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Chicago Authorities Work to Solve Murder of Judge's Family; Supreme Court Takes On Ten Commandments

Aired March 02, 2005 - 14:30   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: This is just across the river from St. Louis. Police in this area right now investigating the deaths of three people whose bodies were found inside a hair salon located in this area. Police say that a customer arrived for her appointment at Michael's Salon this morning, discovered the bodies of a man and two women.
The victims' identity is not jet being released. Belleville police, however, and the Illinois State Police, including some other agencies, are helping in this investigation. Once again, three bodies found dead in Belleville, Illinois, in this beauty salon. We'll continue to follow the story.

Other stories "Now in the News." A somber day outside Cumberland City, Tennessee. A school bus driver shot and killed while picking up kids on her morning run. The bus crashed into a utility pole. None of the students on board was hurt. A 14-year-old boy is now in custody.

Closing arguments underway in actor Robert Blake's murder trial. The prosecutor says that Blake hated his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley (ph), for tricking him into having a baby and getting married. Blake's accused of shooting Bakley in 2001. That case could go to the jury on Friday.

Fix Social Security. That's the message Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has for Congress. Today Greenspan urged lawmakers to move quickly and consider cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits before Baby Boomers retire en masse. Well, Greenspan also endorses key aspects of President Bush's proposal.

The president of the Palestinian authority says that he wants a Palestinian state as soon as possible. Mahmoud Abbas addresses leaders of the European Union today, and he's urging them to continue to give money for schools, roads and other infrastructure.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: If Chicago police have any more evidence or clues into this week's killing of a federal judge's family, they're not saying. Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow found the bodies of her husband and mother Monday in their home. Both have been shot dead. Authorities say their investigation is going in several directions, including a known hate group that once threatened the judge with death. The call now, more government-level protection for judges and their families. We'll talk about that in a moment.

Joining us for all that in the investigation and the notion that there may need to be more protection for these judges, Mike Brooks, who looks at law enforcement matters for us. First let's talk about the case. They're building together quite a bit of forensic information, which might lead them to the killers.

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: They really are, Miles. In fact, in an A.P. report just a short time ago, they said there was a shard of glass that actually had a fingerprint on it that was found in the house that has been sent to the FBI lab in Quantico. They're also reporting that there was a bloody footprint that was also found, possibly of a suspect, is also being sent to the lab for analysis.

But Miles, we're still going on the different theories. It could be the white supremacists. It could be a burglary, from the break-in we see with the evidence from. It could be someone who had a case with the judge in the past and didn't like the outcome. Or it could be involving her husband, who also was an attorney there in Chicago.

O'BRIEN: All right. And one of the, perhaps, telling items here phone records. And the possibility that there might have been some calls coming from a jail.

BROOKS: Well, there were a number of suspicious calls that came to the Lefkow house on Sunday. In fact, the judge picked up the phone. No one was there. Well, the caller I.D. reveals that these numbers go back to the Metropolitan Correctional Facility there in Chicago, in downtown Chicago. That happens to be the place where white supremacist Matt Hale is awaiting sentencing on April 6th for threatening to kill the judge back in October in 2003. He was found guilty in April 2004 and has been awaiting sentencing.

O'BRIEN: Of course, crank calls don't necessarily make a murder case. But as you look at all the pieces here, this seems to be heading in that direction, even if police don't publicly admit it.

BROOKS: Exactly. As a former investigator, I can tell you, that would be one of the first things we'd take a look at. But it should be easy to tell exactly who made the calls. At each correctional facility, no matter where you go, right above the phone banks, there's usually a sign that says these calls are being monitored. Sometimes they are, sometimes they're aren't. But they also have surveillance cameras there, so they should be able to link up the time stamp on the caller I.D. and the surveillance cameras and monitoring of the phones to see exactly who was on the phone at that particular time of the evening.

O'BRIEN: All right. Larger issue here. Security for these judges. I mean, it's not new that judges make enemies. That's the nature of what they do. Is there some new element in the mix these days? Is there a level of violence, a level of threat, that hasn't been there before?

