Beltway Sniper Shootings-FR Commentary-Monday, Oct. 21, 2002

Fox News, CNN, Press Conferences | October 21, 2002 | Fox News, CNN, Press Conferences

[browardchad]

The more that white van talk is out there, the more they will be spotted. Is the perp using a white van? Hey, could be. But I just wouldn't make that much out of it at this point. There have been so many variations on that point, that they cannot be all true, unless this guy has a whole fleet of vans parked at his house, which would be pretty obvious. His is driving something that is very plain and unremarkable. Don't get lost on that.

I agree -- common sense would dictate that the sniper(s) wouldn't be driving a white van anymore, if they ever did -- but the white van/truck image has practically been imprinted into the public and police consciousness by Moose. If a 70-year-old grandmother with brittle bones had showed up at that pay phone in a white van this morning, I shudder to think what that scene would have looked like.

[per loin]

The pressure for the police to do something effective will increase. Schools are closed, and I'd guess that many businesses are begining to suffer. A few more dead and the public will become more demanding.

[Balata]

And aren't the tapes on some kind of loop, not archived in perpetuity? So every gas station in the world has video, but it's on a four hour loop, for instance. Let's say, for example, that the shooter recons two days prior to a shooting. IF he's caught on camera, and for me, that's a big, big if, I'd say that chances are good the tapes for his recon day have been wiped and replaced with pictures of hundreds of people who have nothing whatsoever to do with the shootings

Hey poppyseed, you are not getting your information from the real world. I can tell you first hand many places have video tape that recycles after 30 days. Some insurance companies give a premium break for this.

[valleygal]

Wasn't too hard for me to find my way around. I was only in the same couple of buildings anyway because I was working on the core curriculum for my major.

I still live only a couple miles down the freeway from the university. Our credit union was there so we've sometimes had to make the trip across campus. Not bad in the spring , winter or fall but a killer in the summer.

[MTCJK]

It just seems to me that what the sniper is doing is not that difficult--granted i am not saying he is not an intelligent resourceful perp, cause he is. I think that the only characteristic that we know about him is a personality quirk known as ego. It would seem that there would be experts (outside of the media ) that would be scheming of ways to use the media to stroke this guys ego to make him make a bad move, to entrap him somehow

[bcoffey]

Yep - I was there in August one year. Stayed west of town doing work for Goodyear Aerospace. Getting into the car after working in an air conditioned building all day long was a killer. Ouch!!

[TexKat]

slimer

I am going to do a little research a bit later so we can get this all straight. However in the meantime, Nachman is a big ship at sea trying to save MSNBC. He has spouted off several times during this awful mess and has proven himself several times to be a bag of wind. The night Linda Franklin was shot, Nachman was swearing that the ex marine whose girlfriend shot him weekend before last and who was in police custody was the sniper. And before Nachman's show was off, the sniper had shot Linda Franklin.

[yukong]

I agree Route66. (By the way my office is on old Route66 here in Oklahoma.) Anyway, I feel that Moose is really trying to capture as much of his 15 minutes as possible. I had never heard of the man before this started. but I will tell you, (and mind you, I am a pretty emotional type of guy, and have been through my share of strong emotions handling murder cases) but I didn't get a very reassuring feeling about this case when I saw him crying on TV. The outfront guy needs to show strength and stealy resolve. Not tears. He is trying to make a name for himself. Remember the OJ case. Before that case, none of us had every heard of Fuhrman, Chris Darden, Marsha Clark, Judge Ito, and for that matter, no one outside of LA had really heard of Johnny Cochran. But look at it today. Fuhrman is an analyst on Fox, Darden pops up from time to time, and so does Clark. And of course, Cochran, we can't ever seem to get rid of him. I fear we are in for the same from Moose. After this, he will be on CNN or MSNBC as a crime analyst. Just wait.

[valleygal]

I read the other day on her somewhere that they are not supposed to let the tapes keep recycling but some places let them go for a year without changing them.

[Balata]

Hang in there Route66, I think you will be be surprised at Mooses ultimate fate.

[poppyseed]

Hey poppyseed, you are not getting your information from the real world. I can tell you first hand many places have video tape that recycles after 30 days.

I didn't claim to be an authority - hence my phrasing the assumption as a question. But 30 day archives or no, the guy still has to be on-camera at some point, and if he's scouting spots from where he'll be shooting, he'll be out of range of the cameras. Well, that's my guess - which is just that, and no more or less outlandish than some of the other theories we've cooked up on here.

Or maybe he's on gas station cameras the region over. It'd be laborious to cull through them all, but hey, if that's what it takes to catch him, then do it. I'm not saying I don't want to consider the possibility of him being caught on tape - it would be quite a boon if he was - merely that I seriously doubt that he's on all these tapes regardless of how long they run, or even if he is, that authorities are expending the resources it would take to go through them all. At this point, anyway.

[Freedom2specul8]

Beltway Sniper Shootings- FR THREAD ARCHIVES UPDATED.

Brigette, do you have any new charts?

[bcoffey]

I just got off the phone with my daughter who lives in the DC area.

Apparently all halloween trick-or-treating has been called off in the area.

[valleygal]

I agree. I don't think Moose necessarily enjoys it, but he sure does seem to want to be out front.

After Fuhrman was vilified, he came back and showed us that he was the right cop to have handled the OJ case, after all.

As for Cochran, he makes me ill.:)

[Freedom2specul8]

I think that is good.. they can do halloween activities in churches, schools , malls and community centers instead.

[valleygal]

I kind of expected that. I heard earlier the parents were pushing for it. They will probably just have indoor parties for the kids.

Still praying for your daughter.

[John Jamieson]

There was a purple Chevy mentioned early on.

[tubebender]

While channel surfing at 8:30 I came across Lou Dobbs talking to reporter named Tuchman at Ashland. He said that the LEs were in the area at Richmand because a phone call came from a phone nearby that told them "TO LOOK FOR A MESSAGE BACK AT THE ASHLAND WITH INSTRUCTIONS" Now, did Tuchman slip up or was this new information. (or was he adlibbing)

[Balata]

Well, valleygal, I think you are right. It is to the company's benefit to keep the tapes as long as possible. My point was insurance company's give a premium break if they are keep at least 30 days.

[bcoffey]

Thanks for thinking of her, vg.

I agree with the decision, though it really doesn't affect my daughter who's going to be spending that evening helping her next door neighbors pack up last minute things prior to moving to the Richmond area.