WEBVTT - The Phone Call [5] 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:04.760 Welcome to Monster DZ Sniper, a production of iHeartRadio and 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:08.360 Tenderfoot TV. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:11.880 are solely those of the podcast author or individuals participating 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:14.800 in the podcast, and do not represent those of iHeartMedia, 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:19.360 Tenderfoot TV, or their employees. Listener discretion is advised. 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:27.600 October nineteenth, eight pm, Ashland, Virginia, thirty seven year old 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:30.760 Jeffrey Hopper was walking with his wife Stephanie. They were 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:34.159 in the parking lot outside of Ponderosa Steakhouse when a 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:42.120 shot rang out from the woods. Tim Meechim was the 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:43.559 first officer on the scene. 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:46.680 In two thousand and two, I was a patrol officer 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:47.919 at the Ashlan Police Department. 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:51.800 We're walking in the parking lot of the Ponderosa, right, 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:55.680 so put me back in the time in space, walk 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:56.160 me through it. 0:00:57.160 --> 0:01:00.440 I had received a call for a stolen or lost 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:03.480 cell phone, so I was taking that report a couple 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:06.240 miles south of here and he was asking, you know, 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:09.280 what have you heard about this whole sniper thing. And 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:11.560 I was like, you know, I've heard as much as 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:13.600 you have. I get the news. And he looked at 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:15.640 me and says it wouldn't it be something if that 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:19.399 guy came here? And he had just finished saying that 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:24.120 when dispatch handed me the call and they said respond 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:28.520 to eight seventeen England Street for a possible shooting. I 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:31.560 looked at him, like, no way, and the look on 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:34.080 his face was priceless. Yet I just like, oh my gosh, 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:35.280 what did I just do to you? 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:37.120 I marked and. 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:39.840 Route told him I was on my way. They said, 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.640 we've had one call, got a mail down in the 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:45.480 parking lot at the Ponderosa. I asked him if there's 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:48.520 any other information, and they said, no new calls, no 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:52.360 new information. And that's when I'd called the sergeant on 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:54.840 the radio and I said, we may want to consider 0:01:54.920 --> 0:02:01.720 starting the response plan. When I arrived, our victim was 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:04.880 laying in the parking lot and his wife was sitting 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:08.280 on the sidewalk and had her husband's head in her lap. 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.760 I pulled past them right to the end of the 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:16.240 sidewalk here and my car acted as a shield between 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:17.600 the woods and the hoppers. 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:22.639 So instinctively, you just pull your car into a position 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:27.200 that sets up a barrier between the wooded area and 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:28.720 potentially more victims. 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:33.000 Yes, Jeff was laying in the parking lot and Stephanie 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:36.120 was sitting on the sidewalk and she was holding pressure 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.200 on his stomach. I told her that I needed to 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:41.760 verify the injury. So she lifted up the towel that 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:45.480 she was holding on him, and I saw a pole 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:47.640 about the size of a nickel in the top of 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:54.080 the victim's stomach. I feel somebody tapped me on the shoulder. 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:59.799 I wasn't expecting anybody. Turn around. A guy standing there 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:02.280 little bit more than me. He had a chain around 0:03:02.280 --> 0:03:04.200 his neck and he reached into his shirt. He pulled 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:08.320 it out and it was a New York Police Department badge. 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:12.560 He says, I'm retired. What do you need? If there 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:14.880 was somebody still here, I wanted them to think that 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:18.320 we were searching for them. I asked him to use 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:20.839 the spotlight on my car to pan back and forth 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:23.920 across the woods, and I showed him where the shotgun 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:27.440 release was in my car and told him that hey, 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:30.160 if shots fired, sin led that way. 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:33.840 There is a ruthless person on the loose. 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:37.440 What I nerves this community the most is the randomness 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:41.360 of the murders, ordinary people doing ordinary things. 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:44.280 They killed the five people in one day and then 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:46.880 went on the rampage for the next month. 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:48.280 It is quite a mystery. 