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Family Members Share Memories of Civilians Killed in Iraq; Fresno Man Charged for Murdering His Nine Children; Web Site Helps Cut Parking Tickets

Aired March 14, 2004 - 09:30   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: They volunteered to help rebuild Iraq. Two brave Americans become the first U.S. civilians to die at the hands of insurgents. I'll talk to their families a little bit later.
But first, some of the headlines this morning.

As Spanish voters go to the polls in national elections, the country's foreign minister says three of the five suspects detained in last week's terror bombings appear to have prior police records.

Al Qaeda is likely on the minds of many voters. The terror group has claimed responsibility for killing 200 people in those blasts. The claim was made in a videotape. Whether that tape is actually from al Qaeda has not yet been verified.

Pope John Paul II today becomes the longest-serving pope in a century. He surpasses Leo XIII, who was pope from 1878 to 1903. John Paul is still six years shy of the 31 years served by Pius IX in the 19th Century.

Catholics regard Jesus' disciple Peter, as the first pope, a position he held for a record 34 years.

And in Delaware, a group opposed to the Iraq war will march from the town of Camden to Dover Air Force base. That's where those killed in action are returned to the U.S.

The group then travels by bus to Baltimore for a march tomorrow that will end at the White House.

It was along this desolate stretch of Iraqi highway that two American civilian workers and their interpreter were gunned down and killed last Tuesday. They were the first American civilian fatalities in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad last April.

Six suspects are now in custody, including four who carry Iraqi police identification. That has raised deep concern that some insurgents have infiltrated the Iraqi security forces.

Vi Holland is the sister of Fern Holland, one of the people who was killed. She's joining us this morning from Oklahoma City.

Good morning to you, ma'am. Thanks for being with us.

VI HOLLAND, SISTER OF FERN HOLLAND: Good morning.

COLLINS: The other victim is Robert Zangas. His father is Lieutenant Colonel Charles Zangas.

Sir, thank you also for being with us. He is joining us this morning from San Diego.

LT. COL. CHARLES ZANGAS, FATHER OF ROBERT ZANGAS: Good morning.

COLLINS: I would like to start with you, Vi, if I could. Tell us a little bit about how your family is doing at this point.

HOLLAND: We're doing the best to be expected. We've chosen to put grief aside and to use this opportunity to tell the story of Fern's work and bring awareness to the people of Iraq and to the women of Iraq.

COLLINS: And we are looking at some pictures of Fern right now. Tell us about her work. I know that, as you say, she did work with women and trying to help with human rights violations. Was her work considered controversial?

HOLLAND: I would say to some.

COLLINS: Tell us a little more about what she was able to accomplish in the time that she was there.

HOLLAND: I would say that I would not be the best person to answer what her exact accomplishments were.

Fern saw -- Fern was an advocate of human rights. She saw a need to empower a group of people who had been oppressed for a long period of time. And she felt that she could be that person. She could be the heart. She could be the breath and their voice. And that was Fern's purpose.

COLLINS: In fact, I know about an e-mail that she sent, apparently, to a friend, and I really want to make sure that we hear this.

She wrote, "I love the work, and if I die, know that I'm doing precisely what I want to be doing."

Tell us your thoughts about that.

HOLLAND: I know that that is true. Fern and I shared a conversation before she accepted the job to go to Iraq last year. In that conversation, Fern told me, this is the work that she was meant to do. This was her purpose. It is what -- human rights, what she had wanted to do all of her life.

She had a sense that she would not return. But she did want to go and fulfill her life's purpose. It was Fern's choice.

We loved her, and we supported her. And we believed in her, and we believed in the work. And we believed in human rights, as well. And we believed that she was the person for the job.

COLLINS: Vi, I certainly hope that your family is taking a little bit of comfort in that.

Let's go ahead and talk now with Charles Zangas. Your son, Robert, was over in Iraq doing work with the U.S. Marines, reservists, came home for a little while, and then went back as a civilian.

Tell us why.

ZANGAS: Well, the short answer is, like Fern, he felt he could make a difference. As you said, he'd been over there before, last year, and even in '91 as a Marine.

