Well, in my timeline, I placed the murder incident in March 1990. The exact date is indeed unspecified but don't forget things were kinda sensitive and um... rushed to judgement.
I think the idea of having the murder set in a dangerous area sort of justifies the facts that no one seemed eager to fix that street light any time soon, let alone that someone would bother to look in the drain to see a readily visible gun. That also shows what kind of joke the investigation must've been. The gun was right under their noses and as Belinda Jones said they didn't want to bother to listen to what she had to say. It's failure of the system and Mac's there to set it straight.
Though you might have a point. Sometimes it takes years before things go to trial.
I think the poison that was used was applied to this knife, passed to the mutton when it was cut and then activated by the wine. - MacGyver.
Sometimes you just have to die a little inside to be reborn and rise again as a stronger and wiser version of you.
It's better to be a little sad than to be fake content.