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CNN Live Sunday
Interviews With Linda Vizi, Tom Kelly
Aired April 20, 2003 - 16:05 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.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: And now we want to take you to Pennsylvania, where we have some breaking news. We want to speak with Linda Vizi. She is a special agent with the FBI and she's going to give us the latest on this standoff there.
LINDA VIZI, FBI: Hi, how are you? Just a few moments ago, I am told that Mr. Hixson has surrendered to the Pennsylvania State Police and other local authorities that were negotiating with him. This was a peaceful resolution. It's exactly what we wanted to happen. So, you know, at this point, he will now have to face charges for a double homicide on a state warrant that was issued last night.
CHOI: Take us back to the beginning of what started all of this. Do we have a motive yet on why this man allegedly killed his brother- in-law and sister-in-law?
VIZI: Well, this really just ended moments ago. And so we will now interview him, the local police will interview him and hopefully at that point we will have a motive and we will have a lot of questions that are still unanswered answered at this point.
CHOI: And you found out about this crime initially from a 5- year-old who was in inside that house as the murders were happening. Tell us what happened from there.
VIZI: Well, my understanding is that once her sister was taken, she contacted the -- the little 5-year-old contacted a relative who immediately came over to the house. You know, said there was a problem in the house, immediately came over and called the police. Police were there within minutes, and were able to put out an Amber Alert for Hadley Bilger. This is the little 13-year-old.
Then about 10:25 this morning, police received a tip from a citizen that said that the vehicle was spotted at local mall on Route 61 in Ashland, Pennsylvania. State Troopers from that area observed it proceeding southbound on Route 61, verified the registration and attempted to initiate the traffic stop. The vehicle fled at a high rate of speed. There was about a 45-minute chase, a pursuit, and it traveled through several jurisdictions, and about 11:30 after they were able to place the stop sticks down on the ground, did the vehicle come to a halt.
At this point, Hadley Bilger was -- she was let go by Hixson, the kidnapper. He then remained in the vehicle armed with a gun and held the police at bay. He eventually did exit the vehicle and there was a long negotiation process which just ended moments ago, just before 4:00. So that's several hours. And police were patient. Trying to work with him to secure a peaceful resolution to, you know, what began as a night of horror for that family.
CHOI: OK. Linda Vizi, special agent with the FBI, thanks for that detail on what's happening there in Pennsylvania.
And now we want to turn to a freelance photographer who was at the scene as this all went down, just south of Pocono Lake, near Reading, Pennsylvania. His name is Tom Kelly. Tom, what can you tell us? What did you see there?
TOM KELLY, PHOTOGRAPHER: Well, about 30 minutes ago from a small farmhouse that I was in about 400 feet behind this warehouse, I could see a SWAT Team move in. They moved along the back of the building and out to the side. Within five minutes, it actually appeared to be over. They came back to the rear of the building, and started taking their gear off. I could not see the red S-10 pickup truck from where I was.
I am standing right next to it, however, right now. There's a sawed off shotgun on the ground. It is cocked open. I cannot see a shell in the chamber but doesn't mean there wasn't one there. The truck has two police cars around it. The passenger side door is open, and about a half an hour ago, a convoy of about five state police cruisers sped up the roadway towards Interstate 78. And it appeared that the suspect was in custody in the first car and has been taken away from here.
CHOI: OK. Tom Kelly, freelance videographer who joined us now with the details of what happened there in Pocono Lake, Pennsylvania. That's in southern Pennsylvania, near Reading, where this two-hour- long standoff with a man suspected of kidnapping his teenage niece which he then let go after that long standoff. He allegedly is accused of killing her parents. Just came to an end just moments ago. This is the picture of the niece you're looking at. Her name -- let me think. She was a 13-year-old and she has been let go. Her 5-year- old sister was the one who actually called for help when the two murders allegedly happened inside that house.
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 April 20, 2003 - 16:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: And now we want to take you to Pennsylvania, where we have some breaking news. We want to speak with Linda Vizi. She is a special agent with the FBI and she's going to give us the latest on this standoff there.
LINDA VIZI, FBI: Hi, how are you? Just a few moments ago, I am told that Mr. Hixson has surrendered to the Pennsylvania State Police and other local authorities that were negotiating with him. This was a peaceful resolution. It's exactly what we wanted to happen. So, you know, at this point, he will now have to face charges for a double homicide on a state warrant that was issued last night.
CHOI: Take us back to the beginning of what started all of this. Do we have a motive yet on why this man allegedly killed his brother- in-law and sister-in-law?
VIZI: Well, this really just ended moments ago. And so we will now interview him, the local police will interview him and hopefully at that point we will have a motive and we will have a lot of questions that are still unanswered answered at this point.
CHOI: And you found out about this crime initially from a 5- year-old who was in inside that house as the murders were happening. Tell us what happened from there.
VIZI: Well, my understanding is that once her sister was taken, she contacted the -- the little 5-year-old contacted a relative who immediately came over to the house. You know, said there was a problem in the house, immediately came over and called the police. Police were there within minutes, and were able to put out an Amber Alert for Hadley Bilger. This is the little 13-year-old.
Then about 10:25 this morning, police received a tip from a citizen that said that the vehicle was spotted at local mall on Route 61 in Ashland, Pennsylvania. State Troopers from that area observed it proceeding southbound on Route 61, verified the registration and attempted to initiate the traffic stop. The vehicle fled at a high rate of speed. There was about a 45-minute chase, a pursuit, and it traveled through several jurisdictions, and about 11:30 after they were able to place the stop sticks down on the ground, did the vehicle come to a halt.
At this point, Hadley Bilger was -- she was let go by Hixson, the kidnapper. He then remained in the vehicle armed with a gun and held the police at bay. He eventually did exit the vehicle and there was a long negotiation process which just ended moments ago, just before 4:00. So that's several hours. And police were patient. Trying to work with him to secure a peaceful resolution to, you know, what began as a night of horror for that family.
CHOI: OK. Linda Vizi, special agent with the FBI, thanks for that detail on what's happening there in Pennsylvania.
And now we want to turn to a freelance photographer who was at the scene as this all went down, just south of Pocono Lake, near Reading, Pennsylvania. His name is Tom Kelly. Tom, what can you tell us? What did you see there?
TOM KELLY, PHOTOGRAPHER: Well, about 30 minutes ago from a small farmhouse that I was in about 400 feet behind this warehouse, I could see a SWAT Team move in. They moved along the back of the building and out to the side. Within five minutes, it actually appeared to be over. They came back to the rear of the building, and started taking their gear off. I could not see the red S-10 pickup truck from where I was.
I am standing right next to it, however, right now. There's a sawed off shotgun on the ground. It is cocked open. I cannot see a shell in the chamber but doesn't mean there wasn't one there. The truck has two police cars around it. The passenger side door is open, and about a half an hour ago, a convoy of about five state police cruisers sped up the roadway towards Interstate 78. And it appeared that the suspect was in custody in the first car and has been taken away from here.
CHOI: OK. Tom Kelly, freelance videographer who joined us now with the details of what happened there in Pocono Lake, Pennsylvania. That's in southern Pennsylvania, near Reading, where this two-hour- long standoff with a man suspected of kidnapping his teenage niece which he then let go after that long standoff. He allegedly is accused of killing her parents. Just came to an end just moments ago. This is the picture of the niece you're looking at. Her name -- let me think. She was a 13-year-old and she has been let go. Her 5-year- old sister was the one who actually called for help when the two murders allegedly happened inside that house.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
