FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2001
Last 2 of Texas seven surrender at hotel near hide-out
by Julie Cart
Los Angeles Times
DENVER _ With 300 police officers
and federal agents swarming outside
their Colorado Springs hotel room, the
last of the Texas Seven fugitives sur
rendered peacefully before dawn
Wednesday.
Acting on a tip from a hotel em
ployee, authorities descended on the
Holiday Inn just a few blocks from
where the two convicts had aban
doned their van Tuesday. Inmates
Patrick Murphy Jr. and Donald
Newbury gave themselves up after
more than five hours of negotiations,
which included an interview with a
local TV station.
The two men will join four accom
plices already in custody after being
captured Monday in nearby Wood
land Park. Another inmate killed him
self during a standoff with police. The
gang had been the object of an inten
sive, nationwide manhunt since they
broke out of a maximum-security
prison in Texas on Dec. 13.
Murphy and Newbury had 10
loaded handguns and-two loaded shot
guns in their hotel room. Police or
dered them to remove their shirts and
After 8 days of privacy, Jackson makes return
Jesse Jackson speaking during the campaign season last year.
by Mickey Ciokajlo
January 22, 2001
Chicago Tribune
A subdued Rev. Jesse Jackson
emerged Sunday from three days of
seclusion after admitting he fathered
a child in an extramarital affair, tak
ing to the pulpit to praise his wife
before 3,200 parishioners at a Far
South Side church.
"After 38 years, five children later,
Jackie, we're still here. I love you so
much," Jackson said looking at his
wife and two of their children as the
Salem Baptist Church congregation
roared with approval. "Life is not a
straight line, curves in the road. Some
mountains and some valleys. But
through it all, thanks dear God, we're
still here."
Last Thursday, Jackson said he
would withdraw from public life to
reconnect with his family. On Sunday,
he said he was back to fight for civil
rights because of the many challenges
that face the nation. Citing Saturday's
swearing in of President George W.
Bush, Jackson said much work lies
ahead on issues of fair voting, affir
mative action and African Americans
in business.
"Yesterday, when the new president
came in, the wind shifted," Jackson
told reporters after the service. "For
many of us, it shifted from a tailwind
to a headwind."
Jackson said he would meet with
ministers Monday at a luncheon at
Rainbow/PUSH headquarters. He
said he will go to New York later in
the week as part of the organization's
"Wall Street project," meant to open
up business opportunities for African-
Americans.
Jackson spoke from the pulpit for
about 10 minutes, mixing prayer with
comments to his family and thanking
his supporters. He did not discuss the
20-month-old daughter he fathered
with a former aide who has been iden-
march backward out into the open.
Officials said they were thankful that
the two were taken into custody with
out violence
"All of us, in our heart of hearts,
believe this could have ended up in a
gun battle. We are elated with the out
come," said Mark Mershon, special
FBI agent in charge of Colorado.
The fugitives were found just 18
miles from the quiet mountain town
where the gang had been hiding out
since Jan. I . It came as some surprise
to authorities that the last two had re
mained in the area after their cohorts'
capture. After the van was discovered
near an interstate highway, authorities
decided the pair could be anywhere.
Instead, they were discovered sit
ting in a nearby hotel watching tele
vision reports about themselves. Po
lice called their room about 10 p.m.
Tuesday. Murphy answered and ex
pressed surprise to hear a detective on
the other end.
"You got us," he said. "I don't know
how you guys did it, but you got us."
Negotiations began almost imme
diately. About midnight, authorities
shut off power to the hotel, except for
the convicts' room. Soon after, the pair
agreed to surrender, but on one con-
tified as Karin Stanford, 39. Jackson,
59, did not take questions about the
affair or its fallout when he spoke
briefly with reporters outside the
church after the two-hour service.
Rev. James Meeks, the pastor of
Salem Baptist and vice president of
Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH coalition,
told the congregation that America
could not afford to have Jackson on
the civil rights sidelines. "It's time to
send Reverend into the field to keep
lifting up those who are at the bot
tom," Meeks said.
Last Thursday, with the imminent
publication of a National Enquirer
story about the child born out of wed
lock, Jackson issued a statement that
he was the father. Stanford no longer
works for the civil rights organization
that Jackson founded.
Stanford and her daughter in recent
months moved from Washington,
D.C., to Los Angeles. Jackson is pay
ing Stanford $3,000 a month in child
support. Stanford also collected
$35,000 from Rainbow/PUSH, al
though explanations have differed as
to whether the money was for mov
ing expenses, consulting work or sev
erance pay.
In his statement last week, Jackson
said he would withdraw temporarily
from public life "to revive my spirit
and reconnect with my family." For
three days, he remained at his South
Side home with his wife and family,
meeting with supporters and taking
calls from Bush, former President Bill
Clinton and performer Barbra
Streisand.
Jackson, who strongly opposed the
election of Bush and was strident in
his opposition of the president's nomi
nee for attorney general, conservative
Republican John Ashcroft, told the
congregation that "there is a new stage
of our challenge."
"Someone suggested that it takes a
village to raise a child," Jackson said
of the country. "Sick villages raise
.NATIONAI4 .NEWS
dition: They wanted to make a state
ment on live television. Eric Singer,
anchor for KKTV in Colorado
Springs, was recruited to conduct two
five-minute telephone interviews.
