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American Morning
Malvo Reportedly Confesses to Being Triggerman in Some of Killings
Aired November 11, 2002 - 07:24 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: Now we're going to bring you up to date on the all the latest in the sniper shootings. A senior source in the investigation tells CNN that the younger of the two suspects, John Lee Malvo, has confessed to being the triggerman in some of the killings.
Let's go to Patty Davis, who joins us now from Washington with more -- good morning, Patty.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, that apparent confession came during seven to eight hours of interrogation by police on Thursday and Friday after 17-year-old John Lee Malvo was transferred to Virginia to stand trial. A senior source telling CNN that Malvo told investigators he shot several victims, including 47-year-old Linda Franklin, an FBI analyst, that on October 14.
Franklin and her husband had just come out of a Home Depot in Falls Church, Virginia and were loading their car when she was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene.
Now, the source also says Malvo described the shootings as a planned military type operation and says he and his partner used walkie-talkies to communicate.
The interrogation brought outrage on the part of Malvo's court- appointed attorney. He says Malvo's guardian tried to see the boy and demanded that all questioning stop and was rebuffed.
Now, a statement by Malvo's lawyer released yesterday says, "The police are flooding the media and poisoning the jury pool with their own paraphrasing and subjective interpretations of statements made during an unconstitutional interrogation of our client. We ask our client's right to privacy and effective representation not be interfered with any further."
Malvo's lawyer says that he will move to suppress any incriminating statements made by Malvo during that interrogation -- Paula.
ZAHN: So, Patty, during this interrogation, did John Lee Malvo make it clear what John Muhammad's role was?
DAVIS: Apparently not. Apparently he spoke about his role, that he had taken, that he had pulled the trigger in several of these shootings. And the big question here, why would police do something like this? Is it, indeed, something that Malvo's lawyers are going to be able to suppress? And lawyers, constitutional attorneys are saying as long as he was read his Miranda rights here, that it should be fine -- Paula.
ZAHN: Now, Patty, you had also told us weeks ago about this apparent attempt escape by John Lee Malvo, which apparently just hit the newspapers for the first time over the weekend. What was that all about?
DAVIS: Well, that's something that Robert Horan, the prosecutor in Fairfax County, elaborated on a little bit in a press conference that he held on Friday. This was the day that Malvo was arrested, was being interrogated. Apparently, wiggled out of his handcuffs, climbed into the ceiling tiles and Horan said ended up about two offices down, trying to escape, apparently.
But the police were able to get him. He was not able to escape, obviously. And as you said, it's just being reported now. We had it weeks ago -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks to your thorough reporting anybody watching this show would have known that exactly two and a half weeks -- or actually two weeks ago.
Thanks, Patty.
Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Killings>
Aired November 11, 2002 - 07:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we're going to bring you up to date on the all the latest in the sniper shootings. A senior source in the investigation tells CNN that the younger of the two suspects, John Lee Malvo, has confessed to being the triggerman in some of the killings.
Let's go to Patty Davis, who joins us now from Washington with more -- good morning, Patty.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, that apparent confession came during seven to eight hours of interrogation by police on Thursday and Friday after 17-year-old John Lee Malvo was transferred to Virginia to stand trial. A senior source telling CNN that Malvo told investigators he shot several victims, including 47-year-old Linda Franklin, an FBI analyst, that on October 14.
Franklin and her husband had just come out of a Home Depot in Falls Church, Virginia and were loading their car when she was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene.
Now, the source also says Malvo described the shootings as a planned military type operation and says he and his partner used walkie-talkies to communicate.
The interrogation brought outrage on the part of Malvo's court- appointed attorney. He says Malvo's guardian tried to see the boy and demanded that all questioning stop and was rebuffed.
Now, a statement by Malvo's lawyer released yesterday says, "The police are flooding the media and poisoning the jury pool with their own paraphrasing and subjective interpretations of statements made during an unconstitutional interrogation of our client. We ask our client's right to privacy and effective representation not be interfered with any further."
Malvo's lawyer says that he will move to suppress any incriminating statements made by Malvo during that interrogation -- Paula.
ZAHN: So, Patty, during this interrogation, did John Lee Malvo make it clear what John Muhammad's role was?
DAVIS: Apparently not. Apparently he spoke about his role, that he had taken, that he had pulled the trigger in several of these shootings. And the big question here, why would police do something like this? Is it, indeed, something that Malvo's lawyers are going to be able to suppress? And lawyers, constitutional attorneys are saying as long as he was read his Miranda rights here, that it should be fine -- Paula.
ZAHN: Now, Patty, you had also told us weeks ago about this apparent attempt escape by John Lee Malvo, which apparently just hit the newspapers for the first time over the weekend. What was that all about?
DAVIS: Well, that's something that Robert Horan, the prosecutor in Fairfax County, elaborated on a little bit in a press conference that he held on Friday. This was the day that Malvo was arrested, was being interrogated. Apparently, wiggled out of his handcuffs, climbed into the ceiling tiles and Horan said ended up about two offices down, trying to escape, apparently.
But the police were able to get him. He was not able to escape, obviously. And as you said, it's just being reported now. We had it weeks ago -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks to your thorough reporting anybody watching this show would have known that exactly two and a half weeks -- or actually two weeks ago.
Thanks, Patty.
Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Killings>