And then when they asked him to join the Coalition Provisional Authority, he accepted that job so that he could bring to the people of Iraq some of the preceptors of our democracy here in the United States.

COLLINS: Were you concerned about his safety, sir?

ZANGAS: Well, that's sort of goes without saying. I don't think I ever closed a conversation with him or stopped in e-mail to him without saying, "Please, son, be careful. Take care of yourself. As we say in Marine aviation, check your six all the time."

So yes, we prayed and worried about him daily.

COLLINS: Check six, meaning look over your shoulder, familiar with that term, sir.

ZANGAS: Yes.

COLLINS: Being a military family, if you will, you're a retired lieutenant colonel, you mentioned that this somewhat goes with the territory. But after you serve your time, it really takes a special person to go back as a civilian.

How do you want people to remember Robert?

ZANGAS: Well, Bobby was a wonderful father, a dedicated to his three children. He was a true patriot, a good American, a great Marine, and he was a wonderful son whom I will remember for the rest of my life.

That's the way I want my son to be remembered by all of his friends and family.

COLLINS: And I'm willing to bet he will be remembered that way.

I want to get to some of the technicalities, though, if I could, for just a moment with both of you. Vi, if you wouldn't mind answering this one first for us.

As you know, U.S. officials acknowledged that four of the six suspects detained in this event appeared to be carrying valid Iraqi police identification.

What was your reaction when you heard that detail? These were people that were put in place to help in the rebuilding of Iraq by the United States.

HOLLAND: The way Fern died is not important. It is the way that she lived that is important.

COLLINS: Very understandable. I think you're right on that one.

Mr. Zangas, how do you feel about this? Difficult, I would imagine, for the U.S. authorities to know exactly who they're dealing with at this point.

ZANGAS: Yes, Heidi. My first thought was that Bobby was -- never had a chance. He was brought up to respect authority and to respect police.

And when -- I would think that when he saw those four or five or six policemen down the road, he probably felt secure in the truck and felt that they were going to protect him. And as a result, never had a chance.

Terrorism has a lot of faces. And I know that our forces in Iraq will learn a lesson from this sad and tragic event.

COLLINS: To the two of you, we certainly appreciate your time today. We are remembering Fern Holland and Robert Zangas.

Thanks so much, Lieutenant Charles Zangas, father of Robert, and Vi Holland, the sister of Fern Holland, who you were looking at moments ago on your screen. Thanks again to both of you.

ZANGAS: Thank you for having me.

HOLLAND: Thank you.

ZANGAS: Thank you for having me.

COLLINS: You're more than welcome. We appreciate your story today.

One additional note, the interpreter who was killed along with Zangas and Holland, has been identified. Ursawa Amashi (ph), she worked as Holland's assistant.

Want to take just a moment now to get back to that e-mail question that we've been asking you today. Does the threat of terror make you think twice about travel?

We've gotten several responses on this.

Coming to us from Quebec, Canada: "We are all human, and thinking of the worst sometimes happens. These thoughts have overtaken me, and now, I am no longer able to travel by train. The terrorists have won in my case, if being extra careful means to lose." Then from Havana: "I am a U.S. Marine stationed in Havana, Cuba. I am engaged and my fiance is in South Africa. To get there, I have to travel through Madrid. I had originally planned on seeing a couple of buddies of mine while I was going through the city. Most of them won't be able to come due to those attacks. The way that I see it, it doesn't matter. It doesn't make sense, that is, to worry after the attacks. We have to be able to move on."

And from Dennis in Colorado Springs, "Absolutely not. The biggest prize the terrorists have won is how the fear has impacted the economy of the U.S. and the world. This has caused much more suffering than the attacks themselves. Our best weapon against terrorism is to go about our lives, including travel."

Police call it the worst mass murder in the city's history. Ahead, as residents remember the victims, we go live to Fresno, California, for the latest on the killing spree that left nine people dead.

CNN SUNDAY MORNING back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Don't get the boot. There's a new way to beat those pesky parking tickets. We'll tell you how. You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The suspect behind those mass killings in Fresno, California, is due in court this week. He faces charges of killing nine of his own children.