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:50.920 The police say they have never had a crime quite 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:51.360 like this. 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:54.480 Be careful, these guys are using weapons that are going 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:57.320 to go right straight through our bulletproof vest, the. 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:03.640 White bag, my heart radio, and Tenderfoot TV. This is 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:14.600 Monster DC Sniper. Jeff and Stephanie describe the two of 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:18.039 them and how they were working through this very serious 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:19.120 situation together. 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:22.840 She was the calmest person I'd ever seen on any 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:25.159 type of major scene like this. And when you have 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.960 somebody that's bleeding internally like that, their heart rate is up, 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:30.800 their blood pressures up, it can make them bleed out 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:33.839 a little bit faster. But Jeff was laying there just 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:37.359 staying really calm. I told her, I said, okay, the 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:39.200 best thing to do for a bleed is just a 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:43.600 hold pressure, and it's not rocket science. She started to chuckle. 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:48.120 The victims started to laugh, and at this point, I'm like, okay, 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:50.520 can you guys let me in on the joke. Well, 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:54.320 she was a rocket scientist for NASA, so me telling 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:56.760 her that it was in rocket science, she kind of 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.920 knew that already. They actually told me that they we 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:04.320 in Pennsylvania visiting family. Intentionally, they didn't stop in Maryland, 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.920 d C. Or Northern Virginia because the shootings and they 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:10.520 felt like if they stopped closer to Richmond that it 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:15.440 would be safer. So the ambulance when they come up 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:19.520 one scene normally wait until law enforcement can make sure 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:21.800 the scene is safe for them to enter. I couldn't 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:24.000 do that, so we came up with a different plan 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:24.880 for them to come in. 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:25.640 And pick up Jeff. 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:29.280 I got my shotgun. I told the driver of the 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:31.919 ambulance to stay in the driver's seat. I had the 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.000 crew of the ambulance come out of the back of 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:37.000 the ambulance. I had them park right behind my car, 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:40.359 bumping or bumper so that the ambulance itself was also 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.120 some type of barricade. They get Jeff on the stretcher, 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:45.600 they put him in the ambulance, and we get them 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:48.160 out onto England Street and tell them to take the 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:50.560 shoulder of the Interstate ninety five because we'd shut it down. 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:54.040 By eight point thirty, the victim was arriving at the hospital, 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:58.640 and police across this area had activated a coordinated tactical response, 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:01.479 a plan put in play just last week in the 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.000 event of a suspected sniper attack. 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:08.279 Very quickly, traffic was brought to a complete stop. 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:12.080 That's retired Maryland State Police Lieutenant David Reichenball. 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.039 Ordinarily, if you do that, you've got phone calls going 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:20.320 to politicians. Hey, what's going on while the road's blocked. 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:22.720 I can't get home, I can't go about my business. 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.239 But believe it or not, at this point, the public 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:29.080 was completely on board with law enforcement. They were in fear. 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:31.640 They wanted just stopped as badly as we did. 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:37.239 The roadblocks turned up nothing. The sniper had vanished once again, 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:40.360 but there was good news thanks to the efforts of 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:43.680 first responders. Jeffrey Hopper survived the attack. 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:46.960 Once we got jeff in the ambulance, we got the 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:49.880 crime scene tape out, and we just right in front 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:53.039 of the Ponderosa, right on England Street. We taped from 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:56.320 one side of the building to the other. From that point, 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:59.080 it seemed like every three letter agency in the federal 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:02.240 government was starting to show up. I had FBI show up, 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:03.719 I had a ATF show up. 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:07.640 One of those ATF agents was Ray Neely. 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:12.320 I'm a normal special agent. Well, I'm at a relatively 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:14.920 normal special agent. You know, I'm so used to hanging 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:18.000 around law enforcement. Special agents are kind of a dome 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:20.200 a dozen and I was based out of Washington, so 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:23.840 it's not very impressive in that particular area anyway. 