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CNN Live At Daybreak

Serial Killer Suspect Arrested in Atlanta

Aired May 28, 2003 - 06:05   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: Here at home, they got him. Atlanta police have tracked down Derrick Todd Lee. He's the man suspected in a string of rapes and murders in Louisiana. Lee is now in Atlanta's Fulton County jail, and a jittery city is feeling a little more secure this morning.
Martin Savidge is live at the jail right now.

Good morning – Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

Derrick Lee was arrested around 8:30 p.m. here in the city of Atlanta last night that, after receiving, at least the police department did, receive a tip from the public. There was a massive campaign yesterday getting Derrick Lee's picture out there in the Atlanta media as the result of the Atlanta police realizing that he was in the Atlanta area and had probably been here for about a week.

He was arrested, again, after this phone call coming in from the public, behind a tire shop in the southwestern part of the city without incident by the fugitive squad of the Atlanta Police Department. It is expected that he is now going to be booked on charges of aggravated first-degree murder and aggravated rape charges. There was no problem bringing him into custody when that took place last night, and he was found to have Louisiana identification on him. Important, because it's believed he's from the Louisiana area, where those five murders – serial murders of those women took place over a period of about two years.

Now, it's also expected that he's going to be in court later this morning for an extradition hearing, which could begin the process of returning him back to the Baton Rouge area.

This is the Atlanta police chief, Richard Pennington, talking about how he was brought into custody.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RICHARD PENNINGTON, ATLANTA POLICE: We can only surmise or theorize that he probably was still running. He knew that we were looking for him. Once his photograph went on the news media, throughout the news media, he knew that he was a wanted person in this area, this metropolitan area, and we were going to work extremely hard until we apprehended him. As I indicated earlier this morning, if he was in Atlanta, we were going to find him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: The Atlanta police were always very close on his trail. Yesterday, there were two close calls, one of them being in a homeless shelter, another at a hotel. But eventually, thanks to the public and a tip that came in, they were able to actually capture him.

How did he become a prime suspect? Well, that goes back about two weeks ago to May 5, when he was in the Louisiana area where he lives. Again, a tip from the public said you ought to be talking to this man. Police brought him in for questioning, and they asked him to submit a DNA sample, which he did. Shortly after he voluntarily submitted that sample, though, authorities say he became nervous and fled the area.

In the meantime, they took that sample and were able to match it up against the five murders that had been committed over two years in that area, and they found a definite match. And they believe that Lee at one point had gone off to Chicago and then came down to the Atlanta area. He was apprehended and now is in the Fulton County jail – Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Martin Savidge live from the Fulton County jail this morning.

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 28, 2003 - 06:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Here at home, they got him. Atlanta police have tracked down Derrick Todd Lee. He's the man suspected in a string of rapes and murders in Louisiana. Lee is now in Atlanta's Fulton County jail, and a jittery city is feeling a little more secure this morning.
Martin Savidge is live at the jail right now.

Good morning – Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

Derrick Lee was arrested around 8:30 p.m. here in the city of Atlanta last night that, after receiving, at least the police department did, receive a tip from the public. There was a massive campaign yesterday getting Derrick Lee's picture out there in the Atlanta media as the result of the Atlanta police realizing that he was in the Atlanta area and had probably been here for about a week.

He was arrested, again, after this phone call coming in from the public, behind a tire shop in the southwestern part of the city without incident by the fugitive squad of the Atlanta Police Department. It is expected that he is now going to be booked on charges of aggravated first-degree murder and aggravated rape charges. There was no problem bringing him into custody when that took place last night, and he was found to have Louisiana identification on him. Important, because it's believed he's from the Louisiana area, where those five murders – serial murders of those women took place over a period of about two years.

Now, it's also expected that he's going to be in court later this morning for an extradition hearing, which could begin the process of returning him back to the Baton Rouge area.

This is the Atlanta police chief, Richard Pennington, talking about how he was brought into custody.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RICHARD PENNINGTON, ATLANTA POLICE: We can only surmise or theorize that he probably was still running. He knew that we were looking for him. Once his photograph went on the news media, throughout the news media, he knew that he was a wanted person in this area, this metropolitan area, and we were going to work extremely hard until we apprehended him. As I indicated earlier this morning, if he was in Atlanta, we were going to find him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: The Atlanta police were always very close on his trail. Yesterday, there were two close calls, one of them being in a homeless shelter, another at a hotel. But eventually, thanks to the public and a tip that came in, they were able to actually capture him.

How did he become a prime suspect? Well, that goes back about two weeks ago to May 5, when he was in the Louisiana area where he lives. Again, a tip from the public said you ought to be talking to this man. Police brought him in for questioning, and they asked him to submit a DNA sample, which he did. Shortly after he voluntarily submitted that sample, though, authorities say he became nervous and fled the area.

In the meantime, they took that sample and were able to match it up against the five murders that had been committed over two years in that area, and they found a definite match. And they believe that Lee at one point had gone off to Chicago and then came down to the Atlanta area. He was apprehended and now is in the Fulton County jail – Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Martin Savidge live from the Fulton County jail this morning.

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