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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Stopping the Storm Surge; Found Alive 10 Years Later; Held Hostage; New Orleans Volunteers; Violent Sleep; Fire over Ice

Aired March 23, 2006 - 23:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening again from New Orleans, where the volunteers all around us are working to rebuild from the last hurricane. And a lot of engineers are racing the calendar to protect people against the next hurricane.
ANNOUNCER: Stopping the storm surge. Will these massive floodgates save New Orleans from the next hurricane? But how can residents be sure? We're "Keeping them Honest."

A 14-year-old girl vanishes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TANYA KACH, FOUND ALIVE AFTER 10 YEARS: I was in a room, a bedroom, for 10 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: And now she reappears. Tonight, her story of who took her, where she'd been, a tale of terror and relief to be back with her father.

And Dr. Sanjay Gupta with the strange and dangerous world of parasomnia, the mysterious sleep disorder that turns nightmares into reality.

This is a special edition of ANDERSON COOPER 360. Live from New Orleans, here's Anderson Cooper.

COOPER: And welcome to 360. We are live here in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, where several hundred volunteers from all around the country have come. Many of them here (inaudible). They are spending their spring break not in Florida, not drinking like some other college students may be. They young people, these young Americans, are here to help the people in New Orleans rebuild. They are gutting homes. They are cleaning up. There is so much work to be done, and they're making a great contribution to their country and to this community.

With hurricane season just a few weeks off, the fear is that the next season is going to be even worse. The hope is that taking shape not far from here, that the levees will be built stronger and better. Engineers and construction workers, assembling a gargantuan new set of floodgates. It's a $100 million project.

The bottom line is measured in words, not money. Three words -- will it work?

CNN Sean Callebs, tonight "Keeping them Honest."

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four stories tall, 70 tons worth of protection. You're looking at two of four massive structures that make up the skeleton of the floodgates that will stand sentry at the mouth of the 17th Street Canal. The first line of protection for New Orleans the next time a massive storm threatens to push water from Lake Pontchartrain into the city.

RAY C. NAGIN, MAYOR, NEW ORLEANS: It's one thing to see it on paper, but when you come here and you see this massive structure and it's being manufactured right here in Louisiana.

CALLEBS: By now, the world knows what happened to New Orleans when wind pushed raging water from the lake through the city's canals. Some levees were topped, some undermined. The result was disaster.

LEWIS SETLIFF, COLONEL, ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: The prudent solution is, don't let the storm surge in.

CALLEBS: The Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing construction of the floodgates, gates that can be lowered to create a 29-foot wall of steel. New protection is going up on three canals. The 17th Street, Orleans Avenue and London Avenue. Make no mistake, this is not a guaranteed solution to flooding concerns.

SETLIFF: There is an element of risk. Our job is to minimize that risk as best we can.

CALLEBS: And it is hard to overstate what's at stake here.

NAGIN: Well, this was the determinant for a lot of people to make the final call on whether to rebuild or not.

CALLEBS: On one side of the 17th Street Canal, Jefferson Parish to Tony's restaurant. It wasn't flooded and business continues. But owner Tony Montalbano's house is across the bridge in flood ravaged Orleans Parish.

(On camera): So this was your perfect house?

TONY MONTALBANO, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: Oh yes. We got it to right where we wanted it.

CALLEBS (voice-over): Tony and wife Ashley have gutted their home, but may never move back.

ASHLEY MONTALBANO, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: As much as they would say these gates are going to protect you, the pumps are going to protect you -- which could very well be the case, but you just don't know. How can you trust it after what happened?

T. MONTALBANO: It's all words, no action. They're not giving us any -- they're not giving us a reason right now to come back. CALLEBS: The Corps of Engineers says history shows them that over the past 40 years there have only been three storms that would have required these floodgates.

But people like the Montalbanos know, the one time they needed protection, it wasn't there. So they say, it's hard to put their faith in promises.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Yes. There have been so many promises. The bottom line, the main question is, will they be ready by June 1st?

CALLEBS (on camera): Yes, that's without question the target date. Without fail, the Army Corps of Engineers say they will be ready June 1st, at all three of those sites.

COOPER: All right. That's good news. Let's hope. Sean Callebs, thanks very much.

CALLEBS: Can I talk about this?

COOPER: Yes, what is this?

CALLEBS: This is a clunk that came out of one of those 40-foot structures. Just feel how heavy it is.

COOPER: Wow.

