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American Morning
Capture of Suspect in Louisiana Serial Killings
Aired May 28, 2003 - 08:03 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to move on now and get more on the capture of the suspect in the Louisiana serial killings. Thirty-four-year-old Derrick Todd Lee was arrested yesterday in Atlanta. He is being linked by DNA evidence to the killings of five women in the Baton Rouge area.
Joining us now from Atlanta with more on the capture is Martin Savidge. He's standing by at the Fulton County Jail -- Marty.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning again, Leon.
Well, he is in the jail currently now, but he's not expected to be here much longer. Derrick Lee has an appointment in court downtown Atlanta in about one hour from now. That's an extradition hearing that could begin him soon on the road back to Louisiana, specifically the Baton Rouge area, where he is facing murder charges in the cases of five women that were murdered over a period of two years.
He was arrested last night in Atlanta at about 8:30 p.m. following a phone call and a tip from the general public. Yesterday there was a massive campaign on the part of Atlanta authorities, getting his name, getting his photo out there on the street so that people could look for him. They knew he was in the Atlanta area, they just didn't know exactly where. They were always right on his trail, they said, yesterday nearly nabbed him twice, once at a homeless shelter and another time at a hotel. But finally they caught him behind a tire shop in southwestern Atlanta.
He is now charged with murder and also with aggravated rape.
The police chief of Atlanta, Richard Pennington, talks about how the case could change, especially here in Georgia.
Listen up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF RICHARD PENNINGTON, ATLANTA POLICE: We still don't know why he came to Atlanta and we know, we believe that he's been here before. So this morning members of my homicide squad are going to go back and pull some of the unsolved murders relating to females back in the early '90s, '93 and '94. We had several females that we're killed along Metropolitan Parkway. So we're going to go back and kind of look at those cases and see if we can match some of the DNA samples.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SAVIDGE: DNA is critical here. It was back on May 5th, two weeks ago roughly, when Lee was, again, told by an anonymous caller that he could be a suspect. So authorities in Louisiana brought him in for questioning and then asked him to submit a DNA sample. It was just after he gave that sample that authorities say he became nervous and fled the area. In the meantime, they did the checking and they matched up his DNA against DNA that was collected from the five crime scenes in the Louisiana area.
Now, as you've just heard, authorities here in Georgia wonder if he's been to Atlanta before, perhaps there were other crimes he's connected to. So they will use that same DNA and try to see if they can solve some unsolved murder cases here -- Leon.
HARRIS: Thanks, Marty.
Martin Savidge reporting live from Atlanta.
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 28, 2003 - 08:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to move on now and get more on the capture of the suspect in the Louisiana serial killings. Thirty-four-year-old Derrick Todd Lee was arrested yesterday in Atlanta. He is being linked by DNA evidence to the killings of five women in the Baton Rouge area.
Joining us now from Atlanta with more on the capture is Martin Savidge. He's standing by at the Fulton County Jail -- Marty.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning again, Leon.
Well, he is in the jail currently now, but he's not expected to be here much longer. Derrick Lee has an appointment in court downtown Atlanta in about one hour from now. That's an extradition hearing that could begin him soon on the road back to Louisiana, specifically the Baton Rouge area, where he is facing murder charges in the cases of five women that were murdered over a period of two years.
He was arrested last night in Atlanta at about 8:30 p.m. following a phone call and a tip from the general public. Yesterday there was a massive campaign on the part of Atlanta authorities, getting his name, getting his photo out there on the street so that people could look for him. They knew he was in the Atlanta area, they just didn't know exactly where. They were always right on his trail, they said, yesterday nearly nabbed him twice, once at a homeless shelter and another time at a hotel. But finally they caught him behind a tire shop in southwestern Atlanta.
He is now charged with murder and also with aggravated rape.
The police chief of Atlanta, Richard Pennington, talks about how the case could change, especially here in Georgia.
Listen up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF RICHARD PENNINGTON, ATLANTA POLICE: We still don't know why he came to Atlanta and we know, we believe that he's been here before. So this morning members of my homicide squad are going to go back and pull some of the unsolved murders relating to females back in the early '90s, '93 and '94. We had several females that we're killed along Metropolitan Parkway. So we're going to go back and kind of look at those cases and see if we can match some of the DNA samples.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SAVIDGE: DNA is critical here. It was back on May 5th, two weeks ago roughly, when Lee was, again, told by an anonymous caller that he could be a suspect. So authorities in Louisiana brought him in for questioning and then asked him to submit a DNA sample. It was just after he gave that sample that authorities say he became nervous and fled the area. In the meantime, they did the checking and they matched up his DNA against DNA that was collected from the five crime scenes in the Louisiana area.
Now, as you've just heard, authorities here in Georgia wonder if he's been to Atlanta before, perhaps there were other crimes he's connected to. So they will use that same DNA and try to see if they can solve some unsolved murder cases here -- Leon.
HARRIS: Thanks, Marty.
Martin Savidge reporting live from Atlanta.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
