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American Morning
Prosecutors in at Least Two Virginia Counties Will File Charges Against Sniper Suspects
Aired October 28, 2002 - 08:02 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Prosecutors in at least two Virginia counties say they will file charges today against the sniper suspects. John Allen Muhammad, John Lee Malvo, already face six counts of murder in Maryland and they're facing a trial in Alabama for an unrelated killing.
Which state goes first is crucial because of the death penalty issue.
And correspondent Patty Davis is standing by now in Montgomery County, Maryland to help us wade through all these jurisdictional conflicts -- good morning, Patty.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, one of those counties, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, expected to file charges today, murder charges against John Muhammad and John Lee Malvo. Now, in that county, Kenneth Bridges murdered at a gas station October 11. Charges also expected to be filed in the shooting of a woman outside a Michael's store in Fredericksburg, Virginia. That woman survived.
Now, just who pulled the trigger in these 13 shootings in the Washington, D.C. area? Authorities do believe that the teenager, John Lee Malvo, did pull the trigger in at least some of the cases.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGLAS GANSLER, STATE ATTORNEY, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND: We feel that both men are equally culpable at this time and as to who shot in which particular case, that's something that we're going to still work out during the course of our investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know?
GANSLER: We have an idea as to who shot, who was the trigger man in different cases, but we're not going to be discussing that at this time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it fair to say both of them at some points actually pulled the trigger and killed individuals?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are operating under that theory at this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP) DAVIS: The car they were driving, a 1990 blue Chevrolet Caprice, bought for just $250. One source describing it as a killing machine, co-owned by 26-year-old Nathaniel Osbourne. He is now in custody. He was arrested over the weekend as a material witness in the sniper case. Police say that they want to know what he knows. They don't consider him a suspect, but they think he might have valuable information -- Paula.
ZAHN: And let me ask you this, I know the "New York Times" has a front page story saying that the federal prosecutors will ultimately have control over how these cases are tried. And Jeffrey Toobin, our own analyst, says he thinks that's, perhaps, a bit of an exaggeration. What are you being told there?
DAVIS: It is all up in the air right now, everybody fighting for a little bit of their own turf. Virginia saying it wants to go forward because it has the death penalty. It's exercised that some 86 times since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated. Maryland saying, at least Montgomery County saying listen, we had six or seven of those murders here in Montgomery County. We should be the first to go first. The citizens are demanding that. And then the federal government considering that, as well.
So that is what prosecutors are, at this point, trying to duke out, Paula. And it is duking out, it sounds like.
ZAHN: Yes, it certainly is.
Well, keep us posted. It sounds like it's going to be very interesting to watch from your seat.
Appreciate it, Patty.
We are only just beginning to put together the story of the sniper suspects. We do know that the two lived for a time last year at a shelter for the homeless in Washington State.
Joining us now from Bellingham to shed some light on the relationship between the two men is James Mitton, who has worked at the mission for more than three years now.
Good morning.
Thank you very much for being with us, sir.
JAMES MITTON, LIGHTHOUSE MISSION: You're welcome, Paula.
ZAHN: How often did you get to see Mr. Muhammad?
MITTON: I would estimate pretty much on a daily basis during the times that they were here.
ZAHN: And at the time, then, you mostly saw him with John Lee Malvo?
MITTON: Well, for the times the two of them were here together. It was for a period of approximately two months.
ZAHN: What did you see or observe then you saw the two of them together?
MITTON: Well, my feelings were that they were, they seemed obviously very devoted to each other. But there did, there also, at the same time, seemed to be some sort of an understanding as to what would and would not be said to people who were not considered friendly to their situation.
ZAHN: So they, their conversations would be pretty cryptic?
MITTON: Well, they talked openly between themselves, but when they were talking with other people, it was extremely casual conversation.
ZAHN: I think that Reverend Archer of the Lighthouse Mission mentioned to us this morning that he saw some things that he thought were strange from the very beginning. Did you notice the same kinds of odd things transpiring?
MITTON: Well, there certainly was some unusual behavior. The one thing that I would say that I found most odd was that John Muhammad seemed to have the financial capability to travel at a moment's notice even though he didn't have any visible means of income.
