The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 111

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 10 1993 THE MIAMI HERALD 17A 1 New lead in murders of college students GAINESVILIEMURDERSMYSTER Danny Rolling has maintained his innocence in the slayings of five Gainesville college students But now through a fellow inmate convicted killer Bobby Lewis Rolling is giving information to investigators including where to look for a weapon The knife used in the killings has never been found Univ of Florida Campus sf AI- MIKE STOCKER Miami Herald Staff i WINNING FREEDOM: John Purvis smiles at mother Emma Jo I Bartlett at the hearing last month that ended his prison term i i 4 NOTE: Jhls he Gainesville area Scale is not constant buildings removed tor clarity SOURCE: Herald research trees and other features have been altered or New arrest only muddies murder case REGINALD ROLLING FROM 1A murder weapon which was a large knife bloody gloves and a baggie with body parts At 4 pm police stopped the excavation for the day Detectives photographed and videotaped the scores of two-foot-deep holes in and around the building but declined to say whether they had found any evidence doing a little added Gainesville police Detective Steve Kramig one of the lead investigators in the case about halfway said Alachua County Sheriff Steve Oelrich Rolling (pronounced ROLE-ing) 38 has maintained his innocence in the killings of five college students in August 1990 He is serving five consecutive life terms for a series of unrelated robberies and break-ins and is being held at Florida State Prison in Rolling Starke His trial for the Gainesville slayings set until fall His lawyer Public Defender Richard Parker did not return telephone messages left at his Gainesville office Will Irby task force spokesman would only confirm that digging was under way: in search of some evidence and beyond that not not able to The digging started last Wednesday or Thursday according to Matt Robinson a Jiffy interjected It was not known who told investigators about where to find the murder weapon and two other pieces of evidence It also was not known whether Rolling had confessed or why he had Lewis relaying information for him Lewis and Rolling are being held in the high security at the Starke prison Also still in question is whether the statements made by Lewis and Rolling will be admissible in court The key point is whether Rolling initiated the contact with authorities In the case Massiah vs United States the US Supreme Court ruled in 1964 that authorities cannot initiate contact with a defendant after indictment without informing the lawyer If Rolling initiated the contact authorities appear to be on safe legal ground said Rebekah Poston a former prosecutor and now a Miami criminal defense Colin Powell seeks to quit early Lube employee The site is about 100 yards north of the Jiffy Lube a Sprint Food Store and three other buildings on Southwest Archer Road and across the street from Gatorwood Apartments the site of the third murder scene Investigators started the search after discussions with Rolling and Bobby Lewis another inmate Lewis a convicted killer is best known as the only person ever to escape from Death Row After he was recaptured his sentence was commuted to life In the unusual meetings last week which the sources said were requested by Rolling through Lewis the task force investigators asked Lewis about the murders Lewis who was locked up at the time of the killings and is not a suspect in the case answered the questions based on information Rolling had given him The sources said that at times Rolling made it clear he will serve as long as Aspin and Clinton want Col William Smullen spokesman insisted Tuesday that the general intends to serve out his term A senior aide to Aspin said conversations between the secretary and General Powell are But he did not deny that Powell had requested to leave his job early friends and associates would not say Tuesday whether he wanted to leave office before July 15 when Aspin is to produce for Clinton an executive order lifting the ban on gay men and lesbians in the military which the general has strongly opposed The supporters bristle at any suggestion that Powell wants to leave office early to avoid confronting difficult decisions They say he simply wants to allow his successor a greater say in important Defense Department decisions affecting the future Super Bowl celebration marred by street melees MYERS and RICK BROWNLEE Miami Herald Stall attorney talking to my associates we felt there was no Massiah problem if Rolling contacted authorities on his said Poston a partner in the firm of Fine Jacobson Schwartz Nash Block and England is illegal if the officers initiated the The killings sent waves of fear through this North Florida college town Thousands fled The victims were all bright young students: Sonja Larson 18 of Deerfield Beach Chnsti Powell 17 of Jacksonville Christa Hoyt 18 of Gainesville Tracy Paules 23 of Miami and Manny Taboada 23 of Miami The case against Rolling so far has been largely reliant on DNA evidence from the scenes Investigators say they have a match between semen at the murder scenes and blood type although they have never publicly disclosed the strength of that evidence vision reports showed bands of young people chasing and attacking individuals In one case a young woman was seen being punched falling to the ground and being kicked in the head at least twice Police blamed school-age youths for most of the fights saying that truancy rates at Dallas schools might have reached 35 percent Tuesday Initially 350 officers were in place for the parade but their number swelled to 460 as it became apparent that more than twice the expected 200000 fans had shown up for the parade police said could have had everyone in the department downtown today and we still would not have been able to control the Sgt im Chandler said oneway 86S2 1788 18622 1988 oneway oneway oneway oneway POWELL FROM 1A in April and May even if Clinton ultimately grants his request to retire early the associates and friends said he was more concerned about having to testify during the summer about longterm spending plans no question Colin will be confronted repeatedly with having to carry out new policy guidance that may be at odds with his previous public said one close associate the consummate good soldier but have a lot of congressmen asking why he is recanting his earlier positions get tired of that real friends and associates said there