01x08 - The Beltway sn*pers

[bunniefuu]

- Just after 7:00
this morning,

a man k*lled
as he mowed a lawn,

a cab driver gunned down
at a gas station,

a woman shot
as she sat on a bench,

another woman vacuuming out
the back of her car.

- Between the third
and fifth sh**ting,

it became very apparent

that something
very sinister was going on.

- One of the most
massive manhunts

in the nation's history.

- They put us out
patrolling at first.

- Everyone that was
available went.

- All around
the nation's capital,

police on a hair-trigger
alerts

in a desperate search
for suspects.

- None of the victims had
anything in common.

They were just going out,

doing what they do
on an average day.

- The serial sn*per
has struck again.

The victim is a child.

- That's just
a whole 'nother level

of sick, demented
t*rror1st criminal.

- I'm very nervous.

- We're scared coming to work.

- I'm scareder than I've
ever been in my life.

- The whole region was
just gripped by fear,

and it was up to us
in law enforcement to stop it.

[dramatic music]

- In the FBI, we make
a lot of headlines.

♪

Drug busts,

mob stings,

t*rror1st takedowns.

- Get down! Get down!

- We understand why people
want to tell stories about us.

- Mark it.

- Freeze!
- FBI.

- FBI!
- Action!

- But they don't know
the half of it.

[indistinct radio chatter]

What really goes down,

we save that for each other

when we're talking
agent to agent.

♪

This is "FBI True."

[dramatic music]

♪

- Kristy Kottis is a 24-year
veteran of the FBI.

She worked gangs,
crimes against children,

as well as human
and drug trafficking.

Kottis was the supervisor

of the FBI's
Threat Response Squad,

overseeing
the Bureau's response

to terrorism threats
in New York City.

- So the Beltway sn*pers,

what was your job
when this was unfolding?

Where were you?
What was happening?

- I was working
cold case homicides

in the Washington DC/Virginia
area.

And when the first
sh**ting happened...

♪

- A 55-year-old man shot
in a supermarket parking lot.

♪

- James Martin shot
Wednesday night.

- It was in Maryland.

No one thought
that it was going to evolve

into the major case
that it evolved in.

- Melissa Thomas joined
the FBI in 1991,

working with the g*ng
Task Force in San Diego.

She later joined
the Counterterrorism Squad

in Washington DC

and the Behavioral Analysis
Department at Quantico.

She eventually transferred
to International Operations

in Rome
where she retired in 2014.

- The DC/Maryland/Virginia
area, we have a lot...

unfortunately
a lot of violent crime.

That was
the Baltimore division.

Washington field office
was not involved.

And then another
sh**ting happened.

- Just after 7:00
this morning,

a man k*lled
as he mowed a lawn.

- James "Sonny" Buchanan
k*lled

behind the Fitzgerald
Auto Mall.

- And then another
sh**ting happened.

- A cab driver gunned down
at a gas station.

- Later, a woman shot
as she sat on a bench

outside a post office.

- It came from right up there.

- And another woman
vacuuming out

the back of her car
in a gas station.

All were k*lled
by a single shot.

- So far, no one
has been connected

to the k*lling spree.

- It became very apparent

that something
very sinister was going on.

- Our homicide rate just
increased by 25% in one day.

- When did the FBI
and investigators realize

that these shootings
may be connected?

- Very early on.
A*F took the lead

on the ballistics analysis,

and they quickly identified
that it was

coming from the same weapon.

♪

- We strongly feel that all
of these are connected.

The weaponry seems
to be very similar.

That does heighten our concern.

- It's a year after 9/11,

so our investigative brains
start clicking.

Is this another t*rror1st
out there sh**ting Americans?

- Now you don't know
if it's an act of terrorism

or if it's just
some nut out there

running around sh**ting people.

- Well, I had to get gas
today at a gas station,

and I'm scareder than I've
ever been in my life.

- None of the victims had
anything in common

other than the fact
that they were just going out,

doing what they do
on an average day.

Baltimore was taking the lead
for the FBI,

working in conjunction
with Montgomery County.

But we had our finger
kind of in the pie,

because we wanna know,
do you all need any help?

- We have called in
other resources.

We have members
of the Secret Service,

FBI, Maryland State Police.

- I was sitting in the office,

and got a call
from Montgomery County SWAT.

They said,
we don't know what we have yet,

but we may need you
to come down.

For us at that time,
this was brand-new.

We had never faced
anything like this.

- Keith Runk joined the
Maryland State Police in 1986,

serving as a SWAT commander

and assistant commander of the
Special Operations Division.

Today,
he's the lead instructor

for civilian response
to active sh**ter incidents.

- On the second day, we got
the call that they needed help,

so we went down
to Montgomery County,

where the tactical operations
were working out of.

