Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 4

A4 Austin American-Statesman Tuesday, March 9, 1993 This section is recyclable Standoff in Vgco Austin police officer gives high-tech help to Waco investigation found in Mexico. Gregg Lehmann, an assistant attorney for the U.S. prosecutor's office in Austin, praised the efficiency of Jones' program. He worked with Jones when prosecuting a man accused of killing two people and wounding eight others in the La Villita fire. "It can track anything.

It allowed us to generate witnesses' names three years later," Lehmann said. "I can't tell you the problems we would have had without it. "Storage itself would be a problem, let alone going through the files would've been a nightmare. It would've been a phenomenal paper AN I -J- 1 By Kimberly Garcia American-Statesman Staff With nearly 3,000 pieces of evidence from a shootout between federal agents and the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, police from three agencies face an organizational nightmare. Who will investigate the deaths of four Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents killed in the shootout? Who will investigate firearms allegations against cult leader David Koresh? And who will keep track of who is investigating whom? Enter Austin police Sgt.

John Jones. He designed a program on his personal computer at home that has helped police and prosecutors untangle evidence in the La Villita apartment fire and the yogurt shop slayings. On Monday he worked with federal agents involved in the Waco standoff. "I'm going to try to modify the yogurt shop program for them," Jones "No one else has a proven system that's up and ready to go. This thing is battle-tested.

"When crime scenes get too big, they're unmanageable. In Waco, not only is it big, but you've got three agencies involved ATF, the FBI and the Waco Police Department. Each agency handles evidence differently. We need to get everything standardized so we can get it into the computer with consistency." The computer program Jones designed is organized by fields of information that can be cross-referenced for easy access, Jones said. In the yogurt shop investigation, for example, Jones organized 5,000 records on people associated with the case into 74 fields.

One field lists the person's name, another the phone number and another the address. Other fields list the person's involvement in the case, Jones said. The fields were handy when investigators tracked leads about three suspects believed to be in California or Mexico. Later, the suspects were Sgt. Malissa Sims of the Waco Police Department dians who spoke with negotiators Sunday.

So far, the stands by a board showing the names of Branch Davi- FBI has talked to 35 people inside the compound. Cult is 'ready for war, 'Koresh tells FBI as negotiations falter Militia gives up weapons in Kismayu, U.S. reports Associated Press MOGADISHU, Somalia After overnight fighting in Kismayu, Col. Omar Jess' fighters turned in more of their weapons Monday in the southern port city, and the U.S. military said it appeared hia militia was disbanding.

Sans Frontieres, a French aid agency that has an office in Kismayu, reported two people were killed and 24 injured in clashes Sunday. The group's coordinator, Joelle Tanguy, said there were unconfirmed reports of 20 more dead. But Marine CoL Fred Peck said he could confirm only one death Sunday a Somalian gunman was shot by a Belgian patrol after they were fired upon. "There has been violence down there, and there have been casualties," Peck said of Kismayu. He said there was sporadic gunfire around the city and occasional explosions, probably of grenades.

Kismayu has been a flashpoint for violence since supporters of Mohamed Said Hirsi, known as Gen. Morgan, attacked Jess supporters Feb. 22. The multinational military coalition in Somalia had set a Sunday deadline for Jess' fighters to turn in their small arms. After a one-day extension, they complied Monday, drifting into the airport and handing in about 65 weapons.

"Jess voluntarily complied with our request," Peck said. "We think this is an encouraging sign and a solidification of the peace process in the area." Belgian troops took control of the Kismayu district from U.S. forces Friday. U.S. troops have been leaving Kismayu during the past three days but will leave behind one company of infantry and one platoon of military police fewer than 100 troops in alL There are about 350 Belgian troops.

It is part of a phased withdrawal that has seen the American contingent drop to half the total 28,000 foreign forces as the coalition prepares for the United Nations to assume overall control. Peck.said the Belgians should be able to handle any violence in Kismayu, where about 200 Jess supporters returned Monday. "These were unarmed men who had quit the Jess compound and were returning to their homes, as far as we can tell, in Kismayu," he said. "They have in essence disbanded their militia." Scandal in Italy widens with call for more arrests Los Angeles Times Service ROME With a controversial government attempt to contain a massive corruption scandal torpedoed by Italy's president, magistrates around the country ordered a new wave of officials arrested in alleged payoffs ranging from highways to school lunches. President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro refused to sign a decree that would have decriminalized political bribes.