CALLEBS: That is basically what it's made of. There will be pins coming out of this that will hold those floodgates again, but that's -- that's the future for the city right there.

COOPER: All right. Let's hope it works. Sean, appreciate it. Thanks very much.

From Pennsylvania tonight, a story will find simply hard to believe. Take a look at this picture. Her name is Tanya Kach. The picture was taken when she was 14 years old. That was back in 1996. That is the year she vanished.

For a decade her family didn't know if she was alive or dead. That all changed this week. Take a look, Tanya Kach now, alive, well and back with her father who never gave up hope.

For 10 years now, the 24-year-old woman says she was held a virtual prisoner by her former school security guard in his home, in his bedroom. A home that was just two miles away from her childhood house.

In a moment, we'll talk to the man who led police to her. First, CNN's Heidi Collins has the bizarre story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TANYA KACH, FOUND ALIVE AFTER 10 YEARS: Everybody, this is my dad.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This isn't just a story about happy reunions. The way Tanya Nicole Kach tells it, this is also a story about lies. A terrible 10-year-long string of lies.

It begins in 1996 when she was an eighth grader from a broken home, going to a suburban Pittsburgh middle school. And she says, going through a rough time. She began a romantic relationship with the school's security guard.

KACH: And I thought I found someone who loved me and said he'd take care of me. So I, you know, and I thought that I wasn't loved at home. And he says, don't worry, I'll take care of you. I love you.

COLLINS: So at age 14, Tanya says she ran away with the 37-year- old man. And did not find what she expected.

KACH: I was in a room, a bedroom for 10 years.

COLLINS: Tanya says she knew what was happening to her wasn't normal, wasn't right.

KACH: There were times when I would threaten to leave, and there were times he'd threaten to kill me.

COLLINS: But did she ever think of telling anyone?

KACH: I did, but I thought I'd be on the streets because I didn't think anybody cared. Because he would tell me, your case is dead. It's cold.

COLLINS: But it wasn't cold or dead. Tanya's parents made sure of that. She was still listed in a national database of missing children. When this week, she told her story to the owner of a convenience store, who then told the police.

JOE SPARICO, HELPED IDENTIFY TANYA KACH: I didn't believe it at first, but then she says, if you go on the website for missing children, you will see my name.

COLLINS: The man she was living with, Thomas Hose, has now been arrested. He was not charged with kidnapping, but with having sex with a minor. And through his attorney, he denies any wrongdoing.

JIM ECKER, ATTORNEY FOR THOMAS HOSE: I'm not admitting to you in any way, shape or form that she stayed with him or lived with him. That's something that we'll find out at a -- you know, in a trial. But I certainly know that she was not kidnapped, physically abused in any way.

COLLINS: Both Hose's attorney and law enforcement sources say the story is more complicated than Tanya indicates. Tanya Kach says all she wants to do now is finish school, do volunteer work and spend time with her parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, TANYA KACH'S FATHER: Because I got my girl. KACH: My dad loves me.

COLLINS: Heidi Collins, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, Tanya Kach says she was stunned to learn that her father never stopped looking for her. And that's not all she had to say after disappearing for a decade.

Tonight her story in her own words.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KACH: I was just looking for love, and I, you know, I was going through a rough time, you know, teenage years. And I met him. And he was like, oh, you know, don't worry, you know. I love you. I'll take care of you.

So I was in a room, a bedroom, for 10 years. I didn't see the light of day. I mean, I did see through the windows, but didn't go out, didn't see people.

I started reading books and I'd have to turn the TV down real low, turn the radio down real low. And then he finally got a TV that I could put headphones in and the radio where I can put headphones in. You know, and I just sat around. Sometimes I'd go to sleep in the afternoon, just to pass the time.

There were times when I'd -- I would threaten to leave, and there were times he'd threaten to kill me. Just -- not many, but then there were times that he would pull a guilt trip on me.

For four years I wore hand-me-downs from him and his son for a year -- for up until 2000, and after all those years, I guess, you know, I was a little unrecognizable. I could go out and every now and then buy clothes.

I mean, I went out here and there from 2000 on, but it was few and far between. But to actually be out and talk to people, I mean it was a luxury for me. I like people. I like talking to people, but I couldn't say nothing. But finally they -- they kept pursuing it, which meant they cared. And then I broke down and then had to tell. But I asked them, don't let me be on the streets. I just want my dad and my mom and my family.

I didn't get to go to school. I didn't graduate. I didn't have a sweet 16. I didn't get to go to the prom. I didn't (inaudible) real life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: That was Tanya Kach, in her own words.

