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American Morning

FBI Releases Profile of Man It Suspects Murdered Three Women in Baton Rouge

Aired September 04, 2002 - 09:05   ET

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

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to turn now to the hunt for a serial killer in Louisiana. The FBI has now released a profile of the man it suspects murdered three women in Baton Rouge over the past year. Police say he appears to be harmless.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY ANNE GODOWA: Women who have been or will be questioned by investigators may not even think this mention this individual because he seems so harmless. The women he follows, watches or interacts with may not even be aware of him because he blends with community and his physical appearance is normal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: DNA evidence has linked the murders of the three women, Gina Wilson Green, Charlotte Murray Pace and Pam Kinamore.

To help us dissect the killer's profile, former FBI profiler, Clint Van Zandt, in our Washington bureau. Good to see you, Clint.

CLINT VAN ZANDT, FMR. FBI PROFILER: Thank you.

ZAHN: Let's put up on the screen some of what the FBI say this guy is. They define him as a white male, 25-35 years of age, shoe size 10-11, strong enough to lift 175 pounds. Seems to be a nice guy, blends in with the community, acted unusually angry around the times of the killings, made contact with women before the murders, might act overly disinterested in the investigation. How common are any of these behavioral characteristics from your point of view?

VAN ZANDT: I think a lot of these are common, Paula. I think that's part of it, too. We're looking for at common man. We're looking for someone that I would describe as a socially invisible. He just kind of blends in. What people are going to have do, what women are going to have to do, is go back in their mind and say, who did I have casual contact with? Who seemed like he was a little bit interested in me, but maybe interested in the wrong way? Who meets this physical description? You know, Paula, that all three homicides that they are looking at were committed on weekends, so it suggests that the guy has a job. They're all three in the same area.

And I think you and I may have talked about this a few weeks ago, there is at least three dozen unsolved homicides in that area, one of which took place on the same street that two of the women were kill on, except that homicide took place in 1997. So it sounds like should these crimes all be related, this is someone who has been in the area, stayed in the area, and people are going to know him. They are just going to have to get past, oh, it couldn't be Jim or John, he is too nice a guy, and start to look at some of the other details in the profile.

ZAHN: We know, Clint, that DNA tied three of these cases together. Are you suggesting that you do believe these unsolved ones are related in some way to these three homicides?

VAN ZANDT: Well, Paula, it's hard to believe this guy just fell off a turnip truck and then all of a sudden started killing women when he is 25 to 35 years old. That behavior doesn't start that late necessarily. So my experience would suggest, there is going to be at least other minor crimes in his background, and he may well have committed other crimes again women.

We know like these three homicides, one woman was choked, one was stabbed, and the third woman had her throat cut, so we see this obvious violence that seems to be welling up. But this is more than violence, Paula, this is an angry man who doesn't like women, who has been challenged by women perhaps professionally, socially and he's taking out his anger out on women now. This is some real "Silence of the Lambs" stuff.

ZAHN: You know, some people hear this stuff, and they think it sounds like psycho-babble, but obviously, the FBI had some information that would them to develop this type of profile. How do you do it?

VAN ZANDT: Well, two ways, Paula. Number one, you look at the crime scene. You look at the injury to the victim. You look at, you know, anything from sexual assault, to is their evidence of sexual problems on the part of offender? You look at how violent the activity that takes place around her. You try to suggest, is he taking trophies? Is he taking souvenirs? And then you're going to back by experience, Paula, just like yourself in doing hundreds and thousands of interviews. You're comfortable doing certain things.

We as profilers, unfortunately, have to look back at hundreds and hundreds of homicides, and you start to see, even though human behavior, you know, may be like this, when you start to look at cereal offenders, that behavior closes in, and that's what you're looking for. A profile is not DNA. It's not a fingerprint; it's an investigative tool that helps the real detectives go out and solve this crime

ZAHN: You think this maniac is cooked now that the FBI has released his profile, or is he just as invisible as ever?

VAN ZANDT: I think he is invisible, Paula, but we have got to remove that shroud. Men and women in the community, this guy has been in that community for a while, I believe.

They are going to have to look back and think about who they had contact with, who was angry, who had problems at the time these offenses took place, who shows an inordinate amount of interest in this type of case, maybe even suggesting that law enforcement doesn't know what they're doing, that they'll never solve this, and who may have had some inappropriate social contact with other women in the area. They have to go back, and they can't say, oh, it couldn't be; they have to think who it might be, and share that with the authorities, then let them figure out who the real killer is.

ZAHN: Well, we wish them tremendous luck, particularly as the school year gets under way, and you've got tens of thousands of student returning to state scared for their lives.

VAN ZANDT: And, Paula, the thing is, this guy is not going to stop on his own. He is going to keep doing it until authorities find him.

ZAHN: Godspeed to them. Clint Van Zandt, thank you very much for your time this morning.

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