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American Morning
Dramatic Development in Case of Missing Basketball Player
Aired July 22, 2003 - 08:02 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: Turning now to a dramatic development in the case of missing Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy. His friend and roommate Carlton Dotson, Jr. has been charged in his murder.
Dotson was taken into custody last night near his home in Maryland. He is scheduled to appear this morning at a bail hearing.
Chestertown Police Chief Walter Coryell joins us this morning.
Good morning, sir.
Thanks for joining us.
CHIEF WALTER CORYELL, CHESTERTOWN POLICE: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Carlton Dotson now has been charged with murder.
Did he confess to FBI agents?
CORYELL: I was not privileged to be in that conversation with the FBI, so that's a question you will have to pass on to them. Our role is the service of the warrant that was passed on to us by Waco officials after his interview with the FBI.
O'BRIEN: So FBI agents haven't filled you in on whether or not he confessed?
CORYELL: They have not gone over the text of their conversation with him with us.
O'BRIEN: Chestertown is 55 miles away from Dotson's hometown. He called your officers on Monday afternoon. Did he say what he was doing in Chestertown?
CORYELL: Actually, he called us on Sunday afternoon.
O'BRIEN: I understand. You need to -- you've got an important beeper going there, so if you need to turn that off for a second.
Thanks, sir.
CORYELL: Sorry. He called us on -- OK. He called us on a Sunday afternoon and he indicated to us that he felt he needed some help, counseling type help. And we provided that assistance. During the time that he was in our local hospital, he elected to contact the FBI and it was as a result of that conversation with the FBI that Waco authorities issued a warrant and we have now executed that warrant by taking him into custody.
O'BRIEN: What was his demeanor like when he called and asked to be taken to a local hospital? How did he seem?
CORYELL: He was calm. He was respectful. He was cooperative. We did not have any problem with his demeanor.
O'BRIEN: There were reports that he said he needed counseling, that he said he was hearing voices.
Are those reports accurate?
CORYELL: That is the same information that we received from him early on when we first met with him on Sunday afternoon.
O'BRIEN: Is there a sense, or would you characterize him as being helpful to investigators?
CORYELL: Well, I was not involved in the actual conversations with the investigators, so I'm going to have to refer you to the FBI in that regard.
O'BRIEN: OK, I'm going to ask you just one more question.
He was handcuffed. He was fingerprinted. How did he seem during that process? You say that he was very calm. Did he continue to be calm or did he get more agitated as that went on?
CORYELL: No, there was no agitation present in his attitude or his demeanor. He was very cooperative and friendly with us.
O'BRIEN: All right, Police Chief Walter Coryell, I appreciate your time this morning.
Obviously, with the number of times your pager is going off, we know you're really busy, so we sure appreciate it.
CORYELL: Well, one of the main things about this case at this point is the great cooperation between agencies involved. And I think it's a fine example of cooperation.
O'BRIEN: Well, we're glad...
CORYELL: Thank you very much.
O'BRIEN: We are glad to hear that. Often it is not the case. So thanks for that, as well.
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 22, 2003 - 08:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to a dramatic development in the case of missing Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy. His friend and roommate Carlton Dotson, Jr. has been charged in his murder.
Dotson was taken into custody last night near his home in Maryland. He is scheduled to appear this morning at a bail hearing.
Chestertown Police Chief Walter Coryell joins us this morning.
Good morning, sir.
Thanks for joining us.
CHIEF WALTER CORYELL, CHESTERTOWN POLICE: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Carlton Dotson now has been charged with murder.
Did he confess to FBI agents?
CORYELL: I was not privileged to be in that conversation with the FBI, so that's a question you will have to pass on to them. Our role is the service of the warrant that was passed on to us by Waco officials after his interview with the FBI.
O'BRIEN: So FBI agents haven't filled you in on whether or not he confessed?
CORYELL: They have not gone over the text of their conversation with him with us.
O'BRIEN: Chestertown is 55 miles away from Dotson's hometown. He called your officers on Monday afternoon. Did he say what he was doing in Chestertown?
CORYELL: Actually, he called us on Sunday afternoon.
O'BRIEN: I understand. You need to -- you've got an important beeper going there, so if you need to turn that off for a second.
Thanks, sir.
CORYELL: Sorry. He called us on -- OK. He called us on a Sunday afternoon and he indicated to us that he felt he needed some help, counseling type help. And we provided that assistance. During the time that he was in our local hospital, he elected to contact the FBI and it was as a result of that conversation with the FBI that Waco authorities issued a warrant and we have now executed that warrant by taking him into custody.
O'BRIEN: What was his demeanor like when he called and asked to be taken to a local hospital? How did he seem?
CORYELL: He was calm. He was respectful. He was cooperative. We did not have any problem with his demeanor.
O'BRIEN: There were reports that he said he needed counseling, that he said he was hearing voices.
Are those reports accurate?
CORYELL: That is the same information that we received from him early on when we first met with him on Sunday afternoon.
O'BRIEN: Is there a sense, or would you characterize him as being helpful to investigators?
CORYELL: Well, I was not involved in the actual conversations with the investigators, so I'm going to have to refer you to the FBI in that regard.
O'BRIEN: OK, I'm going to ask you just one more question.
He was handcuffed. He was fingerprinted. How did he seem during that process? You say that he was very calm. Did he continue to be calm or did he get more agitated as that went on?
CORYELL: No, there was no agitation present in his attitude or his demeanor. He was very cooperative and friendly with us.
O'BRIEN: All right, Police Chief Walter Coryell, I appreciate your time this morning.
Obviously, with the number of times your pager is going off, we know you're really busy, so we sure appreciate it.
CORYELL: Well, one of the main things about this case at this point is the great cooperation between agencies involved. And I think it's a fine example of cooperation.
O'BRIEN: Well, we're glad...
CORYELL: Thank you very much.
O'BRIEN: We are glad to hear that. Often it is not the case. So thanks for that, as well.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