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.760 Ray Neely was a canine handler for the ATF in. 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:32.400 Two thousand and two during the sniper investigation, I handled 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:35.400 a dog named Garrett. He was a yellow Lab at 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:39.160 that point, he was about seven years old. We use 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:43.840 the term explosive detection canines. That's their official title, and 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:47.160 the public ulder sere them called bomb dogs. It's been 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:51.840 estimated that there's over nineteen thousand different types of explosive formulations, 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:55.720 but generally they can be broken down into seven families, 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:59.120 so as long as you train across those seven families, 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:02.200 the dogs can then fine firearms as well as explosives. 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:07.080 On the night of October nineteenth, after Jeffrey Hopper was shot, 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:10.600 the ATF sent Ray Nearly to investigate the woods outside 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:12.520 the Ponderosa. 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:15.320 When we arrived that evening, it was actually kind of 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:18.760 a balmy night, and not because we're working in low light. 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:21.720 The human search was really not going to be effective, 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:24.800 so they were going to wait till daybreak. I talked 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:27.040 to the people on scene and said, hey, it's best 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:31.040 that we deploy this evening. The dog doesn't need daylight 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:33.920 to work, and the odor cennature is stronger now than 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:38.439 it's going to be tomorrow morning. There was a wooded 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:43.440 lot behind the ponderosa. It's all pitch black dark. When 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:47.600 any human or animals move through wooded areas, they typically 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:50.880 go to the area of least resistance. It's called lines 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.960 of drift. If there's briers that people are gonna avoid, 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:56.160 that they're going to go a different path. And so 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:59.200 in this particular wooded area, I saw maybe three or 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:02.040 four of these little breaks in the woodline. You know, 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:05.559 there were animal trails or maybe kids played in those woods. 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:08.760 So I was going to search those first, and then 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:10.880 if that failed, then I would start doing more of 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:14.199 a gritted search. It was only on my second path 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:17.520 of least resistance that I saw the dog change behaviored. 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:22.679 The dog started tracking until he went to a particular spot, 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:27.680 and then he alerted me. Whatever with my flashlight and 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:31.320 examined the area where he looked, and that's when I 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:35.040 saw the rub mark. There was a small tree about 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:38.719 maybe two inches in diameter with a small VND and 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:41.400 when I looked up that tree, it looked like someone 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:43.800 had taken some type of hard objects and leaned it 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:47.040 up against that tree, and that created a rub mark. 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:50.040 You wouldn't have that occurring in nature. You needed something 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.520 hard pressing against it. And it was also in line 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:56.240 of sight too where the person was actually hit as 0:09:56.240 --> 0:10:00.240 he exited the ponderosa, and so that rub mark was 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:03.960 someone probably using that tree as a rifle rest. I 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:06.600 knew that the type of rifle more than likely would 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:10.280 eject that shellcase into the right rear, so I deployed 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:12.800 the dog off to my right rear, you know, hoping 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:15.599 to find that shellcasing again. I saw it in a 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:18.600 change of behavior. Now he's going directly to source. It 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:21.520 was probably twenty feet away, and when he alerted this time, 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:26.280 I went over with my flashlight. Those shellcasings can disappear 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:29.320 in the ground pretty quick, the leaves have fallen off 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:33.280 the trees at that point. But I actually saw the shellcasing. 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:38.680 It was sitting right on top, you know, pristine. But 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:42.920 to the rear of where the shellcasing was found, there 0:10:42.960 --> 0:11:15.200 was some type of message attached to a tree. 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:05.040 In the woods outside the Ponderosa Steakhouse atf Agent ray 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:08.880 Neely found a spent shell casing along with another clue, 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.000 one that would prove vital to solving the case. 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:15.240 There was a message that was attached to a tree. 