Posted on 09/08/2001 10:35:28 AM PDT by michaelje
Rings true: Report: Phone records back suspect's claim by Dave Wedge
Saturday, September 8, 2001
Phone records show two phone calls were made from an Abington pay phone to the Boston FBI office the day accused carjacking serial killer Gary Sampson claims he called to turn himself in, according to a broadcast report.
Sampson says he called the FBI between 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. on July 23 - the day before he allegedly embarked on a weeklong killing spree - and tried to turn himself in on outstanding North Carolina bank robbing charges. Verizon records show that two calls were made from an Abington pay phone that are consistent with Sampson's claim, WCVB-TV reported last night.
The Herald reported last week that an FBI probe into the alleged phone call has targeted a particular agent who took the call but ``blew it off.''
The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility is probing the call and is deciding whether to proceed criminally or administratively against the agent, sources said.
The FBI has staunchly denied the probe is targeting any agent. FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz would not confirm or deny the WCVB report.
``It hasn't been confirmed to us that a phone call came into the Boston FBI office,'' she said.
One source close to the case called the agency's public denial ``standard FBI procedure.''
``They deny everything. They should just come out and be honest about it but they don't. That's not how they do things,'' the source said.
According to the WCVB report, the FBI pulled records from five pay phones from which Sampson may have made the call. The two calls made to the FBI office are believed to have come from a 7-Eleven convenience store on Washington Street. One of the calls reportedly lasted two minutes.
A Verizon spokesman refused comment and referred inquiries to the FBI.
According to WCVB, Sampson said he called the operator, said it was an emergency and wanted the FBI. A computer generated voice then came on and told him to deposit $1.10, which he says he did. Sampson says he was connected to the Boston FBI office where he spoke to a man. He told the man he was Gary Johnson - one of Sampson's aliases - and that he was wanted on bank robbing charges in North Carolina where he used to live.
He says he told the man to have agents come pick him up at a nearby bridge because he didn't trust the local police. He says he waited until 3 p.m. but no agents showed up.
The next day, Sampson allegedly went on a gruesome murder spree, killing 19-year-old Jonathan Rizzo of Kingston, 69-year-old Philip McCloskey of Taunton and 58-year-old Robert Whitney of Concord, N.H. The first victim, McCloskey, was carjacked in Weymouth and forced to drive to a Marshfield road where Sampson allegedly stabbed him to death.
Rizzo was carjacked on the Plymouth waterfront and led to Abington, where Sampson allegedly tied him to a tree, stabbed him and slashed his throat. Sampson then drove Rizzo's car to a lakefront home in Meredith, N.H. where he strangled Whitney to death, police say.
Sampson's lawyer, Stephanie Paige, denied a published report that said she knows the FBI has records confirming Sampson's call. She did, however, say she will be requesting any documents relating to the probe.
``We don't know that they have the records. I'm assuming at some point they'll have some investigative records and we'll ask for them. We don't have anything from the government at this point,'' Paige said.
Source: FBI eyes agent in probe of Sampson phone call by Jonathan Wells and Dave Wedge
Thursday, August 30, 2001
The FBI's internal probe into an alleged attempt by Gary Sampson to surrender to the bureau before embarking on a killing spree is focusing on a particular agent who may have taken a phone call from Sampson but ``blew it off,'' a source told the Herald.
Investigators from the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility in Washington are now looking into the grim possibility that Sampson, in a phone call to the FBI's Boston office, tried to turn himself in on bank robbery charges the day before he allegedly killed the first of three random victims, a source close to the bureau said.
Boston FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz denied that any agent has been identified as having fielded a call from Sampson or that any such call was even received by the bureau that day.
``We have no indication this call came in to us. We haven't confirmed that a call came into the office,'' Marcinkiewicz said. The bureau is also still trying to identify which agents were in the office and who may have been on break at the time of the alleged phone call, she added.
Sampson claims he called the Boston FBI office from an Abington pay phone July 23 - the day before he allegedly slashed 69-year-old Philip McCloskey to death in Marshfield - and tried to turn himself in on outstanding North Carolina bank robbery charges. He says he told agents to pick him up in Abington but they never showed up.
