Friday, October 31, 2003

Police found clues at hotel in rape case

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Beau Christian Reed undoubtedly wanted to kill the Peachtree City hotel clerk whom he raped and set afire, according to Police Chief James Murray.

Before he left the Hampton Inn at the end of the attack, Reed also took a look at the victim’s license, leading officers to believe he knew her identity and address and could very well have tried to hurt her again.

“That’s when we knew we absolutely had to find this guy,” Murray said, adding later, “We felt he might do it again.”

That threat ended Friday afternoon when Reed crashed a car in Coweta County as he tried to elude a sheriff’s deputy who wanted to talk to him about the car, which he stole from his roommate, police said. Reed was ejected from the car, which traveled at an estimated 100-plus mph before the crash, according to police.

Reed was pronounced dead at the crash scene, and Murray said while he took no delight in Reed’s death, he was relieved for the victim.

“She never has to go to court or face the person who burned and assaulted her,” Murray said.

The victim, a woman in her 50s, positively identified a photo of Reed as the man who tied her up, raped her and then set her back on fire, leaving second and third degree burns from her back to her neck, Murray said. She had skin graft surgery Monday and will hopefully return home in 10 to 14 days, the chief added.

Chief Murray has provided The Citizen with a significant amount of detail about the investigation into the attack; he was partly able to do so because it’s clear Reed was the perpetrator who bound the clerk, raped her and set her on fire, Murray said. With Reed dead, there will be no trial.

What follows are details provided by Murray during a 90-plus minute interview Monday afternoon about the violent incident and how the investigation played out.

  Murray said it was “easier” to solve a significant case such as this because the department has a track record for solving smaller cases using investigative techniques they would also apply to finding the suspect in the hotel attack.

One of the priorities early on was to determine what type of suspect detectives were looking for. They knew some details thanks to information from the victim, such as the fact that the suspect smelled like smoke. But police were also able to make the following deductions, Murray said:

•The suspect had likely been arrested before and convicted on fingerprint evidence, since he torched several places he apparently touched in the office to try and get rid of the evidence.

•“It’s extremely unusual for a person to set a victim on fire,” so the crime was likely a matter of opportunity;

•Since the attacker used aerosol cans in the office to start the fire and torch the victim, it was unlikely the robbery-assault was well planned at all;

•“He didn’t wear gloves.”

•“He didn’t cover his face.”

•The attacker is believed to have used a metal object to the back of the clerk’s neck to intimidate her after jumping over the counter. Contrary to original reports, the building was not secured when Reed entered, but he did ask the clerk where the bathroom was moments before the attack;

•Rape is typically a crime committed by someone who suffers from a mental illness, Murray added.

But from the get-go this investigation put the Peachtree City police to the test manpower-wise. The hotel had to be shut down and 61 people had to be interviewed on the spot before other lodging was found for the night, Murray said. On top of that, some hotel patrons were still in bars when the incident occurred and several others “slept through the whole thing,” Murray said. Officers also logged each car in the parking lot and ran the tags on each vehicle there, the chief said.

“One, it could have been a person staying in the hotel,” Murray said of the need to make sure every person was identified and interviewed. “Two, it could have been somebody who met someone who was staying at the hotel and decided to do the attack. Three, it could have been someone making deliveries to the hotel or a service person.”

The most important part of the early investigation, however, was the crime scene, Murray said. “It’ll tell you something even if there’s nothing else to go on,” the chief said.

But the crime scene was a mess, with several inches of water on the floor from the sprinkler system that might’ve saved the victim’s life. Police believe Reed fled after the sprinkler system went off once he set fire to the clerk and several other places in the office that he may have touched using aerosol cans found in the office, Murray said.

“We had only a couple of useable fingerprints, and one wasn’t his,” Murray said.

With nine to 10 officers on the scene for the initial investigation, and all of them needed, the day watch units were called in early at 2:30 a.m. to cover the rest of the city, Murray said. Members of the Peachtree City Fire Department helped the police assist hotel patrons in retrieving items from their rooms so officers could focus on the investigation, Murray added.

A press release about the incident was faxed to media outlets after 8 a.m. the morning of the attack so the public could be warned about the incident, Murray said.

Officers collected about 50 videotapes from surveillance cameras throughout town from bars to convenience stores to see if the then-unknown suspect might have made an appearance before the attack. No luck there, however.

They also followed up on several promising but ultimately unsuccessful leads. Hospitals in the area were called to see if they treated someone with burns as the suspect may have burned himself during the attack; a hospital in Griffin reported that they treated a male of the same age as the attacker’s description soon after the attack. Detectives were sent to the scene and it was determined the patient was treated for burns a short time before the attack even occurred, Murray said.

Meanwhile, the GBI’s crime scene unit spent over 12 hours processing the crime scene for physical evidence.

All stray cigarette butts were collected since the victim said her attacker smelled like he had been smoking, Murray said. The butts could have contained the suspect’s DNA from saliva, the chief added, but other DNA evidence was available to identify the attacker.

The victim, who was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, was able to work with the GBI’s top sketch artist to produce a sketch of the suspect that was broadcast by Atlanta area TV stations the afternoon of the attack. That was the best way to seek the public’s help quickly, and time was of the essence as the first 24 hours of an investigation are crucial, Murray added.