The newsman was coached by FBI
negotiators not to agitate the men and
to keep his questions positive. Singer
was shown on camera conducting the
interviews via speakerphone.
Both convicts offered Singer scath
ing opinions of the Texas correctional
system and insights into their 42-day,
800-mile odyssey from Kenedy,
Texas, to the Colorado mountains.
Newbury, who was serving a 99-
year sentence for armed robbery, re
ferred to the prison break as "our self
extraction (from) the unit" and said
that the group took pains so that no
one would be hurt.
"It could have been a blood bath,"
he said. "We could have been out of
there in 30 minutes instead of 2 1 / 2
hours. We took time with these people
to do it gently."
Murphy, who was serving a 50-year
sentence for aggravated sexual as
sault, said that about a week after es
caping, the gang found themselves
caught in a blizzard in Texas. Still
driving a stolen prison vehicle, they
sick children. Well villages raise well
children. We seek wellness for our
nation and for our families."
After the November presidential
election, Jackson led marches in
Florida and Washington, D.C., to pro
test voting irregularities. He canceled
plans to attend a rally Saturday in Tal
lahassee, Fla., while Bush was being
sworn in as the nation's 43rd presi
dent.
How the scandal affects Jackson's
moral standing as a leading civil rights
activist remains to be seen. But pa
rishioners at Salem Baptist Church
were prepared to forgive the man who
once marched with Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr.
"I'm not down-playing or saying
that what he did does not matter, but
it's a matter of priorities," said Gwen
O'Conner-Griffin, a parishioner from
Chicago's West Side. "Right now, the
need is great in the community for
leadership. ... It is important that he
continue to fight because the fight is
bigger than he is."
An estimated 3,200 parishioners
watched the service live in the church,
11800 S. Indiana Ave., or via closed
circuit television in an adjacent gym
nasium and annex. Although church
members said they were disappointed
to learn of Jackson's indiscretion, they
Texas prison escapee Patrick Murphy Jr. is escorted from the Colo
rado Springs Holiday Inn, January 24, 2001. The last two members of
the "Texas Seven" prison escapees surrendered peacefully early
Wednesday, ending one of the most intense manhunts in the United
States in decades.
decided on the spur of the moment to
head north. "Colorado was just a ran
dom pick," he said.
The seven convicts settled into a
mobile-home park and lived in a 34-
foot recreational vehicle. They intro
duced themselves to their neighbors
as a Christian group, mingled in town
were heartened by the manner in
which he admitted the affair and ac
cepted responsibility.
"Every man is human, and we're
capable of our fallacies," said
Geoffrey Flowers, 37, of Beverly.
"We thank God that he has mercy and
he has grace on us and we go forward
and try to do better, greater than we
did before."
Two of Jackson's five grown chil
dren, son Yusef and daughter Santita,
attended the service with him and his
wife. Escorted by Meeks, they entered
the church through a side door with
Jackson holding his wife's hand and
telling reporters that he felt wonder-
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and even attended Bible study classes.
Some of the men attempted to alter
their appearances by dyeing their hair
and growing facial hair.
The six men in custody face capi
tal murder charges stemming from the
murder of a police officer in Irving,
Texas, on Christmas Eve.
Meeks told parishioners that he
spent the last few days praying with
Jackson and his wife about the public
situation that the family "has dealt
with for a while in private."
Standing beneath a banner pro
claiming, "The Just Shall Live By
Faith," Jackson, a Baptist minister,
closed his prayer before the congre
gation by reciting a biblical passage,
"If my people who are called by my
name will humble themselves and
pray ... and turn from their wicked
ways, then they will hear from heaven
and God will forgive their sins and
heal their land."
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Ohio State
cop fired for
running
porno web
site
COLUMBUS, Ohio (TMS)
captain of the Ohio State University
police department was fired after
school officials learned that he oper
ated a pornographic Web site from
university property.
David Stezler, 45, was released
from his duties as captain Jam 19 at - -
ter 22 years on the job. Off icials cited
that Stezler used university resources
in furthering a personal business, he
failed to disclose the use of those re
sources when asked, failing to dis
close secondary employment, and that
he failed to disclose his relationship
with a university vendor from whom
he authorized university purchases.
According to Ohio State's student
newspaper, the Lantern, an investiga
tion in late December showed that
Stezler ran FantasyWarrioncom, a site
that depicted sexual domination and
bondage. Stezler, according to the
Lantern, also was accused of selling
law enforcement supplies from a com
pany he owned.
"After a careful assessment, we
concluded that Captain Ste/ler has
compromised his ability to serve ef
fectively in his leadership position,-
Vernon L. Baisden, assistant vice
president for public safety. said in a
press release
"In our judgment, we are obligated
to serve the student community in our
care by holding our police officers to
the highest standards and we must
have total confidence in their ability
to lead," he added.
Sunday • Thursday 11 am 11 pm
Fridley & Saturday 11 am - Midnight
Minimum $7.00 purchase for delivery
llsTsz
by William Lee
January 24, 2001
TMS Campus
HOURS: