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CNN Live Today
Nationwide Manhunt Under Way for Serial Killer Suspect
Aired May 27, 2003 - 10:01 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A nationwide manhunt is under way for a suspected serial killer. Louisiana police have an arrest warrant out for 34-year-old Derrick Todd Lee in connection with the murders of five women.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has more on the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A suspect has been identified.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On May 5, investigators took a DNA sample from Derrick Todd Lee. Law enforcement sources tell CNN Lee was questioned when he provided an oral swab, and then he was allowed to leave.
Lee's DNA was then compared to DNA evidence found at the crime scenes of five murdered women. When the results came back almost three weeks later, Louisiana authorities were convinced this 34-year- old man is a serial killer on the loose.
CHIEF PAT ENGLADE, BATON ROUGE POLICE: He is considered to be armed and dangerous, and authorities should be notified immediately. Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to contact their local law enforcement.
LAVANDERA: The murders started in September of 2001. Gina Green was strangled in her Baton Rouge home near the Louisiana State University campus. Eight months later, May, 2002, Charlotte Murray Pace is also killed in her home near the LSU campus. Two months later, Pam Kinamore was abducted from her home; her body found 30 miles west of Baton Rouge. In November of last year, Treneisha Colomb's body was found in a wooded area near Lafayette. And the last victim was Carrie Yoder. This past March the LSU graduate student was reported missing. One week later, Yoder's body was found close to where the third victim had been found.
When investigators released a personality profile of the killer last year, they said the man was able to win the trust of his victims.
CPL. MARY ANN GODAWA: He seems so harmless. The women he follows, watches or interacts with may not even be aware of him because he blends in with the community and his physical appearance is normal.
LAVANDERA: Investigators say that in the first three murders, the killer approached the homes and asked to see a phone book. He would ask if anyone else was home. If the woman was alone, he would attack.
SHERIFF MIKE NEUSTROM, LAFAYETTE PARISH: Disarmingly charming, nice-looking fellow, smooth-talking fellow, non-threatening fellow, gains the confidence of a female, and then, again, attacks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And that was Ed Lavandera reporting.
Derrick Todd Lee was reportedly sighted yesterday in Atlanta, and members of the task force are in the Georgia capital looking for any kind of clues.
Now let's turn to a reporter who has covered this case since June. Josh Noel is a crime reporter for "The Baton Rouge Advocate," and he joins us now by telephone.
Well, Josh, there are lot of common denominators in these cases that are now being linked to this individual, a 34-year-old, one of them being that many of the victims seemed to have appeared or turned up missing or had died near LSU. What more can you tell us about the common denominators?
JOSH NOEL, "THE BATON ROUGE ADVOCATE": Well, the LSU thing seems to be -- well, I don't know about incidental, but there hasn't been any sort of -- anything linked to the school. The bigger speculation is that he is a stalker. He checks these women out -- or used to check these women, and hopefully he's done now -- and would see one and then maybe see another, and he'd just stay in the neighborhood. But it doesn't appear to be tied particularly to LSU.
The other common factors are that they were all -- amazingly, they were all really ambitious and smart women who were educated and middle-class and had comfortable lifestyles. I don't know if that was all coincidental or not. They were all attractive, they all had big smiles, a lot of similar personality traits, life-of-the-party kind of thing. And that could also be coincidental, because no one is really sure at this point how close he ever got to these women to know their personalities.
WHITFIELD: And, Josh, let's talk about the common denominators of David Todd Lee and investigators are saying...
NOEL: Derrick.
WHITFIELD: Derrick, rather. And investigators are saying particularly that he was disarmingly charming.
NOEL: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And perhaps he may have introduced himself as "Anthony," say some reports, and maybe even extend his hand to introduce himself.
NOEL: Well, that's only known about a case in Breaux Bridge, which is a town about 30 miles west of here. It's closer to Lafayette, Louisiana. And, you know, the only people who could say that were women who encountered him and survived. So, we don't know exactly -- at least if the cops know they are not saying. But I don't think they do know how he -- the details of how he got into these women's homes.
But the reason that this guy caught their interest is because he had this vaguely clever ruse of disarming women by knocking on the door, smiling, saying he needed the phone, he needed the phone book, which again is what he did in Breaux Bridge. And they thought, well, gee, that would sure explain how he was able to get to the victims here in Baton Rouge and the one in Lafayette.
WHITFIELD: There are some witnesses that place him in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Do you believe that investigators are also trying in any way to link him to any particular cases in the Atlanta, Georgia area?
NOEL: I don't know about the Atlanta area. I talked to police officials in Atmore, Alabama, and they said they were looking at this guy. I mean, they are looking at -- what I can say is that they're looking at this guy for several murders that have been unsolved in the Baton Rouge area over the last -- going back as far as 10 years.
WHITFIELD: Apparently there are even some family members that are in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Do you know if they've been contacted?
NOEL: No, I don't.
WHITFIELD: Well, what more do you know about the movement of this investigation? Now it appears to be not just Louisiana state authorities, but Georgia state authorities.
NOEL: Truth be told, I'm not sure. I mean, I just came into work, and I'm reading the paper. We've put out about 100 zillion words on this guy. I'm trying to read what my colleagues did, and I'm about to call the task force and see what they are up to. Actually, right now I was trying to get his prison record from the state, because all of that stuff was closed yesterday for Memorial Day. So, we're actually playing a little catch up because of the holiday yesterday.
WHITFIELD: All right...
NOEL: And I dumped them to go on CNN.
WHITFIELD: All right, Josh Noel, thank you very much for joining us.
NOEL: Oh, any time.
WHITFIELD: As investigators now are looking for 34-year-old Derrick Todd Lee in connection with the murders of five women in Louisiana, and now they believe that some witnesses place him in the Atlanta, Georgia are, and now it involves Georgia officials as well.
