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CNN Live Today

Baton Rouge Police Hunt for Killer

Aired August 01, 2002 - 11:22   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: We want to check in on another story that the FBI is working on, a profile of a suspected serial killer linked to the deaths of three women. This story coming out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The family of one of the women is offering a reward for information leading to her killer.

Our Ed Lavandera is following the story, he joins us. He is live this morning in Baton Rouge -- Ed, good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Well, the FBI is offering help, and the police working on a profile of who the suspect in this serial killing case here might be, but that's the extent of their involvement so far. It is up to police and sheriff's deputies here in Baton Rouge to investigate the murders of three women so far, and the best evidence and the best witness that they have come forward at this point is a man who saw a white pickup truck driving down the interstate with what this person says appeared to be the body of the third victim around the area where the body was later found.

At this point that person we understand under police surveillance, that being for his own protection as they look out for this witness whose name hasn't been released at this point.

Up until this point, police say they still have no idea who this person is, or where he might be.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two words have injected a sense of fear in the residents of Baton Rouge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a serial killer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is nothing to indicate that there is more than one person involved. We really can't rule anything out right now, but you kind of have to go on your best assumptions and what the evidence appears to present.

LAVANDERA: Police say one man is responsible for murdering three women in the last ten months. Forty-one-year-old Gina Wilson Green was strangled in her home last September. In May, twenty-two-year-old Charlotte Murray Pace was stabbed to death in her townhouse. And this month, forty-four-year-old Pam Kinamore was abducted from her home, her throat slit and her body left under a bridge. There's no evidence of forced entry at either home. The few details that have emerged about these cases have stunned residents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's happened so fast. These women are disappearing right out of their own homes. The last person that disappeared, from what I understand, there was no signs of struggle or anything, and -- and a nice neighborhood.

LAVANDERA: Police aren't sure who the suspect is or where he might be, but they say there's DNA evidence linking the same man to the three murders. Investigators haven't discovered any connection between the three victims. They didn't know each other. And that's also led more people to speculate about who or what the killer is looking for.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told my mom, "Look, they all look similar to me, with long dark hair." And that's scary, too, because it seems like they pinpoint certain looks. And they were all dark-haired.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: That's just the kind of speculation that a lot of people are going through here as they try to wait for more information. One other note, there will be a public meeting tonight around the LSU campus, and that is where two of the murders occurred, near that campus. Although police at this point say they don't believe that the killer is operating specifically around that area for any given reason, but there will be a public meeting there, held tonight for public safety training, letting people know what they should do to protect themselves, and police anticipate a strong turnout for that meeting tonight -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And Ed, one of the very scary things about this story, besides, obviously, the outcome of -- the terrible outcome for these three women, but it happened in their own home. That's where he took them.

LAVANDERA: Yes, and that's what police are warning a lot of people about. They don't know how this serial killer might have entered these homes. There is no sign of forced entry at any of the homes, which leads police to believe that the person either entered through an open door or gained the trust of the person who opened the door to kind of convince the person to open the door. So they're warning people that if a police officer, a pizza delivery person, anyone shows up at your door, to challenge what they are telling you, to question them, to make sure that they are who they say are, and that you don't inadvertently open your door to someone who is there to cause you harm.

KAGAN: Ed Lavandera in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Ed, Thank you very much.

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