THE 26-HOUR REIGN OF MURDER AND TERROR

By now most of you are aware of what happened here in Atlanta last Friday.  A man on trial for rape escapes from a deputy sheriff in the courthouse, kills a judge, a court stenographer and a deputy sheriff.  Hours later he kills an off-duty U.S. Customs Agent.  He's captured the next day after holding a remarkable young woman named Ashley Smith in her apartment for hours.  Here's a little Q&A to fill you in on some details:

How did Brian Nichols get the gun in the first place?

He overpowered a 51-year-old female deputy sheriff.  Alone she escorted him into a holding area where she took off his handcuffs so that he could change into street clothes for trial.

There seem to be a lot of details out there on how Nichols overpowered the deputy sheriff and got her gun.

That's because it was all caught on tape.

You mean there's a video?

Exactly.  There was a surveillance camera in the holding area where the attack took place.

Was someone supposed to be monitoring the camera?

There were two officers in the command center who were supposed to be monitoring the surveillance cameras.  If they were, they didn't see this attack.  It would seem safe to assume that they weren't exactly paying close attention to the cameras. 

Did the killer run from the courthouse after the shootings?

Now there's an interesting question.  That's what everybody thought.  After all, he did shoot and kill a Deputy Sheriff as he left the courthouse.  Things got a bit confusing though during a Friday afternoon  press conference when Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman said that he "allegedly" ran from the courthouse.   Allegedly?  But then, the Sheriff used the "allegedly" word about six times in every sentence during his statements to the press.  We may have questions about the abilities of the Sheriff of Fulton County and about his employees who protect the courthouse, but we now know that he sure does have a handle on the "allegedly" word.

Were citizens alerted to be on the lookout for a particular type of car?

Yes ... we were told all day Friday to be looking for a specific green Honda Accord.

Did they ever find the Honda?

Yup.

Where was the green Honda Accord?

It was right there in the parking garage next to the Courthouse.  Right where the killer left it, and right smack in the middle of the largest concentration of law enforcement officers at that time in the entire Southeast.  It took them 13 hours to find that Honda in the parking garage.

Did a police officer or sheriff's deputy finally find the Honda?

Nope.  It was discovered by a co-worker of the Honda's owner late in the afternoon.

So, how did the killer flee the area?

Apparently he took MARTA, the rapid rail line, and headed North to Lenox Square.

Well, if he took MARTA, why didn't they catch him as he was getting on or getting off a train?  Surely they took steps to watch MARTA stations for the killer as soon as the shootings happened, didn't they?

Uhhhhhh ... no, they didn't.  

Why not?

Because they were too busy looking for the green Honda that was ...

...still parked in the courthouse parking garage, right?

Yup.    The Honda seemed to be their entire focus.  No need to be searching or watching MARTA stations.  The Atlanta police chief, Richard Pennington, told the media: "We still thought he was still in the car.  We had no reason to close down MARTA."

Where did Brian Nichols head then?

Apparently he got off the MARTA train at the Lenox Square Station.  He certainly would have been a lot less conspicuous there than he would have been in Doraville.

What did he do next?

He accosted a woman on Lenox Road and forced her into her apartment.  Her boyfriend was there.  Nichols and the boyfriend got into a scuffle and Nichols ran.

Was this reported to police?

Yes, the woman and her boyfriend called 911 to report the incident.

And then?

Apparently the Atlanta police didn't make much of it.  There's no indication that they made any connection to the courthouse murders. This incident happens within walking distance of a rapid rail station.  Police could logically believe that a man, on foot, who accosts a resident near a rapid rail station might have arrived on a train from downtown.  No special attention is paid to this report.

What does Nichols do next?

It would seem that he wandered around the Lenox Road area for a while until he came upon off-duty U.S. Customs Agent David Wilhelm.  Wilhelm was working on a home he was building in the area.  Nichols killed him and stole his truck.

When did police discover that Wilhelm had been killed?

A carpenter showed up at the house at 6:30 a.m., found the body and called the cops. 

Where was Nichols at that point?

He had driven to Duluth, North of Atlanta, where, at two in the morning,  he encountered Ashley Smith getting out of her car at an apartment complex.  He forced her into her apartment.  Ashley Smith, as it turns out, is a rather remarkable 26-year-old.  Here's your link to read the remarkable story of what happened in Smith's apartment.  In short, after almost eight hours he lets her go.  As she is leaving the apartment Nichols hands Smith $40 he has in his pocket, telling her that he wouldn't be needing the money.  He also asks here if there is anything he can do around the apartment, like hanging pictures or curtains, while she's gone.  Smith leaves, calls 911, the SWAT team arrives, and Nichols surrenders.

Is there a reward for information leading to Nichol's arrest and conviction?

About $60,000, last I heard.

