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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Texas Court Stays Napoleon Beazley's Execution

Aired August 15, 2001 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Tonight, the execution of Napoleon Beazley is on hold. He was only 17 when he killed a prominent businessman and father of a federal judge.

Should age play a role in who gets the death penalty? I'll speak live with Walter Long, Napoleon Beazley's attorney.

Tracking down America's most wanted, John Walsh has been bringing criminals to justice for years. I'll talk to him about the death penalty, Chandra Levy and his new book, "Public Enemies."

The West continues to burn. Wildfires are blazing across thousands of acres, as firefighters work to regain control.

Good evening. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight from Washington.

We'll get to my interview with John Walsh of "America's Most Wanted" shortly, but first, 25-year-old Napoleon Beazley was supposed to have been executed about 30 minutes ago. But late this afternoon, a Texas court issued an emergency stay. The case is generating headlines around the world because Beazley was only 17-years-old when he killed John Luttig in Tyler, Texas in 1994. That raises the question, should criminals who commit crimes as juveniles be executed. And that's our top story.

The prosecutor in the case says he was disappointed by today's extraordinary stay. The Texas court got an affidavit from an attorney who now says he mishandled Napoleon Beazley's first appeal. Texas prison spokesman Larry Todd says it took a moment for Beazley to absorb the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY TODD, TEXAS PRISON SPOKESMAN: I asked him if he was OK and he then broke out in a smile and he said, "Yes." And I said do you understand? And he said, "Oh yes, he understands the system, and he said he was fine."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Beazley's current attorney is challenging the conviction because of the age issue and because an all white jury heard the case. That lawyer, Walter Long, joins me now live from Austin, Texas. Mr. Long, thank you for joining us.

And first of all, very briefly, give us your reaction to this extraordinary stay.

WALTER LONG, BEAZLEY'S ATTORNEY: Well, I'm greatly relieved and I'm encouraged not only -- I mean, I'm so grateful that Napoleon is still alive, grateful for his family, the community of Grapeland from where he comes. And I'm also grateful that our really critical legal issues remain alive and we sit down and have this discussion about the propriety of executing persons who are children at the time of their offense.

BLITZER: As we all know -- remember from Timothy McVeigh's execution, he clearly indicated he was prepared to die. Was Napoleon Beazley prepared to die today?

LONG: I think that dying is something that Napoleon has thought about from the very moment the sentence was pronounced in his case. It's something that he has disciplined himself to have to deal with in his life, yes.

BLITZER: You know, the prosecutor had some graphic words to say about the crime that Napoleon Beazley convicted of committing. I want you to listen to what the prosecutor had to say. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I asked him if he was OK and he then broke out in...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Excuse me, we didn't have right sound byte there, but he obviously described what he said was a horrific premeditated calculated in his words "cold blooded execution." Why should Napoleon Beazley receive special treatment for committing a heinous crime like that?

LONG: I don't want to discount the horrific aspect of the crime, but that it was premeditated or calculated is absolutely wrong. The prosecution at Napoleon's trial took a kid with a sterling background. He was the class president, runner-up for most popular in his high school and was beloved by everyone in his community and turned him into a monster for the jury.

My client in no way premeditated death of John Luttig, as horrible as that was.

BLITZER: The prosecutor in this case, Jack Skeen, he made the point that Napoleon Beazley went up after trying to hijack the victim's automobile. He went up and in his words "point blank range shot him in the head." And that of course was the fatal shot. How can you say that was not premeditated?

LONG: I think all that happened pretty much in an instant. What was premeditated on the part of all three of these guys was to carjack. And they followed this couple home at night. There's no way I can at all downplay the serious character of this offense. It's horrible. It's something you wouldn't want to happen to anyone.

And -- but, they intended go out and take a car. And they apparently intended to go out and take a car by force. I don't think any of the three of them thought it would end up in a death. I think that what happened was that when they got up there, by every account that I've heard Donald Coleman give, John Luttig very recently rushed at Napoleon in defense of himself and his wife, Bobbie. And at that point Napoleon lost it. I can't tell you and I can't explain, I can't excuse what happened after that, but that Napoleon before he went up there and approached the couple, intended to kill anyone or even to physically harm anyone, I don't believe.

BLITZER: OK, Mr. Long, unfortunately, we have to leave it right there. Thanks very much for joining us.

LONG: Thank you.

BLITZER: Thank you.

