Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Prison Escapee Surrenders

Aired October 14, 2003 - 07:03   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: Let's turn now to Pennsylvania, where authorities are breathing a big sigh of relief this morning. A murder suspect, who escaped from jail, is back behind bars after eluding law enforcement for three days.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick has this report from Wilkes-Barre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hugo Selenski's freedom lasted just under 72 hours. Police found the escaped prisoner at home Monday night, after he called his lawyer looking to surrender.

DAVID LUPAS, LUZERNE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I believe it was the nonstop persistence and hard work and the pressure that was put out in the public by all of these members of law enforcement which caused Mr. Selenski to turn himself in.

FEYERICK: Police would not comment on how Selenski was able to sneak back into his house. They believe he stayed in the Wilkes-Barre area throughout the weekend.

LUPAS: There were no deals or anything of that nature offered or given to him in return for his surrender.

FEYERICK: Selenski broke out of the seven-story maximum security floor about 9:30 Friday night. Authorities say he and a cellmate pulled out a prison window, threw out a mattress, then shimmied down a rope made from a dozen prison bed sheets. Selenski climbed down first, landing on a rooftop. His cellmate fell and was critically injured. Selenski used the mattress to climb over the barbed wire.

GENE FISCHI, WARDEN: The lieutenant's office heard a thump on his roof and he ran out to investigate, and at the same time a guard was running towards him saying, "I believe we have an attempted escape."

FEYERICK: Selenski is a convicted robber. Authorities say he may have killed as many as five people, burning some of the bodies, burying others, officials say, in a shallow grave in his back yard.

Last week, he pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder. His lawyer had been on television begging him to surrender.

DEMETRIUS FANNICK, SELENSKI'S ATTORNEY: If you're out there and you're watching, you have to get in touch with me. FEYERICK: Following his arrest, Selenski was arraigned on felony escape charges. He's being held at an undisclosed location.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

The whole prison is now under investigation. The warden says that they have brought in consultants and engineers to look at some of the flaws. For example, the prison was built to house 250 people. It houses twice that many, with inmates doubling up in bunks. Also, there is no security fence around the perimeter. And why was the inmate who escaped wearing a white T-shirt and gray sweatpants and not the standard issue green prison jumpsuit -- Bill, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, Deborah, a quick question for you. Selenski was able to sneak back into his house. Was that house under constant surveillance?

FEYERICK: Authorities would not say whether they were watching the hour 24 hours. What they do say is that at about 5:00, they got a tip. They sent troopers over to the home. They knocked on the door. The girlfriend answered, but would not let them search the premises, as she had previously. So, the troopers left. Several hours later, they got a call from the lawyer.

O'BRIEN: All right, Deborah Feyerick, thanks for an update on this story. Appreciate it.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: More now about the surrender. The attorney, Demetrius Fannick, is our guest now in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Good morning. Thank you for your time with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.

FANNICK: Good morning.

HEMMER: You met with your client late last night, sitting down in the police station. What can you share with us about his state of mind?

FANNICK: He's fine. We really did not discuss any of the details, as far as how this happened or why it happened or really where he's been for the last, you know, couple of days. He was in a state police interrogation room when I saw him. I did not feel comfortable in having a confidential communication with him at that location, so I will be speaking with him sometime today.

HEMMER: Why did he surrender at the time that he did?

FANNICK: I don't know. I received a phone call at 7:45 on my cell phone, as I had hoped that he would call me. He simply indicated to me at that time that he wanted to surrender, and that he wanted me to negotiate the terms of that surrender.

HEMMER: He had been on the run for about four days. Did you consider him dangerous? FANNICK: As I've said many times, I have met with him every day since June for numerous hours every day. I have not experienced that anger or violent propensities that have been alleged. He's always been a very confident person, very well-mannered and well-spoken.

When he called yesterday, he indicated that he wanted to do this peacefully. He was not armed. I had absolutely no qualms of going to the house myself with the police officers, because I trusted Mr. Selenski would voluntarily surrender.

HEMMER: Can you tell us if he was in that home for all four days with his girlfriend, sir?

FANNICK: To my knowledge, Mr. Selenski arrived at the home very shortly before he called me at 7:45. You know, that's all I'm going to comment at this point. When he did call me, he indicated that he was at the home alone, that he had waited for Tina Strong (ph) to leave the home, and then he had gained access for the sole purpose of calling me to surrender.

HEMMER: Yes, there are some reports that say the police were casing that home for four days running, and it was only when his girlfriend answered the door that they were tipped off that he might be inside. It appears if that's the case, he wasn't hiding very well. Given all of that together, what was the point of the breakout?

FANNICK: Again, I don't know. I haven't gone into any detail with him, as I previously indicated. I hope to get all of that information with today when I discuss this with him in confidence.

HEMMER: Yes, Mr. Fannick, earlier this week in other interviews you said that he was agitated before the breakout. What was the source of that?

FANNICK: Well, he's been incarcerated for four months. We've tried to get discovery material from the district attorney. They have been not so liberal in giving me any information.

Monday, he was arrested on two of the homicides. That really was not a surprise.

Monday was also a significant date in that there were eight search warrants issued relative to this case, which had previously been sealed. They were unsealed and made available to the public on Monday. So, Tuesday's media coverage was pretty extensive.

I sensed between Tuesday and Friday there was this increased agitation. I believe that he was being viewed differently by people within the correctional facility, and that caused some uneasiness. It was not to the point where I felt I needed to intervene on his behalf and ask that he be relocated or anything to that extent, but that was really the basis for my comments.

HEMMER: Demetrius Fannick is the attorney for Hugo Selenski, live this morning in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Thank you for talking with us. Hugo Selenski now back in police custody. The charges for murder still stand. Whether this impacts the case, though, is something we will all wait and see now.