As CNN's Miguel Marquez reports, the suspect led a very bizarre life, to say the least.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHIEF JERRY DYER, FRESNO POLICE: This is obviously the worst mass murder case that we have had in the history of our city.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The worst mass murder, police say, caused by this man, Marcus Wesson.

In response to a reporter asking if he was the killer, Wesson only expressed love.

MARCUS WESSON, ACCUSED OF MASS MURDER: I love you.

MARQUEZ: Fresno's police chief says the murder scene was so grisly, police officers cried as the bodies of the children were bagged.

Among the nine dead, Wesson's children and the grandchildren he fathered with his own daughters. DYER: Our investigation has revealed, at least we've been told, that suspect Wesson is the father of two of his grandchildren, which means that there was a sexual relationship that occurred between he and perhaps two of his daughters.

MARQUEZ: Police believe Wesson had a polygamous relationship with several of the women he lived with. Police are also investigating the possibility that Wesson had a cult-like following by his family.

Chief Dyer also says there are so many dead that almost his entire department is involved in the case.

DYER: In fact, this single incident has quadrupled the murder rate in our city in one night.

MARQUEZ: Frank Muno has known Wesson for several years. He claims the relationship between Wesson and the women was less than normal.

FRANK MUNO, WESSON BUSINESS ASSOCIATE: It was an odd relationship between them, between him and the women, he had complete control. They were the ones working and bringing in money, and he would tell them where -- how to spend it, where to transfer funds, and they just fell in line.

MARQUEZ: And as the day wore on, people who didn't even know the victims stopped by to pay their respects, a clear sign of how the murders have shaken even the city's youngest.

MAYA MOSS, SEVEN YEARS OLD: It was kind of sad that those kids had to die.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now, one thing investigators are trying to zero in on in this investigation is the time, manner and death of each of the victims. The only thing the police chief saying yesterday is that it was unique and consistent for each of them.

Wesson has been booked on nine counts of murder. There may be more charges when he's arraigned early next week -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Miguel, I'm wondering if what I heard earlier was correct, about a possible police record in the past of Wesson. Know anything about that?

MARQUEZ: The police were keeping his record under wraps for now. They didn't want to release information about his previous record. But they didn't have a whole lot of record of Mr. Wesson in this city.

He apparently sort of flew under the radar, as did the family, while they were living in this house, sort of a marginal existence -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Miguel Marquez, thanks so very much, live from Fresno this morning.

To debate or not to debate; that is the question looming over this year's presidential race. John Kerry is challenging President Bush to a series of monthly debates from here to election day.

The senator, who is taking center stage at a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania today, made the invitation in Quincy, Illinois, yesterday, the site of the historic debates between Abraham Lincoln and Steven Douglas.

KERRY: I am asking George Bush to agree to a series of monthly debates starting this spring to talk about the real issues of our country.

COLLINS: The Bush-Cheney campaign responded to the invitation, you see it here, saying, quote, "Senator Kerry should finish the debate with himself before he starts trying to explain his positions to the voters."

You can keep up with everything political by watching CNN' "INSIDE POLITICS." Today, a senior adviser to the Kerry campaign will talk about the presidential match up. That's coming your way at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Can't figure out a way to not pay your parking tickets? Well, there's a web site out there that might be able to help you. We're going to bring you the details on that when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: There are many who would tell you the parking boot is one of the worst inventions known to mankind. What a sight to see when you return to your car.

And who can you blame? Well, in some cities, you can get the boot by parking in the wrong spot. In others, it's the penalty for three or more unpaid parking tickets.

New York City alone takes in almost $400 million in parking fines a year. Ouch!

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a lot of money. And the problem is, none of us want to pay that.

COLLINS: No.

MARCIANO: And certainly don't want to get the boot on your car.

COLLINS: No, but you've got to read the rules.

MARCIANO: Yes. But we've got an expert in this morning. Figure out how you can...

COLLINS: Thank goodness. Be able to get around this.

MARCIANO: How you can avoid getting the boot and maybe avoid paying a few less parking tickets.

COLLINS: OK.

MARCIANO: ParkingTicket.com is the web site you can go to and figure out what you need to do to alleviate some of your parking ticket financial stress.