BROOKS: Well, she had a protection detail back in April of 2004, when the trial was going on and when she was threatened. But one of her colleagues, Judge Wayne Anderson, another U.S. district court judge there in Chicago, has called for increased security for the federal bench. But the United States Marshal Service, they're the ones that provide protection to judges and assistant United States attorneys if there is inappropriate communications, if there are potential threats, those kind of things. In fact, they have the Judicial Security Division within the U.S. Marshal Service. If they are going to start protecting federal marshals more, even if they haven't been threatened, it's going to put a big burden on U.S. Marshal Service.

O'BRIEN: That's a lot of people to take care of and keep safe.

BROOKS: It really is.

O'BRIEN: Mike Brooks, thanks very much.

BROOKS: Thanks you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: They're known in the law and order business as cold cases, unsolved crimes that have baffled police, sometimes for decades. Now with the arrest of a suspect in the BTK case, some of those cold cases may be heating up. CNN's David Mattingly reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The headlines of the shocking crime are old and faded. But people of small-town Hutchinson, Kansas, say their memories are still painfully clear.

RANDY HENDERSON, RENO COUNTY SHERIFF: People were pretty frightened, not knowing the exact circumstances of the case.

MATTINGLY: Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson was a young rookie police officer in 1977, when 23-year-old Gayle Sorenson disappeared while running an errand. Her car was found unlocked in a busy parking lot.

(on camera): So, you don't know for sure, but it's possible she was abducted right here from this parking lot?

HENDERSON: That's possible.

MATTINGLY: And this was a very busy parking lot at the time. This was one of the bigger grocery stores in town.

HENDERSON: That's correct.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Just two days later, the mystery of her disappearance took a heartbreaking turn. Her body was found outside town near the banks of the Arkansas River.

According to news reports at the time, she was hit in the head and her throat cut with a knife. Investigators had no idea how important those details and other evidence would be 28 years later, with the capture of BTK suspect, Dennis Rader. HENDERSON: The one thing that was pointed out in this case that had some similarities to the BTK when I watched the interviews the other day was that one of the individuals was kidnapped, removed from an area and found in an area along a river. That's what I keyed in on.

MATTINGLY: The abduction and murder of Gayle Sorenson is the latest in a growing list of cold cases in Kansas that are heating up with the BTK arrest. They include cases long suspected by the community, the cases of Wichita State students Sherry Baker, bound and stabbed in 1974, and Linda Shawn Casey, bound, stabbed and sexually assaulted in 1985.

The map of the suspected cases now extends well beyond Wichita City limits, into neighboring counties. But some serial experts say the likelihood of a connection to BTK diminishes with miles.

CANDICE DELONG, FORMER FBI PROFILER: Most of the killings committed by a serial killer will be in a fairly tight geographic area, where he or she is comfortable. And, of course, that tends to with where we work or live.

MATTINGLY (on camera): So this barbed wire was here before?

HENDERSON: There was barbed wire here before.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Returning to the isolated crime scene, we find little has changed in the woods where Gayle Sorenson's life came to an end, not the terrain and not the unanswered questions in a manhunt that was growing colder by the decade.

(on camera): This secluded spot, doesn't that suggest that the killer was familiar with this area?

HENDERSON: I would say probably not. And the reason I say that, just on the opposite side of the river is the firing range for the police department and the sheriff's department. I would think you would stay away from areas like that.

MATTINGLY: Occasionally, there were leads in the case, but nothing that ever really panned out. Eventually, all the original investigators either retired or left the department. But to a new generation, this was never a cold case. It was always the investigation into the murder of a hometown woman that was badly in need of a very big break.

What's next?

HENDERSON: Wait to hear back from KBI.

MATTINGLY: You think you're going to get the answer you're looking for?

HENDERSON: I hope so. It would be nice to bring closure to this case. MATTINGLY (voice-over): Sheriff Randy Henderson hopes that a DNA match will soon bring them the end they've been looking for, but with it, the beginning of a new chill, knowing that a serial killer had walked among them.

David Mattingly, CNN, Hutchinson, Kansas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: All right. Steve Fossett, the intrepid adventurer who has done all kinds of wild and woolly things and has many records in the aviation record books, apparently will not this time score the solo flight around the world on a single tank of gas record. One of the last aviation records, quite frankly. There you see his airplane, the GlobalFlyer, Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. It's running short of fuel. Has about 4,500 pounds left, began with about 11,000 pounds. So he's a little less than half. Actually, significantly less than half. And he's at the halfway point in his journey.