And for the last 20 years, John Walsh, host of "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED," has been dealing with crime and its impact. He's also just written a new book, "Public Enemies," which looks at some of the show's higher-profile cases. Earlier, I talked with Walsh about his book, Napoleon Beazley's stay of execution, and Chandra Levy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: John Walsh, thanks for joining us. Congratulations on the new book. Before we talk about that, let's talk about stay of the execution of Napoleon Beazley. What's your reaction to this decision?

JOHN WALSH, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Well, my heart is with the family. I mean, these endless, endless appeals and overturning and you know, it's very difficult on the victims. And nobody ever looks at the victims. Nobody wants to see an innocent man or someone that was railroaded be executed. But you know, at some point, we've got to take hard, hard look at the way lawyers manipulate the criminal justice system and get endless appeals and costs millions and millions of dollars to keep their clients from what they're supposed get.

BLITZER: What about fact that he was only 17 when he committed murder? He doesn't contest that he was involved in the murder and that he had no really -- any criminal record before that. He was his high school class president. Should those factors not be consideration?

WALSH: Oh, no. I agree they should be consideration, Wolf. I mean, I've profiled teenagers on "America's Most Wanted" that have committed heinous crimes 30, 40 felonies, 3 or 4 homicides when they were juveniles and were released in many states by a mandatory age of 21 and went on to commit other crimes. So I don't buy the -- you know, the argument that just because he's 17 years old.

But in this case, I must say that maybe they should really take a look at his track record and they should, you know, explore every avenue. You know, I really am opposed to endless appeals, but I also know that sometimes there are mitigating circumstances. And I think in this case it's probably the right thing to do.

But again, my heart is with the victims. People, you know, get ready for closure. They get ready for justice. And the criminal justice system just can't seem to make up its mind.

BLITZER: All right, let's talk about "Public Enemies," your new book. As of course you know and most of our viewers know, thanks to tips from viewers of "America's Most Wanted," you've captured almost 700 criminals out there. Who was biggest -- who was the worst criminal you ever caught?

WALSH: Well, there's a personal criminal. And I say personal from the standpoint that this guy, James Charles Stark (ph), I wrote about him before, but not this book. He killed a retarded little girl. And he had kidnapped her and had her in his van two weeks, broke every joint in her body with a ball peen hammer, and then when he pulled up to gas station, he shot her between the eyes when the gas station attendant saw her. And then he pulled up the road and threw her body out.

Before I did "America's Most Wanted," I carried a wanted poster of James Charles Stark and this unidentified girl's morgue shot. She was buried in a Jane Doe grave. When the show got popular, I put James Charles Stark on, because I wanted to find out where this girl belonged.

We caught him the same night that we profiled him. And you know what? The mother of this little girl, in spite of the fact that many Fox lawyers said you can't show this morgue shot, it's too rough, I said there's somebody out there that loves this little girl.

We not only caught James Charles Stark, we also found the little girl's mother. She called the show. She'd been looking for her for three years and she got the body back. And personally, it was a great capture for me.

BLITZER: You don't have -- as is well documented certainly in the book, you don't have a lot of sympathy for some of these pedophiles who have been involved in crimes. Among other things, you write in the book this. You say: "I don't really give a damn what makes them do it. I am of the school that says catch his butt, throw him in jail, make him pay, and then study him all you want."

Is there no opportunity for redemption, rehabilitation among these pedophiles?

WALSH: Well, every psychologist that's honest will tell you they have the highest rate of recidivism of any criminal. I write about Kyle Bell in our book. You know, he was convicted of molesting his own nieces and nephews and went on the run and I caught him.

He served very little jail time. Guess what he did when got out, Wolf? He kidnapped a beautiful little girl, 11-year-old Gina North, and then he raped and murdered her. He was convicted and sentenced to life without parole, but he was such a flight risk that North Dakota tried to transfer him to Oregon by private transport and he escaped.

I wound up looking for the same guy twice and finally caught him, thank God, before he killed another child. But at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington, we have tons of staff there that were sexually abused or molested or victims of incest. They never hurt anybody.

I don't buy this argument that you know, that the oh, woe is me. I only did it because I was a victim. Lots of these guys weren't victims. They're just selfish perpetrators. And until we figure out how to weed them out and keep them away from our children, all I'm going to do is catch them.

Study their brains. Study their parents. Dissect them. Do whatever you want. But I know one thing, I had to profile Kyle Bell twice and catch him twice. And all he's ever done his whole life is hurt children.