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:19.520 Investigators found a ziploc bag pinned to a tree with 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:24.160 two thumbtacks, and inside there was a letter. Investigators wanted 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:26.440 to read the note, but they couldn't just open the 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:29.480 bag at the crime scene and risk contaminating the evidence. 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:34.040 An FBI helicopter was brought in that evening to take 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:36.880 that piece of evidence directly to the lab they would 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:39.280 be looking for DNA any fingerprints. 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:43.000 The letter arrived at the lab the next morning, Sunday, 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:47.360 October twentieth. When investigators finally opened it, they were shocked 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:50.920 by what they found. Here's Maryland State Police Lieutenant David 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:52.280 Reichenbach again. 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:56.000 The snipers did not want the press notified about this, 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:59.079 and for the first time, we were actually successful in 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:03.479 preventing that. There was a couple significant things about this note. 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:07.720 The first one was it was handwritten, and within a 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.120 few hours the handwriting on the tarot card that had 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.599 been found a few days before was matched, so we 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:17.840 knew we had the same individual, and any thought that 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:20.680 it was organized terrorism pretty much got shot down and 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:23.800 went out the window. The note had little red stars. 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:27.040 And when I say stars, if you've ever had a 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:29.439 child that went to a daycare and they bring their 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:33.000 papers home and they did something great, The teachers put 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.040 little silvery or gold or the red stars on top 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:38.600 of their papers. That's what I'm talking about. And no 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:42.000 self respecting terrorists is going to do that. Number one. 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:44.720 Number two, we finally get a demand. 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:47.440 Here's what the snipers wrote in the. 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:52.320 Letter for you, mister police, call me God, do not 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:55.440 release to the press. We have tried to contact you 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:59.480 to start negotiation, but the incompetence of your forces these 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:01.959 people to our call for a hoax or a joke. 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:05.600 The letter then lifted five people the sniper had contacted. 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:13.439 One Montgomery Police officer Derek two, Rockville Police Department female officer, 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:21.520 three Task Force FBI female for priest at Ashland, five CNN, 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:25.560 Washington DC. These people took our call for a hoax 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:28.360 or joke, So your failure to respond has cost you 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:32.040 five lives. If stopping the killing is more important than 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:34.920 catching us now, then you will accept our demands, which 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:39.480 are non negotiable. Option one, you will place ten million 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:41.480 dollars in a Bank of America account. 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:44.640 The letter then listed the information for a credit card 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:48.400 which belonged to a woman named Jill Lynn Farrell, and 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:49.079 then it went on. 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:53.520 We will have unlimited withdrawal at any atm worldwide. You 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:56.720 will activate the bank account, credit card and pin number 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.760 at six am Sunday morning. We will We'll contact you 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:07.120 at Ponderouso Buffet, Ashland, Virginia telephone number. You have until 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:11.240 nine am Monday morning to complete transaction. Try to catch 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:14.280 us withdrawing at least you will have less body bags. 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:18.280 But option two if trying to catch us now is 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:22.320 more important than prepare your body bags. If we give 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:25.600 you our word, that is what takes place. Word is 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:34.400 bond ps. Your children are not safe anywhere, at any time. 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:42.600 The letter was a bombshell, and it left investigators with 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:45.680 a slew of new questions. Was all this killing just 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:49.320 about money? And if the snipers themselves had called into 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.080 the tip lines and had been ignored, what other tips 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:55.840 might have slipped through the cracks. But the letter did 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:58.960 provide some major leads, like a list of people the 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:02.760 sniper had called law enforcement would need to interview those people, 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:06.560 and investigators needed to find the credit card owner, Jill 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:11.920 Lynn Ferrell. How is she connected to the snipers? Most importantly, though, 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:15.640 the snipers wanted to talk and police were eager to 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:18.480 get them on the line. But there was a problem. 