Matthews says the lab reports of the footprints revealed the gender, height (to within a half-inch), and weight of the subjects. Even in modern times, shoe impressions cannot reveal the gender or specific height of the subject wearing them- only a range of height if multiple impressions are obtained to determine stride. He goes on to grossly understate the weights of the cars as 3,200 and 3,400 pounds and to again incorrectly surmise the type of car (coupe and convertible) based upon a tire impression. An average full-size American coupe or convertible in 1958 was huge and had lots of metal. Average weights were well over 4,000 pounds empty, and the occupant/luggage weights of several hundred pounds would also need to be added to any tire impression.
Pete Norton saw the delivery truck by looking out of one of several windows from inside the restaurant. When the delivery man was shown outside the restaurant there were no windows.
After returning to their motel room Carl Stone leaves. When he returns he tells his wife that the bill is paid. He could not have paid the bill because Pete Norton had taken his wallet and all of his cash during the robbery at the restaurant.
The arrest of Norton by Matthews based upon an anonymous tip was premature and would not hold up in court since under the 6th Amendment defendants must be able to confront witnesses against them. After Norton tells him he has the wrong guy, Matthews says "Could be." He then fails to secure a chain of custody on Norton's car and instead calls for the "lab boys" to pick it up. By doing so, the car could have been tampered with while he was not present. All of this is what is known as sloppy police work.
After Matthews requests the license plate check, the dispatcher calls him and tells him the owner's name and address, but she omits the year, make, and type of the car. The latter is standard information given on a tag check to verify it is on the correct vehicle in question.
During the robbery and murder, the criminal never says anything about having any friends, in fact he says if they say anything to the cops "I'll come looking for you." Matthews later calls him the "Lonesome Bandit". In a following scene while packing in their motel room, both witnesses fear the criminal's friends coming after them. Mrs. Stone says "You heard what he said, he'll kill us, and if he doesn't his friends will." No such friends were mentioned or intimated.