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 May 27, 2003 - 10:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A nationwide manhunt is under way for a suspected serial killer. Louisiana police have an arrest warrant out for 34-year-old Derrick Todd Lee in connection with the murders of five women.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has more on the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A suspect has been identified.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On May 5, investigators took a DNA sample from Derrick Todd Lee. Law enforcement sources tell CNN Lee was questioned when he provided an oral swab, and then he was allowed to leave.
Lee's DNA was then compared to DNA evidence found at the crime scenes of five murdered women. When the results came back almost three weeks later, Louisiana authorities were convinced this 34-year- old man is a serial killer on the loose.
CHIEF PAT ENGLADE, BATON ROUGE POLICE: He is considered to be armed and dangerous, and authorities should be notified immediately. Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to contact their local law enforcement.
LAVANDERA: The murders started in September of 2001. Gina Green was strangled in her Baton Rouge home near the Louisiana State University campus. Eight months later, May, 2002, Charlotte Murray Pace is also killed in her home near the LSU campus. Two months later, Pam Kinamore was abducted from her home; her body found 30 miles west of Baton Rouge. In November of last year, Treneisha Colomb's body was found in a wooded area near Lafayette. And the last victim was Carrie Yoder. This past March the LSU graduate student was reported missing. One week later, Yoder's body was found close to where the third victim had been found.
When investigators released a personality profile of the killer last year, they said the man was able to win the trust of his victims.
CPL. MARY ANN GODAWA: He seems so harmless. The women he follows, watches or interacts with may not even be aware of him because he blends in with the community and his physical appearance is normal.
LAVANDERA: Investigators say that in the first three murders, the killer approached the homes and asked to see a phone book. He would ask if anyone else was home. If the woman was alone, he would attack.
SHERIFF MIKE NEUSTROM, LAFAYETTE PARISH: Disarmingly charming, nice-looking fellow, smooth-talking fellow, non-threatening fellow, gains the confidence of a female, and then, again, attacks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And that was Ed Lavandera reporting.
Derrick Todd Lee was reportedly sighted yesterday in Atlanta, and members of the task force are in the Georgia capital looking for any kind of clues.
Now let's turn to a reporter who has covered this case since June. Josh Noel is a crime reporter for "The Baton Rouge Advocate," and he joins us now by telephone.
Well, Josh, there are lot of common denominators in these cases that are now being linked to this individual, a 34-year-old, one of them being that many of the victims seemed to have appeared or turned up missing or had died near LSU. What more can you tell us about the common denominators?
JOSH NOEL, "THE BATON ROUGE ADVOCATE": Well, the LSU thing seems to be -- well, I don't know about incidental, but there hasn't been any sort of -- anything linked to the school. The bigger speculation is that he is a stalker. He checks these women out -- or used to check these women, and hopefully he's done now -- and would see one and then maybe see another, and he'd just stay in the neighborhood. But it doesn't appear to be tied particularly to LSU.
The other common factors are that they were all -- amazingly, they were all really ambitious and smart women who were educated and middle-class and had comfortable lifestyles. I don't know if that was all coincidental or not. They were all attractive, they all had big smiles, a lot of similar personality traits, life-of-the-party kind of thing. And that could also be coincidental, because no one is really sure at this point how close he ever got to these women to know their personalities.
WHITFIELD: And, Josh, let's talk about the common denominators of David Todd Lee and investigators are saying...
NOEL: Derrick.
WHITFIELD: Derrick, rather. And investigators are saying particularly that he was disarmingly charming.
NOEL: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And perhaps he may have introduced himself as "Anthony," say some reports, and maybe even extend his hand to introduce himself.
NOEL: Well, that's only known about a case in Breaux Bridge, which is a town about 30 miles west of here. It's closer to Lafayette, Louisiana. And, you know, the only people who could say that were women who encountered him and survived. So, we don't know exactly -- at least if the cops know they are not saying. But I don't think they do know how he -- the details of how he got into these women's homes.
But the reason that this guy caught their interest is because he had this vaguely clever ruse of disarming women by knocking on the door, smiling, saying he needed the phone, he needed the phone book, which again is what he did in Breaux Bridge. And they thought, well, gee, that would sure explain how he was able to get to the victims here in Baton Rouge and the one in Lafayette.
WHITFIELD: There are some witnesses that place him in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Do you believe that investigators are also trying in any way to link him to any particular cases in the Atlanta, Georgia area?
NOEL: I don't know about the Atlanta area. I talked to police officials in Atmore, Alabama, and they said they were looking at this guy. I mean, they are looking at -- what I can say is that they're looking at this guy for several murders that have been unsolved in the Baton Rouge area over the last -- going back as far as 10 years.
WHITFIELD: Apparently there are even some family members that are in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Do you know if they've been contacted?
NOEL: No, I don't.
WHITFIELD: Well, what more do you know about the movement of this investigation? Now it appears to be not just Louisiana state authorities, but Georgia state authorities.
NOEL: Truth be told, I'm not sure. I mean, I just came into work, and I'm reading the paper. We've put out about 100 zillion words on this guy. I'm trying to read what my colleagues did, and I'm about to call the task force and see what they are up to. Actually, right now I was trying to get his prison record from the state, because all of that stuff was closed yesterday for Memorial Day. So, we're actually playing a little catch up because of the holiday yesterday.
WHITFIELD: All right...
NOEL: And I dumped them to go on CNN.
WHITFIELD: All right, Josh Noel, thank you very much for joining us.
NOEL: Oh, any time.
WHITFIELD: As investigators now are looking for 34-year-old Derrick Todd Lee in connection with the murders of five women in Louisiana, and now they believe that some witnesses place him in the Atlanta, Georgia are, and now it involves Georgia officials as well.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