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:21.720 The letter said the snipers would call the Ponderosi Steakhouse 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.440 at six am, but by the time the police read 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:29.280 the letter, they'd already missed the deadline. So Chief Moose 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:31.880 reached out to the snipers the only way he knew how, 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:33.520 through the media. 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:37.040 To the person who left us a message at the 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:41.560 Ponderosa last night, you gave us a telephone number. We 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.400 do want to talk to you called us at the 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:45.520 number you provided. 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:49.840 Police had the phone company redirect the Ponderosa's number to 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:54.640 align In their command center. There, an FBI negotiator sat 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:59.840 and waited, hoping the snipers would call. Meanwhile, agents were 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:02.680 adding up a track. They mapped out all of the 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.240 payphones in the Richmond area and stationed police officers at 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:10.440 locations nearby those phones, but out of sight. Police were 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:14.000 ready to trace the sniper's call, identify which phone it 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:18.640 came from, and then swarm that area with officers back 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:21.080 at the command center, the phone began to ring. 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.880 Hello. 0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:31.160 All okay, let me give you a new number. 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:44.880 Can okay, what are you calling for? Can alone? 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:46.840 This is the only way to remind it called them 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:51.160 Pepty Direct. Your Pepty Direct Sales will be contacting you shortly, 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:52.000 but today murder. 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:57.840 After dozens of false alarms, the next morning, on Monday, 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:02.040 October twenty first, at seven fifty seven am, the sniper's 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:03.200 call finally came. 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:04.800 Hello Hello. 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:14.000 The sniper then held the tape recorder up to the 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:19.320 payphone and hit play through the phone. The audio was 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:25.600 distorted and unintelligible. The call lasted just thirty eight seconds, 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:29.320 but for some reason, the negotiator didn't alert others about 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:31.480 the call for another six minutes. 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:36.440 I'm pay, I'm lipay. 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:41.280 US marshals traced the call to a payphone just outside 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:44.879 an Exon station in West Richmond at eight oh seven, 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:48.080 now a full ten minutes after the sniper's call. The 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:51.760 marshals notified local FBI of the address, and the traps 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:56.040 sprung into motion. Don Nielsen worked just down the street 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:58.720 from the Exxon where the snipers made the call. He 0:17:58.800 --> 0:17:59.960 saw the takedown happen. 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:02.640 Part of my job in the morning. I got there 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:05.520 early and you know, turned down the lights, made coffee 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:09.200 for the customers, and that's when I saw everything going 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:12.800 on right out in front of the dealership. I just 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:16.480 opened the front door and this guy going like halt 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:19.040 with a serious look on his face, and his hand 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:22.480 went up like don't come out here. So I thought, ooh, okay. 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:25.360 There were three or four cars out there and all 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:29.080 this commotion, you know, undercovered type guys swat guys loading 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:32.480 shotguns and ars. They were putting on vests, and I 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:35.560 imagine they weren't putting on to go hunting, so I'd 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:40.119 imagine they were armored vests. Everybody's eyes were right up 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:42.680 the hill at the van and that drive buck phone. 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:46.520 When they started moving themselves up the hill, we moved 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:49.840 to the very cornermost office to see what was going on. 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:54.919 I just remember seeing these guys rushing up there. They 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:57.000 ran up the hill and they grew open the doors, 0:18:57.040 --> 0:18:59.159 and they grabbed some people out of the van and 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:05.240 threw them on the park lit They handcuffed these guys 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:10.320 and moved them over to the grassy area. Later that day, 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:12.960 there was news media everywhere. 