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CNN Live Saturday

Interview with John Timoney

Aired May 25, 2002 - 22:16   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY: Well, she disappeared under the most mysterious of circumstances a year ago. And her ties to Congressman Gary Condit triggered a firestorm of controversy and a national manhunt. Well, this week, authorities discovered Chandra Levy's body.

And as CNN'S Jason Carroll tells us, the mystery's far from solved.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police on Saturday used cadaver dogs to canvass the area where Chandra Levy's remains were found in Rock Creek Park. They would not say if they found anything new. Investigators at the scene also would not confirm or deny a report in "The Washington Post," saying evidence at the scene suggests Levy may have tied up with a knotted piece of clothing.

SCOTT FEAR, SGT., U.S. PARK SERVICE: We've heard reports. I'm not sure if that's come from Metropolitan police department or not. I don't think they've confirmed that.

CARROLL: Levy's skeletal remains were found in the park on Wednesday by a man walking his dog.

(on camera): At this point, police have put together a computerized sketch of the crime scene. They looked at where Levy's remains were found, versus where her clothes were recovered. It's one of trying to determine whether or not Levy's death occurred here or if it occurred somewhere else.

(voice-over): So far, investigators have recovered what they believe to be Levy's University of Southern California sweatshirt, tennis shoes, and her Walkman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If she was deceased or murdered somewhere else, if that indeed happened, why would a murderer bother with a Walkman? So there are so many conflicting clues. And that's what's such a struggle.

CARROLL: Investigators say they're looking at all possible scenarios surrounding Levy's death, but detectives continue to believe what they're dealing with is a homicide.

Jason Carroll, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: John Timoney is a former Philadelphia police chief and he's joining us tonight with some of his insights into the Levy investigation. Thanks for being with us this evening.

JOHN TIMONEY, FMR. PHILADELPHIA POLICE CHIEF: Good evening, Catherine, how are you?

CALLAWAY: Doing great. Just reflecting a little bit on what we heard in Jason's report there...

TIMONEY: Yes.

CALLAWAY: And the woman made a good point. Why would someone bother with a Walkman? And of course, we never know what goes through someone's mind in this kind of incident. But how much can we really tell from what investigators found?

TIMONEY: Well, it's still early yet, but I wouldn't eliminate anything. She could've been killed there with the Walkman. She could've been killed somewhere else. And somebody tying her up, trying to make it look like it was a sexual predator in the park, you know, setting up a phony crime scene, if you will.

CALLAWAY: Right.

TIMONEY: So there are all sorts of possibilities. And they're at least, I think, two main suspects, Mr. Condit and then the fellow that's been jailed, the Salvadoran immigrant.

CALLAWAY: Well, I want to get back into some of the possibilities, but first let's move onto the suspects you just mentioned and talk about how -- what has been found this week will change any type of interrogation that is done.

TIMONEY: Oh, it will. You've got to remember, Catherine, up to this point, it was missing persons. And anytime you're doing a missing persons case, while it's very serious, you have a tendency in detectives, you know, to thread lightly -- gingerly. You can't really ask real, real hard questions, even though somebody may be a suspect. It's now a homicide. You know, the gloves are off. And now the question becomes much tougher. The follow up questions become much tougher, and the people that you're being interviewed, kind of understand that. And the lawyers understand it. You know, this is not just a missing persons now. This is a homicide. It's a hell of lot more serious.

CALLAWAY: It's interesting that it really does change the way the interrogation is done.

TIMONEY: Yes, absolutely, absolutely.

CALLAWAY: Tell us more about that?

TIMONEY: Well, now, I mean, if somebody, for example, gave -- that was a possible suspect gave you an alibi that didn't seem to match. You know, I don't know where I was. I was in my apartment for that three or four hour period. Well, that may be OK in a missing persons. When you get to a homicide, you want some -- much more specificity. Who knew you in the apartment? Did you make any phone calls? How do I check this out? How are we going to corroborate your, you know, your alibi, if you will?

CALLAWAY: There's no gray area?

TIMONEY: No.

CALLAWAY: None allowed.

TIMONEY: Yes.

CALLAWAY: When we're talking about some of the possibilities that we passed over a second ago...