If it's confirmed that Sampson made the call and the FBI ignored it, it could open the door for the murder victims' families to sue the federal government.
``It may be of some help to the victims and their families,'' Sampson's former lawyer Kenneth Elias said. Relatives of the victims contacted by the Herald yesterday had no comment.
Meanwhile, investigators are preparing to send the case against Sampson to a federal grand jury, possibly paving the way for the Abington drifter to face death by lethal injection, sources said.
Bay State investigators are working closely with federal prosecutors who are planning to convene a grand jury at U.S. District Court in Boston, a source said. A relative of one of Sampson's victims said yesterday that the family has been told by prosecutors that the case will go to a federal grand jury for indictment.
Elias, said he too has been told the case will become a federal prosecution, prompting him to quit representing Sampson.
``They're going to go federally with it. They'll keep continuing the Massachusetts court dates until (Plymouth District Attorney) Mike Sullivan becomes the U.S. Attorney,'' Elias said.
Sampson, who is now being represented by public defenders Stephanie Paige and Robert Sheketoff, is apparently preparing to build a death penalty defense team. Sheketoff is death penalty qualified, having handled a capital murder case in Florida, and Sampson is also seeking to hire noted New Jersey defense lawyer David A. Ruhnke, who recently won a life sentence for one of the World Trade Center bombers.
Sullivan, who is expected to be named the new U.S. Attorney next month, refused comment on who will end up prosecuting the case. ``It's still in the process of being reviewed,'' he said.
U.S. Attorney's office spokeswoman Samantha Martin wouldn't confirm or deny that a decision has been made to prosecute Sampson federally.
Sampson could face the death penalty under federal anti-carjacking statutes, but Paige said she and Sheketoff will argue that the case should remain in the state courts.
``There's nothing other than politics that would drive this into federal court,'' Paige said. ``We consider this a state case.''
Sampson, a 41-year-old alcoholic and drug addict, confessed to killing McCloskey, 19-year-old Jonathan Rizzo of Kingston, and 58-year-old Robert Whitney of Concord, N.H, prosecutors say. Sampson brutally stabbed McCloskey to death after carjacking him at knifepoint in Weymouth and forcing him to drive to a secluded Marshfield road, police said.
Two days later, Rizzo picked Sampson up hitchhiking in Plymouth and was forced to drive to Abington where Sampson allegedly tied the teen to a tree, stabbed him multiple times and slashed his throat. Sampson then drove Rizzo's car to Meredith, N.H., where he strangled Whitney in a lakefront home, police say.
What's that you say Johnny Connolly, bad boy Whitey's left and gone away, hey hey hey.
This one makes me wonder if Whitey has been phoning into the Boston FBI office for advice on avoiding capture. This begs the question what exactly do they do in that office? They must be too busy reading intercepted e-mail to bother taking a 45 minute ride to pick up a surrendering bank robber
Call the victim's lawyers and see how much they'll be suing for.
Whitey's no dope, when Connolly tipped him to the indictments, he scrammed.
Definitley not isolated blunders.'course not -
- they're all connected.
It's called a conspiracy.
Yep. The FBI needs to step up and fix their problems, if for no other reason than it is becoming really embarrasing! These guys could screw up a cup of coffee.
- look at some of the tin-foilers we have here on FR that the entire site look bad - like those hucksters that contend the moon shots were hoaxes - yet this flies on the face of fact when you get a chance to talk to some of the people who actually operated the RADAR and communications gear that LOOKED at the moon and actually measured the distances and activity of the Lunar-bound space vehicles - not to mention the astronauts themselves who are truly genuine and honest individuals ...
He certainly proved the FBI's assessment as correct...
The next day, Sampson allegedly went on a gruesome murder spree, killing 19-year-old Jonathan Rizzo of Kingston, 69-year-old Philip McCloskey of Taunton and 58-year-old Robert Whitney of Concord, N.H.
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