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American Morning

Interview with Rev. Dennis Kampa, Lt. Thom Bjerke

Aired May 09, 2002 - 07:07   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to the suspected mailbox bomber, Luke Helder, who is being held without bail this morning in Reno, Nevada. Federal investigators say Helder has admitted responsibility for a trail of terror, planting 18 mailbox pipe bombs in five different states. Authorities say Helder had six other bombs with him when he was arrested.

The people who knew him well say they are very surprised that he would turn to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT DECORSEY, FORMER HELDER ROOMMATE: Not at all. This is the farthest thing I could see him doing, something like this. He was, you know, like I said, a really nice kid, and I just don't see him being violent like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Reverend Dennis Kampa is a long-time friend of the Helder family. He joins us this morning from Pine Island, Minnesota -- thank you very much for being with us, sir.

REV. DENNIS KAMPA, HELDER FAMILY SPOKESMAN: Thank you, Paula. I'm happy to be with you.

ZAHN: You know, this is a very odd portrait that is emerging. In every one of the interviews we have done with people who knew Luke Helder, from teachers to students, everyone describe him as this nice guy, this peaceful guy, as someone who did not make rants against the government. What went wrong here?

KAMPA: Well, that's what we are all trying to figure out. I have known him through his high school days, and he was always a very mild-mannered young man, very polite, attended religious classes at St. Michael's here, was confirmed, even joined our youth group for a while.

So again, he was very well-adjusted as far as we could understand. And yet, what happened in those ensuing years after he went to college, we are just all bewildered by all of this.

ZAHN: What has...

KAMPA: It's certainly puzzling.

ZAHN: Yes. What has surprised the family most about Luke Helder?

KAMPA: Well, what surprised them is they did not ever see this side of him either. They said he seemed to enjoy school. He didn't seem to be angry about anything when he came home to visit. So they were just stunned that this was their son that did these things.

ZAHN: If you would, Father Kampa, describe to us the situation that Luke Helder's adopted father found himself in when he had received a letter that was very similar to the letter that was planted with these bombs in mailboxes across the country.

KAMPA: That's right. He was very disturbed when he received that letter, and it was very anti-government, he said. So therefore, he turned the letter over to the FBI. And then at the same time, I understand one of the -- his roommate at Stout University in Wisconsin had also noticed some paraphernalia that -- to make bombs and so forth. Then he also reported it to the police. So then he immediately traced this to Luke.

ZAHN: What kind of a decision was this for his father to make?

KAMPA: Well, it was...

ZAHN: I mean, it was his son after all.

KAMPA: Well, right. But what they were worried about is that they didn't want anything worse to happen. Already people were injured from the mailbox bombings. Now, they didn't want him to do anything drastic or to have a shoot out with the police. So therefore, they thought the best thing was to try to stop him as soon as possible.

ZAHN: Now, it has been reported by the legal authorities involved in his arrest that Luke actually had a 10-minute conversation with his parents on Wednesday morning, that of course after his arrest. Do you know what they talked about?

KAMPA: No, I don't. The mother just mentioned that she was so worried, because she thought that Luke did not understand the seriousness of all of this. The statement she made to me was that Luke had said that, do you think I'll go to jail because of this? And she said, he still perhaps doesn't realize that this was not a childish prank, but a very serious matter.

ZAHN: I know immediately after his son's arrest, Luke's father came forward and talked with reporters and essentially said he didn't think his son was capable of hurting anyone, and yet, six people had been injured at that point. How are his parents reconciling their son's actions?

KAMPA: Well, that's the difficulty they have right now. They just are in a state of shock. They said, I can't believe this is our son, Luke. They wanted to talk to him. And they are as bewildered as all of us in this community, because we saw him as a very well- adjusted young man. And we don't know what happened here. What he read, what he saw, who influenced him, these are the questions we all are asking and would like to have answers to, as well as everybody.

ZAHN: And is it true they can't even be reunited with their son right now, because they can't afford to get to Reno, Nevada, they are going to wait until he is transferred perhaps to Iowa?

