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American Morning
Police Look for More Sniper Links
Aired November 04, 2002 - 07:17 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning in a Maryland courtroom, one of the sniper suspects, John Lee Malvo, will appear for a closed detention hearing.
Meanwhile, police in Prince George's County, Maryland are looking into whether the sniper suspects may have been involved in a shooting there early in September.
Patty Davis now live in D.C., tracking the latest on this investigation.
I want to make this clear now. This is a shooting that is completely separate from the incident on September 14, which has been in many ways linked to the snipers.
Patty -- good morning.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
Well, Bill, 55-year-old Paul LaRuffa had just closed his Clinton, Maryland restaurant on September 5 and was getting in his car when he saw a flash of light, heard a pop. He was shot six times at close range.
And his attacker left him for dead and took off with LaRuffa's Sony laptop computer, and he says, between $3,000 to $4,000 in cash -- his restaurant bank deposit. LaRuffa survived.
And now, police want to know if the sniper suspects, John Muhammad and John Lee Malvo, were involved. There are coincidences. Police found a Sony laptop in Muhammad's car when he was arrested, and the restaurant is close to where Muhammad's ex-wife lives in Clinton, Maryland.
LaRuffa was shot with a .22-caliber weapon. Now, if you remember that shooting in Alabama, police there found a .22-caliber handgun near the scene of a murder that they believe was committed by Muhammad and Malvo in late September.
Last week, police linked yet another shooting; this one, September 14 outside of a liquor store in Silver Spring, Maryland to Muhammad and Malvo.
Meanwhile, Malvo is scheduled to appear in federal court today to determine whether he should be detained on federal juvenile charges in connection with his alleged involvement in the sniper killings here in Washington, D.C. Tomorrow, John Muhammad heads back to federal court for a detention hearing. He's already been charged in a 20-count federal criminal complaint -- Bill.
HEMMER: There are a lot of shootings to keep track of relative to this. I understand there is the possibility of a connection on the Caribbean island of Antigua. What can you tell more about that, Patty?
DAVIS: It just keeps growing, doesn't it? The two apparently met in Antigua in 2000 or 2001.
Now, in a bizarre twist this weekend, the Antiguan government came out and said that Muhammad, they believe, may have been planning to kidnap the prime minister of Antigua and hold him for ransom.
Now, the government of Antigua is also looking at, are there any other unsolved crimes that these two men may have been involved in? And they apparently made this connection about Muhammad apparently allegedly planning to kidnap the prime minister by documents that they found when they were looking into how he got an Antiguan birth certificate illegally -- Bill.
HEMMER: Thank you, Patty -- Patty Davis working the latest on the investigation in Washington.
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 November 4, 2002 - 07:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning in a Maryland courtroom, one of the sniper suspects, John Lee Malvo, will appear for a closed detention hearing.
Meanwhile, police in Prince George's County, Maryland are looking into whether the sniper suspects may have been involved in a shooting there early in September.
Patty Davis now live in D.C., tracking the latest on this investigation.
I want to make this clear now. This is a shooting that is completely separate from the incident on September 14, which has been in many ways linked to the snipers.
Patty -- good morning.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
Well, Bill, 55-year-old Paul LaRuffa had just closed his Clinton, Maryland restaurant on September 5 and was getting in his car when he saw a flash of light, heard a pop. He was shot six times at close range.
And his attacker left him for dead and took off with LaRuffa's Sony laptop computer, and he says, between $3,000 to $4,000 in cash -- his restaurant bank deposit. LaRuffa survived.
And now, police want to know if the sniper suspects, John Muhammad and John Lee Malvo, were involved. There are coincidences. Police found a Sony laptop in Muhammad's car when he was arrested, and the restaurant is close to where Muhammad's ex-wife lives in Clinton, Maryland.
LaRuffa was shot with a .22-caliber weapon. Now, if you remember that shooting in Alabama, police there found a .22-caliber handgun near the scene of a murder that they believe was committed by Muhammad and Malvo in late September.
Last week, police linked yet another shooting; this one, September 14 outside of a liquor store in Silver Spring, Maryland to Muhammad and Malvo.
Meanwhile, Malvo is scheduled to appear in federal court today to determine whether he should be detained on federal juvenile charges in connection with his alleged involvement in the sniper killings here in Washington, D.C. Tomorrow, John Muhammad heads back to federal court for a detention hearing. He's already been charged in a 20-count federal criminal complaint -- Bill.
HEMMER: There are a lot of shootings to keep track of relative to this. I understand there is the possibility of a connection on the Caribbean island of Antigua. What can you tell more about that, Patty?
DAVIS: It just keeps growing, doesn't it? The two apparently met in Antigua in 2000 or 2001.
Now, in a bizarre twist this weekend, the Antiguan government came out and said that Muhammad, they believe, may have been planning to kidnap the prime minister of Antigua and hold him for ransom.
Now, the government of Antigua is also looking at, are there any other unsolved crimes that these two men may have been involved in? And they apparently made this connection about Muhammad apparently allegedly planning to kidnap the prime minister by documents that they found when they were looking into how he got an Antiguan birth certificate illegally -- Bill.
HEMMER: Thank you, Patty -- Patty Davis working the latest on the investigation in Washington.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
