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CNN Live Sunday
Baton Rouge Serial Killer Victims' Families Stage Rally
Aired January 19, 2003 - 18:14 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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We were talking about life and death in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Consider this, that the murder rate among women has almost doubled in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a serial killer has been on the loose for the last several years. Well, the victims families are now wondering if anyone is paying attention. And today, they demanded action in a big way. Dan LeMoine of CNN affiliate WBRD is covering the big rally today.
Ben, as I understand it, you know, these families, of these victims, these college students are upset because they don't feel enough is being done, and yet I've seen national coverage of this story. So what is their primary complaint here?
BEN LEMOINE, WBRD CORRESPONDENT: Well, their primary concern is that we do have four victims now, and I'll tell you what's really baffling investigators, Carol, is that everyone has been killed in a different way. They're all different ages. And before, we had three white women. Now we have Denay Colome (ph), 22-year-olds, who was African-American. So investigators were also confining this investigation, thinking that it possibly was just a Baton Rouge case. Denay Colome (ph), in fact, lives in Lafayette, about 50 miles away. So there are a lot of differences, different M.O., and they just don't know what to expect anymore.
LIN: Well, exactly, Ben. Where does the investigation stand? Do they think it is one serial killer who is responsible, or do they think this could be several different people?
LEMOINE: Well, there's a lot of speculation, of course. We actually have 63 unsolved murder cases of women over about the past decade. As for this serial killer, there are four victims. We do have other unsolved cases in the same time frame that they think possibly could be connected. They aren't speculating. They obviously don't want to connect anything that hasn't been linked specifically by DNA. Obviously going down the wrong road in an investigation can lead to a totally, totally different direction.
LIN: Well, we're having some videotape problems today, so we can't show people, but I want the most vivid description that you can give us of today's rally. I mean, I really do feel for these families and these parents who -- actually, we do have the rally, we want to show some of the pictures, but give me some of your impression of what it was like to be there and the desperation that these families feel that the investigation is going nowhere.
LEMOINE: Right. Carol, they've done this rally on the steps of the state capitol here in Baton Rouge every month since DNA did link the murders of three women here in Baton Rouge. Today was the first time that they actually added another name, Denay Colome (ph) is now on that list.
And as I said earlier, 63 unsolved cases over the past 10 years. Obviously, people are very concerned. We have four cases over about the past six or eight months. These are the cases that have been confirmed as victims of this serial killer. So obviously, people very upset. They are coming here because they want to disseminate this information to the public, they want this to be known. They want everyone to know what's going on; that way, police can work with the public and try to get some answers, try to get...
LIN: But Ben, I'm just wondering, do the police have any theories as to why the killer, if there is only one killer, why the killer waits so long between striking again?
LEMOINE: You know, I think all they can tell me, all investigators can tell us, Carol, is that it fits into his strange, inconsistent M.O. Different ages of these women, different races. And now a different geographical location. They really -- they're having trouble, obviously, figuring this out. Certainly, that's what they're telling us.
LIN: All right, thank you very much, Ben LeMoine, with our CNN affiliate WBRD in Baton Rouge live.
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 January 19, 2003 - 18:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We were talking about life and death in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Consider this, that the murder rate among women has almost doubled in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a serial killer has been on the loose for the last several years. Well, the victims families are now wondering if anyone is paying attention. And today, they demanded action in a big way. Dan LeMoine of CNN affiliate WBRD is covering the big rally today.
Ben, as I understand it, you know, these families, of these victims, these college students are upset because they don't feel enough is being done, and yet I've seen national coverage of this story. So what is their primary complaint here?
BEN LEMOINE, WBRD CORRESPONDENT: Well, their primary concern is that we do have four victims now, and I'll tell you what's really baffling investigators, Carol, is that everyone has been killed in a different way. They're all different ages. And before, we had three white women. Now we have Denay Colome (ph), 22-year-olds, who was African-American. So investigators were also confining this investigation, thinking that it possibly was just a Baton Rouge case. Denay Colome (ph), in fact, lives in Lafayette, about 50 miles away. So there are a lot of differences, different M.O., and they just don't know what to expect anymore.
LIN: Well, exactly, Ben. Where does the investigation stand? Do they think it is one serial killer who is responsible, or do they think this could be several different people?
LEMOINE: Well, there's a lot of speculation, of course. We actually have 63 unsolved murder cases of women over about the past decade. As for this serial killer, there are four victims. We do have other unsolved cases in the same time frame that they think possibly could be connected. They aren't speculating. They obviously don't want to connect anything that hasn't been linked specifically by DNA. Obviously going down the wrong road in an investigation can lead to a totally, totally different direction.
LIN: Well, we're having some videotape problems today, so we can't show people, but I want the most vivid description that you can give us of today's rally. I mean, I really do feel for these families and these parents who -- actually, we do have the rally, we want to show some of the pictures, but give me some of your impression of what it was like to be there and the desperation that these families feel that the investigation is going nowhere.
LEMOINE: Right. Carol, they've done this rally on the steps of the state capitol here in Baton Rouge every month since DNA did link the murders of three women here in Baton Rouge. Today was the first time that they actually added another name, Denay Colome (ph) is now on that list.
And as I said earlier, 63 unsolved cases over the past 10 years. Obviously, people are very concerned. We have four cases over about the past six or eight months. These are the cases that have been confirmed as victims of this serial killer. So obviously, people very upset. They are coming here because they want to disseminate this information to the public, they want this to be known. They want everyone to know what's going on; that way, police can work with the public and try to get some answers, try to get...
LIN: But Ben, I'm just wondering, do the police have any theories as to why the killer, if there is only one killer, why the killer waits so long between striking again?
LEMOINE: You know, I think all they can tell me, all investigators can tell us, Carol, is that it fits into his strange, inconsistent M.O. Different ages of these women, different races. And now a different geographical location. They really -- they're having trouble, obviously, figuring this out. Certainly, that's what they're telling us.
LIN: All right, thank you very much, Ben LeMoine, with our CNN affiliate WBRD in Baton Rouge live.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