Who will get it?

Should it be anyone other than Ashley Smith?  I don't think so.

TODAY I WANT TO HEAR FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT PROFESSIONALS

It's easy for me to say that there were some massive screw ups here, and I know I won't be able to hold my tongue on the air.  But what do I know? I've never escorted a dangerous prisoner, and it's been 36 years since I've faced a man with a gun ... so today I would like to hear from law enforcement types.  Police, sheriff's deputies, courthouse personnel.  Call the program and share your thoughts. 

As for me?  I really can't find any fault with the rank-and-file sheriff's deputies and police officers working this case.  Screw-ups?  You bet!  But the mistakes came from the supervisory level, not from the grunts on the street.  The one possible exception might be those two guards not watching those video monitors.  This, my friends, is what you get when decisions of sheriffs, police chiefs and supervisors are made on the basis of political correctness and political patronage instead of experience and ability.  Anyone who thinks that the political leadership of Atlanta searched far and wide for the absolute best possible person to lead the department, irrespective of questions of color and politics, needs help.  During the past administration of Mayor Bill Campbell, who is now, by the way, awaiting trial on corruption charges, the leadership of the Atlanta Police Department became a joke.  The department was headed by a woman who was, in essence, a chauffeur for a prior police chief.  As for the Sheriff?  Let the voters take the heat for that.

AND YOU KNEW THERE WOULD BE EMAIL

E-mails?  You bet.  I ventured into the Boortz Show email yesterday and copied just a few for you to read:

• Message: The racist reporters keep referring to Brian Nichols as a "monster". He is no more a monster than George Bush or any of the other members of the white establishment. I feel very sorry for Brian. He knew he could not get a fair trial in your racially biased court system, saw a chance at freedom, and took it. From the time of slavery your kind has imprisoned and enslaved our people. I say free Brian Nichols.         
   
• My reaction initially was to think the police should just execute him when they found him. But now I think they should capture him, take him to Grady, check his blood type against the organ donor list, and empty the bastard of anything that works.  What's left should travel down I-85 in a bag to the Purina plant, be processed, canned, and fed to the APD canine units.   No tax dollars spent to house him, people saved, and animals fed.  Best ending to a tragic story.       
   
• The Keystone Cops who call themselves the Atlanta PD and Fulton County Sheriff's Department are lucky that more people were not hurt.  This Brian Nichols fiasco was bungled from the word "go."  Nichols, accused of a violent crime, was discovered the previous day of having homemade weapons on his person.  They respond by having a lone, middle-aged, female deputy escort him to court with no one watching on the security monitors.  The guy escapes from a judicial building and successfully evades the police dragnet because they are too lazy or stupid to search a parking garage for a Honda that he was alleged to be in.  The entire time they hunt for him they tell the media that they can't comment on all these great leads that they have.  I would bet that they had exactly zero leads, because he wasn't at his friends' or relatives' homes.  The only reason they caught up with him is because Ashley Smith kept her head on straight and outwitted him.  Great job, law enforcement officials.  You have succeeded in emboldening all criminals out there that they might be successful in escaping custody, too, and get further than Nichols if they play their cards right.        R. Edwards.
   

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE IRAQI WMD

An interesting bit of truth is slowly leaking out into the mainstream media with little fanfare, and it's the news that Saddam Hussein's stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction may have been looted or moved from the country during the war.  Remember...prior to to John Kerry's defeat last November, there were no weapons of mass destruction.  Suddenly...we're finding out where they might have gone.  How's that for media bias?

The first major news organization to suck it up is none other than the New York Times.  That leftist bird cage liner reported yesterday that when the U.S. invaded Iraq, Saddam not only possessed stockpiles of WMD, but it was moved to a neighboring state before Coalition forces could get there.  For how many months have people been saying this?  Looks like a nice plate of crow is going to be served to the Bush-bashing left.

The paper quoted Sami al-Araji, Iraq's deputy minister of industry as saying "It appeared that a highly organized operation had pinpointed specific plants in search of valuable equipment, some of which could be used for both military and civilian applications, and carted the machinery away."  He also says it was a very sophisticated operation.  So how much will we hear about this?  Did the Russians help?  Is this why Putin was so dead-set against the war?

The mainstream media reads, relies on and regurgitates much of what they read in the New York Times on a daily basis.   Since this story will be perceived as being good for George Bush, expect it to be buried.  But make no mistake: Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, possessed the capability to produce nuclear weapons and would have sold or used them.

Thank God he was stopped.