- And, Whit,
did you have the same thing?

You got the call?
- It was a couple days

after Keith
and his guys got involved.

- Whit Darnell spent 30 years
in law enforcement,

beginning his career
at a state agency in Tennessee

before joining the FBI,

where he served
on the Hostage Rescue Team.

- Chief Moose had asked

for help
from the federal government.

- Because of the magnitude
of the investigation,

I am writing
to the attorney general

to initiate a formal request
for assistance.

- I give him a lot of credit

because he didn't just say,
I need help.

He did an official request
for FBI assets,

which means that,
under the serial k*ller act,

the FBI was able
to get involved.

♪

- They put us out just
kind of patrolling at first.

- Everyone that was
available went.

- The serial sn*per

terrorizing
suburban Washington,

defying one of the most
massive manhunts

in the nation's history.

- We broke the team down
into two shifts.

We had day a shift

and an afternoon/evening
night shift.

The whole region was just
gripped by fear,

and it was up to us
in law enforcement to stop it.

- As morning approaches, there
is a growing sense of dread.

- About 7:04,
the sn*per is still at large.

- Fears that the k*lling spree
is not over

are underscored
by two more shootings.

- 72-year-old Pascal Charlot

was k*lled
crossing the street.

- A woman was shot and wounded

at a suburban shopping mall

about 60 miles southwest
of Montgomery County.

- If a sh**ting happened,

the patrol would try to go in
and triangulate

and cordon that area off
and set up roadblocks,

especially
at a major interstate,

on-ramps or off-ramps

that they could have
easily used to get away.

And that big
law enforcement machine

that was involved
is running leads.

And they're getting
thousands of tips a day

that they've gotta
sort through.

- Call our tip line at 1-888...

- 324-9800.

- The tip line was
stood up overnight.

[indistinct chatter]

We had approximately


eight-hour shifts.

That tip line was covered 24/7.

They would triage the tips
that would come in,

and then I would
review those tips after

and decide, okay, this looks
like interesting information.

We'll send it up
to the command post.

Every morning,
I would get in 5:30, 6:00,

and I would start
reviewing tips.

And by then, we had
the white van lead coming in.

- Gotten several reports

of a white van being seen
in the area.

- We have a lookout
for a cream-colored Astro van.

- Can't tell you
how many thousands of tips

we had called in about white
box trucks and white vans.

- We had no license plate,
really no make and model

other than that.

- All day,
police have been stopping

and searching
every white truck in sight.

- You had to look
into every single one of them.

- And every one was suspect

because that's what we had
to go off of.

- That created a monster
like you cannot even believe.

♪



in the middle
of Washington, DC,

shut down for hours.

It was a nightmare.

- The dragnet was very,
very quick.

I actually got caught up in it
trying to get here.

- What we didn't know
at the time

was there's probably


driving around that area
at any given time.

- Thank you.

- It got to the point
where the drivers were like,

hey, I was just stopped
five minutes ago.

- I think this is the fifth
or sixth time,

maybe the seventh time
I've been stopped.

- And it wasn't like
a typical traffic stop

where you walk up
and you're like,

hey, I need to see
your license and registration.

- Yeah.
- Stopped you for speeding.

We approached with g*ns out.

♪

We definitely felt
that if we engaged these guys,

it was gonna end
in a sh**t-out.

- So Melissa,
when do we start getting

some breaks
in the investigation?

Anything found
that was specific

that you could use
with your team?

- The school sh**ting
in Bowie, Maryland,

a 13-year-old boy was shot.

- The serial sn*per has
struck again.

This time, for the first time,
the victim is a child,

a child who tonight
is fighting for his life.

- That's just a whole
'nother level

of sick, demented t*rror1st.

No one shoots an innocent child
coming out of school.

- It makes you angry.

It pisses you off.

We don't have more to go on.

- There was a note left
at the crime scene

at the elementary school,

a tarot card.

- The tarot card is the one
that depicts death.

- People started trying
to decipher the tarot card.

What does it mean?
It's a death card.

People started talking
to psychics,

talking to mediums.

- It is a frightening symbol.

- What's the message?

And there was a message
written on there.

"Call me God."

- Gave me a little picture,
we're dealing

with this psychotic individual
way outside the norm

of human thinking
and ethics and morals.

- The sn*per is still
at large.

- And the case has now entered
its second week,

and this evening, the sn*per
or sn*pers has struck again.

- Myers was just making
a quick trip

to a Virginia gas station

when he was shot in the head.

- They were canceling
outdoor events.

- Yeah.
- They were telling people

not to go out, be alert.

It changed
the way people operated.

- I'm very nervous, you know.

- We're scared to come to work.
- Everyone is frightened.

