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CNN Sunday Morning
Police Link Apparent Suicide Victim to Maine Poisonings
Aired May 04, 2003 - 11:11 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Members of a small Maine church are back at their sanctuary, a week after a mysterious crime. Police in New Sweden say a church member, an apparent suicide victim, may be linked to arsenic poisonings at the church. Those poisonings, of course, happened last Sunday. CNN's Jason Carroll is outside the Lutheran church where the mystery all began -- Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the church service is going on right now. I just had a moment to come outside after listening in on the services for just a short while, and you really get the sense that these parishioners are turning to their faith, and to each other, to try to see themselves through this crisis in this very small community.
At one point the pastor of the church called the children to the front, and he asked them, he said, what happens when you fall down and you hurt yourself, what do you do to make it better, you put on a Band-Aid. And what he did was, he handed them a heart and cross. And what he told them is, he said, this symbolizes God's Band-Aid, if you will. And what we have to do, at this point, is turn to God in order to try to feel better about what has happened in our lives.
Also, we've had an opportunity to speak with a number of parishioners in this very small community about what has happened to them. Many of them finding it hard to believe that the possibility of one of their own caused everything that happened here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEATRICE PAGE, PARISHIONER: I hate to think of that, because I've known Danny for a long time, and he was a very nice fellow. I liked him. Very much.
FRED ANDERSON, PARISHIONER: Oh, it's unbelievable what's happening here, and I can't figure it out or come to any conclusion, how or why it happened. But it's something -- it's just hard to find out how it could be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Again, the prayer service inside is a private one. No cameras are allowed inside, but again, reporters were allowed to go inside to take notes and listen in to what the pastor is telling the community. Again, but I just really want to point out that you really get the sense that what is happening here is that everyone is turning to their faith to try to see them through what has happened -- Anderson.
COOPER: Jason, listening to those two parishioners, you really hear the shock and the dismay in their voices. Is anything new known about the suspect?
CARROLL: Well, I can tell you here, first in talking about the shock, you heard Beatrice there, talking about Danny. She was referring to Daniel Bondeson. He is the focus of the police investigation at this point. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound last Friday.
All day long yesterday, state police were out at his farm. They were gathering samples. They said that they gathered enough information from the farm to link him to the crime here at the church. Anderson?
COOPER: Still so many unanswered questions. Jason Carroll, thanks very much.
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 4, 2003 - 11:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Members of a small Maine church are back at their sanctuary, a week after a mysterious crime. Police in New Sweden say a church member, an apparent suicide victim, may be linked to arsenic poisonings at the church. Those poisonings, of course, happened last Sunday. CNN's Jason Carroll is outside the Lutheran church where the mystery all began -- Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the church service is going on right now. I just had a moment to come outside after listening in on the services for just a short while, and you really get the sense that these parishioners are turning to their faith, and to each other, to try to see themselves through this crisis in this very small community.
At one point the pastor of the church called the children to the front, and he asked them, he said, what happens when you fall down and you hurt yourself, what do you do to make it better, you put on a Band-Aid. And what he did was, he handed them a heart and cross. And what he told them is, he said, this symbolizes God's Band-Aid, if you will. And what we have to do, at this point, is turn to God in order to try to feel better about what has happened in our lives.
Also, we've had an opportunity to speak with a number of parishioners in this very small community about what has happened to them. Many of them finding it hard to believe that the possibility of one of their own caused everything that happened here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEATRICE PAGE, PARISHIONER: I hate to think of that, because I've known Danny for a long time, and he was a very nice fellow. I liked him. Very much.
FRED ANDERSON, PARISHIONER: Oh, it's unbelievable what's happening here, and I can't figure it out or come to any conclusion, how or why it happened. But it's something -- it's just hard to find out how it could be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Again, the prayer service inside is a private one. No cameras are allowed inside, but again, reporters were allowed to go inside to take notes and listen in to what the pastor is telling the community. Again, but I just really want to point out that you really get the sense that what is happening here is that everyone is turning to their faith to try to see them through what has happened -- Anderson.
COOPER: Jason, listening to those two parishioners, you really hear the shock and the dismay in their voices. Is anything new known about the suspect?
CARROLL: Well, I can tell you here, first in talking about the shock, you heard Beatrice there, talking about Danny. She was referring to Daniel Bondeson. He is the focus of the police investigation at this point. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound last Friday.
All day long yesterday, state police were out at his farm. They were gathering samples. They said that they gathered enough information from the farm to link him to the crime here at the church. Anderson?
COOPER: Still so many unanswered questions. Jason Carroll, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