There you see that little red arrow in the middle there. I would highlight it for you if I could. Yes, there you go. We'll put that right there. That's where he is, that little red arrow. Of course he doesn't look like that red arrow. Flying his way across the Pacific. They have made the decision to leave Japan and press on. They're going to head for Hawaii. So instead of Salina, Kansas, to Salina, Kansas, Steve Fossett will be able to lick his wounds in in Oahu, maybe.

So in any case, we just heard just a few moments ago from Paul Moore, who is directing the mission from home base there in Kansas. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL MOORE, PROJECT DIRECTOR, GLOBALFLYER: And I'm pleased to say that based on the information provided to him by the team here at mission control, Steve has decided that he will fly at least as far as Hawaii. He will then make a further decision at that stage as to whether he feels comfortable and confident to fly beyond Hawaii towards the West Coast of the U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: All right. So let's be clear about that. What they do in these cases, clearly, is they're constantly evaluating their fuel situation and they give a moment, making a decision how far they will go. If he gets a good tailwind, gets to Hawaii, has enough to make it to say, California, he might, in fact, fight press on. Doesn't seem very likely at this point. I think it's safe to say on 4,500 pounds of fuel, there is not -- God has not created a tailwind large enough to get him to Salina, Kansas.

So we'll follow it. The question that remains is why did the fuel not add up like it should have? Was there a leak? Did they not top off those tanks properly? Was there some sort of other miscalculation? Clearly that will be something we'll talk about another day -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, a potential landmark case heard by the Supreme Court today. Should the Ten Commandments be displayed on government property? We'll have today's developments just ahead.

Also, the lawyer behind that case isn't living the high-profile life you might expect. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

And talk about a bonus. A restaurant owner's gift to employees. No, not a holiday ham, not a bonus check, not a new car. We'll tell you about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The Supreme Court hears arguments on whether displays of the Ten Commandments belong on government property. Lawyers calling such displays unconstitutional went up against attorneys for the Bush administration and the states of Texas and Kentucky today. In those and other states, monuments displaying the Ten Commandments have been common in courthouses, in town squares, for years now. Their existence has become a deeply divisive legal, emotional and cultural issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PASTOR HENRY CHESTERFIELD, TRINITY CHURCH: There's one true God and only one true God. And we need to keep his law, we need them posted. They've been posted ever since this country has been founded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amen!

CHESTERFIELD: They're absolutely a part of the fiber and the moral and everything else, the foundation of this great country!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.

RICK WINGROVE, AMERICAN ATHEISTS: The Ten Commandments are not morality. They were predated by previous ethical codes, which covered exactly the same ground. And they are not the foundation of our legal system. They are not in the constitution. And as far as their inclusion in public displays and the claims that they're secular, it is never secular.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: One of the legal minds behind the Ten Commandments battle is not your average lawyer.

PHILLIPS: He doesn't have a wealthy client list, an office or a closet full of suits for court. Our Ed Lavandera explains that this lawyer doesn't even have a real home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Finding Thomas Van Orden takes time and patience. All we really know about him is that he spends time in libraries.

(on camera): That's the building where the state law library is and where Thomas Van Orden hangs out throughout much of the day. And just a few feet away is the monument of the 10 Commandments, which is just in the shadow of the state capitol here in Austin.

(voice-over): You would think if you wanted to talk to the lawyer, who sued the state of Texas to remove a 10 Commandments monument from public grounds, that you would pick up the phone and call him. But this lawyer does not have a phone, much less an assistant.

(on camera): We are told this is the area that Thomas Van Orden normally hangs out at in throughout the day.

(voice-over): These desks in the state law library are his office. No brass nameplates here, only a newspaper clipping on the wall with his picture.

(on camera): This is where he likes to have lunch that the day. So we will keep looking for him.

(voice-over): Eventually we end up at the University of Texas Law School.

(on camera): We think we have found Thomas Van Orden here at the UT Law School. He is in that room at the end of the hallway there and he's asleep. So we're going to wait for him to wake up.

THOMAS VAN ORDEN, ATTORNEY: I don't think I'm creating...

LAVANDERA (voice-over): A few minutes later he's awake and we go outside for an interview. It's impromptu and we quickly learn he is not your typical attorney.

VAN ORDEN: It's a little of a que sera-sera attitude, you know. I think we all go through life that way sometimes, you know?

