Perfect Murder, Perfect Town - Lawrence Schiller [141]
—Linda Wilcox
Every media outlet was eager to interview the Ramseys, but the only time John and Patsy had talked to the press was on New Year’s Day. Like most of the networks, CNN was still camped out in Boulder. Mike Phelan, a CNN producer who had been in Boulder for two months, called Pat Korten daily asking for an interview. It was a small ritual. Every day Korten would say no.
Phelan’s network had set up an office with a full workstation and a library of 186 related videotapes, including the unedited version of the Ramseys’ New Year’s Day interview, which the Boulder police had wanted since January 1.
On March 12, John Eller learned that two copies of the unedited tape were in Boulder. He consulted the police department’s legal advisers, who told him that the tape was in their jurisdiction. On March 26 Detective Thomas obtained a search warrant to enter CNN’s hotel room at Marriott’s Residence Inn Hotel and take possession of the tape. When Thomas showed up at the door, Michael Phelan called CNN’s attorneys in Atlanta.
The network was prepared for this move from the police, and a deal was struck. In return for CNN’s turning over the tape, the police department agreed that it would make it available only to law enforcement personnel working on the case. Bob Keatley, the police department’s legal adviser, signed the formal agreement with CNN, which protected CNN’s copyright. Two days later, CNN turned over the videotape to Thomas, who made copies for the department.
Now, for the first time, the Boulder detectives could look not only for inconsistencies with the Ramseys’ previous statements to police but for behavioral patterns. A copy of the tape was sent to the FBI for analysis by CASKU.
When word reached the Ramseys’ attorneys that the police had the videotape, they asked Hunter’s office for access to it, too. It would be almost a month before Tom Kelley, representing CNN, authorized the DA to provide a copy to Haddon, Morgan and Foreman.
The Ramseys’ attorneys had made some changes in their approach to the press. Pat Korten was let go. It was an effort to simplify logistics and reduce costs, they said. Later one Ramsey attorney would say that the hiring of Pat Korten was the single biggest mistake they had made in the first months of the case. Rachelle Zimmer, an attorney in Haddon’s office, would now handle the media’s questions.
Meanwhile, Alex Hunter was thinking of designating a press representative to deal with the eighty-two individuals from national TV networks and papers throughout the country who called his office regularly.
Journalists, of course, were being pressured by their editors and producers. Reporters from the Denver papers were told to look for a story every day because public interest was growing. Some writers without many sources fed what information they had to Hunter’s office, hoping to get something in return.
To Hunter’s staff it sounded as if the information they were getting had come from the police, but when they checked their set of police files they came up short. Hunter surmised that Eller and his detectives were withholding information—specifically, test results. Hunter speculated that the police wanted the press to hear directly from them and were sending a clear message: they didn’t trust Hunter.
The tabloids began offering money to people close to Hunter’s staff in exchange for information, and Hunter wondered if the police were getting similar offers. When the tabs called Bill Wise, he always treated them cordially but said little. To get him to talk, they started feeding him information, which proved reliable. Again it looked as if it came from the police department. Again, some of it was unknown to Hunter’s staff.
During a conversation with a local reporter,