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CNN Live Today

Sniper Suspects Linked to Killing in Montgomery, Alabama

Aired November 01, 2002 - 11:01   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: The task force assigned to the D.C.- area killing spree has issued a national advisory, urging police to take a new look at old cases. Such scrutiny has led to new charges filed against the suspects in Louisiana and Alabama.
Our Charles Molineaux is in Montgomery, Alabama with the latest.

Charles, good morning.

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Under the circumstances, it looks like a national advisory may very well be in order. You were covering this from Montgomery County, Maryland, and we've since seen this story balloon in complexity. Anybody who thought we were dealing with a complicated story when it looked like a lone gunman around Washington D.C. didn't know the half of it.

Of course now what we know now is police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, have issued arrest warrants for the D.C.-area sniper suspects, John Muhammad and John Malvo. The two are wanted for the murder of Hanz Bellinger, as she was shot outside her beauty supply business back on September 23. Ballistics tests now confirm the bullet that killed her came from that same Bushmaster XM-15 rifle found in the car with Mohammad and Malvo.

That rifle has been connected by ballistics tests to all but two of the D.C.-area victims, and it's the ballistics tests that have thrown a wrinkle into the killing which broke this case open, the 21st of September murder of Claudine Parker at a liquor store here in Montgomery, Alabama. Police now say the bullet that killed Claudine Parker also came from the Bushmaster. You remember what happened, she was on her way out of the ABC beverages right here, she and another woman were shot. She was killed, the other woman was wounded.

Now witnesses saw a man who matched the description of John Malvo on the scene, and one police officer actually chased a man across this parking lot, down to that bridge and over by where the McDonald's and those gas stations are. He says, he saw that man and that man matched a photo lineup of Muhammad. That man, he also said, was holding a handgun. The man who matched the description of Malvo was seen carrying what looked like a ammunition clip. Nobody seemed to be carrying the Bushmaster, which the ballistics tests had now connected to this murder. The question is, who was? Is there a possibility that there was a third person involved? That has made all the complicated by what happened to that chase between the police officer and the man described as looking like Muhammad. In the middle of that chase, the police officer was abruptly brought up short when a blue car pulled in front of him. At the time, cops thought that was just a coincidence, but after we've heard that Malvo and Muhammad were picked up in a 1990 blue Chevy Caprice, the question is, could that have been the same car driven by a different person altogether. All of a sudden, we have this additional question. Was there perhaps a third person involved in this shooting? And the police chief here in Montgomery, John Wilson, says the case has proven extremely frustrating, because just when you think you've figured it out, it grows another leg -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Charles Molineaux in Montgomery, Alabama.

A 3:00 p.m. news conference there, I Understand?

MOLINEAUX: Yes, it'll be 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. We're standing by to hear what more we can learn about the possibility of this maybe a third person involved, and more perhaps about the ballistics connecting this shooting also to that Bushmaster rifle.

KAGAN: All right, I'm sure our viewers will see that live right here on CNN, 3:00 Eastern, noon Pacific.

Charles Molineaux, thank you so much.

KAGAN: And For more on the investigation from a law enforcement perspective, we turn to our next guest, Don Clark, former lead investigator with the FBI, joining us once again from Houston.

Don, good morning.

DON CLARK, FMR. FBI PROFILER: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Are you surprised to hear about additional crimes popping up with the allegations that Muhammad and Malvo could be involved?

CLARK: No, not at all, Daryn. You and I have had this conversation before. If we look at the path in which these people have traveled, then you might get an idea that there may be other crimes out there, and what law enforcement has done, which is a great idea, is to put out this advisory, saying look, this is what we have here, take a look at it. But I would bet, that even without that advisory, that the law enforcement community around this country is thinking such, and looking at any unsolved cases that they might have that fit this profile.

KAGAN: I would agree with that, too, Don, but is there a danger in there that crimes that just weren't solved could get lumped against these guys?

CLARK: Well, it's a possibility that there may be crimes that weren't solved and that may not be connected to these, but I think what you'll have is that these detectives and most of the police departments that I've had the experience of working with, they don't want to have an unsolved case around, and they keep in touch, especially with how well we are connected today in terms of technology with crimes that are going on. And this one, certainly gives everybody an opportunity to connect them. So I think that they are comparing to see.

KAGAN: I want to call on your experience as a lead investigator here. These crimes that are taking place in September in the south, they look different in the type and how they were. There was more contact with the victims or alleged victims than the things they're charged with in Montgomery County, and Virginia and Washington D.C.

CLARK: You know, Daryn, I think we might be talking about motives here. And when you look at motives with a criminal group, a criminal activity, the motives will vary from point to point. Whatever they decide that their objective may be at the time, it may be robbery at one time. It may be just joy killing at one time. Or it may have some type of political motive in their own mind at one time. So the motive changes consistently, whatever they feel the need for at that time, as opposed to some of the other groups that their motive may remain consistent, but the acts change.

KAGAN: Don, real quickly, the most recent big crime story out of Baton Rouge, where this latest crime took place, has been the serial killer who killed a number of women. Any possibility, even though the crimes look totally different, that these men could be involved in that.

CLARK: You know, Daryn, we've listened to the profilers a lot, and I don't think any profiler would probably connect them to that, but I also don't think that they would rule it out. I certainly wouldn't. Does it fit what I know historic historically of the type of people that usually commit those types of crimes? No, but we've seen a lot of things go on with this group of people, so let's not put it past them, and I'm sure it's on the priority list someplace.

KAGAN: As we saw with policemen in the D.C. area stopping these men 10, 11 times before they were arrested, it's certainly not what people expected with the D.C. crimes as well.

