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American Morning

Hunt for Serial Arsonist in D.C. Area

Aired July 08, 2003 - 07:19   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The FBI is now assisting Washington-area investigators in their hunt for a serial arsonist. Authorities suspect that a single arsonist could be responsible for nearly two dozen fires in Washington, D.C. and in Prince George's County, Maryland, during the last few months.
Author Joseph Wambaugh says catching a serial arsonist will not be easy. He's written a book about one of the country's most notorious arson cases. It's called "Fire Lover.

Joseph Wambaugh joins us from San Diego. Good morning. Thank you for joining for us.

JOSEPH WAMBAUGH, AUTHOR, "FIRE LOVER": Good morning, and thank you.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense, for this case in Washington, D.C. and the area, what the profile is of a serial arsonist? Who should authorities be looking for now?

WAMBAUGH: Well, the profile for a disorganized serial arsonist is a young man, probably white, except these fire sets are in predominantly African-American areas, so I suspect he's not white. He's a nocturnal creature. He's select random targets. He's apparently using open flame ignition rather than an incendiary device of some sort. He's probably a loner. He's probably familiar with the area in which he's setting the fires, because they are random.

But he has one characteristic that's usually that of the organized serial arsonist -- that is, the cunning, sociopathic, manipulative dangerous fire setter, and that's that he's apparently selecting targets in terms of severity. He's...

O'BRIEN: In other words, you're saying he's trying to hurt, he's trying to kill or injure people?

WAMBAUGH: Yes. Apparently he's passing by buildings that are equally as accessible because they're empty, and he's setting the fires in occupied dwellings where people are sleeping. That's usually a characteristic of the more organized serial arsonist.

O'BRIEN: You say that often arsonists want to watch their work. One of the reasons they do this is because of the thrill. Do you expect, then, that police will catch the arsonist at the scene watching one of the fires that he's set?

WAMBAUGH: Well, maybe. It's possible. And also, it could be more than one person, obviously. You know, it could be two. But generally the arsonist is a solitary creature, a loner. That's why he's so seldom caught. He's the most difficult of all serial offenders to catch. He doesn't brag about his crimes. He makes fast escapes and pretty well keeps to himself. And it is thrill-motivated, so he very well could be there watching the fire.

O'BRIEN: We only have a few seconds left. And I want to ask you about breakthroughs in this case. There have been none so far. Do you suspect that police will be able to get a break in this case? And where would it come from? Or do you think this will be a case that will just never be solved?

WAMBAUGH: No, I think it will be solved. The fires are growing in number and intensity, and I think he'll need more and more thrills and take more and more risks, and that will eventually cause him to be caught.

O'BRIEN: All right, well, Joseph Wambaugh, thanks for joining us this morning. We certainly appreciate your time.

WAMBAUGH: Thank you.

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 July 8, 2003 - 07:19   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The FBI is now assisting Washington-area investigators in their hunt for a serial arsonist. Authorities suspect that a single arsonist could be responsible for nearly two dozen fires in Washington, D.C. and in Prince George's County, Maryland, during the last few months.
Author Joseph Wambaugh says catching a serial arsonist will not be easy. He's written a book about one of the country's most notorious arson cases. It's called "Fire Lover.

Joseph Wambaugh joins us from San Diego. Good morning. Thank you for joining for us.

JOSEPH WAMBAUGH, AUTHOR, "FIRE LOVER": Good morning, and thank you.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense, for this case in Washington, D.C. and the area, what the profile is of a serial arsonist? Who should authorities be looking for now?

WAMBAUGH: Well, the profile for a disorganized serial arsonist is a young man, probably white, except these fire sets are in predominantly African-American areas, so I suspect he's not white. He's a nocturnal creature. He's select random targets. He's apparently using open flame ignition rather than an incendiary device of some sort. He's probably a loner. He's probably familiar with the area in which he's setting the fires, because they are random.

But he has one characteristic that's usually that of the organized serial arsonist -- that is, the cunning, sociopathic, manipulative dangerous fire setter, and that's that he's apparently selecting targets in terms of severity. He's...

O'BRIEN: In other words, you're saying he's trying to hurt, he's trying to kill or injure people?

WAMBAUGH: Yes. Apparently he's passing by buildings that are equally as accessible because they're empty, and he's setting the fires in occupied dwellings where people are sleeping. That's usually a characteristic of the more organized serial arsonist.

O'BRIEN: You say that often arsonists want to watch their work. One of the reasons they do this is because of the thrill. Do you expect, then, that police will catch the arsonist at the scene watching one of the fires that he's set?

WAMBAUGH: Well, maybe. It's possible. And also, it could be more than one person, obviously. You know, it could be two. But generally the arsonist is a solitary creature, a loner. That's why he's so seldom caught. He's the most difficult of all serial offenders to catch. He doesn't brag about his crimes. He makes fast escapes and pretty well keeps to himself. And it is thrill-motivated, so he very well could be there watching the fire.

O'BRIEN: We only have a few seconds left. And I want to ask you about breakthroughs in this case. There have been none so far. Do you suspect that police will be able to get a break in this case? And where would it come from? Or do you think this will be a case that will just never be solved?

WAMBAUGH: No, I think it will be solved. The fires are growing in number and intensity, and I think he'll need more and more thrills and take more and more risks, and that will eventually cause him to be caught.

O'BRIEN: All right, well, Joseph Wambaugh, thanks for joining us this morning. We certainly appreciate your time.

WAMBAUGH: Thank you.

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