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American Morning
Eric Rudolph Captured, Search for Clues
Aired June 02, 2003 - 07:03 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Fugitive Eric Robert Rudolph now in custody. A hunt right now is on for his past. An army of federal agents searching the woods around Murphy, North Carolina, trying to figure out how Rudolph alluded authorities for five years.
ATF Special Agent-in-charge Lester Martz is with us live in Asheville, North Carolina, to talk to us more about what happens today.
Sir, good morning to you.
LESTER MARTZ, ATF SPECIAL AGENT-IN-CHARGE: Good morning.
HEMMER: How did this man elude your capture for so many years?
MARTZ: Well, if you look at the territory out there, we've got hundreds of square miles of real very rough countryside. There are national forests all around there. It's mountainous. It was his -- basically his backyard also, so he was more familiar with the territory than we were. That's it.
HEMMER: Do you believe he was that good? Or do you believe he was getting help?
MARTZ: I really can't comment on that. We are pursuing all investigative leads that we find and as we develop them, and the investigation is going to take us where it takes us.
HEMMER: There are some locals who say they spotted him in the town square in Murphy, North Carolina, a day before his capture, which would have been Friday; this, just a few steps from the local police station. Is that eyewitness account accurate?
MARTZ: I really can't comment on that. Like I said, we are pursuing all leads and following up all of the information that we develop.
HEMMER: Let me try another one then. He was found to be well- groomed, in apparently clean clothes relatively speaking. What does that tell you?
MARTZ: He was pretty healthy. He seemed to be calm, looked like he lost a lot of weight, but I think he was making out OK.
HEMMER: What have agents found so far in the woods behind that Save-a-Lot store where he was discovered early Saturday morning? MARTZ: I really can't comment what kind of evidence we may have recovered out in the Murphy area since his arrest. We're continuing to work on that area, and we'll be working out there for the next several weeks. If we do find a location where he may have been or whatever, we'll be doing a crime scene there and doing the forensics evidence, yes.
HEMMER: Can you tell us what you're looking for then, sir?
MARTZ: We're looking for just trying to answer the same questions you're asking. Where has he been for five years? How has he survived? Is he getting any kind of help? Just the basic questions. We're just trying to find out information and go from there.
HEMMER: One of the answers that's being sought today in this courtroom is to whether or not to send Eric Robert Rudolph to Birmingham, Alabama, or Atlanta, Georgia. Do you have a say in this matter that you might relay to federal prosecutors to help them decide one way or the other?
MARTZ: Not really. We're basically just an investigative agency. We gather the facts, get all of the information, and then we present it to the various U.S. attorneys' offices. I'm sure they're in contact with the Department of Justice that's going to make -- the decision will be made at the highest levels of DOJ.
HEMMER: At one time at the height of this search, 300 agents in southwestern North Carolina, there were so many resources thrown into the search. It turns out a 21-year-old rookie cop in Murphy, North Carolina, stumbles upon this man at 4:00 in the morning going through a dumpster behind a grocery store in a Save-a-Lot there. Will that man get the $1 million reward, sir?
MARTZ: I'm not -- I have no idea on that. That's whoever posted the reward, I think it's through the Department of Justice and the FBI, they're the ones that will make that determination.
HEMMER: Lester Martz from the ATF, thank you, sir, for your time today. Live in Asheville, North Carolina.
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 June 2, 2003 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Fugitive Eric Robert Rudolph now in custody. A hunt right now is on for his past. An army of federal agents searching the woods around Murphy, North Carolina, trying to figure out how Rudolph alluded authorities for five years.
ATF Special Agent-in-charge Lester Martz is with us live in Asheville, North Carolina, to talk to us more about what happens today.
Sir, good morning to you.
LESTER MARTZ, ATF SPECIAL AGENT-IN-CHARGE: Good morning.
HEMMER: How did this man elude your capture for so many years?
MARTZ: Well, if you look at the territory out there, we've got hundreds of square miles of real very rough countryside. There are national forests all around there. It's mountainous. It was his -- basically his backyard also, so he was more familiar with the territory than we were. That's it.
HEMMER: Do you believe he was that good? Or do you believe he was getting help?
MARTZ: I really can't comment on that. We are pursuing all investigative leads that we find and as we develop them, and the investigation is going to take us where it takes us.
HEMMER: There are some locals who say they spotted him in the town square in Murphy, North Carolina, a day before his capture, which would have been Friday; this, just a few steps from the local police station. Is that eyewitness account accurate?
MARTZ: I really can't comment on that. Like I said, we are pursuing all leads and following up all of the information that we develop.
HEMMER: Let me try another one then. He was found to be well- groomed, in apparently clean clothes relatively speaking. What does that tell you?
MARTZ: He was pretty healthy. He seemed to be calm, looked like he lost a lot of weight, but I think he was making out OK.
HEMMER: What have agents found so far in the woods behind that Save-a-Lot store where he was discovered early Saturday morning? MARTZ: I really can't comment what kind of evidence we may have recovered out in the Murphy area since his arrest. We're continuing to work on that area, and we'll be working out there for the next several weeks. If we do find a location where he may have been or whatever, we'll be doing a crime scene there and doing the forensics evidence, yes.
HEMMER: Can you tell us what you're looking for then, sir?
MARTZ: We're looking for just trying to answer the same questions you're asking. Where has he been for five years? How has he survived? Is he getting any kind of help? Just the basic questions. We're just trying to find out information and go from there.
HEMMER: One of the answers that's being sought today in this courtroom is to whether or not to send Eric Robert Rudolph to Birmingham, Alabama, or Atlanta, Georgia. Do you have a say in this matter that you might relay to federal prosecutors to help them decide one way or the other?
MARTZ: Not really. We're basically just an investigative agency. We gather the facts, get all of the information, and then we present it to the various U.S. attorneys' offices. I'm sure they're in contact with the Department of Justice that's going to make -- the decision will be made at the highest levels of DOJ.
HEMMER: At one time at the height of this search, 300 agents in southwestern North Carolina, there were so many resources thrown into the search. It turns out a 21-year-old rookie cop in Murphy, North Carolina, stumbles upon this man at 4:00 in the morning going through a dumpster behind a grocery store in a Save-a-Lot there. Will that man get the $1 million reward, sir?
MARTZ: I'm not -- I have no idea on that. That's whoever posted the reward, I think it's through the Department of Justice and the FBI, they're the ones that will make that determination.
HEMMER: Lester Martz from the ATF, thank you, sir, for your time today. Live in Asheville, North Carolina.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