LAVANDERA: For the last three years, Van Orden has been writing legal briefs and documents, filing and mailing the paperwork himself. It does not sound like a big deal, except Thomas Van Orden is homeless.

VAN ORDEN: Each day you are writing it's hard to get out of your find that all this is a joke. Because when you finish you don't have any money to make copies. And you don't have any money to send it to an office. That wears on you. It really does.

LAVANDERA: He agreed to share his story of how a homeless attorney, living off $150 a month in food stamps, spearheaded such a controversial Supreme Court case; on the condition that we don't talk about how he ended up on the streets or show you the tent he lives in.

VAN ORDEN: It's just not their business. I mean there may be aspects of their life that would fascinate me too, but I don't go ask them about it. The niceties of polite society apply to me, too. LAVANDERA: Van Orden describes himself as a Robert Kennedy liberal, a strict believer of separating church and state. But he worries that people think he's anti-religion.

VAN ORDEN: I did not sue the 10 Commandments. I didn't sue Christianity or Judaism. I sued the government.

LAVANDERA: It is said arguing a case before the Supreme Court can be the professional pinnacle of an attorney's career. Van Orden will reach the peak on Wednesday but he won't be there to enjoy it. Another attorney will argue the case for him.

VAN ORDEN: I'll follow it on the news media.

LAVANDERA: Van Orden refused to let friends pay his way to Washington. Instead, he'll find out what happens from the law libraries where his legal journey started. Win or lose, he'll go back to his tent wherever it is to sleep.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And just ahead, talk about good karma. All business owners could learn a lesson or two from Bruce and Suzanne Reamer. Their incredible act of kindness toward their employees when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, they could be the best bosses we've ever heard about. A Maryland couple wanted to show their appreciation for their restaurant employees, so they took them and their families to Disney World, and they picked up the tab. Rob Roblin with our CNN affiliate WBAL brings us the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB ROBLIN, WBAL REPORTER (voice-over): Bruce and Suzanne Reamer have owned their business here in Carroll County since 1987 and they've had lots of employees who have stuck with them through the good times and the bad times.

BRUCE REAMER, SALERNOS RESTAURANT CATERING: ... the ones that, you know, hung in through the lean years and we've tended to keep people in and attract some more quality employees.

ROBLIN: When Bruce was a kid, his father's company took all the families on vacation, and Bruce thought that would be something he'd like to do. So last week Bruce shut down the business and took all his employees and their families to Disney World.

B. REAMER: We've known these people a lot of time. And it's fun to take a vacation together and spend some time with these people away from work.

SUZANNE REAMER, SALERNOS RESTAURANT CATERING: If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be as successful as we are and maybe later off thank them for all their hard work, dedication over the years.

ROBLIN: For the employees, it was a trip they'll never forget. And do they love their boss.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They go far beyond and exceed for us employees. It's just wonderful. We appreciate -- I can't explain the appreciation I feel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wonderful. Wonderful man. Very fair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good guy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With 47 people, it's unbelievable the money it costs the man. He don't even want to hear thanks. That's the kind of guy he is. Bruce Reamer. What a sweetheart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That once again was Rob Roblin with our Baltimore affiliate was Rob Roblin with Baltimore affiliate WBAL-TV 11.

O'BRIEN: Good news for anyone who might need a flu vaccine in the coming year. It looks like there won't be another shortage. Kathleen Hays joins us from the New York Stock Exchange with more on that. Hello, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. One of the major vaccine makers, Chiron, can start producing the vaccine again. British regulators have given the company the green light after revoking its license last October. Now, remember when that occurred, Chiron was not allowed to produce any vaccine, and that led to a major shortfall here in the United States right before the flu season. It takes four to five months to make the vaccine, so Chiron hopes now it will have the plant up and running in plenty of time to make enough vaccine for next winter.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

O'BRIEN: More LIVE FROM just moments away.

PHILLIPS: That's right. A Ten Commandments monument on public grounds. Is it a nod to history or mixing church and state? We're going to have a live report on that case before the Supreme Court.