BLITZER: Speaking about children, it's now 20 years since own son Adam, then six years old in 1981, was kidnapped and murdered. And you write about that once again . Most of our viewers are familiar with the tragic story, but let me put up on our screen another excerpt from the book. You write this.

"As indescribably painful as it has been all these years to deal with the death of that lovely boy, those days when we did not know where in the universe he was, whether he was in the hands of some madman, suffering God knows what pain, those days of not knowing were the worst."

You want to talk about what happened during those days 20 years ago?

WALSH: Those two weeks were the worst weeks of my life. And the day they found Adam's remains was absolutely hell for our family. And I thought we would never recover.

But you know, my heart goes out to any parents of a missing child who don't know. All we want to know, including the Levys, Chandra Levy's parents, all they want to know is what happened to their daughter?

I think in our hearts we're prepared for the worst. We're prepared to know that something terrible happened to our child, but that's point where we go on, where we either survive or we don't survive or we take our child to somewhere and bury them and then we have someone to -- somewhere to remember our child by and pray.

My heart goes out to the Levys. They're going through hell right now, as are thousands and thousands of parents of missing children. You're absolutely right, Wolf, the not knowing is the worst. I still thank God for the fact that we found out what happened to Adam because I don't know if I would have been able to continue or ever do the things we've done if we hadn't known what happened to Adam. BLITZER: One of points you make in the book that was compelling to me. You make the point that the first 24 hours that someone is missing, especially a young kid, are critical. Yet the police almost always say, "Wait a day or two. See if he or she shows up." What can be done about that to convince local law enforcement to get on the case right away and not wait a day or two and perhaps lose some evidence?

WALSH: Well, I'll tell you what, if it was the chief of police or the sheriff's son or daughter, they'd be looking immediately, but we've practically abolished that. Almost every state now has abolished the24, or 12 hour or 48 hour waiting period. And the Justice Department came out with a survey two years ago and said most stranger abducted, the children that are at greatest risk, are killed within 12 hours. So the first 12 hours are crucial.

But I think law enforcement after 20 years, after Adam's death, is now coming to grips with the fact that they don't have the right, they don't have the arbitrary right to make a decision we'll wait to see what happened to this child.

Unfortunately, when you haven't been able to turn around their opinions of missing women. You know, we're all talking about Chandra Levy, but there's 55,000 missing women unsolved cases in the FBI computer. And I challenge any media person, including yourself, to name one of those women that are missing.

We all know about Chandra Levy because she had sex with a congressman who lied about it, but I tell you what. I think police have done a good job. They've changed their opinion about missing children. Now they've got to take a hard look at missing woman because Ted Bundy, who was executed in Florida before he met his death in the Florida gas chamber, he said one thing. "I could kidnap a woman in any state. As soon as I cross line I was safe because cops don't care about missing women."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: More of John Walsh just ahead. He has a theory about what happened to Chandra Levy. Here's a hint, it has nothing to do with Congressman Gary Condit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Now more of my interview with John Walsh, including his views on the disappearance of Chandra Levy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: On this program a couple of times, you've now speculated that it was perhaps the role of a serial killer who may have been responsible for Chandra Levy's disappearance. Do you still believe that?

WALSH: Well, you know, Wolf, I love police and I work very closely with them. But you know what? The cops in the Atlanta child murders, until there were 24 of the 27 children dead did they finally admit there was serial killer.

Nobody ever admitted that there was a Green River killer. Nobody ever talked about the Zodiac killer, that he was a serial killer. Police are very reluctant to say we have a serial killer, because they don't want to panic people.

You know what? Until they solve those two murders, and you know what I'm talking about, the two former congressional interns -- the woman who was a Ph.D. that was kidnapped and murdered walking home from a barbecue in Dupont Circle. Joyce Chang, whose body was found in the Potomac after three months, walking home from a Starbucks.

Until police tell me we have suspect, we know who did it, then I say you've got to look at Gary Condit. Don't let him off the hook. He lied to the family. He lied to you, but continue a parallel investigation. Take a look. You may have serial predator in the Dupont Circle area. And until you solve those two homicides, you've got to have an open mind. And maybe Chandra Levy was grabbed when she was walking home from canceling that gym subscription.

BLITZER: And so your bottom line, your gut instinct, is you don't believe that Congressman Gary Condit necessarily had anything whatsoever to do with her disappearance?

