Detectives begin thorough search of suspect's car

The Baltimore Sun ^ | October 28, 2002, 11:32 PM EST | Del Quentin Wilber, Scott Calvert and Stephen Kiehl

[jpthomas]

One of the witnesses who saw Muhammad in Baltimore on Oct 8, the night he was questioned by police, remembers seeing the glow of the laptop while it sat in the passenger seat. The information on the laptop could be very helpful in tracking the snipers' movements, and might help determine who, if anyone, aided them.

[prisoner6]

a laptop computer

?! What would they use that for? Something is wrong with the picture of these being two loonies.

BTW wanna bet they find traces of drugs?

prisoner6

[Sabertooth]

From the article...

Muhammad lived in several homeless missions in recent years, although occasionally he found shelter with people he befriended.

One of those people was Mark Thomas, 25, a former student at Western Washington University from Chandler, Ariz., who met Muhammad last year at the YMCA in Bellingham, Wash.

They began training and jogging together, became good friends, saw each other several times for about year and at one point in April or May of this year, Thomas invited Muhammad and Malvo to stay at his house.

I've lost track of the thread with the info about the bus driver whose credit card was stolen between Nogales and Flagstaff, which later turned up with Muhammad and Malvo. Anyone got a link?

[jpthomas]

From a later paragraph in the article:

Some investigators have speculated that Muhammad might have used the laptop to follow the news on the Internet. The laptop is one of two items that Muhammad declared as assets in a federal affidavit last week; his other possession was the Caprice, which he valued at $600.

[XHogPilot]

The Laptop was no doubt stolen during the June1-June2 2002 weekend from the Tacoma INS office. Missing items included a laptop computer, .40 cal pistol with ammo, INS forms and INS official stamps. A good haul for a thief and immigration con-man / smuggler.

[jpthomas]

From Flag connected to case:

The credit card was stolen from a Greyhound bus driver in Flagstaff, who told The Washington Post it was taken from a pouch behind her seat as she drove between Nogales and Flagstaff on March 25. Authorities later told her that her card was used to purchase gas in Tacoma, Wash., where suspect John Muhammad once lived.

The bus driver, who spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity, said she did not realize the Visa card had been stolen until Bank of America's fraud control branch wrote her on April 11, saying it had automatically closed the account after the Visa was used for a $12.01 gasoline purchase in Tacoma, Wash., that the bank believed to be "fraudulent."

"That was the end of that, until last Sunday when I had the FBI calling me at Greyhound, saying that through this credit card they (had a link to) the people involved with the sniping," she said.

[prisoner6]

And he had wireless access??? Man these snipers must make LOTS more money than I do.

prisoner6

[Brad C.]

These guys are just a nation wide crime spree, aren't they? I sure hope they documented all that they had been doing on their little laptop. Maybe they thought they might write a book or two after they got their $10 million about how they eluded the law in so many places doing so many things.

[Sabertooth]

Yep, that's the story. There was an FR thread on it too, but I've lost track of it.

[prisoner6]

Then again justabout EVERYBODY makes more money than I do. I the AM Al Bundy of radio news...sigh.

prisoner6

[jpthomas]

With the allegations of Muhammad's involvement in human smuggling, you raise an interesting point. I wonder if the computer's S/N will enable them to trace it back to that Tacoma INS office burglary. Anybody know of Muhammad and Malvo's purported whereabouts in June?

Here's the original story on the June, 2002 break-in at the Tacoma, INS office:

Thieves break into Tacoma INS office

Dicks says it is 'absolutely' a serious security breach

Tuesday, June 4, 2002

By CHRIS McGANN

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

A weekend break-in at the Tacoma office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service not only breached agency security, it also left several important items in unknown hands.

Stolen were a .40-caliber pistol and two clips of ammunition; at least five INS stamps, including an admission stamp and another that allows refugees to enter the United States to apply for resident alien status; an INS badge; a laptop computer; and an assortment of official forms.

That's a big problem, said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., when you consider the tremendous harm inflicted on the United States by people who entered and stayed here using false documents.

"In this era, we have to treat this kind of thing very seriously," Dicks said.

"It's not just a local burglary but something that could have serious implications on national security," said Dicks, who served eight years on the House Intelligence Committee. "I think it could be very useful to somebody in a terrorist group."

Agency spokesman Garrison Courtney said the agency has procedures to minimize the risk.

"It sounds a lot more serious than it is," Courtney said. "Everything that was stolen, besides the gun, we at least have control over and can minimize the damage. The fact that we were burglarized is the main concern."

The stamps were invalidated as soon as agency officials found out about the break-in, so any documents marked with them would be easily identifiable, he said.

"A stamp to us means next to nothing," Courtney said. "We look at many other things to draw the conclusion that the person is allowed to be in the United States."

The badge is next to worthless because INS officials must also carry credentials, Courtney said.

And it is against agency policy to save important information on laptop computers.

"Anything we do on computers we do through a secure line and don't store it on the hard drives," Courtney said.