O'BRIEN: Also, weighty matters. The great matter weigh-in starts today. Ouch, wow. Why the American Cancer Society is getting involved in the country's growing obesity problems. Hope we have some hearty scales out there. Stick around for more LIVE FROM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired March 2, 2005 - 14:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: This is just across the river from St. Louis. Police in this area right now investigating the deaths of three people whose bodies were found inside a hair salon located in this area. Police say that a customer arrived for her appointment at Michael's Salon this morning, discovered the bodies of a man and two women.
The victims' identity is not jet being released. Belleville police, however, and the Illinois State Police, including some other agencies, are helping in this investigation. Once again, three bodies found dead in Belleville, Illinois, in this beauty salon. We'll continue to follow the story.

Other stories "Now in the News." A somber day outside Cumberland City, Tennessee. A school bus driver shot and killed while picking up kids on her morning run. The bus crashed into a utility pole. None of the students on board was hurt. A 14-year-old boy is now in custody.

Closing arguments underway in actor Robert Blake's murder trial. The prosecutor says that Blake hated his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley (ph), for tricking him into having a baby and getting married. Blake's accused of shooting Bakley in 2001. That case could go to the jury on Friday.

Fix Social Security. That's the message Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has for Congress. Today Greenspan urged lawmakers to move quickly and consider cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits before Baby Boomers retire en masse. Well, Greenspan also endorses key aspects of President Bush's proposal.

The president of the Palestinian authority says that he wants a Palestinian state as soon as possible. Mahmoud Abbas addresses leaders of the European Union today, and he's urging them to continue to give money for schools, roads and other infrastructure.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: If Chicago police have any more evidence or clues into this week's killing of a federal judge's family, they're not saying. Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow found the bodies of her husband and mother Monday in their home. Both have been shot dead. Authorities say their investigation is going in several directions, including a known hate group that once threatened the judge with death. The call now, more government-level protection for judges and their families. We'll talk about that in a moment.

Joining us for all that in the investigation and the notion that there may need to be more protection for these judges, Mike Brooks, who looks at law enforcement matters for us. First let's talk about the case. They're building together quite a bit of forensic information, which might lead them to the killers.

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: They really are, Miles. In fact, in an A.P. report just a short time ago, they said there was a shard of glass that actually had a fingerprint on it that was found in the house that has been sent to the FBI lab in Quantico. They're also reporting that there was a bloody footprint that was also found, possibly of a suspect, is also being sent to the lab for analysis.

But Miles, we're still going on the different theories. It could be the white supremacists. It could be a burglary, from the break-in we see with the evidence from. It could be someone who had a case with the judge in the past and didn't like the outcome. Or it could be involving her husband, who also was an attorney there in Chicago.

O'BRIEN: All right. And one of the, perhaps, telling items here phone records. And the possibility that there might have been some calls coming from a jail.

BROOKS: Well, there were a number of suspicious calls that came to the Lefkow house on Sunday. In fact, the judge picked up the phone. No one was there. Well, the caller I.D. reveals that these numbers go back to the Metropolitan Correctional Facility there in Chicago, in downtown Chicago. That happens to be the place where white supremacist Matt Hale is awaiting sentencing on April 6th for threatening to kill the judge back in October in 2003. He was found guilty in April 2004 and has been awaiting sentencing.

O'BRIEN: Of course, crank calls don't necessarily make a murder case. But as you look at all the pieces here, this seems to be heading in that direction, even if police don't publicly admit it.

BROOKS: Exactly. As a former investigator, I can tell you, that would be one of the first things we'd take a look at. But it should be easy to tell exactly who made the calls. At each correctional facility, no matter where you go, right above the phone banks, there's usually a sign that says these calls are being monitored. Sometimes they are, sometimes they're aren't. But they also have surveillance cameras there, so they should be able to link up the time stamp on the caller I.D. and the surveillance cameras and monitoring of the phones to see exactly who was on the phone at that particular time of the evening.

O'BRIEN: All right. Larger issue here. Security for these judges. I mean, it's not new that judges make enemies. That's the nature of what they do. Is there some new element in the mix these days? Is there a level of violence, a level of threat, that hasn't been there before?

BROOKS: Well, she had a protection detail back in April of 2004, when the trial was going on and when she was threatened. But one of her colleagues, Judge Wayne Anderson, another U.S. district court judge there in Chicago, has called for increased security for the federal bench. But the United States Marshal Service, they're the ones that provide protection to judges and assistant United States attorneys if there is inappropriate communications, if there are potential threats, those kind of things. In fact, they have the Judicial Security Division within the U.S. Marshal Service. If they are going to start protecting federal marshals more, even if they haven't been threatened, it's going to put a big burden on U.S. Marshal Service.

