Message From a Killer; Warning Signs Missed in Virginia Tech Massacre?
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everybody. And we appreciate your joining us tonight. Here at Virginia Tech, it has been another day of dramatic developments, startling new details. It is absolutely chilling. Cho Seung-Hui mailed these photos of himself to NBC News. He is brandishing pistols in some of the pictures, a knife here, as you see here, pointing them, in some cases, directly at the camera. And get this. Cho apparently mailed all of this and more on Monday morning between the two sets of shootings at Virginia Tech. Tonight, in this special hour, we will take you more deeply than ever into this young man's bizarre, angry and hate-filled world. How did the system lose track of a killer? Let's get started with Allan Chernoff tonight, who has been following the trail of the package Cho sent to NBC News. This has a mother lode of information. How disturbing is this package?</s>ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Oh, exceedingly. In fact, we haven't heard the full extent of it -- NBC saying that it is filled with profanity. The package actually arrived here at NBC News headquarters this morning. It made its way to the deck of president Steve Capus. Security here actually opened the package, but it didn't take them opening the package to see that it appeared to have been mailed Monday morning at 9:01 a.m. That was after Cho killed his first two victims in a dormitory, but before he went on the rest of his rampage in a classroom building, killing another 30 people. Now, this package is filled with anger, photos, video and writing, much of it profane -- Cho blaming the world for his problems.</s>CHO SEUNG-HUI, VIRGINIA TECH GUNMAN: You had 100 billion chances and ways to have avoided today, but you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off. You just love to crucify me. You loved inducing cancer in my head, terrorizing my heart, and raping my soul all this time. I didn't have to do this. I could have left. I could have fled. But, no, I will no longer run. It's not for me. For my children, for my brothers and sisters that you</s>CHERNOFF: That is just a small portion of the DVD video that was sent to NBC. They estimate that it has 10 minutes of video, and, as I said, much of it profane -- Paula.</s>ZAHN: And is it true NBC is saying that it could have taken up to six days to put this package of material together?</s>CHERNOFF: There certainly is a tremendous amount of material in there, as we said, not just the photos. And there are 11 photos, according to NBC, of Cho actually pointing guns, in addition to a few, let's say, relatively normal photos without guns. But the diatribe, the written diatribe there, is estimated to be 1,800 words, 23 pages, including photos that are embedded with the actual written words, much of it, as I said, blaming the world for his problems. NBC immediately handed it over to the FBI, with is sharing the information with other law enforcement agencies.</s>COLONEL STEVEN FLAHERTY, VIRGINIA STATE POLICE: We have been working with the FBI, the ATF, Virginia Tech Police Department, since discovering that this new evidence existed. This may be a very new critical component of this investigation. We are in the process right now of attempting to analyze and evaluate its worth.</s>CHERNOFF: Of course, it doesn't take all that much analysis to see that Cho's rampage was clearly premeditated. And this is clear evidence of that -- Paula.</s>ZAHN: One of the stranger things about this package, it wasn't specifically addressed to anybody at NBC News. Is it clear as to why he sent it there at all?</s>CHERNOFF: We don't have a full answer to that, obviously, NBC News, one of the major news organizations in this country, but Cho, just on the label, in fact, sent it to Rockefeller Avenue, and had the wrong zip code, so, clearly, not well organized, but he wanted to send it to a major news organization. NBC happened to be where he sent it.</s>ZAHN: Allan Chernoff, if you would, please stay there. I'm going to come back to you in a moment. Tonight, we also know there were plenty of warning signs that Cho was a ticking time bomb. The warnings go back more than two years. Ted Rowlands is now here with me with the very latest -- Ted.</s>TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, every day, we're learning more of these red flags. We're learning about more of these red flags that Cho seemingly left behind as -- over the last few years. And, the more of these that come out, the more questions there are as to how this young man could have continued along this path all the way to its horrific conclusion.</s>ROWLANDS (voice-over): A year-and-a-half before Cho killed almost 30 people and himself, he was found to be mentally ill and -- quote -- "an imminent danger to himself," after being evaluated as part of this temporary detention order. The document, dated December 2005, was prepared when Cho was hospitalized for mental illness as part of a court evaluation, after police suspected he was suicidal. Paul Barnett was the special justice who signed the order, which required Cho to follow recommended treatments. Even though Cho was deemed an imminent danger to himself, he didn't lose his right to buy a gun in Virginia.