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American Morning
Death at Church
Aired May 02, 2003 - 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: There is a very unusual death being investigated right now in a small town in the state of Maine. A 78- year-old man died, 15 others became ill from arsenic poisoning. The arsenic was in the coffee they drank on Sunday at a church meeting in New Sweden, Maine.
Christine Young of our affiliate, WMTW, covering that story, and joins us now live outside the church for more.
What are we learning? Good morning.
CHRISTINE YOUNG, CNN AFFILIATE WMTW REPORTER: Good morning, Bill.
Well, I am standing in front of the Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church here in New Sweden, Maine. It was settled in 1871. It's a beautiful little church. This turned into a terrible crime scene.
In 1871, the Swedes came and brought there families. And many of those families are still here in Maine, and this is the town in -- New Sweden is the town where everybody literally does know everybody else.
And when we got here a couple of days ago, we went to the local variety store, where the owner completely dismissed the idea that this could be deliberate. She said nobody even considered that. She almost laughed at us.
And now, it has been called homicide. We know that this man died of acute arsenic poisoning. And this woman, we talked to her again, and she's devastated. I'm sure she reflects the rest of this community's feeling that someone -- imagine how they feel -- someone among them has done this terrible thing, someone they know, they trust.
People -- everybody in this town knows somebody in the hospital or with family in the hospital.
Walter Reed Morrill (ph), the gentleman who died, is a well-known figure, 78 years old, a golfer, active in the community, did work on the church grounds. It's just like an extended family here. So, it's a really terrible thing, if you can imagine how they feel.
And details have just been leaking out little by little, and we're all just waiting to see -- and we think the police may know more than they're telling us, and we're going to find out a little bit later today more about what's happening here.
HEMMER: All right, Christine, thanks.
The 15 others, full recovery for them or not?
YOUNG: Actually, there are two people still in critical condition. They've been in critical condition since this happened. This could turn into a multiple homicide -- Bill.
HEMMER: Christine Young, WMTW, that's New Sweden, Maine, reporting for us. Thanks for that update.
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 May 2, 2003 - 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: There is a very unusual death being investigated right now in a small town in the state of Maine. A 78- year-old man died, 15 others became ill from arsenic poisoning. The arsenic was in the coffee they drank on Sunday at a church meeting in New Sweden, Maine.
Christine Young of our affiliate, WMTW, covering that story, and joins us now live outside the church for more.
What are we learning? Good morning.
CHRISTINE YOUNG, CNN AFFILIATE WMTW REPORTER: Good morning, Bill.
Well, I am standing in front of the Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church here in New Sweden, Maine. It was settled in 1871. It's a beautiful little church. This turned into a terrible crime scene.
In 1871, the Swedes came and brought there families. And many of those families are still here in Maine, and this is the town in -- New Sweden is the town where everybody literally does know everybody else.
And when we got here a couple of days ago, we went to the local variety store, where the owner completely dismissed the idea that this could be deliberate. She said nobody even considered that. She almost laughed at us.
And now, it has been called homicide. We know that this man died of acute arsenic poisoning. And this woman, we talked to her again, and she's devastated. I'm sure she reflects the rest of this community's feeling that someone -- imagine how they feel -- someone among them has done this terrible thing, someone they know, they trust.
People -- everybody in this town knows somebody in the hospital or with family in the hospital.
Walter Reed Morrill (ph), the gentleman who died, is a well-known figure, 78 years old, a golfer, active in the community, did work on the church grounds. It's just like an extended family here. So, it's a really terrible thing, if you can imagine how they feel.
And details have just been leaking out little by little, and we're all just waiting to see -- and we think the police may know more than they're telling us, and we're going to find out a little bit later today more about what's happening here.
HEMMER: All right, Christine, thanks.
The 15 others, full recovery for them or not?
YOUNG: Actually, there are two people still in critical condition. They've been in critical condition since this happened. This could turn into a multiple homicide -- Bill.
HEMMER: Christine Young, WMTW, that's New Sweden, Maine, reporting for us. Thanks for that update.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