If it weren't for my next guest, Tanya Kach may still be missing. Joe Sparico is the owner of the store where she would go into all the time. As you heard in Heidi's report, he called the police when she finally told him her secret.

Joe Sparico joins us now from Pittsburgh.

Joe, this is just such a strange story. After keeping this horrendous secret for 10 years, why do you think it was that she finally told you?

SPARICO: Well, you know, to tell you the truth, she came in my store about -- I want to say last September, and, you know, we just started to talk a lot. And basically she's, you know, she's a very pleasant girl, very nice girl. And just talking with her and got to know her name. And her name to me was Nicki Allen. And, you know, as time went on, we got...

COOPER: That's what she said, her name was Nicki?

SPARICO: Pardon?

COOPER: That's what she said her name was, Nicki?

SPARICO: She said her name was Nicki Allen, right. And you know...

COOPER: And how did she seem? Did she seem nervous or afraid?

SPARICO: Yes. Well, yes, at first, yes. I mean, it was just that she was so happy to be talking to somebody, you know. She was always so happy and just to be around people. Customers coming in my store, she would talk to them. Little kids, she would talk to them.

And you know, we just got to be friends. And I befriended her, you know. And I mean, she had told me a story...

COOPER: What did -- what did she say about this guy, Hose? What did she say about him?

SPARICO: Well, she never said anything about him. But basically what she did, was she told me a story that she worked as a babysitter in -- a couple miles from where she was living at. And she had an apartment with a girlfriend. And that's how she paid her rent and got her bills and that, you know. And that she met Tom through -- that he was a security guard at Century III Mall, and that, you know, that's how they first started to meet, when she was 18 years old. And then she told...

COOPER: Did you know him at all? I mean, did he come into the store?

SPARICO: No. He very, very, very, very seldom come in my store. Once in a great while to get a paper, but that was it. His father did, and he'd come in to buy papers all the time. But...

COOPER: Did she -- sorry, go ahead.

SPARICO: No, she...

COOPER: Did his father live in the home with him?

SPARICO: Yes, he did, yes. The father, the mother and the son.

COOPER: It's so bizarre, I think, for people to understand. I mean, did she say why she didn't leave before now?

SPARICO: No, it -- she never did, you know, I mean, her being -- actually, she told me she was 25 years old. And it's sort of like -- and I would say to her, you know, she would talk sometimes and I did ask her a question, why do you date an older man. And I says, what does your mother think of that? And she'd say to me, well, my mother, I don't know where my mother's at. My mother, she doesn't want me anyway. And I said, well, how about your dad? And my father doesn't love me either and neither do my grandparents and that. And we, you know, it was just, you know, I said, wow, that's really strange, you know, and weird. But as time went on and we got to talking and I says, why don't you get a job and get out of this situation? And then she says, I really can't get a job. And I says -- she says I have no high school education. And I says, well, I says, how about me helping you get a GED? And she said, I can't do that either.

So as time went on and we talked and she started to go to this church up in -- about a mile from my store. She would walk there on Sundays. And then she started to work at the thrift store at this church also. But then...

COOPER: And it was really that process which made her able to finally explain her secret to you and you were really instrumental in rescuing her, everyone says.

Joe, we appreciate you being on the program. It is a remarkable story. We appreciate you telling your role in it. Thank you very much.

SPARICO: Thank you.

COOPER: Coming up tonight on 360, another kind of hostage drama when we come back. The kind that plays out all the time in Iraq. We'll bring you details of a major rescue and show you the terror of captivity through the eyes of a hostage who lived to tell about it.

Also, the case that is gripping the country. A young woman murdered. A bouncer charged. Today, he got his day in court.

And sleeping beauty meets -- well, Jekyll and Hyde. Can you turn in for a good night's sleep and turn into a murderer? It's something called parasomnia, and we'll tell you all about it when 360 continues, live in New Orleans with these great volunteers from all around the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: And welcome back. We come to you from the Ninth Ward in New Orleans, where a couple hundred volunteers have been spending their spring break. College students from all around the country, working here to help the city rebuild. A Mississippi sheriff fights FEMA and is called a modern day Robin Hood for robbing ice -- that's right, ice for its residents after Katrina. That story is coming up.

But first Erica Hill, from "HEADLINE NEWS," has some of the other stories we're following tonight -- Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi again, Anderson.