And we have a live guest from New York City. He's the president and founder of ParkingTicket.com. And his name is Glen Bolofsky.

Good morning, Glen.

GLEN BOLOFSKY, PARKINGTICKET.COM: Good morning, Rob.

MARCIANO: This seems like such an odd niche. How in the world did you get into this in the first place?

BOLOFSKY: One ticket at a time.

MARCIANO: Was it a bad experience several years ago that made you want to fight the system?

BOLOFSKY: Well, basically the rules are very unclear. You know, the signs on the street where it says "No parking anytime" doesn't mean no parking anytime. It says in the law no parking anytime except for this and except for that.

So the rules are just only the headline to the story and not the actual body of text.

MARCIANO: Before we get to exactly how your web site works, if you get somebody out of a parking ticket, then that city doesn't get any money. So we thought we might call on a few of those cities and see what they have to say about what exactly you're doing.

We start off with New York. And I'll read them to you and then you can comment. From New York City, "There is no real reason to use a service like that, because people can contact the Department of Finance for free. And it seems quite expensive."

And across the country in San Francisco, "We feel that the process that's in place provides residents with all the information that they need to be able to do this on their own."

Your comments on that and tell me what you think about what they have to say.

BOLOFSKY: Well, I'm very glad that you got those comments, because it shows that their goals are really just for people to pay, pay and pay and pay their parking tickets.

Our position is that we advocate for our clients, and we're working to make changes to the system. We don't support the status quo. We think that parking tickets have been prostituted by municipal governments, that they've developed their own local treasury departments, which is last time I checked, was actually based in Washington, D.C.

MARCIANO: Well, Glen, you'll be happy to hear one more comment from the District of Columbia. It's time-consuming. What do you have more for? Time or money?

BOLOFSKY: Right. Basically, we partner with our customers, and we really guide them through the process.

MARCIANO: Tell me how the site works.

BOLOFSKY: The way the site works, Rob, is very simple, actually. It's a point-and-click method. Anybody who knows how to use a mouse and point and click can easily use ParkingTicket.com.

All they need to do is enter their parking ticket information onto what appears to be a look-alike parking ticket from that city.

And then they just ask -- we ask them a bunch of questions about -- takes them about five minutes to answer an extensive list of questions, because we want to make sure we get the information right. We want to also make sure that people are not creating safety hazards, because we don't condone that. And we certainly encourage people not to park at fire hydrants or in bus stops.

But that most of the infractions don't rise to a true infraction of the laws and are really basically there as money raising tools for the municipal governments.

But when somebody uses ParkingTicket.com, we actually guarantee them that their parking ticket will be dismissed or reduced or they pay us nothing.

And they get from us a customized confidential -- And that's a big word, confidential, because sometimes people park places where they don't want their spouses or friends to know where they are.

MARCIANO: I wouldn't know what you're talking about there, Glen.

But one quick point, if I can't use ParkingTicket.com, it doesn't work in my city, quickly a couple hints or tricks to the trade for someone who wants to fight this on their own.

BOLOFSKY: Well, one of the other things, really quick, if I may just say, is we've introduced phone numbers in certain cities. Like in New York, people can dial 1-888-NYC-PARK.

And so you can start fighting your parking ticket now right from your cell phone instantly when you get your car.

And one of the things we want to tell people is just pretend it's a traffic accident every time you get a parking ticket. Immediately write down all of the things that happened there. If it's a meter, the meter number. The agent, the agent's badge number. The weather conditions that day.

MARCIANO: Speaking of, Glen -- Glen, I've got to interrupt you because if you go any longer, then you're going to cut into my weather time.

But I appreciate your time. ParkingTicket.com and the president and founder live in New York City, Glen Bolofsky, thanks for joining us. A great idea and I hope you save a lot of folks a lot of money.

BOLOFSKY: Thank you very much, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right. Speaking of which, we'll be right back with your weather forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: And thank you, everybody, for watching today. We certainly appreciate your time. Hope you have a good week, too.