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:17.440 This morning, at approximately eight thirty five am, two male 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:20.760 subjects were taken into custody by the members of the 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:24.960 Richmond Area Task Force at param Road in Broad Street, 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:28.879 which is basically right behind us. Those two individuals are 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:30.119 being questioned at this time. 0:19:31.160 --> 0:19:36.639 Police began interrogating the two suspects. The first, Edgar Rivera Garcia, 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.040 had been sitting in a white mini van and talking 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:42.080 on a drive through payphone. He claimed he was a 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:46.960 carpenter from Mexico. The other men, Jose Morales, had been 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:50.120 walking through the gas station's parking lot when police showed up. 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:56.679 Neither could provide valid identification. As police interrogated Garcia and Morales, 0:19:56.840 --> 0:19:59.440 agents from the Task Force were listening to the recorded 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:04.520 call over and over. They painstakingly decipher the sniper's call 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:08.040 word by word. It referred to the demand from the 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:12.159 Ponderosa letter option one to put ten million dollars on 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:16.520 an ATM card or option two the killings would continue. 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:18.320 Here's what they transcribed. 0:20:19.680 --> 0:20:23.399 Dearest police, call me God. Do not release to the 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:27.920 press five red stars. You have our terms. They are 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:31.600 non negotiable. If you choose option one, you will hold 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:34.439 a press conference stating to the media that you believe 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:37.080 you have caught the sniper like a duck in a noose. 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:41.520 Repeat every word exactly as you heard it. If you 0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:44.639 choose option two, be sure to remember we will not 0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:50.919 deviate ps. Your children are not safe. 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:53.920 The call had to be from the killer. Nothing from 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:57.160 the Ponderosa letter had leaked, but the caller knew about 0:20:57.160 --> 0:21:00.679 the red stars, the two options, and there to children. 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:04.200 That was definitely one of the snipers. 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:05.160 On the line. 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:08.679 Later that day, Richmond Police held another press. 0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:13.680 Conference based on information we received this morning. Two men 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:18.400 were detained and questioned by local and federal authorities. These 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:22.080 men had been turned over to representatives of the Immigration 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:25.240 and Naturalization Services for further action. 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:30.840 Garcia and Morales weren't the snipers. The police had arrested 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:33.840 the wrong guys. The task force had learned that there 0:21:33.960 --> 0:21:36.560 was a second payphone on the other side of the 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:39.560 gas station, and the sniper's call had come in from 0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:42.920 that other phone. By the time police had showed up, 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:46.720 the snipers were already gone. They had come so close 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:51.040 to catching them, but the trap had failed. That afternoon, 0:21:51.119 --> 0:21:54.960 Chief Moves again communicated to the snipers through a press conference. 0:21:56.240 --> 0:22:00.879 I would like to start with another message. The person 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:05.719 you called, could not hear everything that you said. The 0:22:05.760 --> 0:22:09.040 audio was unclear, and we want to get it right. 0:22:10.520 --> 0:22:13.200 Call us back so that we can clearly understand. 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:18.360 The police were trying to re establish communication with the snipers, 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:21.960 but they were also trying to buy time. That's because 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:24.520 they've been following up on other leads from the letter. 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:27.200 Here's David Reichenball right now. 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:29.280 We've got a whole bunch of leads that we can 0:22:29.320 --> 0:22:33.000 work on, and they were running those leads down. Those 0:22:33.040 --> 0:22:36.120 were our red hot leads. They want ten million dollars 0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:40.480 on this ATM card, and the ATM card belonged to 0:22:40.520 --> 0:22:43.000 a lady, a bus driver. 0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:50.800 This is Jill Lynn Farroh, retired Greyhound bus driver. In 0:22:50.880 --> 0:22:55.520 October two thousand and two, my supervisor said, I must 0:22:55.680 --> 0:23:00.879 call this telephone number immediately. The FBI needs to speak 0:23:00.920 --> 0:23:05.399 to me. And I got completely shocked and surprised, but 0:23:05.520 --> 0:23:11.000 I called and FBI agent mac Rominger said, yes, I 0:23:11.080 --> 0:23:14.680 need to speak to you upon arrival and flagstaff tonight. 0:23:15.880 --> 0:23:18.720 And then I had the next three hours to wonder 0:23:19.280 --> 0:23:23.119 what in the world was going on with FBI agents. 0:23:23.640 --> 0:23:26.680 It was just, you know, very concerned. 0:23:27.320 --> 0:23:28.360 What did I do. 0:23:29.720 --> 0:23:35.240 Well? It could be anything. What did I do? The 0:23:35.400 --> 0:23:39.440 agents met me at the Greyhound bus Termalin Flagstaff at 0:23:39.480 --> 0:23:42.320 the bottom of the steps of my bus and they said, 0:23:42.359 --> 0:23:46.920 please follow us into the driver lounge and they said 0:23:46.920 --> 0:23:51.000 please sit down. I said, gentlemen, I've been sitting all day. 0:23:51.040 --> 0:23:54.160 To mind if I stand up? And what is this about? 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:59.840 They asked, do you remember the day your credentials went me? 0:24:01.160 --> 0:24:05.320 And my mind instantly flashed back to that day, and 0:24:05.400 --> 0:24:09.480 I told them everything. It seemed like a typical day. 0:24:10.119 --> 0:24:13.720 I go no Gallus to Tucson, and then I loaded 0:24:13.800 --> 0:24:18.119