We're going to start off in Orange Beach, Alabama. The family of a murdered pastor from Tennessee, now found safe tonight. But now the wife is apparently a suspect. Matthew Winkler was found shot to death yesterday. His wife and three children were missing.

Meantime, in Chile, that bus that crashed down a mountainside was not certified to carry tourists. Twelve Americans died in the crash. They were on their way back to a cruise ship. Celebrity Cruise has said the victims made their own arrangements with the bus operator.

And just off Jamaica, a fire on a cruise ship, apparently started by a cigarette. Princess Cruises says an elderly American passenger died from a heart attack. At least 11 others were treated for smoke inhalation.

Hugs an tears tonight in Milwaukee at a candlelight vigil for two missing boys. They were last seen on Sunday. And despite an extensive search and several tips, police say they still don't have any significant leads. Those are the two boys, if you've seen them.

But speaking of tips -- all right, a little lighter here. If you want to know what Vice President Dick Cheney likes when he travels, you could just check out thesmokinggun.com where you will find a document which is apparently authentic that says Mr. Cheney wants his hotel suites at a cool 68 degrees, all the lights on. And, Anderson, he wants his TV tuned to "FOX News." I mean, how can he cover all the angles when he's covering the country, if he's not watching you? Or prime news tonight on "HEADLINE NEWS."

COOPER: Somehow I'm not surprised that he's watching them. Anyway, Erica, thanks.

Ahead on 360, a small town sheriff who is now a folk hero after Katrina. He made sure his city got the supplies it desperately needed. Guess what? Now he's in trouble for what he did. Could he really be punished for cutting through red tape during a disaster? We'll find out.

Also, a nightclub bouncer charged with murdering a New York graduate student, enters his plea. And the young woman's family thanks the city she loved so much.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEJANDRA ST. GUILLEN, IMETTE'S SISTER: New York was Imette's home. She loved this city and its people. And you have honored her memory with your outpourings of love and support for her and for our family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: And welcome back. We are live in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. A lot of volunteers who are very happy to be here, helping the people here rebuild.

After four months -- after four months in captivity -- see they are very enthusiastic. After four months in captivity, three hostages -- two Canadians and a Britain -- are now in the British Embassy in the green zone in Baghdad, waiting to go home. They were freed without a shot by American and British forces acting on a tip. They had to come to Iraq, along with American Tom Fox, as part of a Christian peace mission -- they had come, I should say. Mr. Fox was murdered and dumped -- his body dumped on a Baghdad street. It's a fate not far from the thoughts of anyone who travels to Iraq. Some fall victim, others live to tell about it.

CNN's Nic Robertson has one hostage's story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is how you get kidnapped in Baghdad. A wrong turn, an empty street, two cars speeding at yours.

PHIL SANDS, KIDNAPPED JOURNALIST: Immediately you knew what was going to happen. And you know you are in big trouble.

ROBERTSON: It's a terrifying moment. As Freelance Journalist Phil Sands knows, when you realize you are a kidnap target. Sands was trying to work under the radar. No security, just a translator, sometimes a driver. All the while, pushing to report from the middle of events.

SANDS: I suppose it's the arrogance and always thinking well, I'll be smart enough, I'll be sensible enough and I'll be lucky enough to make it work.

ROBERTSON: Last December, Sands sensed the situation had taken a terrible turn for the worse when he visited a Baghdad hospital.

SANDS: There was a really nice doctor there, and she said to me, what are you doing here? This place is hell. Iraq is hell now.

ROBERTSON: It was too dangerous to stay, but Sands wanted one last story.

The day after Christmas, with his translator and his driver, they went out to find it. And of course, when they made that wrong turn, Sands himself would become the subject of that last story.

Almost before he knew it, Sands was pulled out of his car, put in the trunk of another. SANDS: It was a kidnapping. It was done extremely effectively and very quickly. I was handcuffed behind my back and with plastic zip ties.

ROBERTSON: In the trunk, blindfolded, he panicked, thought about his family, his translator, himself.

SANDS: In my mind, I was dead. I really believed that. In a way, that's quite liberating because you can't get any lower than that.

ROBERTSON: As Sands recounts it, he was taken to a house. He was questioned. When he said he was a journalist, his captors told him he wouldn't be harmed. He told them how to get online to see his stories in the San Francisco Chronicle -- proof he was a reporter.

(On camera): What followed was several days of tedium and terror with a twist of the absurd. The Sunni insurgents who wanted the Americans out of Iraq often treated him kindly. Once taking him at gunpoint to a 20-foot pit. He thought he was about to be shot. Instead they forced him to do aerobics, to keep him healthy.