ZAHN: And that made you suspicious that perhaps you didn't know what the heck was going on there?
MITTON: Yes.
ZAHN: And Reverend Archer also described that he thought that Mr. Muhammad held an unusual sway over the kid he described as his son.
MITTON: To some degree, yes, I would have to agree with that in that, again, even though there was no overt sign of coercion that John didn't seem to want Lee to be in the building by himself at any time.
ZAHN: And although they caught your attention, just in closing here, when you heard that these two men were arrested in these sniper killings, did you ever think they would be capable of the kind of violence we're talking about here?
MITTON: No. I think I speak for pretty much everyone here when I say that it caught us totally by surprise. We were very shocked that anyone, let alone those two, would perpetuate such a thing.
ZAHN: Because you found them generally well mannered and respectful?
MITTON: Yes. Yes, they were very much so.
ZAHN: Well, I think you're not the only one asking a lot of questions about what went wrong here and what the true relationship of the -- or the true nature of the relationship was. Investigators are trying to nail this all down, as well.
James Mitton, thank you very much for your perspective this morning. We very much appreciate it.
MITTON: You're welcome. Thank you.
ZAHN: I don't know about you, Leon. You covered this story around the clock last week, too. As you begin to see the strands of the story, it doesn't seem, you see family members who seem to be alerted to something different happening a couple months ago, but clearly no one was able to pull together all the threads of the story.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, you know, as you were talking with Mr. Mitton there and the reverend earlier this morning, what occurred to me was that the people that were living with them in that shelter, what are they thinking about now after they had spent that much time around these people? And they've got to be saying the same things that everybody else is saying right now, like I had no idea.
ZAHN: Sure.
HARRIS: Yes, boy, it's just scary.
ZAHN: And weren't we lucky?
HARRIS: Yes, exactly. Exactly.
ZAHN: We were spared.
HARRIS: Well, speaking of lucky...
ZAHN: If these allegations -- and we've got to make it clear these are just allegations at this point.
HARRIS: Yes, allegedly.
ZAHN: And more charges coming through today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Charges Against Sniper Suspects>
Aired October 28, 2002 - 08:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Prosecutors in at least two Virginia counties say they will file charges today against the sniper suspects. John Allen Muhammad, John Lee Malvo, already face six counts of murder in Maryland and they're facing a trial in Alabama for an unrelated killing.
Which state goes first is crucial because of the death penalty issue.
And correspondent Patty Davis is standing by now in Montgomery County, Maryland to help us wade through all these jurisdictional conflicts -- good morning, Patty.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, one of those counties, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, expected to file charges today, murder charges against John Muhammad and John Lee Malvo. Now, in that county, Kenneth Bridges murdered at a gas station October 11. Charges also expected to be filed in the shooting of a woman outside a Michael's store in Fredericksburg, Virginia. That woman survived.
Now, just who pulled the trigger in these 13 shootings in the Washington, D.C. area? Authorities do believe that the teenager, John Lee Malvo, did pull the trigger in at least some of the cases.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGLAS GANSLER, STATE ATTORNEY, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND: We feel that both men are equally culpable at this time and as to who shot in which particular case, that's something that we're going to still work out during the course of our investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know?
GANSLER: We have an idea as to who shot, who was the trigger man in different cases, but we're not going to be discussing that at this time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it fair to say both of them at some points actually pulled the trigger and killed individuals?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are operating under that theory at this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP) DAVIS: The car they were driving, a 1990 blue Chevrolet Caprice, bought for just $250. One source describing it as a killing machine, co-owned by 26-year-old Nathaniel Osbourne. He is now in custody. He was arrested over the weekend as a material witness in the sniper case. Police say that they want to know what he knows. They don't consider him a suspect, but they think he might have valuable information -- Paula.
ZAHN: And let me ask you this, I know the "New York Times" has a front page story saying that the federal prosecutors will ultimately have control over how these cases are tried. And Jeffrey Toobin, our own analyst, says he thinks that's, perhaps, a bit of an exaggeration. What are you being told there?
