Associated Press
02/14/06
Agents wary of SUV sightings at church fire
sites
By Jay Reeves
The Associated Press
BIRMINGHAM -- Agents trying to solve 10 church arsons in Alabama are
reminding themselves of a lesson from the Washington-area sniper shootings,
when a white van turned into a red herring for investigators.
Back in 2002, public attention became riveted on white vans and panel trucks as
witnesses reported seeing the big, boxy vehicles near spots where shootings
were occurring. Yet the two suspects were finally captured in something entirely
different -- a blue Chevrolet Caprice.
In the fire investigation in rural Alabama, agents are worried the same thing could
happen with dark-colored sport-utility vehicles.
Two witnesses reported seeing a dark SUV outside a church the night of the first
fires, and the media quickly reported the description. Since then, witnesses have
reported seeing dark SUVs near several other churches that burned.
Jim Cavanaugh, regional director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives, said Monday all the sightings may be accurate. But, Cavanaugh
said, witnesses have reported seeing other kinds of vehicles, too -- a fact that
may not be making it across to the public.
The concern, Cavanaugh said, is that people become so intent on spotting one
type of vehicle that they miss other vehicles that could be important to the case.
"We don't want to have a white van," said Cavanaugh, who was also involved in
the sniper investigation. "I have firsthand knowledge of what that is like. We are
being cautious."
A criminal justice expert said the hunt for a suspect vehicle in the church fires
could be complicated by the same thing that hampered police in the sniper case.
"Dark SUVs are pretty common, and white vans are pretty common," said Walter
F. Rowe, a forensics professor at George Washington University in Washington.
"The problem isn't just that the media begins focusing on it, but the police do as
well."
Rowe recalled being stuck in D.C.-area traffic and watching as police searched a
white van that turned out to have nothing to do with the sniper shootings. Later,
the two men were caught after word leaked out that the suspects could be
traveling in a blue Chevy, Rowe said.
Agents investigating the church fires have taken plaster casts of tire marks that
may be linked to the arsons, and such evidence could help them narrow a search
to a particular kind of vehicle.
While Cavanaugh wouldn't comment on the tire marks, agents haven't released
any description of a suspect vehicle aside from a dark SUV, possibly a Nissan
Pathfinder. But investigators believe two men are involved in the fires, and they
assume the pair has access to at least two vehicles, possibly more.
"We don't want people to get tunnel vision," Cavanaugh said.
Whether or not people focus too narrowly on a particular type of vehicle,
witnesses often have a hard time differentiating between makes of vehicles and
body styles that resemble each other, said Gary Wells, an expert in witness
identification.
"People do pretty well with big differences, like pickup truck or sedan," said
Wells, a psychology professor at Iowa State University. "When it comes to
details it's a different thing."
Early morning fires destroyed three churches and damaged two others in rural
Bibb County south of Birmingham on Feb. 3, and four more were hit by pre-dawn
arsonists in three counties along the Mississippi line four days later. A fire that
destroyed an isolated church in west Alabama on Saturday afternoon also was
determined to be arson.
Investigators issued a plea for whoever is torching churches to contact them, but
Cavanaugh said there was no immediate response.
The government offered $10,000 in reward money for information in the fires,
and insurance companies and others have posted rewards that put the total
reward near $100,000. Also ran in: Montgomery Advertiser, AL