TIMONEY: Yes.

CALLAWAY: ...one of the things that I'm -- that baffles me is the reports that she took a cab there wearing jogging clothes?

TIMONEY: Exactly. And that gives you, at least gives to me, I think an indication of a prior arrangement, not to go jogging. I mean, I jog myself. You don't take a cab to go jogging. You take a cab when you're going to meet somebody. And all indications are, that's what happened here. Now does that eliminate entirely the possibility that she was jogging and there was an attack by some sexual predator and killed? That's a possibility. But I go right away at least initially with the initial scenario that she was last seen taking a cab. We know for a fact that on the web site, she was going to that park. We think so.

She's found in that park. And there are, right now, I think, at least that we know of, two main suspects. And Mr. Condit, you know, this is his opportunity. He's been acting very guilty all along and suspicious all along. If there is no involvement whatsoever, then he should come forward -- he should seek out detectives, not wait to be spoken to and clear his name that if in fact the reason why he was acting strange, if you will, or not completely forthcoming during the first four interviews, that he was trying to hide the relationship that he had with this young lady, then all bets are off then.

Now we're talking about a homicide. Forget all about the hurt pride or what happens to the family. You got a young girl that's dead. We're trying to find the killer. And so, my suggestion to him is, you know, you come forward without waiting for the detectives to come to you.

CALLAWAY: Right, I don't think we should probably say he was acting guilty. I think we should probably say maybe of his actions were being questioned.

TIMONEY: Yes, yes, exactly. CALLAWAY: Would be a better way of putting that. And also, some concern about what was found now that perhaps the clothing may have been knotted. Now this is from another report.

TIMONEY: Right.

CALLAWAY: Would that really tell us anything?

TIMONEY: It may, but it could also be, as I said earlier, it could be staged.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

TIMONEY: You know, if you wanted to make it look like some homeless guy, some crazy guy had attacked her, and you were looking to cover up this crime and make it look like a robbery or a sexual assault gone awry...

CALLAWAY: Right.

TIMONEY: Then you would prepare these type of situations. You prepare the knot, if in fact the leotards as reported in today's papers was used to tie her up. But even that's not been confirmed yet.

CALLAWAY: John, what -- when you find a crime scene like this, how difficult is it to determine if the body had been there before, if it had been moved there? Will they be able to determine that? And will it be more obvious later on how this was missed when they first combed the area?

TIMONEY: Yes, well I think -- I know assistant chief Terry Gainer came out and said, you know, they canvassed -- they did what was called a grid search. But they did about 100 yards either side of the path, which didn't encompass this area, which was about 200 or 300 yards, off the path, but also down a ravine.

And so they admitted they didn't cover that particular area. So if the body was carried there, if it was driven there, hopefully they will find higher tracks or something like that.

CALLAWAY: Right.

TIMONEY: They'll also need the assistance of -- they've brought an archaeologist from the Smithsonian, but they probably also need the assistance of a botanist to look, you know, if the body was thrown over some foliage, some flowers, some weeds, they'd be able to tell if it was the early part of the summer, if it was May 1 or July or something like that.

CALLAWAY: But you know, John, it has been such a long time since she turned up missing. Do you think that there is enough evidence now for them to be able to solve this case?

TIMONEY: Yes, I mean, you can solve cases as you see every once and a while without a body. CALLAWAY: Yes.

TIMONEY: If you can come up with enough evidence presented to a grand jury, get an indictment. And the one thing that has not been mentioned last week, you know, the prosecutors in this case is the federal government. That's what prosecutes the homicides in Washington, D.C. It's quite literally you've got now -- now that it's no longer a missing person, it's a homicide case. It's going to be prosecuted by a federal district attorney.

Matter of fact Bob Mueller, the director of the FBI, was a former prosecutor in D.C. homicides. So you've got the weight of the federal government and the resources of the Justice Department.

CALLAWAY: Yes, you do, more than just the local government.

TIMONEY: Exactly, yes.

CALLAWAY: All right, John Timoney, thank you so much for being with us late on a Saturday night...

TIMONEY: Thanks.

CALLAWAY: ...hope to see you soon.

TIMONEY: Yes.

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