SANDS: They would consistently try and get me to eat more. It was almost like being at your grandmother's, I mean, eat more, eat more, you know, you're thin. Why are you so thin?

ROBERTSON (voice-over): But always looming, he feared the day they would tell him it's time to make his hostage tape.

SANDS: I had hoped that they saw me as enough of a human being that they would shoot me instead of behead me.

ROBERTSON: And then, unexpectedly, on his fifth night, his ordeal suddenly came the an end.

SANDS: And then the door just kind of exploded open. And very quickly two American soldiers were coming into the room. As this young soldier lifted his flashlight into my face, he obviously saw that I wasn't an Iraqi. And I said to him, I'm a British journalist. I was kidnapped.

ROBERTSON: Thirty minutes later, Phil Sands was on a helicopter. And with his typical British reserve, thanking his rescuers.

SANDS: I sat there and said, gentlemen, it's very nice to see you all. And I'd just like to thank you because I think you saved my life. And happy new year. One of them said, hi, you know, happy new year. It's really nice to have you back safely. Of course, we didn't know you were even missing.

ROBERTSON: He'd been kidnapped and no one knew about it. His parents on vacation hadn't been checking in. His contacts in the newspapers, also off for Christmas and New Year's.

Back home now in England and far from Iraq, Phil Sands knows he has little comfort to offer the family of kidnapped Journalist Jill Carroll, who has now been held for almost 80 days.

SANDS: My eyes were open and I did it anyway. And yes, then it's just a case of you can decide well that's either -- again, if you want to simplify it, that's either a noble and a good thing or it's just stupid. You know, that's journalism. That's it, isn't it?

ROBERTSON: His last story there was his own story. A story about a very lucky man.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Unbelievable story, Nic. Has it put him off being a journalist?

ROBERTSON (on camera): You know, the crazy thing about it, Anderson, I talked to him last night. He would still like to be in Iraq. He doesn't want to come here right at this moment. He would like to be here, but he's wise enough not to do that. But he's back in the region again, just come back for the first time to start reporting again -- Anderson.

COOPER: Unbelievable. And to be kidnapped and no one realize it. That is just incredible.

Nic Robertson, thanks.

A lot more -- a lot happening here tonight. I just want to introduce you to some of the young volunteers who have spent their spring break down here for the last couple of weeks. They could have been down in Florida partying, but they are here, helping people rebuild their homes.

I just want to introduce them to some of you.

What's your name?

SEAN: Sean.

COOPER: Where are you from?

SEAN: Ohio State University.

COOPER: Why did you come here?

SEAN: Came down here to help the people who have been affected by the floods, for, you know, to help them out and to spread the message.

COOPER: And what is it -- is it different than you thought it would be down here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not really. A little bit, I guess. I mean, there's a lot of damage and it's just great to help out. And everyone really appreciates all the help that we give.

COOPER: Do you feel like you're making a difference? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, definitely. It's been really cool to -- just to see the impact that we're able to make and to -- wouldn't have been able to talk to some of the homeowners. That's been cool too.

COOPER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To hear their stories.

COOPER: Were you surprised at how much damage there is? I mean, it's -- that's seven months later or nearly seven months later, that it's all still out there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. It's one thing you hear about it and you see it on TV, but when you're actually there and experiencing it, you just can't describe it.

COOPER: And Reverend, you're sport of sponsoring all these people. You've made it possible for them to live here. It's got to do your heart good to see all these young people from all around the country coming here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, REVEREND: Oh, it's just wonderful. Not only me, but also the community. The community has a new excitement. People around are just coming back and they're talking about it. They're given a new hope. So people can come back to rebuild their lives. So we are excited. And these young people are the talk of the town. They have come from all over the country. And we're excited about what's happening.

COOPER: How about you guys, is it shocking being here? Were you shocked to see all this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. We're very shocked.

COOPER: You're all nervous all of a sudden. You were talking to me all before. They've been yammering all night long about how they want to interviewed.

What's been the most surprising thing to you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That all this rubble is still here, like there's...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After seven months.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, seven months later, I can't believe there's rubble to rooftops, like the houses are still in streets and very devastating and very sad to me.

COOPER: And you want to be a reporter. What's the story here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need more people. We got all these awesome people here working for God and working for this community, and we need a lot more. Let's hope that all these people come back, and a lot of work to be done. We need more hands, we need more feet. That's what we need here.

COOPER: And spring break, a lot of these young people are going back to school tomorrow. That's why they get to stay up late tonight. But they're hoping to come back during the summer and, as he said, there is so much need here. Thousands of people are needed to come down here to volunteer. Young people, old people, anyone who is able to, needs to come down here to New Orleans and to the Gulf Coast in Mississippi.

A lot more happening tonight, to tell you about. Darryl Littlejohn was indicted for murder of a very bright young woman. New details are emerging about the case. His day in court. We'll cover all the angles.

Plus, crazy talk, violent attacks, even murder by people who are in fact sleeping. It is a dangerous condition called parasomnia. So who's likely to get it? Dr. Sanjay Gupta investigates, ahead on 360.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: In New York today, the bouncer accused of strangling and raping a female student to death was arraigned on murder charges.

In a jailhouse interview, the defendant says he didn't kill Imette St. Guillen, but police believe a wealth of forensic evidence proves he did.

CNN's Rick Sanchez investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES HYNES, KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: They returned a three-count indictment, charging Darryl Littlejohn with two counts of murder in the second degree and one count of murder in the first degree.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes made the announcement today that most people expected, Darryl Littlejohn would be charged with the murder of Imette St. Guillen.

HYNES: The evidence before the grand jury included a timeline.

SANCHEZ: A timeline that began at 4:00 in the morning on February 25th. Littlejohn, a bouncer at The Falls bar in SoHo says he escorted Imette out, at the manager's request. Her body was found beside a Brooklyn road later that day. She had been raped and strangled. She was covered with a blanket, her head wrapped in packing tape, her hands bound with a plastic tie.

Police had already said a tiny speck of blood on that tie was a DNA match to Darryl Littlejohn.

Today they laid out the plethora of physical evidence and testimony presented to the grand jury. COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE: There were rug fibers, there were mink hair and rabbit hair that were consistent -- they were found in the -- in the blanket and the tape covering the victim's face. They were consistent with the rug fibers, mink and rabbit collar jackets that were found in the defendant's apartment.

A cell phone used exclusively by Littlejohn had been in close proximity to where her body was found.

A witness said he saw a van that matched the description of the one used by Littlejohn, a Windstar without license plates, making a u- turn at about 7:30 p.m. at the place Imette's body was found.

SANCHEZ: The grand jury did not indict Littlejohn for rape, but it was clearly something they considered in their bill of indictment, which stated, Imette St. Guillen was killed "while the defendant was in the course of and in furtherance of committing or attempting to commit the crime of rape or criminal sexual act or sexual abuse in the first degree."

Darryl Littlejohn pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Brooklyn Supreme Court this afternoon. He has maintained his innocence throughout the investigation. Even appearing on local television to deny he did it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you kill Imette St. Guillen?

DARRYL LITTLEJOHN, ACCUSED OF MURDERING IMETTE ST. GUILLEN: No, I did not.

SANCHEZ: His attorney says he's ready to begin defending his client.

KEVIN O'DONNELL, DARRYL LITTLEJOHN'S ATTORNEY: I'm looking forward to issuing subpoenas to the court so that I can get a chance to review the evidence.

SANCHEZ: But Imette St. Guillen's family, in court today to face her accused killer, only remembered what they had lost.

ALEJANDRA ST. GUILLEN, IMETTE'S SISTER: Imette was a good person, a kind person. Her heart was full of love, a love she willingly shared with her friends and family. With Imette's death, the world has lost something very special far too soon.

SANCHEZ: Rick Sanchez, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: One family's heartache.

Coming up, a dangerous condition that can make a good night's sleep turn violent or even deadly in some cases. Tonight the nightmare called parasomnia. Part of our special series on sleep.

Also, after Katrina, ice could be a life saver. And a local sheriff found the ice people needed. So now all these months later, why does FEMA have a problem with that? When 360 continues, live from New Orleans.

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COOPER: Well, we all say we want our dreams to come true, but be careful what you wish for. For some people dreams come true every night and it is frightening. These people suffer from a rare condition that causes them to act out in their sleep, often violently. 360 MD Sanjay Gupta takes a look at what's called parasomnia, as his special series on sleep continues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're looking at good sleep gone bad. A twilight zone where the normal barrier between sleep and wakefulness is blurred.

These people are actually asleep, but they suffer conditions called parasomnia, disorders that frequently interfere with sleep, like sleepwalking or night terror.

