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CNN Live At Daybreak

Prosecutors from Washington Area Meeting Today

Aired October 25, 2002 - 05:29   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Prosecutors from the Washington area are meeting today. They will be talking about the various charges in this three week old sniper shooting spree that left 10 people dead, three wounded and millions in fear.
John Muhammad, a 41-year-old Gulf War Army veteran, was arrested a little more than 24 hours ago, along with John Lee Malvo, 17. He's a Jamaican citizen. Authorities say they found a rifle in the car and forensic tests link it to 11 of the 13 sniper shootings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BOUCHARD, ATF: The search of the vehicle today yielded a weapon, which is a Bushmaster XM-15 .223 caliber rifle, which was sent to the ATF lab in Rockville for analysis. The results of forensics testing are that the weapons seized from the vehicle occupied by Muhammad has been forensically determined to be the murder weapon in the following shootings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That Bushmaster rifle, along with a scope and a tripod, have been sent to federal crime labs to be tested. Now, sources also say a sniper's perch for the rifle was set up in the back seat and trunk of the Chevy Caprice. Two holes were cut into the rear of the trunk allowing a sniper to line up the rifle barrel through one hole and the scope through the other. One law enforcement official calls the car a killing machine.

It looks like two phone calls were the break investigators needed in the sniper investigation. One call came from the sniper himself, the other from a priest. Both calls were linked to a fatal shooting in Montgomery, Alabama.

CNN's Brian Cabell takes a closer look at the Alabama connection.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It started, apparently, with an anonymous phone call to the sniper task force in Maryland. The voice of a man who, according to Montgomery's mayor, made a startling claim. MAYOR BOBBY BRIGHT, MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA: He was involved in the shootings there in the D.C. area and that if they didn't believe he was serious about it, that he could call Montgomery, Alabama and talk with the investigating team here to verify that he means business, that he's killed before and he'll kill again. CABELL: Task force officials called Montgomery, Alabama police on Sunday with the information. It dealt with a specific crime, a liquor store shooting and attempted robbery September 21. Two women employees had been locking up for the night.

KELLI ADAMS, SHOOTING VICTIM: You know, I knew I'd been shot. I just didn't know where. And then I put my hand up to my face because I felt blood on my throat and that's when I realized.

CABELL: Adams fellow employee, Claudine Parker, was shot dead. The gunman -- and police got a composite sketch of him -- fled on foot down a busy street, chased by a police officer. The officer could have, but didn't, fire his gun.

CHIEF JOHN WILSON, MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA POLICE: He's pursuing somebody and as we all know in police shootings, the person is not posing him an imminent danger at that time and also I don't think he was fully aware of exactly the seriousness of the crime. As they pull up and he sees a suspect, know he is on immediate foot pursuit. I don't think he really had any idea how serious the injuries were to the women.

CABELL: The suspect fled into the night, no name, few leads. Now, federal authorities say, the fingerprint match puts John Malvo at a double shooting about 10 days before the sniper attacks began in the Washington, D.C. area.

Brian Cabell, CNN, Montgomery, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And just another reminder for you, the Montgomery, Alabama police chief is holding a news conference this morning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern at the scene of the liquor store attacks. He says significant new developments will be revealed. Of course, CNN will bring that to you live.

Sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad is a Louisiana native.

Our Susan Candiotti takes us to Muhammad's home town.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Baton Rouge, he grew up as John Williams, raised as a Baptist in a neighborhood called The Avenues, where the streets are named after letters of the alphabet. Williams' mother died when he was young. Relatives say his father wasn't around much. His aunts took him in, call him a good little boy. But an accused serial sniper?

YVONNE CRAWFORD, MUHAMMAD'S AUNT: I can't imagine what could have gone on in John's life that caused him to even think about doing something like this, if he's the one responsible.

CANDIOTTI: Growing up around the corner, cousin Ed Holiday looked up to Williams like a brother. They loved go-carts. Never any fights.

(on camera): How far back do you go growing up with your first cousin?

ED HOLIDAY, MUHAMMAD'S COUSIN: Babies, you know? Little bitty kids, you know?

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Holiday says his cousin excelled in sports at school, played tennis, ran track. Scotlandville High School turned over Williams' records to the FBI the morning of his arrest. Williams had one son out of wedlock and had another son with his first wife in Baton Rouge. The couple divorced after more than 15 years. Williams moved to Washington State, joined the Army and converted to Islam, changing his name to Muhammad. His ex-wife once had to hire a lawyer after Williams didn't send the boy home after a visit. She's cooperating with the FBI.

GAIL HORNE, EX-WIFE'S ATTORNEY: You know, you go about your daily routine and, you know, you're hearing about things that are occurring, horrible things in another place, and then all of a sudden it all converges on your doorstep. So I think that anybody would kind of be in shock.

CANDIOTTI: After years away, Muhammad remarried and divorced and this spring and summer visited family in Baton Rouge at least three times, including last month. His cousin says last spring Muhammad looked on top of the world.

HOLIDAY: Well, he looked good, you know? And he told me that he had bought his wife a Jaguar and he was doing good for hisself. And I was so proud of him.

CANDIOTTI: A couple of months later, he had changed. Muhammad had a teenager with him this time, John Lee Malvo. Muhammad introduced him as his son. Malvo later wrote a note to a young woman his age he met during that visit, a note now in the hands of the FBI.

SHERON NORMAN, SNIPER'S EX-SON-IN-LAW: You could tell he was really depressed. You could tell that he was a loner and you could tell he didn't like living the way he's been living, you know, from town to town or whatever.

CANDIOTTI: Ed Holiday says something about his cousin had changed when he saw him in August, too. He looked disheveled, like a drifter.

HOLIDAY: Sleeping at bus stations and you don't even have a car.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): But according to authorities, not only did Muhammad have access to cars, he allegedly had access to guns.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: People all across the country are breathing easier this morning now that two suspects have been captured, and that is especially true for people close to the crime scenes.

We want to check in with Jimmy Barrett at WRVA News Radio 1140 in Richmond, Virginia.

Good morning, Jimmy.

JIMMY BARRETT, WRVA RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Welcome back.

COSTELLO: Thank you very much. I've been gone for so long. It's nice to be back.

BARRETT: It's nice to have you.

Let me hold up the headline here and hope that -- there we go. Isn't that nice?

COSTELLO: Oh, that's wonderful to see, isn't it?

BARRETT: See how big that print is?

COSTELLO: That's awesome.

BARRETT: Oh, we love it.

COSTELLO: Hey, are the schools open as normal this morning?

BARRETT: Schools are open and the lockdown is over. This didn't happen in time to get the Friday night football games, reestablished, but they'll be back and running next week. Kids will be able to go out there, blow a little stink off in recess. It'll be wonderful.

COSTELLO: That's awesome. Tell me what the mood is. Are people breathing a sigh of relief or are they just holding their breath till these guys are officially charged?

BARRETT: You know, Carol Costello, I'm one of the bravest men in America and even I am relieved. It just feels like a weight has been lifted and, you know, my wife and I went out to dinner and we had dinner right on Broad Street, maybe a block or a half a block away from that Exxon gas station at Broad and Parum (ph). And, you know, people are out and they have a smile on their face and I think the smile just comes from a sense of relief.

There's a little, it's still a little bit guarded, though, to be very honest with you, and that is, I think, just that certain level of paranoia we all have that we, you know, hope beyond hope that there's nobody else out there.

COSTELLO: Yes.

BARRETT: But that's the one thing you just kind of keep in the back of your mind in this whole thing. But I think we're OK and I think we are very relieved.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's great to hear. There were cheers for Chief Moose. I understand people were driving by the Montgomery County Police Station, you know, thumbs up, cars honking.

BARRETT: Yes, well you want to talk about relief, how about all these different police officers that are involved, not only all the police that were in charge of guarding our schools. Imagine how intense of a job that had to be over the last few days. Plus, you know, you had Hanover County Sheriff involved down here and all the various different police departments because Richmond and northern Virginia, of course, and right into Maryland. They're all breathing a sigh of relief. Their life just got a whole lot easier.

And, yes, I think, you know, weren't they even giving a toast to Chief Moose last night?

COSTELLO: Oh, yes.

BARRETT: Absolutely. Here's to you, Chief Moose.

COSTELLO: Yes, and he was quite emotional, once again.

One last question for you, Jimmy. Do you think that this, these sniper attacks have somewhere drawn the community closer together?

BARRETT: Well, I think in some ways they do. I think 9/11 did a lot of that and this is reminiscent of 9/11 in that respect, although, again, the loss of human life was so much less and there are probably areas of the country that are wondering, you know, hey, OK, you had a sniper attack and I understand that you were a little bit nervous. But unless you're right in the middle of it, you just don't realize how stressful and life altering an event like this can be.

I think, you know, I know that in our own neighborhood, and it's a typical neighborhood, I think, where you don't see your neighbors all that often, a lot more people out and about in the last 24 hours just saying hey, how you doing?

COSTELLO: Yes, well that...

BARRETT: And that's good.

COSTELLO: That is good to hear.

Thank you, Jimmy Barrett. We appreciate you joining us and we'll talk to you again next week.

BARRETT: I just, I'm waiting for my complementary CNN T-shirt and my cub reporter badge. I've been on every morning this week. Don't I get something?

COSTELLO: Hmmm, we'll try to work that out. I'm going to talk to the producer right after the show.

