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Police Announce Arrest in Child Murder Case
Aired July 19, 2002 - 14:08 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: More now to the surprising development of the past hour. If you are just tuning in, we have been talking about an arrest that has been made in the kidnapping and killing of Samantha Runnion. She was the little California girl snatched from her yard Monday evening.
CNN's Rusty Dornin is on the scene in Stanton, California, after that pretty blockbuster news conference -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kyra, there had been a buzz for the past 12 hours about these search warrants and folks that had been detained, and specifically this 27-year-old man out in Lake Elsinore, Alejandro Avila. But the sheriff's department would never confirm anything. And finally, Sheriff Mike Carona came out in a press conference just about an hour ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF MICHAEL CARONA, ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: At 9:55 this morning, we have made an arrest in connection with this case. At 9:55 this morning, members of the investigative team arrested Alejandro Avila, date of birth, 3-13-75, a 27-year-old male, 6 foot tall, 200 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, one of the most amazing things is how much this suspect does resemble the sketch that was issued by a 5-year-old witness to the kidnapping.
Now, Avila does live in Lake Elsinore with his mother. And apparently a freelance photographer, John Casper (ph), did speak to his mother, who claimed that her son really had nothing to do with this case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADELINA AVILA, SUSPECT'S MOTHER: He is not being charged. They are just investigating, because he has a green car. But his car is a Thunderbird.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were they looking for here?
AVILA: I don't know, some kind of evidence. They took a lot of stuff, so I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What kind of stuff?
AVILA: But I really don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What kind of stuff?
AVILA: Like I had (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the rocking chair, they took that with a lot of hair, because it was -- it was a lot of hairs, and I told them it was a cat's hair. So they took it. So...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did they mention this little girl who was killed in their investigation?
AVILA: Well, they gave me the search warrant, and it mentioned the little girl's death. And then I said, well, I don't think my son did anything. But as long as he is cooperating, and I don't have anything against that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't think your son would do something like that.
AVILA: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Well, apparently the apartment manager at his complex also told CNN that she had seen Avila around a light green Thunderbird on Tuesday night behaving very suspiciously, repeatedly walking around the car and looking at the tires. However, she did not connect it with this case at the time. She did not call police.
Now, here at the scene at the command center, when the sheriff came out, we were expecting him to just talk -- you know, take questions and talk a little bit about some of the breaks in the case. What we weren't prepared for was the 911 tape of the man who initially found Samantha Runnion's body.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, what's going on?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god! We found a dead body, please hurry!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Relax, relax.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, I'm in the Ortegas, OK? Ortega Mountains on the Riverside (UNINTELLIGIBLE), OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen to me...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need you to...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm scared to sit here. There's another truck up the street, and we want to get out of here. We're scared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, I understand that. I need to know the streets...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Listen, I've got to hear her, what? Tell me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, what street are you on?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm on Killen Trail. It's a main street. It's not a main street, but it's a big street out here, K-I-L-L-E-N Trail.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. And what is your name?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Justin (AUDIO GAP). Hey, can I go to my house? I'm really nervous right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's fine. What is your phone number?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My phone number that I'm on is a cell phone (AUDIO GAP). If you can call me in a couple of minutes, I'll be at my house, too. I'll give you that number.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the number -- and it's (AUDIO GAP). Hey, we're going to go, because I'm scared right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justin, what is your...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your address?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know my address there, I just moved there like a couple of weeks ago. It's my friend's. It's (AUDIO GAP). They let me move into their barn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we just got off of work, and we pulled up to it (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this is a little girl!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, Justin, Justin, I need you to calm down a little.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justin, I understand, now you need to calm down a little. Where is the body at on Killen?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, all of the gaps that you were hearing in that tape were when the man, that we only know as Justin, was giving his name, his address, his phone number, that sort of thing. Obviously, beside himself, he just said that he does have a 3-year-old daughter. He is a father, and he does later in the tape talk about that he knew it was a little girl, and he was afraid that it was, indeed, Samantha Runnion in this case.
The interesting thing is that the Sheriff's Department played this tape before they ever even made the announcement about the arrest of this suspect. And then, the sheriff refused to take any questions at all, only to say that they would be back at 6:00 Pacific to -- with a further update on the arrest in this case -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Rusty, did you get any word on why they did it that way? Why they played these 911 tapes? I mean, you heard it, I head it, we all heard it, and it was -- we just gasped. I mean, it was like a punch to the heart. I don't know if it was for the emotional stake or there was another reason behind that.
DORNIN: They have been very tight-lipped here. The sheriff has pretty much told people not to say anything, and they are not talking to reporters. But, Kyra, all along, this has been very dramatic, very emotional. This sheriff has taken, you know, advantage of the emotional aspects of this case, and coming out and making very strong statements and issuing sort of a challenge even to the suspect and saying we will find you, and earlier this morning saying we are narrowing it down, we will get you wherever you are, that kind of thing.
So it has been very dramatic all along. Now, whether this was designed to be part of that, we are just not sure.
PHILLIPS: I've got to tell you, Rusty, when this is all over with and said and done, I will tell you an amazing interview will be a sit-down with that sheriff.
DORNIN: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Rusty Dornin, amazing developments out of Orange County -- thanks, Rusty.
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