In extreme case, parasomniacs show all sorts of strange behavior -- eating, talking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, oh wait, wait, wait. No, no, no, no.

GUPTA: Throwing punches or worse.

Toronto Native Kenneth Parks drove a car 14 miles to his in-laws house where he stabbed and beat his mother-in-law to death. But he was acquitted of murder on the grounds that he was probably asleep at the time.

DR. CARLOS SCHENCK, MINNESOTA REGIONAL SLEEP DISORDERS CENTER: We're at the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorder Center.

GUPTA: Dr. Carlos Schenck helped discover one of the most bizarre and sleep conditions. REM behavior disorder, or RBD.

SCHENCK: Men with REM behavior disorder usually either stay in bed and become violent or charge out of bed, run into the furniture or the wall and then awaken. Whereas, sleepwalkers actually leave their room, leave their home and may even drive a car.

GUPTA: The REM cycle is when we do our most active dreaming. In healthy REM sleep, the body is paralyzed even as the mind races. But with RBD, the safeguard of paralysis is gone. And patients act out their often violent dreams.

CAL POPE (ph), SUFFERS FROM RBD: Well, kicking, fighting, cussing, whatever.

GUPTA: Cal Pope (ph) was one of Dr. Schenck's first patients, more than 15 years ago. By the time we caught up with him, he and his wife, Rawina (ph), were getting ready to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.

RAWINA POPE, HUSBAND SUFFERS FROM RBD: Oh, they said it would never last.

GUPTA: They came to the clinic after suffering nine years of Cal's (ph) violent nightmares. Rawina (ph) says she'll never forget the first one.

R. POPE: He was dreaming that he was trying to kick a neighbor out of the bed, and what he was doing was kicking me just with all of his power. He was just pummeling me with his feet, and literally kicked me out of bed.

GUPTA: In the sleep center, patients go to bed wired with more than 20 electrodes. The machinery of sleep and dreams plays out, as technicians watch from a separate room.

SCHENCK: Now we can enter our mission control.

GUPTA: Watching the patients, it's hard to believe they're really unconscious. But Schenck says sleep is impossible to fake.

SCHENCK: That indicates the deepest stage of sleep.

GUPTA: This is a sleep chart of another patient with RBD during a REM cycle, probably during a dream. The top two lines track the normal rapid eye movements. The black line here is a sensor on a chin muscle. That's a good marker since in healthy people it would be totally paralyzed, the line would be straight. On this chart, it does something else entirely. That indicates a parasomnia.

SCHENCK: Cal's (ph) was quite severe, as severe almost as the most severe case that we had seen.

R. POPE: You want to get some water to make coffee.

GUPTA: And yet Cal Pope's (ph) case was in some ways difficult, in that the patient wasn't really aware what was happening.

C. POPE (ph): Maybe once a week, but it wouldn't be that bad.

R. POPE: Well, this happened every time he went to sleep, and more than once a night.

GUPTA: Desperate, the loving couple was forced into separate beds.

R. POPE: It was a lonely thing to do. It's like a death. It's like a separation.

GUPTA: Fortunately, it turned out there is a very effective treatment. The National Sleep Foundation says a drug called clonazepam stifles symptoms in nine of 10 patients if taken in the proper dosage every night. Cal Pope (ph) showed us a hole he kicked in the wall on the night when he missed a single dose. Ninety percent of patients are men, mostly older men. No one knows exactly what causes RBD. But Schenck has found one major clue. A disturbing discovery. That a majority of patients develop Parkinson's disease within 10 or 15 years. It may be that RBD is caused by the disintegration of neurons controlling movement, the same disintegration that's responsible for Parkinson's.

Pope is lucky. It's been 27 years since his first escapade, as he calls it. And he shows no signs of Parkinson's. He can enjoy his seven children, 16 grandchildren and 14 great-grandkids. And at age 81, he can finally get a good night's sleep.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: That's great that he finally got treatment.

Just ahead, the sheriff who is in legal trouble for actually helping people after Katrina.

First, Erica Hill, with the business headlines -- Erica.

HILL: Hi Anderson.

We're going to kick things off with the markets, where some good news today oddly ended up being bad news. The major indices fell on the news of strong home sales, which can trigger higher interest rates, which then tends to pull money out of the market. Following? Good.

Shares of Google up -- way up. And the reason here is because Google was give a spot in the S&P 500 Index, which opens the gate to a lot of money from big investment funds who won't invest in companies not on the prestigious list.