Burglars hit the office between 1 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday, said Jim Mattheis of the Tacoma police, which is leading the investigation. Police investigators said there were no signs of forced entry, but a locked cabinet were the items were stored was forcibly opened.

The INS has not ruled out the possibility that someone with access to the office was responsible for the theft, Courtney said.

The Tacoma police forensic unit examined the scene for fingerprints, Mattheis said. But so far investigators have no suspects or reason to believe it was more than a routine break-in.

"We're investigating it as a burglary, Mattheis said. "The (Federal Bureau of Investigation) has been notified and they will be kept up-to-date on what we find out."

Charles Mandigo, special agent in charge of the Seattle FBI office, said the agency has no reason to think otherwise.

"If there is any indication that there is a link to terrorism -- we would certainly aggressively pursue it," Mandigo said.

"To date, the FBI is not aware of such a connection." Dicks last night vowed to get to bottom of the break that he asserted was "absolutely" a serious security breach.

"We are going to talk to INS officials in Seattle and Washington D.C. and tell them that security should be enhanced at the Tacoma offices immediately," said Dicks, adding he thinks the agency "should check all their offices."

[RLK]

The discovery of the walkie-talkies suggests that the attacks were carefully coordinated, allowing Muhammad and Malvo to keep in close communication during the incidents, sources said.

-----------------------

I wonder if there is a third person in on this.

[leadhead]

I wish someone on FR (before the lamestream media) with more free time than me (hint, hint)could construct a two year timeline on these murderers.

So much written here as isolated incidents appear to tie together- the "buddy" in AZ and the credit card from AZ; the INS robbery and the laptop in their car, etc.etc.

And, it's hard to believe they traveled from WA to LA without committing some kind of crime.

[angkor]

The information on the laptop could be very helpful in tracking the snipers' movements,

One possibility is that they were using a program like Microsoft Streets to plot their targets and getaways and also to find hotels, etc.

[Catspaw]

Or DeLorme Street Atlas. One version comes with an Earthmate GPS receiver.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for reposting that article. this is probably where the laptop came from and that pistol could be the weapon that killed the woman working in the ABC store in Alabama. The young black woman in the state of Washington was shot to shut her up. Was that pistol the weapon.

Since ATF, the FBI want to fingerprint our guns, sure the pistol stolen from the INS office had been fired and the ballastic pattern stored at ATF.

"It's not just a local burglary but something that could have serious implications on national security," said Dicks, who served eight years on the House Intelligence Committee. "I think it could be very useful to somebody in a terrorist group."

[Grampa Dave]

When I read about the "walkie talkies" I had the same thought that you did about a third person.

All that third person had to do was to notify the shooter and his driver that a white van was approaching the set up shooting scene and headed the opposite direction. Then, he could tell the shooter when to fire as the white van passed by.

For less than a $100/pair, you can get the newer fm two way radios that are very powerful and have coded systems for privacy. Those newer fms can transmit up to five miles.

Or the kid was dropped of and the serial Nation of Islam Murderer drove to the preset target area and parked the car. Then he climbed into the modified trunk area, put on the ear set on his walkie talkies, sighted and waited for the white van is here report from Malvo.

Then he would drive to pick up Malvo. Then they would sit and laugh as the terror scene unfolded. Thanks to PC Moose they would be perfectly safe as two black guys in their old Chevy Caprice. The entire cop population thanks to PC Moose was looking for an evil white guy driving a white van.

[Grampa Dave]

Both of you are probably correct. If you don't know your way around DC you could end up caught on some roads trying to leave the scene of a shooting and have to double back.

A DeLorme Atlas with a GPS receiver pc card insert would enable you to know all the ways in and out from a sniping scene if the DC Metro area and in Virgina.

[Grampa Dave]

We have a couple of Freepers working on a time line. I'm sure that there are others.

John Muhammed the Demon of Death of the Nation of Islam has probably left bodies all over America for a decade.

[Spunky]

One of those people was Mark Thomas, 25, a former student at Western Washington University from Chandler, Ariz., who met Muhammad last year at the YMCA in Bellingham, Wash.

I wonder if Mark Thomas is the person who had loaned John Muhammad and Malvo his guns.

Snippit from article on AOL below.

Tacoma Police Chief David Brame said a man contacted the FBI last week and told authorities he'd allowed Muhammad and Malvo to borrow his weapons, including a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun, while the pair were staying with him earlier this year.

''As a result, we now consider John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo as suspects in the Keenya Cook homicide,'' Brame said. Authorities said there were no plans to charge the man who came forward.

Investigators recovered three handguns and two rifles from the man, including two allegedly used in the crimes, Tacoma police spokesman Jim Mattheis said.

Cook was shot in the face Feb. 16 when she opened the door to the house where she lived..................................................................

In the synagogue case, Brame said a .44-caliber Magnum, borrowed from the same man, was used in a shooting at Temple Beth El between May 1 and May 4. No one was believed at the synagogue at the time.

One shot struck an outer wall. The other lodged in an interior wall where religious scrolls are kept. The scrolls were not damaged.