"INSIDE POLITICS" coming up in just a moment.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Fresno Man Charged for Murdering His Nine Children; Web Site Helps Cut Parking Tickets>


Aired March 14, 2004 - 09:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: They volunteered to help rebuild Iraq. Two brave Americans become the first U.S. civilians to die at the hands of insurgents. I'll talk to their families a little bit later.
But first, some of the headlines this morning.

As Spanish voters go to the polls in national elections, the country's foreign minister says three of the five suspects detained in last week's terror bombings appear to have prior police records.

Al Qaeda is likely on the minds of many voters. The terror group has claimed responsibility for killing 200 people in those blasts. The claim was made in a videotape. Whether that tape is actually from al Qaeda has not yet been verified.

Pope John Paul II today becomes the longest-serving pope in a century. He surpasses Leo XIII, who was pope from 1878 to 1903. John Paul is still six years shy of the 31 years served by Pius IX in the 19th Century.

Catholics regard Jesus' disciple Peter, as the first pope, a position he held for a record 34 years.

And in Delaware, a group opposed to the Iraq war will march from the town of Camden to Dover Air Force base. That's where those killed in action are returned to the U.S.

The group then travels by bus to Baltimore for a march tomorrow that will end at the White House.

It was along this desolate stretch of Iraqi highway that two American civilian workers and their interpreter were gunned down and killed last Tuesday. They were the first American civilian fatalities in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad last April.

Six suspects are now in custody, including four who carry Iraqi police identification. That has raised deep concern that some insurgents have infiltrated the Iraqi security forces.

Vi Holland is the sister of Fern Holland, one of the people who was killed. She's joining us this morning from Oklahoma City.

Good morning to you, ma'am. Thanks for being with us.

VI HOLLAND, SISTER OF FERN HOLLAND: Good morning.

COLLINS: The other victim is Robert Zangas. His father is Lieutenant Colonel Charles Zangas.

Sir, thank you also for being with us. He is joining us this morning from San Diego.

LT. COL. CHARLES ZANGAS, FATHER OF ROBERT ZANGAS: Good morning.

COLLINS: I would like to start with you, Vi, if I could. Tell us a little bit about how your family is doing at this point.

HOLLAND: We're doing the best to be expected. We've chosen to put grief aside and to use this opportunity to tell the story of Fern's work and bring awareness to the people of Iraq and to the women of Iraq.

COLLINS: And we are looking at some pictures of Fern right now. Tell us about her work. I know that, as you say, she did work with women and trying to help with human rights violations. Was her work considered controversial?

HOLLAND: I would say to some.

COLLINS: Tell us a little more about what she was able to accomplish in the time that she was there.

HOLLAND: I would say that I would not be the best person to answer what her exact accomplishments were.

Fern saw -- Fern was an advocate of human rights. She saw a need to empower a group of people who had been oppressed for a long period of time. And she felt that she could be that person. She could be the heart. She could be the breath and their voice. And that was Fern's purpose.

COLLINS: In fact, I know about an e-mail that she sent, apparently, to a friend, and I really want to make sure that we hear this.

She wrote, "I love the work, and if I die, know that I'm doing precisely what I want to be doing."

Tell us your thoughts about that.

HOLLAND: I know that that is true. Fern and I shared a conversation before she accepted the job to go to Iraq last year. In that conversation, Fern told me, this is the work that she was meant to do. This was her purpose. It is what -- human rights, what she had wanted to do all of her life.

She had a sense that she would not return. But she did want to go and fulfill her life's purpose. It was Fern's choice.

We loved her, and we supported her. And we believed in her, and we believed in the work. And we believed in human rights, as well. And we believed that she was the person for the job.

COLLINS: Vi, I certainly hope that your family is taking a little bit of comfort in that.

Let's go ahead and talk now with Charles Zangas. Your son, Robert, was over in Iraq doing work with the U.S. Marines, reservists, came home for a little while, and then went back as a civilian.

Tell us why.

ZANGAS: Well, the short answer is, like Fern, he felt he could make a difference. As you said, he'd been over there before, last year, and even in '91 as a Marine.

And then when they asked him to join the Coalition Provisional Authority, he accepted that job so that he could bring to the people of Iraq some of the preceptors of our democracy here in the United States.