O'BRIEN: That's a lot of people to take care of and keep safe.

BROOKS: It really is.

O'BRIEN: Mike Brooks, thanks very much.

BROOKS: Thanks you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: They're known in the law and order business as cold cases, unsolved crimes that have baffled police, sometimes for decades. Now with the arrest of a suspect in the BTK case, some of those cold cases may be heating up. CNN's David Mattingly reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The headlines of the shocking crime are old and faded. But people of small-town Hutchinson, Kansas, say their memories are still painfully clear.

RANDY HENDERSON, RENO COUNTY SHERIFF: People were pretty frightened, not knowing the exact circumstances of the case.

MATTINGLY: Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson was a young rookie police officer in 1977, when 23-year-old Gayle Sorenson disappeared while running an errand. Her car was found unlocked in a busy parking lot.

(on camera): So, you don't know for sure, but it's possible she was abducted right here from this parking lot?

HENDERSON: That's possible.

MATTINGLY: And this was a very busy parking lot at the time. This was one of the bigger grocery stores in town.

HENDERSON: That's correct.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Just two days later, the mystery of her disappearance took a heartbreaking turn. Her body was found outside town near the banks of the Arkansas River.

According to news reports at the time, she was hit in the head and her throat cut with a knife. Investigators had no idea how important those details and other evidence would be 28 years later, with the capture of BTK suspect, Dennis Rader. HENDERSON: The one thing that was pointed out in this case that had some similarities to the BTK when I watched the interviews the other day was that one of the individuals was kidnapped, removed from an area and found in an area along a river. That's what I keyed in on.

MATTINGLY: The abduction and murder of Gayle Sorenson is the latest in a growing list of cold cases in Kansas that are heating up with the BTK arrest. They include cases long suspected by the community, the cases of Wichita State students Sherry Baker, bound and stabbed in 1974, and Linda Shawn Casey, bound, stabbed and sexually assaulted in 1985.

The map of the suspected cases now extends well beyond Wichita City limits, into neighboring counties. But some serial experts say the likelihood of a connection to BTK diminishes with miles.

CANDICE DELONG, FORMER FBI PROFILER: Most of the killings committed by a serial killer will be in a fairly tight geographic area, where he or she is comfortable. And, of course, that tends to with where we work or live.

MATTINGLY (on camera): So this barbed wire was here before?

HENDERSON: There was barbed wire here before.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Returning to the isolated crime scene, we find little has changed in the woods where Gayle Sorenson's life came to an end, not the terrain and not the unanswered questions in a manhunt that was growing colder by the decade.

(on camera): This secluded spot, doesn't that suggest that the killer was familiar with this area?

HENDERSON: I would say probably not. And the reason I say that, just on the opposite side of the river is the firing range for the police department and the sheriff's department. I would think you would stay away from areas like that.

MATTINGLY: Occasionally, there were leads in the case, but nothing that ever really panned out. Eventually, all the original investigators either retired or left the department. But to a new generation, this was never a cold case. It was always the investigation into the murder of a hometown woman that was badly in need of a very big break.

What's next?

HENDERSON: Wait to hear back from KBI.

MATTINGLY: You think you're going to get the answer you're looking for?

HENDERSON: I hope so. It would be nice to bring closure to this case. MATTINGLY (voice-over): Sheriff Randy Henderson hopes that a DNA match will soon bring them the end they've been looking for, but with it, the beginning of a new chill, knowing that a serial killer had walked among them.

David Mattingly, CNN, Hutchinson, Kansas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: All right. Steve Fossett, the intrepid adventurer who has done all kinds of wild and woolly things and has many records in the aviation record books, apparently will not this time score the solo flight around the world on a single tank of gas record. One of the last aviation records, quite frankly. There you see his airplane, the GlobalFlyer, Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. It's running short of fuel. Has about 4,500 pounds left, began with about 11,000 pounds. So he's a little less than half. Actually, significantly less than half. And he's at the halfway point in his journey.

