, the sky was turning from civil twilight into nautical twilight. The sky turned dark a few minutes earlier than normal because of the clouds and rain
Right after the sky turned dark and Martin entered the apartment complex, events developed as follows:
7:09:34 – 7:13:41 — George Zimmerman calls the Sanford Police Department from his truck.
7:11:33 — Zimmerman tells the police dispatcher that Trayvon Martin is running. .....
7:13:10 — Zimmerman says he does not know Martin's location.
7:13:41 — The end of Zimmerman's call to Sanford police.
7:16:11 — First 911 call from witness about a fight, calls for help heard.[16]
7:16:55 — Gunshot heard on 911 call.
Because Martin was addicted to Purple Drank, he was chronically paranoid, and he attacked Zimmerman murderously. Fortunately, however, Zimmerman was armed and was able to shoot Martin in self-defense.
