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Murder Plot?
Aired September 19, 2003 - 14:00 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A Swiss bodybuilder has been arrested in Los Angeles and charged with offering to kill the woman who accused Kobe Bryant of sexual assault. Thirty-one-year-old Patrick Grabor allegedly sent a letter to Bryant, saying he could make the basketball star's accuser disappear.
Here to help us walk through this bizarre twist in this case is CNN's Mike Brooks, who covers law enforcement matters for us.
Mike, you've been doing double duty for us today.
Let's talk about this Kobe Bryant thing. Is it possible the whole thing is just a hoax?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a good possibility. I spoke with the sheriff's office, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, just a short time ago. They believe he was acting alone. So that would kind of rule out the Russian Mafia theory that he said he was involved in, but they do believe he was acting alone. He has been arrested in Switzerland before for fraud. So the sheriff this morning basically called him a con man. Whether he was acting alone -- him acting alone, getting these sets of facts, that's what it sounds like. The actual letter was mailed just like any other fanmail would be sent to Bryant. His staff, made up of some security people, took a look at the letter, saw what was in the letter, turned it over to the sheriff's office.
Right now, looking to see if there's any links at all in Colorado and also to see if he ever traveled to Colorado. But right now, they don't think he ever has.
O'BRIEN: OK. So this could ultimately amount to really nothing, just a crank letter, essentially.
BROOKS: It could, and he's here. His visa expired six months ago. So basically he's here illegally. The sheriff's office also told me that the Immigration and Naturalization Service is now looking at the matter. So what action they will take, we don't know.
O'BRIEN: All right. If you wanted to really build a strong case against this person, what would be the charges he could face? Is it conspiracy to commit murder? Is that possible, or is that getting too far down the road?
BROOKS: Could be conspiracy to commit murder for hire, absolutely, since he did actually go and accept the money for a plot such as this, absolutely he could. He's going to be arraigned Monday as a matter of fact.
O'BRIEN: All right, interesting. CNN's Mike Brooks, we'll watch that one.
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 September 19, 2003 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A Swiss bodybuilder has been arrested in Los Angeles and charged with offering to kill the woman who accused Kobe Bryant of sexual assault. Thirty-one-year-old Patrick Grabor allegedly sent a letter to Bryant, saying he could make the basketball star's accuser disappear.
Here to help us walk through this bizarre twist in this case is CNN's Mike Brooks, who covers law enforcement matters for us.
Mike, you've been doing double duty for us today.
Let's talk about this Kobe Bryant thing. Is it possible the whole thing is just a hoax?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a good possibility. I spoke with the sheriff's office, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, just a short time ago. They believe he was acting alone. So that would kind of rule out the Russian Mafia theory that he said he was involved in, but they do believe he was acting alone. He has been arrested in Switzerland before for fraud. So the sheriff this morning basically called him a con man. Whether he was acting alone -- him acting alone, getting these sets of facts, that's what it sounds like. The actual letter was mailed just like any other fanmail would be sent to Bryant. His staff, made up of some security people, took a look at the letter, saw what was in the letter, turned it over to the sheriff's office.
Right now, looking to see if there's any links at all in Colorado and also to see if he ever traveled to Colorado. But right now, they don't think he ever has.
O'BRIEN: OK. So this could ultimately amount to really nothing, just a crank letter, essentially.
BROOKS: It could, and he's here. His visa expired six months ago. So basically he's here illegally. The sheriff's office also told me that the Immigration and Naturalization Service is now looking at the matter. So what action they will take, we don't know.
O'BRIEN: All right. If you wanted to really build a strong case against this person, what would be the charges he could face? Is it conspiracy to commit murder? Is that possible, or is that getting too far down the road?
BROOKS: Could be conspiracy to commit murder for hire, absolutely, since he did actually go and accept the money for a plot such as this, absolutely he could. He's going to be arraigned Monday as a matter of fact.
O'BRIEN: All right, interesting. CNN's Mike Brooks, we'll watch that one.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