BARRETT: OK, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hey, thank you, Jimmy Barrett.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 25, 2002 - 05:29   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Prosecutors from the Washington area are meeting today. They will be talking about the various charges in this three week old sniper shooting spree that left 10 people dead, three wounded and millions in fear.
John Muhammad, a 41-year-old Gulf War Army veteran, was arrested a little more than 24 hours ago, along with John Lee Malvo, 17. He's a Jamaican citizen. Authorities say they found a rifle in the car and forensic tests link it to 11 of the 13 sniper shootings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BOUCHARD, ATF: The search of the vehicle today yielded a weapon, which is a Bushmaster XM-15 .223 caliber rifle, which was sent to the ATF lab in Rockville for analysis. The results of forensics testing are that the weapons seized from the vehicle occupied by Muhammad has been forensically determined to be the murder weapon in the following shootings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That Bushmaster rifle, along with a scope and a tripod, have been sent to federal crime labs to be tested. Now, sources also say a sniper's perch for the rifle was set up in the back seat and trunk of the Chevy Caprice. Two holes were cut into the rear of the trunk allowing a sniper to line up the rifle barrel through one hole and the scope through the other. One law enforcement official calls the car a killing machine.

It looks like two phone calls were the break investigators needed in the sniper investigation. One call came from the sniper himself, the other from a priest. Both calls were linked to a fatal shooting in Montgomery, Alabama.

CNN's Brian Cabell takes a closer look at the Alabama connection.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It started, apparently, with an anonymous phone call to the sniper task force in Maryland. The voice of a man who, according to Montgomery's mayor, made a startling claim. MAYOR BOBBY BRIGHT, MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA: He was involved in the shootings there in the D.C. area and that if they didn't believe he was serious about it, that he could call Montgomery, Alabama and talk with the investigating team here to verify that he means business, that he's killed before and he'll kill again. CABELL: Task force officials called Montgomery, Alabama police on Sunday with the information. It dealt with a specific crime, a liquor store shooting and attempted robbery September 21. Two women employees had been locking up for the night.

KELLI ADAMS, SHOOTING VICTIM: You know, I knew I'd been shot. I just didn't know where. And then I put my hand up to my face because I felt blood on my throat and that's when I realized.

CABELL: Adams fellow employee, Claudine Parker, was shot dead. The gunman -- and police got a composite sketch of him -- fled on foot down a busy street, chased by a police officer. The officer could have, but didn't, fire his gun.

CHIEF JOHN WILSON, MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA POLICE: He's pursuing somebody and as we all know in police shootings, the person is not posing him an imminent danger at that time and also I don't think he was fully aware of exactly the seriousness of the crime. As they pull up and he sees a suspect, know he is on immediate foot pursuit. I don't think he really had any idea how serious the injuries were to the women.

CABELL: The suspect fled into the night, no name, few leads. Now, federal authorities say, the fingerprint match puts John Malvo at a double shooting about 10 days before the sniper attacks began in the Washington, D.C. area.

Brian Cabell, CNN, Montgomery, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And just another reminder for you, the Montgomery, Alabama police chief is holding a news conference this morning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern at the scene of the liquor store attacks. He says significant new developments will be revealed. Of course, CNN will bring that to you live.

Sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad is a Louisiana native.

Our Susan Candiotti takes us to Muhammad's home town.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Baton Rouge, he grew up as John Williams, raised as a Baptist in a neighborhood called The Avenues, where the streets are named after letters of the alphabet. Williams' mother died when he was young. Relatives say his father wasn't around much. His aunts took him in, call him a good little boy. But an accused serial sniper?

YVONNE CRAWFORD, MUHAMMAD'S AUNT: I can't imagine what could have gone on in John's life that caused him to even think about doing something like this, if he's the one responsible.

CANDIOTTI: Growing up around the corner, cousin Ed Holiday looked up to Williams like a brother. They loved go-carts. Never any fights.

(on camera): How far back do you go growing up with your first cousin?

ED HOLIDAY, MUHAMMAD'S COUSIN: Babies, you know? Little bitty kids, you know?

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Holiday says his cousin excelled in sports at school, played tennis, ran track. Scotlandville High School turned over Williams' records to the FBI the morning of his arrest. Williams had one son out of wedlock and had another son with his first wife in Baton Rouge. The couple divorced after more than 15 years. Williams moved to Washington State, joined the Army and converted to Islam, changing his name to Muhammad. His ex-wife once had to hire a lawyer after Williams didn't send the boy home after a visit. She's cooperating with the FBI.

GAIL HORNE, EX-WIFE'S ATTORNEY: You know, you go about your daily routine and, you know, you're hearing about things that are occurring, horrible things in another place, and then all of a sudden it all converges on your doorstep. So I think that anybody would kind of be in shock.