Scalfaro said he doubted that the decree was constitutional. The weekend decree by Prime Minister Giuliano Amato's government sought to curb the widening scandal by reducing kickbacks to a civil offense punishable only by fine and restitution. About 1,000 politicians and business leaders have been implicated in the multibillion-dollar scandal. In new arrests Monday, a hospital administrator and five elected officials were jailed in the city of Pavia. A building contractor was arrested in Milan for paying bribes in exchange for a road project.

There also were two arrests-in Bologna over rigged school lunch contracts in Florence and new inquiries ordered in Rome over payoffs for construction of highways and a new state university. Id- David Koresh says he has been preparing for a confrontation since 1985, FBI agents say. Firearms. "The cost I know to ATF is very substantial, and I'm sure across the board it's a very, very large expenditure I'm sure into millions," he said. A team of 11 attorneys has been assembled to handle the courtroom defense of Koresh and his followers free of charge, and the lead attorney arrived in Waco on Sunday to sell the proposal.

"I cannot give these attorneys' names, though many are names any Texan would recognize," said Kirk Lyons, director of Cause Foundation, an international legal and civil rights group from North Carolina. "We think that what is most critically needed right now is an independent negotiator," Lyons, a practicing attorney in Texas, said Monday. "We think we can show David there are reasonable alternatives than duking it out with the feds." Vic Feazell, an Austin lawyer and former district attorney in Waco, and Gary Coker, a Waco lawyer who represented Koresh in the past, are part of the 11-lawyer team, a source confirmed Monday. Coker, representing Catherine Mattson, who emerged from the compound voluntarily, told The Associated Press that an informal hearing with U.S. Magistrate Dennis Green was held Monday.

The judge indicated that Mattson, 77, who is jailed as a material witness, probably will be released today. ATF agents served a federal search warrant on the Mag Bag, a 'ttft- st Stronger tanks sent to compound to counter armor-piercing bullets snuine. The average homicide investigation has 20 to 30 pieces of evidence that are recorded on paper and kept in a file, Jones said. The La Villita fire case had 175 witnesses and the yogurt shop case has nearly 300 pieces of evidence. Jones entered information about these two cases into the computer to avoid cumbersome paper trails.

He said his program can hold a million records. Jones designed the program after his first year as public safety director for the AustinTravis County Livestock Show. He needed a creative way to supervise 200 employees and has used the same program at the livestock show for the past six years. Later, he applied the program to police work. When ATF agents asked Jones to modify the program to fit the Waco investigation, he said he felt honored to volunteer on his free time.

He began entering evidence gathered at the hospitals on Monday. Once the bumps are ironed out, hell pass the program on to ATF. "Cops everywhere watched the shootout with a certain amount of helplessness," Jones said. "We wanted to know what we could do to help and this is what I can do. It won't do anything now, but itH help down the road with prosecution." equipment the Davidians have is a little heavier than we've known about and includes weapons such as armor-piercing rounds, or rocket-propelled grenades, or shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons that the Bradley would be vulnerable to," said Ron Hatchett, a military analyst with Texas University's Mosher Institute for Defense Studies.

"You can imagine the embarrassment if they went forward with' a couple of Bradleys and they were, knocked out by the Davidians." While not common, anti-tank weapons are available on the black market. Hatchett said the Abrams tank is better able to withstand such weapons. The Abrams is protected by a top-secret armor. At 67 tons, it is more than double the weight of a Bradley, which uses aluminum and steel armor. The Literary Lunch READINGS BY Liz Carpenter Kinky Friedman John Graves Molly Ivins 1SI -w-- -'i4-5c -r Continued from A1 religious groups and Koresh's message say the concern is probably justified.

"If you look at his theology, the only way it could end is by more bloodshed," said Gretchen Passan-tino with Answers in Action, a religious education organization in California. Koresh, a 33-year-old self-proclaimed messiah, frequently has quoted from the biblical books of Revelation and Isaiah, she said. "All those passages talk about war and bloodshed and God's day of vengeance on the Earth. He thinks he's the executioner of those passages," Passantino said. Terry Muck, an Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary professor, said the events near Waco have reinforced Koresh's message of the past few years: that Branch Davidians" must prepare for the day when the world comes after them.