COLLINS: Were you concerned about his safety, sir?

ZANGAS: Well, that's sort of goes without saying. I don't think I ever closed a conversation with him or stopped in e-mail to him without saying, "Please, son, be careful. Take care of yourself. As we say in Marine aviation, check your six all the time."

So yes, we prayed and worried about him daily.

COLLINS: Check six, meaning look over your shoulder, familiar with that term, sir.

ZANGAS: Yes.

COLLINS: Being a military family, if you will, you're a retired lieutenant colonel, you mentioned that this somewhat goes with the territory. But after you serve your time, it really takes a special person to go back as a civilian.

How do you want people to remember Robert?

ZANGAS: Well, Bobby was a wonderful father, a dedicated to his three children. He was a true patriot, a good American, a great Marine, and he was a wonderful son whom I will remember for the rest of my life.

That's the way I want my son to be remembered by all of his friends and family.

COLLINS: And I'm willing to bet he will be remembered that way.

I want to get to some of the technicalities, though, if I could, for just a moment with both of you. Vi, if you wouldn't mind answering this one first for us.

As you know, U.S. officials acknowledged that four of the six suspects detained in this event appeared to be carrying valid Iraqi police identification.

What was your reaction when you heard that detail? These were people that were put in place to help in the rebuilding of Iraq by the United States.

HOLLAND: The way Fern died is not important. It is the way that she lived that is important.

COLLINS: Very understandable. I think you're right on that one.

Mr. Zangas, how do you feel about this? Difficult, I would imagine, for the U.S. authorities to know exactly who they're dealing with at this point.

ZANGAS: Yes, Heidi. My first thought was that Bobby was -- never had a chance. He was brought up to respect authority and to respect police.

And when -- I would think that when he saw those four or five or six policemen down the road, he probably felt secure in the truck and felt that they were going to protect him. And as a result, never had a chance.

Terrorism has a lot of faces. And I know that our forces in Iraq will learn a lesson from this sad and tragic event.

COLLINS: To the two of you, we certainly appreciate your time today. We are remembering Fern Holland and Robert Zangas.

Thanks so much, Lieutenant Charles Zangas, father of Robert, and Vi Holland, the sister of Fern Holland, who you were looking at moments ago on your screen. Thanks again to both of you.

ZANGAS: Thank you for having me.

HOLLAND: Thank you.

ZANGAS: Thank you for having me.

COLLINS: You're more than welcome. We appreciate your story today.

One additional note, the interpreter who was killed along with Zangas and Holland, has been identified. Ursawa Amashi (ph), she worked as Holland's assistant.

Want to take just a moment now to get back to that e-mail question that we've been asking you today. Does the threat of terror make you think twice about travel?

We've gotten several responses on this.

Coming to us from Quebec, Canada: "We are all human, and thinking of the worst sometimes happens. These thoughts have overtaken me, and now, I am no longer able to travel by train. The terrorists have won in my case, if being extra careful means to lose." Then from Havana: "I am a U.S. Marine stationed in Havana, Cuba. I am engaged and my fiance is in South Africa. To get there, I have to travel through Madrid. I had originally planned on seeing a couple of buddies of mine while I was going through the city. Most of them won't be able to come due to those attacks. The way that I see it, it doesn't matter. It doesn't make sense, that is, to worry after the attacks. We have to be able to move on."

And from Dennis in Colorado Springs, "Absolutely not. The biggest prize the terrorists have won is how the fear has impacted the economy of the U.S. and the world. This has caused much more suffering than the attacks themselves. Our best weapon against terrorism is to go about our lives, including travel."

Police call it the worst mass murder in the city's history. Ahead, as residents remember the victims, we go live to Fresno, California, for the latest on the killing spree that left nine people dead.

CNN SUNDAY MORNING back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Don't get the boot. There's a new way to beat those pesky parking tickets. We'll tell you how. You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The suspect behind those mass killings in Fresno, California, is due in court this week. He faces charges of killing nine of his own children.

