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CNN Live Event/Special

"Jack the Snipper": Bizarre Crime Spree in New Hampshire City

Aired August 12, 2003 - 19:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, one reason for all the concern in Durham, there are fears the recent attacks could be a prelude to more serious sexual crimes.
Pat Brown is a criminal profiler. She joins us now from Minneapolis.

Thanks -- Pat, thanks for being with us.

I got to tell you, when I first heard about this, I thought it was a hoax. I mean, it didn't -- it sounded kind of ridiculous. But could be very serious.

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: It could be. And you know, Anderson, this is really not that unusual. There have been women across the country who have woken up and found somebody just standing in their room and looking at them and then the person escapes.

COOPER: Why does someone do that? I mean, obviously they're sick in some way. But....

BROWN: Right.

COOPER: What's the point?

BROWN: Well, it is possibly a prelude to rape. This is the first behaviors you'll see with somebody else is trying to invade someone else's territory. They look like to get into that person's location, especially if it's a female, and they want to do more. But what they're practicing is how am I going to do this? How am I going to get in there? Is she going to see me? How long can I get away with this? What can I do? What kind of power can I attain?

COOPER: And they -- they feel powerful when they're inside looking at this person sleeping?

BROWN: Oh, sure. It's just like a burglar. A burglar feels powerful when he can break into your apartment and you come home and you find your things are missing. Or even a vandal who likes to, you know, do something to let you know, I've been here.

COOPER: Do they automatically move on, though, to worse things? I mean, to rape?

BROWN: Well, that's the problem. We don't always know if they are going to. They can and many of them do, but the problem is, sometimes these practicing this and there may be a downtime if he gets a lot of attention. He may come back a year from now stronger and better and then go on to actually commit rape. But he may do it in a different jurisdiction or we simply may not even know it's the same guy.

COOPER: Does media attention on a story like this help or does it hurt?

BROWN: I think it helps a lot. Because one thing, you want to catch this kind of guy before he goes on to something else. And two, at least it may cause him to crease and desist and think , Hey, if I keep doing this, I am going to get caught. A lot of these guys commit crimes because they can.

COOPER: Well, I mean, I find it remarkable. In that story we just saw, one of the young women said, Well, now I'm going to lock my door. The fact that -- I mean, maybe just because I'm from New York. But the fact that anyone -- that everyone doesn't lock their door at night just seems amazing to me.

Classes begin again September 2. I mean, do you think there's a chance this guy may go away or do you think he's still going to -- I mean, does he want to get caught?

BROWN: Oh, he doesn't want to get caught. Nobody ever wants to get caught. He's doing things right now he doesn't believe are going to get him caught. He thinks he can -- you know, he could sneak in and by the time people realize what's going on, he can slither away, maybe to a fairly nearby location and nobody out there is recognizing this guy on the street as -- Hey, that's a creepy guy. So he's probably someone who can blend in fairly well to the community. People have seen him out there, walking around. They don't say that's a stranger here. They just say, Hey that's that guy. We see him a lot. And they don't think he is the guy. So he is getting away with this. As long as he doesn't get actually caught in the act, he can keep doing it.

COOPER: It's hard to believe. Pat Brown, thanks very much.

BROWN: My pleasure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





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Aired August 12, 2003 - 19:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, one reason for all the concern in Durham, there are fears the recent attacks could be a prelude to more serious sexual crimes.
Pat Brown is a criminal profiler. She joins us now from Minneapolis.

Thanks -- Pat, thanks for being with us.

I got to tell you, when I first heard about this, I thought it was a hoax. I mean, it didn't -- it sounded kind of ridiculous. But could be very serious.

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: It could be. And you know, Anderson, this is really not that unusual. There have been women across the country who have woken up and found somebody just standing in their room and looking at them and then the person escapes.

COOPER: Why does someone do that? I mean, obviously they're sick in some way. But....

BROWN: Right.

COOPER: What's the point?

BROWN: Well, it is possibly a prelude to rape. This is the first behaviors you'll see with somebody else is trying to invade someone else's territory. They look like to get into that person's location, especially if it's a female, and they want to do more. But what they're practicing is how am I going to do this? How am I going to get in there? Is she going to see me? How long can I get away with this? What can I do? What kind of power can I attain?

COOPER: And they -- they feel powerful when they're inside looking at this person sleeping?

BROWN: Oh, sure. It's just like a burglar. A burglar feels powerful when he can break into your apartment and you come home and you find your things are missing. Or even a vandal who likes to, you know, do something to let you know, I've been here.

COOPER: Do they automatically move on, though, to worse things? I mean, to rape?

BROWN: Well, that's the problem. We don't always know if they are going to. They can and many of them do, but the problem is, sometimes these practicing this and there may be a downtime if he gets a lot of attention. He may come back a year from now stronger and better and then go on to actually commit rape. But he may do it in a different jurisdiction or we simply may not even know it's the same guy.

COOPER: Does media attention on a story like this help or does it hurt?

BROWN: I think it helps a lot. Because one thing, you want to catch this kind of guy before he goes on to something else. And two, at least it may cause him to crease and desist and think , Hey, if I keep doing this, I am going to get caught. A lot of these guys commit crimes because they can.

COOPER: Well, I mean, I find it remarkable. In that story we just saw, one of the young women said, Well, now I'm going to lock my door. The fact that -- I mean, maybe just because I'm from New York. But the fact that anyone -- that everyone doesn't lock their door at night just seems amazing to me.

Classes begin again September 2. I mean, do you think there's a chance this guy may go away or do you think he's still going to -- I mean, does he want to get caught?

BROWN: Oh, he doesn't want to get caught. Nobody ever wants to get caught. He's doing things right now he doesn't believe are going to get him caught. He thinks he can -- you know, he could sneak in and by the time people realize what's going on, he can slither away, maybe to a fairly nearby location and nobody out there is recognizing this guy on the street as -- Hey, that's a creepy guy. So he's probably someone who can blend in fairly well to the community. People have seen him out there, walking around. They don't say that's a stranger here. They just say, Hey that's that guy. We see him a lot. And they don't think he is the guy. So he is getting away with this. As long as he doesn't get actually caught in the act, he can keep doing it.

COOPER: It's hard to believe. Pat Brown, thanks very much.

BROWN: My pleasure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





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