was no personal rancor between Powell and Clinton or Aspin Aspin is considering request but has not decided how long to recommend to Clinton that the general should stay associates said Powell 55 serves at the discretion and has From Herald Wire Services DALLAS Teenagers fought each other and police as an estimated 400000 people thronged a Super Bowl victory celebration in Dallas Tuesday afternoon Authorities reported at least 18 injuries and 24 arrests Most of the fighting occurred about half a mile from the crowd watching the downtown parade and rally marking the Dallas Jan 31 defeat of Buffalo in the National Football League championship No players or parade participants were injured The main crowd was so large that the parade was temporarily halted and took alternate routes Where there was fighting some gunfire was reported and bottles were thrown Tele i 1 I was alone in the house Hamwi did nothing to save her One other thing Beckett said: To disguise the motive for the murder he and Serio tried to fake a sex crime by removing clothing But they did not rape hen John Purvis was convicted of a sexual battery that in reality never occurred FAR FROM SETTLED Former husband maintains innocence Although thorough account cracked the case and remains to date the strongest evidence against Paul Hamwi not everyone is buying it Said former Fort Lauderdale detective Gary Ciani now a private investigator gave somebody a pretty sweet deal to confess not willing to mark Purvis off the suspect list normal I still see how you eliminate him But one of old colleagues the very detective who helped obtain a confession from Purvis now wonders if they had the right man after all they feel confident enough to let him out confident they have information that would exonerate said Rick Rice now tending goats in Ocala not guilty thankful he was Even Carney who worked so diligently to win a jury conviction disagree with release Even back then the prosecutor-tumed-judge said last week were people that pointed to Carney said he checked out Hamwi personally taking notes on his alibi and telephoning witnesses to check on it His conclusion: was no question in my mind that at the time of the murder Paul Hamwi was not here in There was just one problem that time we heard of the hit man Paul Hamwi extradited on Monday to Broward where he was denied bail on two charges of first-degree murder plans to fight the allegations Paul is not said Mac Myers his Aspen attorney believes in the end he will be So does David Bogenschutz savvy and expensive criminal defense lawyer from Broward County His client his entire when his ex-wife and daughter died Bogenschutz said Now the state wants to prosecute him Already Bogenschutz is shaping his trial strategy He may well put the blame back on the original defendant take a Rhodes scholar to figure out that John Purvis will be part of the he said But mother who exhausted her savings in endless appeals steadfastly maintains the innocence of her boy the son who in better days ferried elderly church members to doctor appointments the son who once refused to kill a poison toad even though its venom nearly proved fatal to his beloved French poodle Tuffy Johnny she said is not at all capable of the crime that locked him in prison for nine dark years- always been a wonderful Christian Emma Jo Bartlett said the other day of the guards said they knew he belong there They said never seen a person as good as John MURDER FROM 16A investigation further work will be she wrote Briefly she changed her mind but the new effort too quickly expired So did a tandem but cursory investigation by Fort Lauderdale police Broward authorities later blamed the lapsed investigation on California and Colorado saying they were less than cooperative a point hotly contested If Broward investigators were so eager to explore the Hamwi connection West Coast officials ask why they fly to Aspen to investigate? want to sit here and throw rocks at Fort said White now director of Colorado Mountain Law Enforcement Training Academy cases are very difficult especially when you have already convicted a man Maybe they could have substantiated the case maybe not But you never know until you A TIP REVISITED Suspect questioned 7V2 years later Lots of judges reviewed the Purvis case 19 by one count But only one Frank Johnson of the 4 1th US Circuit Court of Appeals dissented and found problems with the conviction Frustrated Nova University law professor Steven Wis-otsky current attorney took his case to the now-defunct television show Final Appeal an offshoot of the popular Unsolved Mysteries Prodded by calls from inquisitive TV researchers Fort Lauderdale detectives Tim Bronson and Robert Williams reviewed the files and found the 1985 memos pointing to Paul Hamwi That got their attention In November police contacted Beckett Sr the suspected hit man in Las Vegas An intimidating 300-pounder who once collected debts for a living and insisted on wearing white corduroy shorts in the middle of frigid winter Beckett Sr professed to have softened over the years He said he was a born-again Christian He mentioned his recent heart attack He asked for a deal were concerned that we may be granting immunity to a cold-blooded detective Bronson said recently On Dec 14 Beckett Sr told police his story on video Three weeks later he told it to a Broward grand jury which issued indictments for Hamwi and Paul Serio hit man No 2 Beckett account rich in detail included an accurate description of the murder scene and events that led up to the 1983 crime He said Paul Hamwi whom he had met years earlier in an Aspen karate class paid him $14000 to do the deed A shrewd businessman party to several dozen unpleasant lawsuits Hamwi did not relish the prospect of paying his ex-wife thousands of dollars in the divorce Beckett said the settlement go well for him It was going to cost him a lot of money He just like that part of The death of baby Shane Beckett testified was a mistake Hamwi had told him he would his daughter live And yet Beckett added when he called Hamwi to tell him that the plan had been carried out that his ex-wife was dead and that the baby Aeromexico renowned for its on-time performance and inflight service now brings you closer to Mexico Cancun Merida Mexico City Acapulco Guadalajara Fares That Bring Mexico Closer Airfares are one way based on the purchase of a roundtnp ticket on Aeromeuco Pnces do not include $6 departure tax $6 45 federal inspection 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