Calls poured in to the police station, with callers saying they had seen him here or there. But it wasn’t until an unidentified woman called providing information that gave detectives a name to go on: Beau Christian Reed. The woman was an employee of the hotel who knew Reed, and she said he had spoken with her in general about the attack after it happened. She also said he had previously asked about security at the hotel, Murray said.

Reed’s roommate also cooperated with police, providing the information about the clothing Reed wore during the attack and how Reed watched him start a fire in the fireplace of their Coweta residence using a lighter fed with spray from an aerosol can.

“I told him, ‘You’re a real hero,’” for coming forward, Murray said.

Reed’s roommate previously worked at a different Hampton Inn and he told police that Reed had questioned him about the hotel’s security procedures.

Police also learned that Reed would sometimes come to the hotel and use the bathroom, perhaps for doing drugs, Murray said.

Police also learned the following about Reed, who worked at the Applebee’s restaurant in Fayetteville, Murray said.

•Was not working the night of the attack;

•Needed money to pay for rent;

•Liked to start fires, strike matches and enjoyed the smell of a match (the attacker asked first for matches before getting a lighter to set the fires at the Hampton Inn);

•Was a suspect in a fire at a home of a neighbor of his grandparents; checks were stolen from the scene and passed by the suspect;

•Enjoyed watching criminal investigative shows on television;

  From officers and secretaries, police employees offered to stay late and some cancelled vacations to help track down the assailant, Murray said. Flyers were distributed all over the city in an effort to flush out the attacker.

And early Wednesday morning, when it was apparent hotel patrons wouldn’t get to stay in their rooms for the evening, Fayette County 911 dispatchers summoned Fayette School Superintendent John Decotis, who had two buses on the scene within 20 minutes to transport the displaced persons to other lodging. In the end, the buses weren’t used and the patrons were allowed to get their belongings from their rooms before departing for the evening.

Murray said he didn’t recall anyone eating much during the investigation except for “maybe five minutes” when some kind soul delivered some pizza to the department once. He reminded officers to make sure and get rest otherwise all the evidence “would start to blend together” for them, but he admits he didn’t get but two hours sleep from the time he went to the crime scene early Wednesday morning until early Saturday morning.

Murray was also complimentary of Fayette County District Attorney Bill McBroom, who made his office available on a 24-hour basis to assist with the warrant process and other aspects of the investigation if necessary. The Atlanta Police Department’s Homicide Squad also offered assistance to the department, Murray said.

Several young Fayette County sheriff’s deputies were able to provide some information on Reed also, Murray noted.

Early on, the department organized a task force consisting of all the department’s detectives and several other officers around the same age as the suspect. The task force, led by Lt. John Jenkins, head of the department’s criminal investigations unit, split up into teams that worked 12 hour shifts.

Although some agencies wait until the investigation stalls to offer a reward, Murray said he wanted the money out there because the first 24 hours of the inquiry are crucial in getting leads to find suspects. He also had officers canvassing the city distributing fliers of the sketch created by the victim’s description.

“We wanted him to see himself,” if the suspect ran across a flier in town, Murray said. “We wanted him to panic and make a mistake.”

While others were working on leads in Peachtree City, Detective Sgt. Jennifer Michel was assigned to the victim at Grady Memorial Hospital; Michel specializes in dealing with victims, particularly those who have suffered sex crimes and her work was vital, Murray added.

But Murray’s role was largely in the background. “Major (Mike) DuPree and I acted as coordinators.”

  “This is the kind of crime that grips a community,” said Murray, who served for five years as the head of the homicide and violent crimes unit of the Savannah Police Department. The department received “hundreds” of calls from concerned residents about local schools, shopping areas and doctors offices concerned about the crime, Murray said.

“It’s the community that helps police solve crimes,” Murray continued, explaining why the department released so much information so quickly via the metro Atlanta electronic news media. And with an extra $3,000 reward money approved by City Manager Bernard McMullen police were able to offer $15,000 worth of incentive to turn in the suspect. The reward was later matched by another $15,000 from the owners of the Hampton Inn.

Although during Murray’s stint in homicide/violent crimes in Savannah he worked with detectives used to that challenge, detectives here had little experience investigating such acts but they still worked together well, the chief said.

“I told them I was very proud of them,” Murray said, “Of their dedication and commitment to bring this animal to justice.”

The department has received calls from people wanting to assist the victim in a variety of ways, Murray said. Because she is a rape victim, her identity must be kept confidential but any items such as cards sent to the department for the victim will be passed along to her, Murray said.

After police learned of Reed’s death in the auto crash, detectives got one more tip that could have bolstered the case against the former graduate of McIntosh High School.

Before the attack, Reed had been at the Hangar 74 bar, rather near the Hampton Inn. Somehow, Reed slipped out, leaving his credit card and a picture I.D., perhaps in an attempt to establish an alibi for the crime, the chief added.

Reed could not be found by bar employees so his open bar tab was charged to his card at 1:30 a.m., shortly after the attack took place, Murray said.