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American Morning

Interview with Edward Piglia, Dr. Casey Jordan

Aired August 01, 2002 - 08:16   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on edge now. Police there are warning that a serial killer appears to be on the loose. They say that DNA evidence links the murders of three women to the same person.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CPL. DON KELLY, BATON ROUGE POLICE: There were surface similarities, but it certainly was not something you'd take to the bank and jump to the conclusion that the cases were related until we were able to prove so very conclusively through scientific testing. And that's an important step, investigatively speaking, because that allows basically those three cases to be treated as one in terms of the follow-up investigation. It expands the universe of evidence. It gives you more crime scene analysis that can be done. And so our investigators are actually somewhat encouraged, from a purely investigative standpoint, that they have more to work with now and that this ultimately will lead us to be able to identify the person responsible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: And now from Louisiana, there's a report that police are looking into a fourth murder because that victim lived on the same street as two of the other women who were killed.

From New Orleans this morning, Edward Piglia, the brother of Pam Kinamore, who was murdered this past month. Her body found back on the 16th of July. Here in New York, we're joined in the studio by criminologist Dr. Casey Jordan. Good morning to you, as well.

CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST: Good morning.

HEMMER: Ed, first I want to go to you down in Louisiana. Police are not saying much right now. There's been no description released. What more are you learning on your end about what may have happened to your sister?

EDWARD PIGLIA, VICTIM'S BROTHER: We haven't learned much since the DNA evidence has linked my sister's murder to the Pace and Green cases. But it has helped our momentum and our campaign since this is thought to be the work of a serial killer. We have national attention now and I think the public is more aware of what's happening.

So we're hoping someone remembers something similar to all three cases that we can use to maybe track down this person.

HEMMER: You have said that you want to get in touch with the families of the other victims. Have you done that yet? And if and when you do, what would you like to accomplish?

PIGLIA: We've made phone contact with the Pace and Green families. We're trying to set up a meeting and it has not been set up yet. We're hoping to open our files and compare any notes that they have to notes that we've made in the last three weeks, hoping to find some common link between the three cases other than the DNA evidence.

HEMMER: Doctor, what's your take on this right now, knowing that police have said very little right now? Can you form a profile?

JORDAN: It would be extremely difficult to form a psychological profile on the very limited information that they've let out so far. But what is extremely interesting about this case is that so far the patterns are not emerging in a very clear way. There is this huge age gap between the victims. There is a time series gap and what I think they really need to focus on right now is that geographic lead that all of these women lived in the same area. Because based on what we know, your perpetrator is going to be extremely familiar with this area, either live or work there.

HEMMER: The murders took place within 10 months. We know that. At least two of the women lived only three houses from each other. Profilers would tell you that they think this person could be boastful and arrogant. Do you see that?

JORDAN: It's entirely possible. This is a person who, to me the biggest lead is that there's no signs of entry into their homes.

HEMMER: OK.

JORDAN: Which means that this is a person who is easily gaining the confidence of these women and is somehow using a con or a ruse to gain entrance to the home. This is not a forced entry sort of thing. It's not an abduction where -- well, the third one unfortunately was. But it's not the sort of thing where women are being plucked off jogging trails or pulled out of parking lots.

So this is a confident person because he has the temerity to walk up to their homes and go in.

HEMMER: That's an interesting point you say that, because others are saying incremental escalation is seen throughout the three murders that we're talking about. Do you see it the same way?

JORDAN: I do. And what is very unusual about this case, as well, is that the method of killing was different in each of the three cases -- strangulation in the first, stabbing in the second and slashing of a throat in the third. And that escalation indicates that this person could be blossoming into a different sort of serial killer from his first killing and now be motivated by different psychological reasons. HEMMER: There are those who also say that he had to be familiar with the neighborhood, perhaps did not live there, though. Would that indicate possibly someone who has worked in the neighborhood and is quite familiar with it? What would you read beyond that?

JORDAN: This is a very common thing that we have found when we capture serial killers. It's very commonly referred to as their comfort zone. Perhaps this person is a, has a legitimate reason to be in that neighborhood, works there, could be a person, a sanitation worker, a landscaper, a delivery person, a grocery clerk, a mechanic, somebody who may not actually live in that particular area, but goes through there constantly and probably would have occasion to stalk or observe these women on an ongoing basis to learn their patterns, know when they come and go, when people are at home and not at home and thus be successful.

HEMMER: Well, Ed, back to you in New Orleans.

Listening to the doctor talk about this, I'm curious to know, have you heard similar things from the police as to what we're discussing here?

PIGLIA: We haven't heard much from the police. But I do agree with some of the doctor's theories just based on what we've heard through other forensic psychologists about serial killers. Definitely someone that's familiar with the patterns of the women, probably familiar with the area.

HEMMER: Tell us about your sister Pam in the short time we have left here.

PIGLIA: My sister Pam was a wonderful person. She touched many lives in many ways. We had over 4,000 people attend her funeral services and we'll miss her dearly.

HEMMER: Ed, good luck, OK? Hang in there.

PIGLIA: Thank you.

HEMMER: All right, Edward Piglia down there in New Orleans and here in New York, Dr. Casey Jordan, thanks for stopping by as well, OK?

JORDAN: Always a pleasure.

HEMMER: OK.

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