KAMPA: Well, I am sure that the financial would not be a problem, because I am sure their friends and community would gladly buy the ticket. I think they are very confused now as to what to do, and I'm sure they are seeking advice from the FBI as to what they should do. They are in the process of getting lawyers. And so all of this is what they are doing right now.

ZAHN: Are they afraid their son is going to attempt suicide? There was a point in the chase where he actually held a rifle to his own head.

KAMPA: Yes. I understand in the letter he had said to his mother that, I will never be taken alive (UNINTELLIGIBLE) dead. I'll be going to a better world and so forth. So it seems like he didn't have any fear of death. And so that's why I think they were afraid that he might do something drastic, either have a shoot out with the police or kill himself. And that's why I think there is a fear that he might commit suicide.

ZAHN: Well, Father Dennis Kampa, I know this is a gut wrenching time for you, Luke's family...

KAMPA: Yes, it is.

ZAHN: ... and your community. Thank you very much for joining us on AMERICAN MORNING.

KAMPA: Thank you, Paula, for allowing me the privilege to speak on behalf of the family.

ZAHN: It is our pleasure, sir.

As we mentioned, Luke Helder was captured on Tuesday after leading FBI agents and the state police on a high-speed car chase. Lieutenant Thom Bjerke was part of the team that took Helder into custody after a dramatic high-speed chase.

He joins us now from Reno, Nevada to tell us how it all went down -- good morning, Lieutenant -- thanks so much for being with us. How did you pull this off?

LT. THOM BJERKE, PERSHING COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Well, we got some good information from the RP (ph), Mrs. McDonick (ph). She told us that Mr. Helder pulled off at 119 on Interstate 80, and responded a bunch of deputies, including myself to intercept him there. When the deputies saw the car on I-80 and got turned around on him and confirmed it was Mr. Helder, and we got in the case from there. ZAHN: And as the FBI surrounded the car and ordered him to come out, he hesitated for several minutes until -- was it you talked to him?

BJERKE: He didn't really hesitate. I didn't talk to him. He talked to an FBI agent on the phone, and that communicated through the FBI on the scene. They talked him into throwing the weapon out. He waited for about two minutes, and then he seemed confused.

ZAHN: He had a...

BJERKE: An ATF cutting (ph) crew went up...

ZAHN: Carry on.

BJERKE: They went up, and I was in the stack with them. I had a shotgun with some bean batter (ph) rounds in it. And he just kind of confused by what the FBI agents were telling him.

ZAHN: And he...

BJERKE: I just talked to him a little bit and told him it was OK, and everything was almost over.

ZAHN: He seemed to be fascinated by the weapon you were carrying and the fact that it had -- you had these bags of beans. What did he say to you about that?

BJERKE: He was interested by everyone's weapon. He wanted to know what kind of weapons that we had, and he fully seemed interested in getting a hold of some of the weapons sometime.

ZAHN: I understand he had a pretty bizarre explanation of what he was trying to accomplish. Did he tell you or another investigator that he was actually trying to plant bombs in a pattern that would create a happy face on the map?

BJERKE: That's correct. He told that to one of the undercover agents that was actually there.

ZAHN: And what was his demeanor when he was sort of telling you about what this plan was that he had in mind?

BJERKE: He seemed kind of carefree or amused about what was going on.

ZAHN: Now that we have more of the details, this picture that has emerged is quite striking that this guy was pulled over three different times in three different states, one for an expired license, one for speeding, one for not wearing a seat belt. Are you kind of surprised no one got him earlier just based on some of his violations?

BJERKE: Not really. We had some good information by the time he got to where we were. The communication between the agencies was really pretty good. ZAHN: And once again, when you said he seemed sort of amused by what was going down, do you think he was fully aware of the significance and the danger that he exposed these folks to across the country?

BJERKE: I really don't. He just had sort of a plan that's his, and he was more amused by what we were doing and really interested in that. He seemed sort of carefree to me.

ZAHN: Well, Lieutenant Thom Bjerke, I know it's the middle of the night there. We appreciate your helping us understand what happened that night of the arrest. Thanks for your time this morning -- good luck.

BJERKE: Thank you.

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