And finally, those housing numbers we mentioned, sales of existing homes rose more than 5 percent last month. That was a big surprise and another sign that even as the housing boom may be cooling off, it is cooling off smoothly and not crashing as some had feared -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Erica, thanks.

Straight ahead, the volunteers all around me, here in New Orleans and "On the Radar." Hear what the rest of the country is saying about their efforts, when 360 continues.

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COOPER: Well, we have heard so many story, countless stories really, about what didn't happen after Katrina.

Tonight, a different kind of story. It's about a sheriff who refused to just sit back and wait when his city and its people were desperate for help. Here is the twist, though. Because of what he did, now he's in trouble with the law.

Here's CNN's Sean Callebs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: Sheriff Billy McGee is a local hero in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. His story -- a modern twist on Robin Hood. He robbed from the federal government to give to the needy in his county. It was six days after Katrina. Sweltering heat, steamy desperation, no food, no water, and no end in sight. So the sheriff and his merry men hijacked two huge FEMA trucks loaded with ice. Like any good hero, McGee doesn't like to talk much about what happened.

BILLY MCGEE, SHERIFF, FORREST COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI: Just that at some point that we can see the end of the road, that this passes.

CALLEBS: The ice was under lock and key at nearby Camp Shelby. McGee gave his deputies orders to take the trucks. And when a National Guardsman tried to stop them, the sheriff had the soldier handcuffed. And they drove off with the government's ice and doled it out to those in need. A deranged story for the local newspaper.

RICH CAMPBELL, OPINION EDITOR, HATTIESBURG, AMERICAN: It's one of those stories that almost has a life of its own because you've got a small town sheriff who took on the federal government, basically, or the good of his people.

CALLEBS: And for that, the sheriff may get prosecuted by the government.

But locals remember the relentless despair after the storm and haven't forgotten the sheriff's actions. A newspaper poll showed nearly 88 percent of the county residents don't want McGee prosecuted. Reports said he had worked out a plea bargain, but then the U.S. attorney in Jackson, Mississippi, recused himself because he's a former National Guardsman. Now the case is with the U.S. attorney in Baton Rouge, who is deciding whether to pursue charges.

CAMPBELL: That doesn't sit well with people here, especially people in south Mississippi who lived through the frustration and the incompetence, if I can be so bold, of the federal government.

CALLEBS: As much as McGee wants the attention to go away, it won't. Bumper stickers have cropped up and, naturally, they've already got a folk song to honor their folk hero.

(MUSIC)

CALLEBS: And it's also good fodder for lunch chat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would have probably done the same thing if I'd have been in his shoes, you know? I mean, we was hurting out there for a while.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, he stepped up and did something for the people. That's it. CALLEBS: McGee is a four-term sheriff. And many here would like to see him run again, arguing his career should not come to an end over this. A sheriff who is more popular than ever after becoming a modern day Robin Hood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And his popularity just keeps on growing.

CALLEBS: It really does. Today, Representative Bennie Thompson said there's no jury in the state that would convict him. And then secondly, the county board of supervisors also honored him today. Safe to say he is as popular in Forrest County as you are right now in the heart of the Lower Ninth Ward.

COOPER: Oh, wow. An amazing story. Sean, thank you very much.

"On the Radar" tonight, all of these great volunteers around us, they are getting a lot of reaction on the blog.

Frances in Chicago writes, "We should ALL roll up our sleeves and pitch in. Good for those kids and whoever organized their efforts!" This group is largely Campus Crusade for Christ. "We need more of this spirit, since help and rehab for the Gulf Coast isn't going to come from our government."

From Jodi in Calgary, Canada, "Young people these days too often are looked at negatively. Maybe this will show how much many do really care about others and not about getting plastered for a week."

And this from Cheryl in Raleigh. "Daytona Beach will be waiting next spring break and I'm sure this year they won't miss a few good kids. Maybe there is hope for the future?"

From where we stand, Cheryl, it is more than just maybe. We'll have more of 360 and more of these volunteers in a moment. Stay with us.

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COOPER: I want to thank all of these amazing volunteers who have come down here, dedicated their spring breaks. They're from schools all around the country. They've begged me to show their school colors here. We got UW -- what have we got, UW here? Northwestern. We've got Ohio State. Anyone know Ohio State here? Kansas University. UMass. Oregon State, and what else? Cal Poly. We've got Massachusetts. All right. They're from all around the country.

New Orleans needs as many volunteers as they can get.

"LARRY KING" is next. Thanks for watching.

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