As CNN's Miguel Marquez reports, the suspect led a very bizarre life, to say the least.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHIEF JERRY DYER, FRESNO POLICE: This is obviously the worst mass murder case that we have had in the history of our city.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The worst mass murder, police say, caused by this man, Marcus Wesson.

In response to a reporter asking if he was the killer, Wesson only expressed love.

MARCUS WESSON, ACCUSED OF MASS MURDER: I love you.

MARQUEZ: Fresno's police chief says the murder scene was so grisly, police officers cried as the bodies of the children were bagged.

Among the nine dead, Wesson's children and the grandchildren he fathered with his own daughters. DYER: Our investigation has revealed, at least we've been told, that suspect Wesson is the father of two of his grandchildren, which means that there was a sexual relationship that occurred between he and perhaps two of his daughters.

MARQUEZ: Police believe Wesson had a polygamous relationship with several of the women he lived with. Police are also investigating the possibility that Wesson had a cult-like following by his family.

Chief Dyer also says there are so many dead that almost his entire department is involved in the case.

DYER: In fact, this single incident has quadrupled the murder rate in our city in one night.

MARQUEZ: Frank Muno has known Wesson for several years. He claims the relationship between Wesson and the women was less than normal.

FRANK MUNO, WESSON BUSINESS ASSOCIATE: It was an odd relationship between them, between him and the women, he had complete control. They were the ones working and bringing in money, and he would tell them where -- how to spend it, where to transfer funds, and they just fell in line.

MARQUEZ: And as the day wore on, people who didn't even know the victims stopped by to pay their respects, a clear sign of how the murders have shaken even the city's youngest.

MAYA MOSS, SEVEN YEARS OLD: It was kind of sad that those kids had to die.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now, one thing investigators are trying to zero in on in this investigation is the time, manner and death of each of the victims. The only thing the police chief saying yesterday is that it was unique and consistent for each of them.

Wesson has been booked on nine counts of murder. There may be more charges when he's arraigned early next week -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Miguel, I'm wondering if what I heard earlier was correct, about a possible police record in the past of Wesson. Know anything about that?

MARQUEZ: The police were keeping his record under wraps for now. They didn't want to release information about his previous record. But they didn't have a whole lot of record of Mr. Wesson in this city.

He apparently sort of flew under the radar, as did the family, while they were living in this house, sort of a marginal existence -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Miguel Marquez, thanks so very much, live from Fresno this morning.

To debate or not to debate; that is the question looming over this year's presidential race. John Kerry is challenging President Bush to a series of monthly debates from here to election day.

The senator, who is taking center stage at a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania today, made the invitation in Quincy, Illinois, yesterday, the site of the historic debates between Abraham Lincoln and Steven Douglas.

KERRY: I am asking George Bush to agree to a series of monthly debates starting this spring to talk about the real issues of our country.

COLLINS: The Bush-Cheney campaign responded to the invitation, you see it here, saying, quote, "Senator Kerry should finish the debate with himself before he starts trying to explain his positions to the voters."

You can keep up with everything political by watching CNN' "INSIDE POLITICS." Today, a senior adviser to the Kerry campaign will talk about the presidential match up. That's coming your way at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Can't figure out a way to not pay your parking tickets? Well, there's a web site out there that might be able to help you. We're going to bring you the details on that when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues.

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COLLINS: There are many who would tell you the parking boot is one of the worst inventions known to mankind. What a sight to see when you return to your car.

And who can you blame? Well, in some cities, you can get the boot by parking in the wrong spot. In others, it's the penalty for three or more unpaid parking tickets.

New York City alone takes in almost $400 million in parking fines a year. Ouch!

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a lot of money. And the problem is, none of us want to pay that.

COLLINS: No.

MARCIANO: And certainly don't want to get the boot on your car.

COLLINS: No, but you've got to read the rules.

MARCIANO: Yes. But we've got an expert in this morning. Figure out how you can...

COLLINS: Thank goodness. Be able to get around this.

MARCIANO: How you can avoid getting the boot and maybe avoid paying a few less parking tickets.

COLLINS: OK.

MARCIANO: ParkingTicket.com is the web site you can go to and figure out what you need to do to alleviate some of your parking ticket financial stress.