There you see that little red arrow in the middle there. I would highlight it for you if I could. Yes, there you go. We'll put that right there. That's where he is, that little red arrow. Of course he doesn't look like that red arrow. Flying his way across the Pacific. They have made the decision to leave Japan and press on. They're going to head for Hawaii. So instead of Salina, Kansas, to Salina, Kansas, Steve Fossett will be able to lick his wounds in in Oahu, maybe.

So in any case, we just heard just a few moments ago from Paul Moore, who is directing the mission from home base there in Kansas. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL MOORE, PROJECT DIRECTOR, GLOBALFLYER: And I'm pleased to say that based on the information provided to him by the team here at mission control, Steve has decided that he will fly at least as far as Hawaii. He will then make a further decision at that stage as to whether he feels comfortable and confident to fly beyond Hawaii towards the West Coast of the U.S.

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O'BRIEN: All right. So let's be clear about that. What they do in these cases, clearly, is they're constantly evaluating their fuel situation and they give a moment, making a decision how far they will go. If he gets a good tailwind, gets to Hawaii, has enough to make it to say, California, he might, in fact, fight press on. Doesn't seem very likely at this point. I think it's safe to say on 4,500 pounds of fuel, there is not -- God has not created a tailwind large enough to get him to Salina, Kansas.

So we'll follow it. The question that remains is why did the fuel not add up like it should have? Was there a leak? Did they not top off those tanks properly? Was there some sort of other miscalculation? Clearly that will be something we'll talk about another day -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, a potential landmark case heard by the Supreme Court today. Should the Ten Commandments be displayed on government property? We'll have today's developments just ahead.

Also, the lawyer behind that case isn't living the high-profile life you might expect. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

And talk about a bonus. A restaurant owner's gift to employees. No, not a holiday ham, not a bonus check, not a new car. We'll tell you about it.

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O'BRIEN: The Supreme Court hears arguments on whether displays of the Ten Commandments belong on government property. Lawyers calling such displays unconstitutional went up against attorneys for the Bush administration and the states of Texas and Kentucky today. In those and other states, monuments displaying the Ten Commandments have been common in courthouses, in town squares, for years now. Their existence has become a deeply divisive legal, emotional and cultural issue.

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PASTOR HENRY CHESTERFIELD, TRINITY CHURCH: There's one true God and only one true God. And we need to keep his law, we need them posted. They've been posted ever since this country has been founded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amen!

CHESTERFIELD: They're absolutely a part of the fiber and the moral and everything else, the foundation of this great country!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.

RICK WINGROVE, AMERICAN ATHEISTS: The Ten Commandments are not morality. They were predated by previous ethical codes, which covered exactly the same ground. And they are not the foundation of our legal system. They are not in the constitution. And as far as their inclusion in public displays and the claims that they're secular, it is never secular.

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O'BRIEN: One of the legal minds behind the Ten Commandments battle is not your average lawyer.

PHILLIPS: He doesn't have a wealthy client list, an office or a closet full of suits for court. Our Ed Lavandera explains that this lawyer doesn't even have a real home.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Finding Thomas Van Orden takes time and patience. All we really know about him is that he spends time in libraries.

(on camera): That's the building where the state law library is and where Thomas Van Orden hangs out throughout much of the day. And just a few feet away is the monument of the 10 Commandments, which is just in the shadow of the state capitol here in Austin.

(voice-over): You would think if you wanted to talk to the lawyer, who sued the state of Texas to remove a 10 Commandments monument from public grounds, that you would pick up the phone and call him. But this lawyer does not have a phone, much less an assistant.

(on camera): We are told this is the area that Thomas Van Orden normally hangs out at in throughout the day.

(voice-over): These desks in the state law library are his office. No brass nameplates here, only a newspaper clipping on the wall with his picture.

(on camera): This is where he likes to have lunch that the day. So we will keep looking for him.

(voice-over): Eventually we end up at the University of Texas Law School.

(on camera): We think we have found Thomas Van Orden here at the UT Law School. He is in that room at the end of the hallway there and he's asleep. So we're going to wait for him to wake up.

THOMAS VAN ORDEN, ATTORNEY: I don't think I'm creating...

LAVANDERA (voice-over): A few minutes later he's awake and we go outside for an interview. It's impromptu and we quickly learn he is not your typical attorney.

VAN ORDEN: It's a little of a que sera-sera attitude, you know. I think we all go through life that way sometimes, you know?