OK .. IF NOT US, THEN WHO?  SOMEBODY'S GONNA BE THE TOP DOG

Like it or not, friends, some country on this planet is going to be the top dog.  Someone is going to lead.  Someone is going to be the biggest, baddest, meanest and most-powerful.  Call me what you will, but knowing that some country is going to be the most powerful, and that some country, somewhere, is going to lead ... I want that country to be mine.  If I was Chinese I might want that country to be China ... German?  Germany.  French?  Germany.  But I'm an American and I want my country to lead the world .. and to lead the world to freedom and liberty.  Oh .. and guess what?  That seems to be just what's happening in the Middle East.  I guess that upsets Philip Bennett a great deal.

AND WHY NOT SOME MORE E-MAIL???

• Neal, who cares about fair tax only the filthy rich like you. You are hypocrite and selfish, you careless about the poor. You only seek the interest of the filthy rich. you very well know how much it costs everybody for a gallon of gas. You all opening your big mouths, saying the economy is improving, the little man is still catching hell man. This has nothing to do with education. Guys with college degree still don't have jobs. Please keep your big mouth quite.  Your faithful Listener,  Jay Jalloh. 
         
• This is a joke.  You ask people to call in and then interrupt them until they agree with you or hang up.  I listen daily until you tick me off which most days is pretty quick.  I just hate the fact that RUDENESS pays so well.  So Mom was wrong.  Treat others nice and they in turn will treat you nice.  Not so and she didn't live long enough to hear you so I guess that was a blessing.  So you'll love this note.  Glad to make your day.  Johnny Pleasants
   
• I'm just curious, is Mr. Boortz gay?  I know he has a wife and daughter, but that doesn't mean anything.  And no, I don't care if he's gay, nor do I have anything against anyone's sexual orientation.  I'm starting to think he's gay or has homosexual tendencies for the following reasons.  On several occasions Mr. Boortz has discussed homosexuals in a positive light.  I wouldn't consider that exceptional, except for the fact that Mr. Boortz's show is generally played on Nazi radio stations.  Next, Mr. Boortz can recite the melodies from the Phantom of the Opera.  That I find a bit strange.  And third, Mr. Boortz continually refers to Sean Hannity's good looks.  Does he have a non-sexual crush on Sean?  Again, I couldn't care less about Mr. Boortz's sexual orientation.  I still disagree with him on a lot of the issues, but I still enjoy listening to him.  The question I ask, if Mr. Boortz has homosexual tendencies would his predominately Nazi listeners still tune in?        Clay D. 

AND NOW, FOR THE "AW, ISN'T THAT JUST TOO DAMNED BAD" STORY OF THE DAY.

From the "Law & Order" feature in the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

A man who was speeding down a southeast Atlanta road performing stunts on a stolen motorcycle was killed Sunday when he struck a pole, police said. Stephen Pullings, 19, of Atlanta lost control of the motorcycle, ran off the road in the 2000 block of Meador Avenue and struck a utility pole, said Atlanta police Sgt. John Quigley. Witnesses told police that Pullings was speeding and performing stunts before he was killed, Quigley said. The motorcycle was reported stolen out of Lawrenceville, police said.

Don't you just hate it when that happens?

READING ASSIGNMENTS

So .. .George Bush is trying to undo the New Deal?  Well, just what did FDR really have to say about private Social Security accounts?

Shame on the United Auto Workers....they have now banned anyone who doesn't agree with them politically and who drives a non-American-made car.  They've finally exposed themselves as another shill organization for the Democratic party.

There is a report that Israel is planning to bomb Iran to halt their nuclear weapons program.  It's a good thing somebody plans to stop the mad mullahs.

Thousands of dollars in federal funds meant for Washington DC schools have instead been blown on personal travel for fat cat administrators.  Is this the administration's idea of 'No Child Left Behind?"

The White House's dissing of the Irish Republican Army is overdue, and Mark Steyn is happy that the head of the terrorist organization, Gerry Adams, won't be gracing the White House anytime soon.

The GOP is reaching out to black voters...and is finally achieving some positive results.  Dan Gilgoff says black folks are starting to listen to the party of Abraham Lincoln.

So what is going to be the ultimate Republican answer to Social Security reform?  George Will says hiking the ceiling on income taxed by Social Security isn't entirely out of the question.

According to an account told by someone that rode with her on the plane to Iraq, Giuliana Sgrena said she had nothing to fear because she was anti-American.  Fat lot of good that did, as Jack Kelly reports.

The Democratic party is putting forth their agenda to voters, and they have nothing to offer.  Michael Barone says simply, the Democrats are out of gas.

The nomination of John Bolton to be U.N. ambassador shows that President Bush is ready to confront corruption at that organization.  Robert Novak says it also shows Bush is in tune with his conservative base.

CBS has changed news anchors for their evening newscast, but as The Media Research Center explains, they're still dishing up the same old media bias.

Don't speak rap? Learn the basics. Then maybe you'll think twice before buying your kid that 50 Cent cd he asked for.

WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE POINTY HAND THINGS?
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