- This happened again,
and like the other shootings,

the k*ller got away.

- No afternoon kindergarten
Montgomery County,

outdoor school activities
suspended.

- For the first time
in 56 years,

there will be no bands,
no floats,

no kids dressed
in their Halloween costumes.

- People pumping gas crouching
down beside their cars.

They would, you know,
put a little bit in,

and they would get
out of there.

Gas stations putting
big blue tarps up

to hide people, give them
a little bit of concealment

while they were pumping gas,
things like that.

- Not having a pattern.

Not knowing who, what, why...

the why of why
this was happening.

We were all in fear of our life

living in that area
at the time.

And then when we found out
Linda Franklin had been shot,

that ramped it up
another notch.

- Linda Franklin was a wife,
a mother,

and an FBI employee.

Her life ended
inside a Home Depot

parking garage last night.

- Not only did we have
this chaos going on

outside of our offices,

but now here was
our own family member.

I did not feel protected.

It was just fear.

♪

- No one has seen
the face of the k*ller

or even has a firm description
of the getaway vehicle.

- When does the next
big break come?

- After the sh**ting
in Hanover County

in Ashland at the Ponderosa.

- A man and his wife were
walking from the restaurant

to their car when she heard

what sounded like
a car backfiring.

- Her husband took
about three steps

and then began to collapse
in the parking lot.

- Thankfully,
the victim survived.

The crime scene search revealed
not only a shell casing,

but there was also
a note tacked to a tree.

It was found
in a little Halloween bag,

and it had stars on it.

It was a very bizarre note,
if you will.

- Childlike, to me.

- There were demands for money

and information
that they were going to call

these phones at a certain time.

But we had already
missed that deadline.

- To the person
who left us a message

at the Ponderosa last night,

we do want to talk to you.

Call us at the number
you provided.

- It also referred to children.

- What did it say
about children?

- It is in the form
of a postscript.

"Your children are not safe
anywhere at any time."

- Wow.

- And it was like,

oh, my God, now what?

[dramatic music]

- And they referred to
a priest that was called

in Ashland in Virginia.

And that priest told us that,

yeah, he had received
this really weird phone call

talking about
a sh**ting in Montgomery.

And from the information
that the priest provided,

the caller to the priest
was not talking

about Montgomery County,
Maryland.

He was talking about
Montgomery, Alabama.

Somebody picked up the phone
and called Montgomery, Alabama,

and said, do you have
any unsolved shootings

that we could look at?

The response back
from Montgomery, Alabama,

was, oh, yeah, we do.

- On September the 21st,

one Alabama State Liquor Board
employee was k*lled

and another wounded
by a single g*nman

in the parking lot
outside their store.

- And they had a magazine,

and I mean a magazine
like a periodical.

But it had a fingerprint on it.

The fingerprint from
the magazine was identified

to Lee Boyd Malvo.

Malvo was 17 years old,

a Jamaican citizen.

Okay.
What's his background?

And things started
to get put together.

There was a tip
that had come in

to our Seattle division
from someone who said,

listen, I am a friend
of John Muhammad.

And I know that he's traveling
around the country

with a younger man,
who his nickname is sn*per.

And he said John Muhammad's
ex-wife lived

in the DC area
with their children.

And he told us
that John Muhammad

used to target practice
in a backyard with a r*fle.

And then we quickly find out
that Malvo's mother

had met John Muhammad
in the Caribbean.

And so it was like, oh, okay,

this probably is
Lee Boyd Malvo,

and he probably is traveling
with John Muhammad.

Background information
on John Muhammad

was that he was former Army,

had been stationed
in Washington.

Quickly ran down information
about his ex-wife,

where they lived.

Your head would spin

how fast this information
was coming in.

- Do we have a vehicle
associated with them?

- They weren't driving
a white box truck.

We quickly found out that
John Muhammad was registered

to an older model Chevy Caprice

that had New Jersey
license plates.

So we have the vehicle,
and we have the license plates.

- A federal arrest warrant
has been issued

for John Allen Muhammad,
a Black male, 42 years of age.

He may be in the company
of a juvenile.

- They are also looking
for a vehicle

which these two are believed
to be driving,

a 1990 Chevy Caprice,
New Jersey license plates,

NDA-21Z.

♪

- Within hours, we had someone
whose commute took him

along I-70
in northwestern Maryland.

He decided to pull over
to take a break.

And because he heard that BOLO,

he was like, oh, my God,

there's this car right here.

- The information was
not even 12 hours old.

I mean, it was
happening so fast.

- And they said to stop
what you're doing

and head up to the rest stop.

Helicopter was waiting.
We lifted off,

and we started our planning
what we're gonna do.

They had shut 70 down
in both directions.

So there was no
traffic moving.

