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American Morning
Look at Fugitive Who is a Priest
Aired October 31, 2002 - 08:15 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: He is one of the countries' most wanted sex crime fugitives, the target of a four state manhunt. And this fugitive is a priest. Siegfried Widera is facing 42 counts of child molestation in Wisconsin and California. Authorities say that when he found out he was going to be arrested, he took off. Now police are asking for your help in finding Widera.
Joining us now from Milwaukee is U.S. Marshall Bill Kruziki.
Good morning.
Thank you very much for being with us, sir.
BILL KRUZIKI, U.S. MARSHALL: Good morning.
Thanks for having me.
ZAHN: If you could tell us what you know about this man, we'd love to give you the opportunity right now to share it with all of us who are listening to you.
KRUZIKI: Well, really, that's the most important part, is to get this through the media to the citizens so they can help us. We're not sure if he's even in this country, to be honest with you. He went on a cruise when he found out that the police were looking at him back in May of this year and returned to Key West from his cruise. And the trail ended upon him driving from Key West to El Paso, Texas, where we lost all leads. And he pretty much dropped off the earth.
So we're not sure where he is right now. So, really, the two key things we need is media involvement and citizen involvement to catch him.
ZAHN: And before you give us more descriptions of this guy, tell us when exactly he was last seen. You said the trail sort of from Key West to Texas was lost.
KRUZIKI: The last we heard from him, or know of his whereabouts, is when he transferred title on his Lincoln Continental in El Paso, Texas to his brother's company. Why he did that, we don't know. But from that point, the trial went cold.
ZAHN: I know you said you need all the help you can get. How do you play to find him? What are you doing?
KRUZIKI: Well, one thing is by what we're doing here this morning, is asking the media to help us. Usually that's very successful. If the picture is shown on the air, a citizen says I saw him at the market yesterday or I know he works there or he's living in my apartment building, that's where we usually get our phone calls.
I do have an 800 number that can aid citizens in calling us. If they do see him, whatever country he may be in or whatever state he might be in, they can call us at any time.
ZAHN: And that's 1-800-336-0102.
KRUZIKI: That's correct.
ZAHN: Are you aware of him getting any help from anybody else?
KRUZIKI: It's speculation at this point. We assume that he has probably some financial assistance through his family. But that's speculation.
ZAHN: This is a really complicated investigation. You've got seven local, state and federal agencies involved and Interpol. Tell us how you manage that.
KRUZIKI: Well, it's a lot of phone work, a lot of leg work and massive communication. Our warrant coordinator and warrant squad, that's their job. That's their mission. That's what they do best. So the with U.S. Marshall Service involved, we can deploy all the resources necessary to make those contacts internationally and I'm confident that we'll bring that individual to justice soon.
ZAHN: And U.S. Marshall Kruziki, we said at the top of this, this man is accused, I guess, of molesting some 42, or 42 counts of child molestation. What else can you tell us about this man?
KRUZIKI: Well, it's actually, you know, it's a continuing conduct. He's been involved in this for over 30 years. It started back in 1970 in Milwaukee and carried on through the years in the '70s, '80s and now '90s in California. So it's going to continue to happen. The pattern, you know, past actions are the best predictor of future actions, and we have no reason to believe that he won't stop molesting children. That's his M.O.
ZAHN: And once again, in closing this morning, it wasn't until he knew he was being threatened with arrest that this all happened, that he simply vanished?
KRUZIKI: That's correct. That's correct. There was a civil action taking place in California that he caught wind of and then there were some newspaper articles in California and Tucson that he had been either tipped off or heard of them, and that's when he disappeared.
ZAHN: Well, best of luck to you in this investigation. It sounds like a real complicated one.
KRUZIKI: Yes.
ZAHN: U.S. Marshall Bill Kruziki. KRUZIKI: Thank you very much.
ZAHN: Thank you for your time this morning. Appreciate it.
KRUZIKI: Thanks.
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 31, 2002 - 08:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: He is one of the countries' most wanted sex crime fugitives, the target of a four state manhunt. And this fugitive is a priest. Siegfried Widera is facing 42 counts of child molestation in Wisconsin and California. Authorities say that when he found out he was going to be arrested, he took off. Now police are asking for your help in finding Widera.
Joining us now from Milwaukee is U.S. Marshall Bill Kruziki.
Good morning.
Thank you very much for being with us, sir.
BILL KRUZIKI, U.S. MARSHALL: Good morning.
Thanks for having me.
ZAHN: If you could tell us what you know about this man, we'd love to give you the opportunity right now to share it with all of us who are listening to you.
KRUZIKI: Well, really, that's the most important part, is to get this through the media to the citizens so they can help us. We're not sure if he's even in this country, to be honest with you. He went on a cruise when he found out that the police were looking at him back in May of this year and returned to Key West from his cruise. And the trail ended upon him driving from Key West to El Paso, Texas, where we lost all leads. And he pretty much dropped off the earth.
So we're not sure where he is right now. So, really, the two key things we need is media involvement and citizen involvement to catch him.
ZAHN: And before you give us more descriptions of this guy, tell us when exactly he was last seen. You said the trail sort of from Key West to Texas was lost.
KRUZIKI: The last we heard from him, or know of his whereabouts, is when he transferred title on his Lincoln Continental in El Paso, Texas to his brother's company. Why he did that, we don't know. But from that point, the trial went cold.
ZAHN: I know you said you need all the help you can get. How do you play to find him? What are you doing?
KRUZIKI: Well, one thing is by what we're doing here this morning, is asking the media to help us. Usually that's very successful. If the picture is shown on the air, a citizen says I saw him at the market yesterday or I know he works there or he's living in my apartment building, that's where we usually get our phone calls.
I do have an 800 number that can aid citizens in calling us. If they do see him, whatever country he may be in or whatever state he might be in, they can call us at any time.
ZAHN: And that's 1-800-336-0102.
KRUZIKI: That's correct.
ZAHN: Are you aware of him getting any help from anybody else?
KRUZIKI: It's speculation at this point. We assume that he has probably some financial assistance through his family. But that's speculation.
ZAHN: This is a really complicated investigation. You've got seven local, state and federal agencies involved and Interpol. Tell us how you manage that.
KRUZIKI: Well, it's a lot of phone work, a lot of leg work and massive communication. Our warrant coordinator and warrant squad, that's their job. That's their mission. That's what they do best. So the with U.S. Marshall Service involved, we can deploy all the resources necessary to make those contacts internationally and I'm confident that we'll bring that individual to justice soon.
ZAHN: And U.S. Marshall Kruziki, we said at the top of this, this man is accused, I guess, of molesting some 42, or 42 counts of child molestation. What else can you tell us about this man?
KRUZIKI: Well, it's actually, you know, it's a continuing conduct. He's been involved in this for over 30 years. It started back in 1970 in Milwaukee and carried on through the years in the '70s, '80s and now '90s in California. So it's going to continue to happen. The pattern, you know, past actions are the best predictor of future actions, and we have no reason to believe that he won't stop molesting children. That's his M.O.
ZAHN: And once again, in closing this morning, it wasn't until he knew he was being threatened with arrest that this all happened, that he simply vanished?
KRUZIKI: That's correct. That's correct. There was a civil action taking place in California that he caught wind of and then there were some newspaper articles in California and Tucson that he had been either tipped off or heard of them, and that's when he disappeared.
ZAHN: Well, best of luck to you in this investigation. It sounds like a real complicated one.
KRUZIKI: Yes.
ZAHN: U.S. Marshall Bill Kruziki. KRUZIKI: Thank you very much.
ZAHN: Thank you for your time this morning. Appreciate it.
KRUZIKI: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