Don Clark, thank you so much. Appreciate your time, as always, sir.

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 November 1, 2002 - 11:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The task force assigned to the D.C.- area killing spree has issued a national advisory, urging police to take a new look at old cases. Such scrutiny has led to new charges filed against the suspects in Louisiana and Alabama.
Our Charles Molineaux is in Montgomery, Alabama with the latest.

Charles, good morning.

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Under the circumstances, it looks like a national advisory may very well be in order. You were covering this from Montgomery County, Maryland, and we've since seen this story balloon in complexity. Anybody who thought we were dealing with a complicated story when it looked like a lone gunman around Washington D.C. didn't know the half of it.

Of course now what we know now is police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, have issued arrest warrants for the D.C.-area sniper suspects, John Muhammad and John Malvo. The two are wanted for the murder of Hanz Bellinger, as she was shot outside her beauty supply business back on September 23. Ballistics tests now confirm the bullet that killed her came from that same Bushmaster XM-15 rifle found in the car with Mohammad and Malvo.

That rifle has been connected by ballistics tests to all but two of the D.C.-area victims, and it's the ballistics tests that have thrown a wrinkle into the killing which broke this case open, the 21st of September murder of Claudine Parker at a liquor store here in Montgomery, Alabama. Police now say the bullet that killed Claudine Parker also came from the Bushmaster. You remember what happened, she was on her way out of the ABC beverages right here, she and another woman were shot. She was killed, the other woman was wounded.

Now witnesses saw a man who matched the description of John Malvo on the scene, and one police officer actually chased a man across this parking lot, down to that bridge and over by where the McDonald's and those gas stations are. He says, he saw that man and that man matched a photo lineup of Muhammad. That man, he also said, was holding a handgun. The man who matched the description of Malvo was seen carrying what looked like a ammunition clip. Nobody seemed to be carrying the Bushmaster, which the ballistics tests had now connected to this murder. The question is, who was? Is there a possibility that there was a third person involved? That has made all the complicated by what happened to that chase between the police officer and the man described as looking like Muhammad. In the middle of that chase, the police officer was abruptly brought up short when a blue car pulled in front of him. At the time, cops thought that was just a coincidence, but after we've heard that Malvo and Muhammad were picked up in a 1990 blue Chevy Caprice, the question is, could that have been the same car driven by a different person altogether. All of a sudden, we have this additional question. Was there perhaps a third person involved in this shooting? And the police chief here in Montgomery, John Wilson, says the case has proven extremely frustrating, because just when you think you've figured it out, it grows another leg -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Charles Molineaux in Montgomery, Alabama.

A 3:00 p.m. news conference there, I Understand?

MOLINEAUX: Yes, it'll be 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. We're standing by to hear what more we can learn about the possibility of this maybe a third person involved, and more perhaps about the ballistics connecting this shooting also to that Bushmaster rifle.

KAGAN: All right, I'm sure our viewers will see that live right here on CNN, 3:00 Eastern, noon Pacific.

Charles Molineaux, thank you so much.

KAGAN: And For more on the investigation from a law enforcement perspective, we turn to our next guest, Don Clark, former lead investigator with the FBI, joining us once again from Houston.

Don, good morning.

DON CLARK, FMR. FBI PROFILER: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Are you surprised to hear about additional crimes popping up with the allegations that Muhammad and Malvo could be involved?

CLARK: No, not at all, Daryn. You and I have had this conversation before. If we look at the path in which these people have traveled, then you might get an idea that there may be other crimes out there, and what law enforcement has done, which is a great idea, is to put out this advisory, saying look, this is what we have here, take a look at it. But I would bet, that even without that advisory, that the law enforcement community around this country is thinking such, and looking at any unsolved cases that they might have that fit this profile.

KAGAN: I would agree with that, too, Don, but is there a danger in there that crimes that just weren't solved could get lumped against these guys?

CLARK: Well, it's a possibility that there may be crimes that weren't solved and that may not be connected to these, but I think what you'll have is that these detectives and most of the police departments that I've had the experience of working with, they don't want to have an unsolved case around, and they keep in touch, especially with how well we are connected today in terms of technology with crimes that are going on. And this one, certainly gives everybody an opportunity to connect them. So I think that they are comparing to see.

KAGAN: I want to call on your experience as a lead investigator here. These crimes that are taking place in September in the south, they look different in the type and how they were. There was more contact with the victims or alleged victims than the things they're charged with in Montgomery County, and Virginia and Washington D.C.

CLARK: You know, Daryn, I think we might be talking about motives here. And when you look at motives with a criminal group, a criminal activity, the motives will vary from point to point. Whatever they decide that their objective may be at the time, it may be robbery at one time. It may be just joy killing at one time. Or it may have some type of political motive in their own mind at one time. So the motive changes consistently, whatever they feel the need for at that time, as opposed to some of the other groups that their motive may remain consistent, but the acts change.

KAGAN: Don, real quickly, the most recent big crime story out of Baton Rouge, where this latest crime took place, has been the serial killer who killed a number of women. Any possibility, even though the crimes look totally different, that these men could be involved in that.

CLARK: You know, Daryn, we've listened to the profilers a lot, and I don't think any profiler would probably connect them to that, but I also don't think that they would rule it out. I certainly wouldn't. Does it fit what I know historic historically of the type of people that usually commit those types of crimes? No, but we've seen a lot of things go on with this group of people, so let's not put it past them, and I'm sure it's on the priority list someplace.

KAGAN: As we saw with policemen in the D.C. area stopping these men 10, 11 times before they were arrested, it's certainly not what people expected with the D.C. crimes as well.

Don Clark, thank you so much. Appreciate your time, as always, sir.

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