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American Morning
Serial Arsonist in D.C. Area
Aired July 16, 2003 - 07:16 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Police and fire investigators still don't know who has been setting houses on fire in the Washington, D.C. area. Six fires are now blamed on the serial arsonist, and 18 more are being called similar in nature. The fires began on March 5.
Patty Davis has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four people were in this house in Chapel Oaks, Maryland, when officials say it was set on fire last month.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't imagine who would want to do something like this, you know.
DAVIS: Luckily, all got out in time. Authorities now believe a serial arsonist is responsible for this and five other fires in the Washington area. With few solid leads, they are asking for the public's help.
CHIEF RONALD BLACKWELL, PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND FIRE EMS DEPARTMENT: There is no way that we could say today that the person we're looking for is male or female, is old or young. None of that information is available to us.
DAVIS: Eighteen other fires are considered suspicious or similar in nature, including the fire at this home that killed 86-year-old Lou Edna Jones. Her front door had been doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire, which fits the arsonist's M.O. All of the fires have been set in the middle of the night in occupied homes, fueled, according to one source, with gasoline.
At a town hall meeting Monday night, Jones' daughters complained officials should be doing more to prevent the fires.
GLORIA JAMES, ARSON VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: What I'm hearing today doesn't even put a Band-Aid on the murder of my mother. It is way too little, way too late.
DAVIS: Officials have upped the reward to $20,000 in hopes of tracking the serial arsonist down.
(on camera): Investigators say they are making progress, but they are convinced that someone somewhere has important information that could help them break this case.
Patty Davis, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Let's get more now on the serial arsonist. Ronald Blackwell is the chief of fire and EMS in Prince George's County, Maryland. He joins us from Washington this morning.
Thanks for joining us.
BLACKWELL: Good to be here.
O'BRIEN: You have now expanded the number of fires that you think are connected, 24 fires connected, six of them you say actually linked. It also brings then the date of the first arson fire to March 5. How does this new information change or help your investigation?
BLACKWELL: Well, what we've asked our investigators to do is to work backwards before we go forward. So, there will be analysis of fires that occurred in March, in February and as early as January. What we think we might find are possible links based on information from previous incidents that could be helpful as we move forward.
O'BRIEN: Outside of the fact that all of these fires have involved homes that were occupied, is there any other link?
BLACKWELL: Well, we've got very good physical evidence. Our tips lines are continuing to pay some benefit. So, we're encouraged by what we're getting, but we do have a continuing need for help from the public. We believe someone has seen, heard or knows of something that could help us break this case.
O'BRIEN: Any potential link with a motive? Are the victims in some way related or linked together?
BLACKWELL: Well, those questions have been asked, and those are things that we're considering within the task force. But at this point, it is really difficult to know and will continue to be until we've made an apprehension or have someone that we can sit down and talk to.
O'BRIEN: The reward fund is now at $20,000, and yet I've read that people seem reluctant to come forward. Is that true? And why do you think that is?
BLACKWELL: Well, I don't know that there has been a reluctance. We intend to continue to try to increase the reward to entice people to come forward. In addition to that, we've done some other things. We've had the telephone tips line from the beginning of this case now, but we are now also providing opportunities for people to speak to us through electronic mail or the U.S. Postal Service. Because, once again, this case, I think like most cases of this nature, in order for it to be broken it's probably going to require some help from the public.
O'BRIEN: At the same time, I know that in cases like this often there are profilers at work who draw up what they perceive to be a picture of the suspected arsonist. Do you have a sense of the profile of who you think is setting these fires?
BLACKWELL: Well, the Metropolitan Police has released a sketch of someone that we consider a crucial witness. That's out there. And we, within the task force, will continue to use all investigative techniques and tools available to us, which could include profiling.
O'BRIEN: Beyond that sketch, though, any sense of what kind of person, in the sense of disaffected, unhappy, white, black? What are you thinking outside of this witness that you're calling?
BLACKWELL: Honestly, Soledad, it is really difficult to know. Until we have someone that we can sit across the table and look at and talk to, those are going to continue to be questions.
O'BRIEN: Six cases that you've linked all of the victims were African-Americans. Does this give you any sense of who you're looking for?
BLACKWELL: It does not, and that could be coincidence. At the same time, it could mean something, but right now we don't know.
O'BRIEN: Ronald Blackwell is the chief of fire and EMS in Prince George's County in Maryland. Thanks for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.