BLITZER: You know what Wolf, I don't really know. I know that, you know, we had a former president who denied having sex with an intern. We've had several members of Congress that have been, you know, admitted to having sex with an intern. You know, members of Congress are good at sleeping with interns. I don't know if they're good at killing interns and disposing of them, but my contention is that police have to keep open mind.

You have to do a parallel investigation. And until they solve those two murders of those two girls in Dupont Circle, who look just like Chandra Levy, were close to her age and live within a mile of her, they've got to keep an open mind and continue a parallel investigation and not discount the fact that there may be a serial predator in the Washington, D.C. Dupont Circle area.

BLITZER: John Walsh, we're out of time. Thanks very much for joining us. And good luck with the new book, "Public Enemies." I read it. A very, very powerful read, the host of "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED." John Walsh, thank you very much.

WALSH: Thank you, Wolf.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And Chandra Levy's parents sat down with Larry King earlier today to talk about the disappearance of their daughter. And they had a very different take about Congressman Condit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY KING, "LARRY KING LIVE": The other night you said, if Gary Condit were not in your daughter's life, she'd be here today. SUSAN LEVY, CHANDRA LEVY'S MOTHER: I feel that...

KING: What do you mean?

S. LEVY: I feel like that for some reason, internally that as a mother, that it's possible that my daughter would have graduated and she would be here with us, spending her summer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: You can see all of Larry King's interview with Susan and Bob Levy at the top of the hour at 9:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN.

A pharmacist accused of doing the unthinkable, diluting potentially life-saving drugs. We'll have details when we come back. Plus, tens of thousands of people are fighting the flames that have charred hundred of thousands of acres. An update from western firelines, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Here's a look at tonight's other top stories. It's a grim situation in the West, where 43 wildfires are burning in 10 states. Four are in northern California, including one that forced the closure of Interstate 80. To the north, lightning strikes are making the job even harder for crews working more than half a dozen fires in Oregon. In all, more than 20,000 people are on western firelines and more than 376,000 acres have been charred.

A Missouri pharmacist surrendered to authorities today on charges that he diluted chemotherapy drugs. Robert Courtney is accused of weakening treatments for his cancer patients. Authorities say some patients got less than one percent of the dosages ordered by their doctors. Courtney is being held without bond.

Overseas, 400 NATO troops could be in Macedonia as early as Friday, with another 3,500 expected to follow. Today, NATO authorized immediate deployment of the advance party. The troops will be collecting weapons from ethnic Albanian rebels as part of the peace deal with the Macedonian government. A decision on the larger British-led force is expected next week.

In the Middle East, Israeli troops remain on an attack posture. Today forces stopped short of entering the West Bank village of Beit Jala. Israel says authorities called off the move after getting assurances the Palestinians would stop firing at the nearby Jewish enclave of Gilo. President Bush today once again called on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to curb the violence and on the Israelis to use restraint.

Up next, I'll open our mailbag. Many of you are very upset about the way we cover the Middle East. I'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Time now to open our mailbag. Many of you reacted to my interview last night with "USA Today's" Jack Kelley, who was a witness to the suicide bombing in Jerusalem last week.

Diane from San Diego notes that Kelley referred to the suicide bomber as, "the gentleman." "He's not a gentleman, he's an animal, a murderer, and a terrorist."

Maryanne from Louisville complains about our coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "CNN's reporting is not so fair. It's very one-sided and pro-Palestinian."

But Zachary from Houston writes, "Why are you covering the bombing from several days today and not covering the besiegement of the Palestinian people by the Israeli army? What kind of hypocritical coverage is this?

And Adel writes this, "Do you consider a person defending his land and wants to liberate it a terrorist?"

Remember, I want to hear from you. Please e-mail me at Wolf@cnn.com. And you can go to my web site, CNN.com/Wolf.

Please stay with CNN throughout the night. Chandra Levy's parents are Larry King's guests at the top of the hour. Up next, Greta Van Susteren. She's standing by to tell us what she has. Greta?

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST, CNN'S "THE POINT": Wolf, a terrifying story. A teenager allegedly lured by a New York couple, where she was handcuffed, kidnapped, sexually molested and held. We'll talk about online sexual predators and more.

Wolf?

BLITZER: OK, Greta, sounds pretty amazing. I'll be watching. Tomorrow night, I'll have an extraordinary story. I'll speak to the man who uncovered a secret human cloning lab in West Virginia. Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "THE POINT" with Greta Van Susteren begins right now.

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