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CNN Live Today

Interview with Leon Lott, James Metts

Aired July 01, 2002 - 10:22   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Terrifying story for you now out of South Carolina, where authorities say a man who kidnapped a girl in their state then killed himself could actually be responsible for a killing spree in as many as four states.

Police caught up with 38-year-old Richard Evonitz in Florida, after the girl he had kidnapped escaped and ran to authorities. Police say that they found articles about other girls' appearances in Evonitz' apartment and are looking in to cases in Virginia, Georgia, Texas and Florida as well.

Joining us now to help unravel this knotted tangle are two of the lawmen spearheading the far-reaching investigation. James Metts is the Sheriff of Lexington County, South Carolina, and Sheriff Leon Lott is his counterpart in Richland County. Gentlemen good morning, thanks for joining us.

JAMES METTS, SHERIFF, LEXINGTON COUNTY, SC: Good morning, thanks for having us.

LEON LOTT, SHERIFF, RICHLAND COUNTY, SC: Good morning.

KAGAN: Sheriff Metts, I'd like to start with you and if you could give the details on this latest abduction and how this girl actually managed to get away.

METTS: Well we had a young girl that was outside watering her lawn, at a neighbor's house actually, when an individual approached her selling magazines. He got close enough to put a gun to her, get her in a car, put her in a container inside the car, drove a short distance, tied her up and then drove a short distance to his apartment complex in Richland County where he repeatedly sexually assaulted her during the night.

Early the next morning, he fell asleep. When she heard him snoring, she was able to get out of her constraints, get out of the apartment complex, get help, and went to the substation in Richland County and got the authorities involved.

KAGAN: And so this young girl is really the heroine here because she could have actually brought the end of what might have been a serial killer?

METTS: That is correct. She was certainly very smart, very alert, chose her opportunity to get away and if she hadn't have, we're convinced she would have been dead and maybe many other people. So, she saved her life and the lives of many other people and I think she's going to help unravel many such crimes across this country before it's all over with.

KAGAN: I want to look at the other crimes in just a moment, but help me, Sheriff Metts, help me understand how her escape led to this chase and ultimately this man taking his own life?

METTS: Well, her escape allowed us to identify the individual because she was able to take us back to the apartment complex, and through a photo lineup identify this individual and we were able to trace where he was going through his withdrawals at ATM machines and also tracing his cellular telephone.

We almost apprehended him at a motel room in Orangeburg, South Carolina about 30 miles south of where this situation took place, and eventually he was identified and was in a high speed chase with the police in Sarasota, Florida. He ended up taking his own life rather than being arrested.

KAGAN: Sheriff Lott, what else do we know about this man, Evonitz, and why do you think he might be linked to these other crimes in as many as four other states?

LOTT: Well, we've been following his travels through his adult life and we've been able to identify similar type crimes at places that he's lived there being stationed in the Navy.

KAGAN: In fact, let's look at one in particular, two sisters Kristin and Kati Lisk from Virginia. They were killed in May of 1997. Why does the trail lead to these murders?

LOTT: Well, we've been able to identify that he lived in that area when they were murdered, and also we found some paperwork including a newspaper article concerning these two girls in his apartment when we did a search there.

KAGAN: And, in addition, what else are you looking into. Why these four states and why just those four states, because you're looking at where he lived during this time?

LOTT: It's currently just where he's lived and we're going to follow his whole life wherever he's been and see what's happened while he's been there. We've got some additional evidence that we've been able to find that could lead us to some other cases that he's been involved in.

KAGAN: And Sheriff Lott, anything else you could add about this man, what he's been doing for a living? I understand he was married to a young woman himself. Does he have children? Did he have children?

LOTT: Not that I'm aware of right now. I think we're only at the tip of an iceberg. A statement that he made to one of his family members is that he can't remember how many murders he's been involved in, so I think we've got a lot of work ahead of us. KAGAN: And what about the way this ended. A lot of people would say if it's true that this man is responsible for all of these crimes, he definitely got what he deserved, but he died with a lot of secrets as well.

LOTT: That's correct. He did die with a lot of secrets. We would have liked to have apprehended him and been able to interrogate him and get from him exactly what he's done.

We have a lot of families out here that needs closure, and that's what we're going to work at now is try to do it through just good investigative work to find out what he's been involved in and bring closure to these families.

KAGAN: And just finally, Sheriff Metts, if you could tell us how the young girl is doing who was able to escape and who was his latest victim?

METTS: She's doing extremely well emotionally. She's taking this situation well. She was very alert, very articulate, gave us a lot of information, so we're real proud of her. She's a real hero in this sense, that she was so alert, took advantage of the opportunity to get away, and as I said, she has her life and we believe many others and we believe we've opened the door she has to many of these situations across the country. So, it's going to be interesting to see how this case turns out.

KAGAN: Absolutely. We'll be following it as you try to unravel the trail of this man that appears to have done so bad. I want to say thanks to Sheriff James Metts and Sheriff Leon Lott. Gentlemen, thank you for joining us today.

LOTT: Thank you.

METTS: Thank you.

KAGAN: We appreciate it very much. As we move on today, it looks like we'll take a quick break and we'll be back after this.

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