- Staging area was two
or three miles

from the rest stop.

Once we got there,
we got the verbal briefing

from Keith
and the other leadership.

So the idea was to smash
the windows out of the car,

speed, surprise,
violence of action.

Overwhelm them
with force and surprise

and hopefully win the day.

♪

We'd park on the side
of the interstate,

and we had to basically
climb up a grassy hill

into the wood line to approach
the car from the rear.

And the car was backed in.

It was approximately


between the wood line
and the back of the car.

- We really felt that we were
going into a sh**t-out.

That's what we were
gearing up for.

We came out single file.
We split.

- We sprinted from the wood
line to the back of the car

fully expecting the shots
to start at any moment.

The car had very dark
tinted windows,

so we really couldn't
see inside.

I went to the passenger
side of the car.

My job was to breach out
the rear window, which I did.

[glass shatters]

As soon as I did,
my partner and I looked in,

and Muhammad was
in the back seat setting up,

and his eyes were
about this big.

And we gave him commands,

put your hands up,
which he did.

And he's sitting there
like a deer in the headlights.

So I reached in,
grabbed him by the wrist,

and just as hard as I could
pulled him through the window.

Simultaneously,
this is going on

with Malvo in the front seat.

- It's like being sucked out
by a huge vacuum.

- So once you had them cuffed,

did they try to talk
to each other?

Did they look at each other?

- We kept them separated

on opposite sides
of the vehicle.

Muhammad was very quiet,
never said a word.

- Malvo, was he chatty or no?

- They didn't say a word.

The one thing
that stands out to me

is that they just had
that blank, unemotional stare.

Their eyes said it all.

They knew the gig was up.

During that whole three weeks,

even at the point of takedown,

I don't think we realized

that they were sh**ting
from the back of that trunk.

♪

[g*nsh*t]

I remember my blood
just going cold because,

had they been on watch
and been in that position,

they would have had
the jump on us,

and we would have had no idea.

- Good evening.
It's over. They got 'em.

- A joint tactical SWAT team
of federal, state,

and local police captured


and 17-year-old
John Lee Malvo,

suspects
in the sn*per sh**ting.

- Now our work has started,

because now
we've got to figure out

how to convict them
so that they never see

the light of day anymore.

Well, we wanted
to find out the story.

You know,
how did these two meet?

Malvo lived with Muhammad and
his children in the Caribbean.

Muhammad had taken
his children there...

illegally because he was going

through a divorce
with the wife.

That leads us to the why
of all this

that we have been looking for.

John Muhammad had to give
his children back to his wife.

She took them
to live in Maryland.

He was not seeing his children.

That is our motive,
unbelievably enough,

that he was just furious

that he couldn't see his kids,

and eventually wanted
to k*ll his ex-wife

and get his children back.

- Muhammad started
his sh**ting spree

to try to blend her in

as just one
of the unfortunate victims.

- If he k*lled various people,

it wouldn't get right back,
you know, that maybe

it was the ex-husband
that k*lled the wife.

- You know, he's not
a natural-thinking human.

- Good evening.
With a possible death penalty

looming if he is convicted,
the first defendant on trial

in the DC area
serial sn*per case

pulled a last-minute
surprise today.

- Part that amazed
all of us was,

he wanted to represent himself.

This is a capital m*rder case,

you're facing
the death penalty,

you're not a lawyer,
and you say,

I'm gonna represent myself
because I know better

than anybody else, because
that was who he is...he was.

- A psychologist might say
this is a death wish for him.

- Muhammad will also be able
to face down his accusers,

including survivors,
and that is a chilling prospect

for those who were terrorized
around this time last year.

- For me personally,
I've never been cross-examined

by a subject
of one of my case.

And he...he did.
He cross-examined me

after I testified
for the prosecution,

and he asked me
just basic question.

- And whether it was
an HRT guy,

whether it was a survivor,

or whether it was
a family member,

he didn't get
any satisfaction from them.

They answered his questions,

and they didn't break down
and cry in front of him,

and I think that's probably
something he was looking for.

- I was very proud just
to have been a part of it.

I also felt lucky,

because there were other guys
out there like us...

- Yeah.
- And everybody wanted

to be the ones to do the arrest

or do the takedown,
and we just happened to be

in the right place
at the right time.

- When he was given
the death penalty,

of course, you know,

we're supposed to keep it
together, right?

But there was a investigator
who turned around

and looked at me
and was just in tears,

because that's how we felt.

Like, okay, you know,
we did it.

We did justice for,
you know, this set of victims.

I don't know if there was
a dry eye in the courtroom,

because it was like,
okay, all of this work,

all of this emotion, not only
from the investigators

but the family members

who courageously testified
every day

or sat in that courtroom
and listened and watched.

It felt good.