And we have a live guest from New York City. He's the president and founder of ParkingTicket.com. And his name is Glen Bolofsky.

Good morning, Glen.

GLEN BOLOFSKY, PARKINGTICKET.COM: Good morning, Rob.

MARCIANO: This seems like such an odd niche. How in the world did you get into this in the first place?

BOLOFSKY: One ticket at a time.

MARCIANO: Was it a bad experience several years ago that made you want to fight the system?

BOLOFSKY: Well, basically the rules are very unclear. You know, the signs on the street where it says "No parking anytime" doesn't mean no parking anytime. It says in the law no parking anytime except for this and except for that.

So the rules are just only the headline to the story and not the actual body of text.

MARCIANO: Before we get to exactly how your web site works, if you get somebody out of a parking ticket, then that city doesn't get any money. So we thought we might call on a few of those cities and see what they have to say about what exactly you're doing.

We start off with New York. And I'll read them to you and then you can comment. From New York City, "There is no real reason to use a service like that, because people can contact the Department of Finance for free. And it seems quite expensive."

And across the country in San Francisco, "We feel that the process that's in place provides residents with all the information that they need to be able to do this on their own."

Your comments on that and tell me what you think about what they have to say.

BOLOFSKY: Well, I'm very glad that you got those comments, because it shows that their goals are really just for people to pay, pay and pay and pay their parking tickets.

Our position is that we advocate for our clients, and we're working to make changes to the system. We don't support the status quo. We think that parking tickets have been prostituted by municipal governments, that they've developed their own local treasury departments, which is last time I checked, was actually based in Washington, D.C.

MARCIANO: Well, Glen, you'll be happy to hear one more comment from the District of Columbia. It's time-consuming. What do you have more for? Time or money?

BOLOFSKY: Right. Basically, we partner with our customers, and we really guide them through the process.

MARCIANO: Tell me how the site works.

BOLOFSKY: The way the site works, Rob, is very simple, actually. It's a point-and-click method. Anybody who knows how to use a mouse and point and click can easily use ParkingTicket.com.

All they need to do is enter their parking ticket information onto what appears to be a look-alike parking ticket from that city.

And then they just ask -- we ask them a bunch of questions about -- takes them about five minutes to answer an extensive list of questions, because we want to make sure we get the information right. We want to also make sure that people are not creating safety hazards, because we don't condone that. And we certainly encourage people not to park at fire hydrants or in bus stops.

But that most of the infractions don't rise to a true infraction of the laws and are really basically there as money raising tools for the municipal governments.

But when somebody uses ParkingTicket.com, we actually guarantee them that their parking ticket will be dismissed or reduced or they pay us nothing.

And they get from us a customized confidential -- And that's a big word, confidential, because sometimes people park places where they don't want their spouses or friends to know where they are.

MARCIANO: I wouldn't know what you're talking about there, Glen.

But one quick point, if I can't use ParkingTicket.com, it doesn't work in my city, quickly a couple hints or tricks to the trade for someone who wants to fight this on their own.

BOLOFSKY: Well, one of the other things, really quick, if I may just say, is we've introduced phone numbers in certain cities. Like in New York, people can dial 1-888-NYC-PARK.

And so you can start fighting your parking ticket now right from your cell phone instantly when you get your car.

And one of the things we want to tell people is just pretend it's a traffic accident every time you get a parking ticket. Immediately write down all of the things that happened there. If it's a meter, the meter number. The agent, the agent's badge number. The weather conditions that day.

MARCIANO: Speaking of, Glen -- Glen, I've got to interrupt you because if you go any longer, then you're going to cut into my weather time.

But I appreciate your time. ParkingTicket.com and the president and founder live in New York City, Glen Bolofsky, thanks for joining us. A great idea and I hope you save a lot of folks a lot of money.

BOLOFSKY: Thank you very much, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right. Speaking of which, we'll be right back with your weather forecast.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: And thank you, everybody, for watching today. We certainly appreciate your time. Hope you have a good week, too.

"INSIDE POLITICS" coming up in just a moment.

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Fresno Man Charged for Murdering His Nine Children; Web Site Helps Cut Parking Tickets>