DAVIS: It is all up in the air right now, everybody fighting for a little bit of their own turf. Virginia saying it wants to go forward because it has the death penalty. It's exercised that some 86 times since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated. Maryland saying, at least Montgomery County saying listen, we had six or seven of those murders here in Montgomery County. We should be the first to go first. The citizens are demanding that. And then the federal government considering that, as well.
So that is what prosecutors are, at this point, trying to duke out, Paula. And it is duking out, it sounds like.
ZAHN: Yes, it certainly is.
Well, keep us posted. It sounds like it's going to be very interesting to watch from your seat.
Appreciate it, Patty.
We are only just beginning to put together the story of the sniper suspects. We do know that the two lived for a time last year at a shelter for the homeless in Washington State.
Joining us now from Bellingham to shed some light on the relationship between the two men is James Mitton, who has worked at the mission for more than three years now.
Good morning.
Thank you very much for being with us, sir.
JAMES MITTON, LIGHTHOUSE MISSION: You're welcome, Paula.
ZAHN: How often did you get to see Mr. Muhammad?
MITTON: I would estimate pretty much on a daily basis during the times that they were here.
ZAHN: And at the time, then, you mostly saw him with John Lee Malvo?
MITTON: Well, for the times the two of them were here together. It was for a period of approximately two months.
ZAHN: What did you see or observe then you saw the two of them together?
MITTON: Well, my feelings were that they were, they seemed obviously very devoted to each other. But there did, there also, at the same time, seemed to be some sort of an understanding as to what would and would not be said to people who were not considered friendly to their situation.
ZAHN: So they, their conversations would be pretty cryptic?
MITTON: Well, they talked openly between themselves, but when they were talking with other people, it was extremely casual conversation.
ZAHN: I think that Reverend Archer of the Lighthouse Mission mentioned to us this morning that he saw some things that he thought were strange from the very beginning. Did you notice the same kinds of odd things transpiring?
MITTON: Well, there certainly was some unusual behavior. The one thing that I would say that I found most odd was that John Muhammad seemed to have the financial capability to travel at a moment's notice even though he didn't have any visible means of income.
ZAHN: And that made you suspicious that perhaps you didn't know what the heck was going on there?
MITTON: Yes.
ZAHN: And Reverend Archer also described that he thought that Mr. Muhammad held an unusual sway over the kid he described as his son.
MITTON: To some degree, yes, I would have to agree with that in that, again, even though there was no overt sign of coercion that John didn't seem to want Lee to be in the building by himself at any time.
ZAHN: And although they caught your attention, just in closing here, when you heard that these two men were arrested in these sniper killings, did you ever think they would be capable of the kind of violence we're talking about here?
MITTON: No. I think I speak for pretty much everyone here when I say that it caught us totally by surprise. We were very shocked that anyone, let alone those two, would perpetuate such a thing.
ZAHN: Because you found them generally well mannered and respectful?
MITTON: Yes. Yes, they were very much so.
ZAHN: Well, I think you're not the only one asking a lot of questions about what went wrong here and what the true relationship of the -- or the true nature of the relationship was. Investigators are trying to nail this all down, as well.
James Mitton, thank you very much for your perspective this morning. We very much appreciate it.
MITTON: You're welcome. Thank you.
ZAHN: I don't know about you, Leon. You covered this story around the clock last week, too. As you begin to see the strands of the story, it doesn't seem, you see family members who seem to be alerted to something different happening a couple months ago, but clearly no one was able to pull together all the threads of the story.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, you know, as you were talking with Mr. Mitton there and the reverend earlier this morning, what occurred to me was that the people that were living with them in that shelter, what are they thinking about now after they had spent that much time around these people? And they've got to be saying the same things that everybody else is saying right now, like I had no idea.
ZAHN: Sure.
HARRIS: Yes, boy, it's just scary.
ZAHN: And weren't we lucky?
HARRIS: Yes, exactly. Exactly.
ZAHN: We were spared.
HARRIS: Well, speaking of lucky...
ZAHN: If these allegations -- and we've got to make it clear these are just allegations at this point.
HARRIS: Yes, allegedly.
ZAHN: And more charges coming through today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Charges Against Sniper Suspects>