CANDIOTTI: After years away, Muhammad remarried and divorced and this spring and summer visited family in Baton Rouge at least three times, including last month. His cousin says last spring Muhammad looked on top of the world.

HOLIDAY: Well, he looked good, you know? And he told me that he had bought his wife a Jaguar and he was doing good for hisself. And I was so proud of him.

CANDIOTTI: A couple of months later, he had changed. Muhammad had a teenager with him this time, John Lee Malvo. Muhammad introduced him as his son. Malvo later wrote a note to a young woman his age he met during that visit, a note now in the hands of the FBI.

SHERON NORMAN, SNIPER'S EX-SON-IN-LAW: You could tell he was really depressed. You could tell that he was a loner and you could tell he didn't like living the way he's been living, you know, from town to town or whatever.

CANDIOTTI: Ed Holiday says something about his cousin had changed when he saw him in August, too. He looked disheveled, like a drifter.

HOLIDAY: Sleeping at bus stations and you don't even have a car.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): But according to authorities, not only did Muhammad have access to cars, he allegedly had access to guns.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: People all across the country are breathing easier this morning now that two suspects have been captured, and that is especially true for people close to the crime scenes.

We want to check in with Jimmy Barrett at WRVA News Radio 1140 in Richmond, Virginia.

Good morning, Jimmy.

JIMMY BARRETT, WRVA RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Welcome back.

COSTELLO: Thank you very much. I've been gone for so long. It's nice to be back.

BARRETT: It's nice to have you.

Let me hold up the headline here and hope that -- there we go. Isn't that nice?

COSTELLO: Oh, that's wonderful to see, isn't it?

BARRETT: See how big that print is?

COSTELLO: That's awesome.

BARRETT: Oh, we love it.

COSTELLO: Hey, are the schools open as normal this morning?

BARRETT: Schools are open and the lockdown is over. This didn't happen in time to get the Friday night football games, reestablished, but they'll be back and running next week. Kids will be able to go out there, blow a little stink off in recess. It'll be wonderful.

COSTELLO: That's awesome. Tell me what the mood is. Are people breathing a sigh of relief or are they just holding their breath till these guys are officially charged?

BARRETT: You know, Carol Costello, I'm one of the bravest men in America and even I am relieved. It just feels like a weight has been lifted and, you know, my wife and I went out to dinner and we had dinner right on Broad Street, maybe a block or a half a block away from that Exxon gas station at Broad and Parum (ph). And, you know, people are out and they have a smile on their face and I think the smile just comes from a sense of relief.

There's a little, it's still a little bit guarded, though, to be very honest with you, and that is, I think, just that certain level of paranoia we all have that we, you know, hope beyond hope that there's nobody else out there.

COSTELLO: Yes.

BARRETT: But that's the one thing you just kind of keep in the back of your mind in this whole thing. But I think we're OK and I think we are very relieved.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's great to hear. There were cheers for Chief Moose. I understand people were driving by the Montgomery County Police Station, you know, thumbs up, cars honking.

BARRETT: Yes, well you want to talk about relief, how about all these different police officers that are involved, not only all the police that were in charge of guarding our schools. Imagine how intense of a job that had to be over the last few days. Plus, you know, you had Hanover County Sheriff involved down here and all the various different police departments because Richmond and northern Virginia, of course, and right into Maryland. They're all breathing a sigh of relief. Their life just got a whole lot easier.

And, yes, I think, you know, weren't they even giving a toast to Chief Moose last night?

COSTELLO: Oh, yes.

BARRETT: Absolutely. Here's to you, Chief Moose.

COSTELLO: Yes, and he was quite emotional, once again.

One last question for you, Jimmy. Do you think that this, these sniper attacks have somewhere drawn the community closer together?

BARRETT: Well, I think in some ways they do. I think 9/11 did a lot of that and this is reminiscent of 9/11 in that respect, although, again, the loss of human life was so much less and there are probably areas of the country that are wondering, you know, hey, OK, you had a sniper attack and I understand that you were a little bit nervous. But unless you're right in the middle of it, you just don't realize how stressful and life altering an event like this can be.

I think, you know, I know that in our own neighborhood, and it's a typical neighborhood, I think, where you don't see your neighbors all that often, a lot more people out and about in the last 24 hours just saying hey, how you doing?

COSTELLO: Yes, well that...

BARRETT: And that's good.

COSTELLO: That is good to hear.

Thank you, Jimmy Barrett. We appreciate you joining us and we'll talk to you again next week.

BARRETT: I just, I'm waiting for my complementary CNN T-shirt and my cub reporter badge. I've been on every morning this week. Don't I get something?

COSTELLO: Hmmm, we'll try to work that out. I'm going to talk to the producer right after the show.

BARRETT: OK, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hey, thank you, Jimmy Barrett.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com