LAVANDERA: For the last three years, Van Orden has been writing legal briefs and documents, filing and mailing the paperwork himself. It does not sound like a big deal, except Thomas Van Orden is homeless.

VAN ORDEN: Each day you are writing it's hard to get out of your find that all this is a joke. Because when you finish you don't have any money to make copies. And you don't have any money to send it to an office. That wears on you. It really does.

LAVANDERA: He agreed to share his story of how a homeless attorney, living off $150 a month in food stamps, spearheaded such a controversial Supreme Court case; on the condition that we don't talk about how he ended up on the streets or show you the tent he lives in.

VAN ORDEN: It's just not their business. I mean there may be aspects of their life that would fascinate me too, but I don't go ask them about it. The niceties of polite society apply to me, too. LAVANDERA: Van Orden describes himself as a Robert Kennedy liberal, a strict believer of separating church and state. But he worries that people think he's anti-religion.

VAN ORDEN: I did not sue the 10 Commandments. I didn't sue Christianity or Judaism. I sued the government.

LAVANDERA: It is said arguing a case before the Supreme Court can be the professional pinnacle of an attorney's career. Van Orden will reach the peak on Wednesday but he won't be there to enjoy it. Another attorney will argue the case for him.

VAN ORDEN: I'll follow it on the news media.

LAVANDERA: Van Orden refused to let friends pay his way to Washington. Instead, he'll find out what happens from the law libraries where his legal journey started. Win or lose, he'll go back to his tent wherever it is to sleep.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Texas.

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PHILLIPS: And just ahead, talk about good karma. All business owners could learn a lesson or two from Bruce and Suzanne Reamer. Their incredible act of kindness toward their employees when we come back.

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PHILLIPS: Well, they could be the best bosses we've ever heard about. A Maryland couple wanted to show their appreciation for their restaurant employees, so they took them and their families to Disney World, and they picked up the tab. Rob Roblin with our CNN affiliate WBAL brings us the details.

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ROB ROBLIN, WBAL REPORTER (voice-over): Bruce and Suzanne Reamer have owned their business here in Carroll County since 1987 and they've had lots of employees who have stuck with them through the good times and the bad times.

BRUCE REAMER, SALERNOS RESTAURANT CATERING: ... the ones that, you know, hung in through the lean years and we've tended to keep people in and attract some more quality employees.

ROBLIN: When Bruce was a kid, his father's company took all the families on vacation, and Bruce thought that would be something he'd like to do. So last week Bruce shut down the business and took all his employees and their families to Disney World.

B. REAMER: We've known these people a lot of time. And it's fun to take a vacation together and spend some time with these people away from work.

SUZANNE REAMER, SALERNOS RESTAURANT CATERING: If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be as successful as we are and maybe later off thank them for all their hard work, dedication over the years.

ROBLIN: For the employees, it was a trip they'll never forget. And do they love their boss.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They go far beyond and exceed for us employees. It's just wonderful. We appreciate -- I can't explain the appreciation I feel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wonderful. Wonderful man. Very fair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good guy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With 47 people, it's unbelievable the money it costs the man. He don't even want to hear thanks. That's the kind of guy he is. Bruce Reamer. What a sweetheart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That once again was Rob Roblin with our Baltimore affiliate was Rob Roblin with Baltimore affiliate WBAL-TV 11.

O'BRIEN: Good news for anyone who might need a flu vaccine in the coming year. It looks like there won't be another shortage. Kathleen Hays joins us from the New York Stock Exchange with more on that. Hello, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. One of the major vaccine makers, Chiron, can start producing the vaccine again. British regulators have given the company the green light after revoking its license last October. Now, remember when that occurred, Chiron was not allowed to produce any vaccine, and that led to a major shortfall here in the United States right before the flu season. It takes four to five months to make the vaccine, so Chiron hopes now it will have the plant up and running in plenty of time to make enough vaccine for next winter.

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O'BRIEN: More LIVE FROM just moments away.

PHILLIPS: That's right. A Ten Commandments monument on public grounds. Is it a nod to history or mixing church and state? We're going to have a live report on that case before the Supreme Court.

O'BRIEN: Also, weighty matters. The great matter weigh-in starts today. Ouch, wow. Why the American Cancer Society is getting involved in the country's growing obesity problems. Hope we have some hearty scales out there. Stick around for more LIVE FROM after this.

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