"He has not harmed his prophetic image with his followers at all," Muck said. "I lean toward the idea that he just very sincerely believes he's God's special agent. To me, that means he is capable of almost anything, including some kind of last stand against all odds, some kind of shootout," he said. Ricks said authorities remain hopeful for a peaceful resolution but admitted, "From conversations that had been reported to me, the people in the compound are thoroughly committed to this endeavor, and they are willing to die for their leader." Four ATF agents were killed and 16 wounded Feb. 28 when more than 100 officers tried to arrest Koresh on weapons charges.

On Monday, an ATF spokesman said two of the wounded were injured by grenade fragments. There is one confirmed death inside the compound, though authorities believe up to 10 Branch Davidians were killed. Koresh has said 90 adult followers and 17 children remain in the compound. In other developments Monday: Federal officials agreed to let the Branch Davidians conduct a funeral and burial about 50 yards outside the compound Monday. The FBI did not disclose the name of the person, who apparently was killed in the Feb.

28 raid on the compound, because they could not confirm the identification provided by Koresh. It is costing millions of dollars to deploy several hundred federal, state and local law officers around the religious compound, said Dan Conroy, deputy associate director of Alcohol, Tobacco and business in a corrugated steel building west of the compound. "The Mag Bag was a business operated by and for David Koresh and other members of the Branch Davidian group at which they obtained firearms, explosive materials and ammunition," Conroy said. "The Mag Bag was not a federally licensed firearms dealer." Investigators found a small quantity of shotgun ammunition, he said. Austin police accompanied the morning operation.

An armored vehicle was used to punch into the warehouse, where cult members were believed to be living, said Austin Police Capt. Juan Gonzalez. Two Austin police dogs were sent inside first, followed by their handlers. "They didn't want to go through the door in case it was booby trapped," Gonzalez said. An unspecified proposal leading to surrender, rejected Sunday by Koresh, still remains on the table, Ricks said.

"So far, he has not responded with any viable counteroffer to that proposal," he said. In the first three days of the siege, two adults and 18 children were released. Three more children followed, but nobody has left Mount Carmel since Friday. None of the released children appear to be the offspring of Koresh, who reportedly fathered a number of children in polygamous relationships with followers, a fact that worries Passantino. Koresh appears to be holding his children as part of his scheme toward a divine plan, she said.

Koresh has said that, as Jesus Christ, he will throw into motion the world-ending battle of Armageddon. That's where the children come in, Passantino said. "He believes he will repopulate the Earth with perfect children, his children," she said. Since the Sunday morning raid, FBI negotiators have talked to 35 people inside the compound, Ricks said. "We also spoke to a woman who indicated that she and her five children would like to leave the compound.

We struck up negotiations with regard to that release. Unfortunately, they have broken down," he said. Staff writers Mike Burgess, Kimberly Garcia and Dick Stanley and The Associated Press contributed to this report. riJft its il'i F' aui By Ed Timmt Knight-Ridder Tribune News Service The arrival of M-1A1 Abrams tanks outside the Branch Davidian compound suggests that the sect may be armed with shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons or perhaps a machine gun with armor-piercing bullets, experts say. Such weapons could damage or destroy the armored personnel carriers supporting the federal agents who surround the compound near Waco.

Federal agents said Monday that sect leader David Koresh claimed he could blow the armored vehicles, known as Bradley Fighting Vehicles, "40 or 50 feet into the air" with explosives. One possible explanation for the change in armor is that federal agents "have intelligence that the Acs, 'k i C.AS.T Id) Billy Porterfield I Emcee I Lunch Buffet 1 Tuesday, March 30 11:30 am to 2:00 pm I La Zona Rosa 610 West 4th St. Austin I Tickets $10 available at the door I i For more information call: 482-0662 The Austin City Council will hold a Public Hearing Thursday, March 11, 5:30 pjn. City Hall Annex, Council Chambers 307 W. 2nd Street to receive public comment on converting Bergstrom Air Force Base to the city's new airport Questions? Airport Information Hot Line 495-7676 Mark C.

Clark, M.D. Announces the relocation of his office and practice of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Austin Doctor's Building 1305 W. 34th 400 Austin, TX 78705 Tel. 453-9661.