BLACKWELL: Thanks for having me.
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 July 16, 2003 - 07:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Police and fire investigators still don't know who has been setting houses on fire in the Washington, D.C. area. Six fires are now blamed on the serial arsonist, and 18 more are being called similar in nature. The fires began on March 5.
Patty Davis has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four people were in this house in Chapel Oaks, Maryland, when officials say it was set on fire last month.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't imagine who would want to do something like this, you know.
DAVIS: Luckily, all got out in time. Authorities now believe a serial arsonist is responsible for this and five other fires in the Washington area. With few solid leads, they are asking for the public's help.
CHIEF RONALD BLACKWELL, PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND FIRE EMS DEPARTMENT: There is no way that we could say today that the person we're looking for is male or female, is old or young. None of that information is available to us.
DAVIS: Eighteen other fires are considered suspicious or similar in nature, including the fire at this home that killed 86-year-old Lou Edna Jones. Her front door had been doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire, which fits the arsonist's M.O. All of the fires have been set in the middle of the night in occupied homes, fueled, according to one source, with gasoline.
At a town hall meeting Monday night, Jones' daughters complained officials should be doing more to prevent the fires.
GLORIA JAMES, ARSON VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: What I'm hearing today doesn't even put a Band-Aid on the murder of my mother. It is way too little, way too late.
DAVIS: Officials have upped the reward to $20,000 in hopes of tracking the serial arsonist down.
(on camera): Investigators say they are making progress, but they are convinced that someone somewhere has important information that could help them break this case.
Patty Davis, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Let's get more now on the serial arsonist. Ronald Blackwell is the chief of fire and EMS in Prince George's County, Maryland. He joins us from Washington this morning.
Thanks for joining us.
BLACKWELL: Good to be here.
O'BRIEN: You have now expanded the number of fires that you think are connected, 24 fires connected, six of them you say actually linked. It also brings then the date of the first arson fire to March 5. How does this new information change or help your investigation?
BLACKWELL: Well, what we've asked our investigators to do is to work backwards before we go forward. So, there will be analysis of fires that occurred in March, in February and as early as January. What we think we might find are possible links based on information from previous incidents that could be helpful as we move forward.
O'BRIEN: Outside of the fact that all of these fires have involved homes that were occupied, is there any other link?
BLACKWELL: Well, we've got very good physical evidence. Our tips lines are continuing to pay some benefit. So, we're encouraged by what we're getting, but we do have a continuing need for help from the public. We believe someone has seen, heard or knows of something that could help us break this case.
O'BRIEN: Any potential link with a motive? Are the victims in some way related or linked together?
BLACKWELL: Well, those questions have been asked, and those are things that we're considering within the task force. But at this point, it is really difficult to know and will continue to be until we've made an apprehension or have someone that we can sit down and talk to.
O'BRIEN: The reward fund is now at $20,000, and yet I've read that people seem reluctant to come forward. Is that true? And why do you think that is?
BLACKWELL: Well, I don't know that there has been a reluctance. We intend to continue to try to increase the reward to entice people to come forward. In addition to that, we've done some other things. We've had the telephone tips line from the beginning of this case now, but we are now also providing opportunities for people to speak to us through electronic mail or the U.S. Postal Service. Because, once again, this case, I think like most cases of this nature, in order for it to be broken it's probably going to require some help from the public.
O'BRIEN: At the same time, I know that in cases like this often there are profilers at work who draw up what they perceive to be a picture of the suspected arsonist. Do you have a sense of the profile of who you think is setting these fires?
BLACKWELL: Well, the Metropolitan Police has released a sketch of someone that we consider a crucial witness. That's out there. And we, within the task force, will continue to use all investigative techniques and tools available to us, which could include profiling.
O'BRIEN: Beyond that sketch, though, any sense of what kind of person, in the sense of disaffected, unhappy, white, black? What are you thinking outside of this witness that you're calling?
BLACKWELL: Honestly, Soledad, it is really difficult to know. Until we have someone that we can sit across the table and look at and talk to, those are going to continue to be questions.
O'BRIEN: Six cases that you've linked all of the victims were African-Americans. Does this give you any sense of who you're looking for?
BLACKWELL: It does not, and that could be coincidence. At the same time, it could mean something, but right now we don't know.
O'BRIEN: Ronald Blackwell is the chief of fire and EMS in Prince George's County in Maryland. Thanks for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.
BLACKWELL: Thanks for having me.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
