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Discussion With Psychologist Who Predicted Sniper's Moves
Aired October 11, 2002 - 14:31 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: We've been hearing about profiles of the Washington area sniper, and earlier this week, Dr. Maurice Godwin, who is a criminal investigative psychologist, predicted the sniper would move toward Interstate 95. This latest shooting seems to suggest Godwin may have been correct.
He joins us again from Raleigh, North Carolina, today.
Good to see you, sir.
MAURICE GODWIN, CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGIST: How are you doing tonight?
PHILLIPS: This is very interesting. You and I were talking on Monday. This is why we've asked you to come back. You made that prediction that this shooter was using I-95 as a way to travel back and forth to these areas where he's been shooting innocent people. Tell me how you gathered this information?
GODWIN: Thank you for having me on the show.
First of all, if we can assume that this latest killing is linked, then how I did that is not through any kind of supposition or any kind of guesswork or hunches. Actually, it's really based on five years of research on the spatial behavior of serial killers. And what I found in that research is that about 80 percent of them, of the serial killers I researched, had a distinct wedge-shaped, pie-shaped pattern to their crimes. And of the 80 percent, about 51 percent lived actually at the point, the narrow point of that wedge shape.
So when I was looking at these crimes, these killings of the sniper, I found a similar wedge-shaped pattern. And then I started entering the coordinates into my geographical program, and sure enough I had an angle of about a 35 to 40 degrees wedge. And then, you know, I said somehow I know that there's a northern Virginia link here. For people in Maryland that would be south in Virginia, but for us here in North Carolina it would be north in Virginia. And I said there's no doubt that this offender or offenders has a northern Virginia link and his home base will be probably in the Fredericksburg area, and also that's where some other crime's going to be committed.
PHILLIPS: Let's bring up your Web site, www.drmauricegodwin.com. We're going to bring up your Web site, and we're going to actually look at this windshield wiper pattern that you have created. That's what you call it. So explain to me is this how you have mapped out all the past cases when you've worked on these serial killer cases? GODWIN: If you look at the Fredericksburg case, which is number seven, down at the bottom, and if you draw where the original line was, before he committed the murder a couple days ago, it was actually narrower than it is now. So if you draw a line from the Fredericksburg on the left side all the way up to where the cluster of five killings took place, and then on the right side, if you would draw a line up the right-hand side to where the student was shot, you would have a narrowly defined wedge shape. That's where I originally concluded that the offender's home base and also more crimes were being committed down toward the Fredericksburg area. Because since I believe he lives in the lower part of the wedge, what usually happens is as a criminal becomes more confident, they start committing crimes closer to their home base.
PHILLIPS: So you think that he lives in this area? As we look at your map here and look how you've done this wedge. And you can actually see right here: We're drawing on Telestrator this windshield wiper-type of pattern that you've created. This is amazing because this is exactly the route allegedly that he's been using. Do you think he lives inside this wedge or around this wedge?
GODWIN: Well, what I found in my research is that within the entire wedge that encompasses the crimes, there's an 80 percent chance that the sniper lives in the area. However, to narrow it down farther, my research indicates that there's a 51 percent chance that they would live even closer toward the peak of it, which would be below -- which would be south of Dell City, down to Fredericksburg, in that area.
PHILLIPS: Dr. Maurice Godwin, I encourage law enforcement officials to log on to your Web site and track your predictions. It's pretty amazing. You can come on just a few days later and show us that indeed what you suggested has come true. We appreciate your time, sir.
GODWIN: Thank you very much for having me.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
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 11, 2002 - 14:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We've been hearing about profiles of the Washington area sniper, and earlier this week, Dr. Maurice Godwin, who is a criminal investigative psychologist, predicted the sniper would move toward Interstate 95. This latest shooting seems to suggest Godwin may have been correct.
He joins us again from Raleigh, North Carolina, today.
Good to see you, sir.
MAURICE GODWIN, CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGIST: How are you doing tonight?
PHILLIPS: This is very interesting. You and I were talking on Monday. This is why we've asked you to come back. You made that prediction that this shooter was using I-95 as a way to travel back and forth to these areas where he's been shooting innocent people. Tell me how you gathered this information?
GODWIN: Thank you for having me on the show.
First of all, if we can assume that this latest killing is linked, then how I did that is not through any kind of supposition or any kind of guesswork or hunches. Actually, it's really based on five years of research on the spatial behavior of serial killers. And what I found in that research is that about 80 percent of them, of the serial killers I researched, had a distinct wedge-shaped, pie-shaped pattern to their crimes. And of the 80 percent, about 51 percent lived actually at the point, the narrow point of that wedge shape.
So when I was looking at these crimes, these killings of the sniper, I found a similar wedge-shaped pattern. And then I started entering the coordinates into my geographical program, and sure enough I had an angle of about a 35 to 40 degrees wedge. And then, you know, I said somehow I know that there's a northern Virginia link here. For people in Maryland that would be south in Virginia, but for us here in North Carolina it would be north in Virginia. And I said there's no doubt that this offender or offenders has a northern Virginia link and his home base will be probably in the Fredericksburg area, and also that's where some other crime's going to be committed.
PHILLIPS: Let's bring up your Web site, www.drmauricegodwin.com. We're going to bring up your Web site, and we're going to actually look at this windshield wiper pattern that you have created. That's what you call it. So explain to me is this how you have mapped out all the past cases when you've worked on these serial killer cases? GODWIN: If you look at the Fredericksburg case, which is number seven, down at the bottom, and if you draw where the original line was, before he committed the murder a couple days ago, it was actually narrower than it is now. So if you draw a line from the Fredericksburg on the left side all the way up to where the cluster of five killings took place, and then on the right side, if you would draw a line up the right-hand side to where the student was shot, you would have a narrowly defined wedge shape. That's where I originally concluded that the offender's home base and also more crimes were being committed down toward the Fredericksburg area. Because since I believe he lives in the lower part of the wedge, what usually happens is as a criminal becomes more confident, they start committing crimes closer to their home base.
PHILLIPS: So you think that he lives in this area? As we look at your map here and look how you've done this wedge. And you can actually see right here: We're drawing on Telestrator this windshield wiper-type of pattern that you've created. This is amazing because this is exactly the route allegedly that he's been using. Do you think he lives inside this wedge or around this wedge?
GODWIN: Well, what I found in my research is that within the entire wedge that encompasses the crimes, there's an 80 percent chance that the sniper lives in the area. However, to narrow it down farther, my research indicates that there's a 51 percent chance that they would live even closer toward the peak of it, which would be below -- which would be south of Dell City, down to Fredericksburg, in that area.
PHILLIPS: Dr. Maurice Godwin, I encourage law enforcement officials to log on to your Web site and track your predictions. It's pretty amazing. You can come on just a few days later and show us that indeed what you suggested has come true. We appreciate your time, sir.
GODWIN: Thank you very much for having me.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