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 October 14, 2003 - 07:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn now to Pennsylvania, where authorities are breathing a big sigh of relief this morning. A murder suspect, who escaped from jail, is back behind bars after eluding law enforcement for three days.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick has this report from Wilkes-Barre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hugo Selenski's freedom lasted just under 72 hours. Police found the escaped prisoner at home Monday night, after he called his lawyer looking to surrender.

DAVID LUPAS, LUZERNE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I believe it was the nonstop persistence and hard work and the pressure that was put out in the public by all of these members of law enforcement which caused Mr. Selenski to turn himself in.

FEYERICK: Police would not comment on how Selenski was able to sneak back into his house. They believe he stayed in the Wilkes-Barre area throughout the weekend.

LUPAS: There were no deals or anything of that nature offered or given to him in return for his surrender.

FEYERICK: Selenski broke out of the seven-story maximum security floor about 9:30 Friday night. Authorities say he and a cellmate pulled out a prison window, threw out a mattress, then shimmied down a rope made from a dozen prison bed sheets. Selenski climbed down first, landing on a rooftop. His cellmate fell and was critically injured. Selenski used the mattress to climb over the barbed wire.

GENE FISCHI, WARDEN: The lieutenant's office heard a thump on his roof and he ran out to investigate, and at the same time a guard was running towards him saying, "I believe we have an attempted escape."

FEYERICK: Selenski is a convicted robber. Authorities say he may have killed as many as five people, burning some of the bodies, burying others, officials say, in a shallow grave in his back yard.

Last week, he pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder. His lawyer had been on television begging him to surrender.

DEMETRIUS FANNICK, SELENSKI'S ATTORNEY: If you're out there and you're watching, you have to get in touch with me. FEYERICK: Following his arrest, Selenski was arraigned on felony escape charges. He's being held at an undisclosed location.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

The whole prison is now under investigation. The warden says that they have brought in consultants and engineers to look at some of the flaws. For example, the prison was built to house 250 people. It houses twice that many, with inmates doubling up in bunks. Also, there is no security fence around the perimeter. And why was the inmate who escaped wearing a white T-shirt and gray sweatpants and not the standard issue green prison jumpsuit -- Bill, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, Deborah, a quick question for you. Selenski was able to sneak back into his house. Was that house under constant surveillance?

FEYERICK: Authorities would not say whether they were watching the hour 24 hours. What they do say is that at about 5:00, they got a tip. They sent troopers over to the home. They knocked on the door. The girlfriend answered, but would not let them search the premises, as she had previously. So, the troopers left. Several hours later, they got a call from the lawyer.

O'BRIEN: All right, Deborah Feyerick, thanks for an update on this story. Appreciate it.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: More now about the surrender. The attorney, Demetrius Fannick, is our guest now in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Good morning. Thank you for your time with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.

FANNICK: Good morning.

HEMMER: You met with your client late last night, sitting down in the police station. What can you share with us about his state of mind?

FANNICK: He's fine. We really did not discuss any of the details, as far as how this happened or why it happened or really where he's been for the last, you know, couple of days. He was in a state police interrogation room when I saw him. I did not feel comfortable in having a confidential communication with him at that location, so I will be speaking with him sometime today.

HEMMER: Why did he surrender at the time that he did?

FANNICK: I don't know. I received a phone call at 7:45 on my cell phone, as I had hoped that he would call me. He simply indicated to me at that time that he wanted to surrender, and that he wanted me to negotiate the terms of that surrender.

HEMMER: He had been on the run for about four days. Did you consider him dangerous? FANNICK: As I've said many times, I have met with him every day since June for numerous hours every day. I have not experienced that anger or violent propensities that have been alleged. He's always been a very confident person, very well-mannered and well-spoken.

When he called yesterday, he indicated that he wanted to do this peacefully. He was not armed. I had absolutely no qualms of going to the house myself with the police officers, because I trusted Mr. Selenski would voluntarily surrender.

HEMMER: Can you tell us if he was in that home for all four days with his girlfriend, sir?

FANNICK: To my knowledge, Mr. Selenski arrived at the home very shortly before he called me at 7:45. You know, that's all I'm going to comment at this point. When he did call me, he indicated that he was at the home alone, that he had waited for Tina Strong (ph) to leave the home, and then he had gained access for the sole purpose of calling me to surrender.

HEMMER: Yes, there are some reports that say the police were casing that home for four days running, and it was only when his girlfriend answered the door that they were tipped off that he might be inside. It appears if that's the case, he wasn't hiding very well. Given all of that together, what was the point of the breakout?

FANNICK: Again, I don't know. I haven't gone into any detail with him, as I previously indicated. I hope to get all of that information with today when I discuss this with him in confidence.

HEMMER: Yes, Mr. Fannick, earlier this week in other interviews you said that he was agitated before the breakout. What was the source of that?

FANNICK: Well, he's been incarcerated for four months. We've tried to get discovery material from the district attorney. They have been not so liberal in giving me any information.

Monday, he was arrested on two of the homicides. That really was not a surprise.

Monday was also a significant date in that there were eight search warrants issued relative to this case, which had previously been sealed. They were unsealed and made available to the public on Monday. So, Tuesday's media coverage was pretty extensive.

I sensed between Tuesday and Friday there was this increased agitation. I believe that he was being viewed differently by people within the correctional facility, and that caused some uneasiness. It was not to the point where I felt I needed to intervene on his behalf and ask that he be relocated or anything to that extent, but that was really the basis for my comments.

HEMMER: Demetrius Fannick is the attorney for Hugo Selenski, live this morning in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Thank you for talking with us. Hugo Selenski now back in police custody. The charges for murder still stand. Whether this impacts the case, though, is something we will all wait and see now.

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