</s>JUDGE PAUL BARNETT, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, VIRGINIA: Only if I order them into a hospital is there any effect on their gun rights.</s>ROWLANDS: What's unclear is whether Cho ever followed the court's order to seek treatment. Students also raised concerns. Two women told police Cho was stalking them, both over the phone and in person. No charges were filed, according to police, because the women, both described Cho's actions as simply an annoyance. Meanwhile, during the same period, Cho's English professor at Virginia Tech was so concerned about his writing and his classroom behavior that she contacted police. So, how did someone who caught so many people's attention keep going until he snapped?</s>DR. LYN DAY, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Society has not figured out the answer to that question.</s>ROWLANDS: Dr. Lyn Day is a Virginia clinical psychologist. She says, unfortunately, until someone actually threatens or hurts someone, there's not much that can be done. That said, she says, clearly, the signs were there that Cho was a time bomb.</s>ROWLANDS: And, clearly, officials here at the university maintain that, had they had any inclination, Paula, that he was at all capable of what he ended up doing, of course, they would have stepped in. All of these pieces were coming through. Different people were picking up on them, but it didn't seem that anybody had all of the information. And, now, in hindsight, of course, it's crystal clear that he was sending so clear message -- these messages that he had major trouble.</s>ZAHN: But, even with these pieces now being revealed, it still presents a very confusing picture. Some reports have him voluntarily admitting himself to a psychiatric hospital. No one seems to know how long he was treated and exactly how he was treated.</s>ROWLANDS: Yes. I talked to the special judge that actually signed that order that we -- we obtained today, and what we have been able to determine is that he had a problem. He had stalked these two women. That alerted police. They came and they talked to Cho. After police left, Cho then told the roommate that he was suicidal, or a roommate thought Cho might be suicidal, contacted police again. That gets him into the system. By the time he got to the judge, he had been evaluated. That was part of his stay. But, in the end, when the judge -- when he appeared before the judge, the judge decided to let him go, basically, with a promise -- or an order to go seek help. Whether he sought that help, we don't know, because of all the privacy acts. We just don't know. But the -- the clear thing here is that he was in the system. And someone had noticed that he had some -- some issues. What role the university played, it's unclear.</s>ZAHN: You have talked with people in law enforcement. You have talked with folks that are experts in psychiatry. Are any of them surprised to hear that this methodical kind of package was sent to NBC News, with video clips, with an 1,800-word diatribe, particularly directed at the rich and his contempt for all kinds of people?</s>ROWLANDS: Clearly, I think, everybody, when they heard the news that he had sent this package, and potentially between the two murders -- and, of course, officials here haven't said that he has committed those first two murders, for sure. But, clearly, if they thought someone else did, we would know about it. And they would be searching for another suspect. But the -- just the fact that, if he committed these first two murders, went and sent this package, worked for up to, what, six weeks developing this, it is just mind-boggling. This is a young man that not only snapped. He wanted the world to know what he was doing. He went out. He padlocked and chained those doors before he opened fire on those innocent kids and professors. He wanted to kill as many people as he could. And he wanted the world to know about it.</s>ZAHN: And, Allan Chernoff, you have had a chance to talk with some folks about all this information dropped on NBC News. Is there any indication that he might have had any help at all in putting this package together?</s>CHERNOFF: Well, obviously, that's something that law enforcement authorities are checking out, looking into, trying to follow the clues. As of yet, we don't have any evidence of that, or at least we publicly don't know of that. But, as Ted referenced, I mean, this clearly was person who had lots of paranoia and a lot boiling inside of his head. If you look at some of the words from that videotape -- and let me just mention them again -- "You spilled my blood. You forced me into it. I did it. I had to" -- he really feels as if there's a retribution that he has to exact, that something has -- has triggered all of this, and it's been boiling inside of him for a very long time. So, at least judging from the material that we have just seen here, it doesn't necessarily lead us to initially think that he had co-conspirators. This is something that clearly was his personal anger, his personal paranoia.</s>ZAHN: Allan Chernoff, Ted Rowlands, we are going to come back to you later on in this program, as you continue to gather more facts. Before we move on, I wanted to add some additional reporting on what it is NBC received in this diatribe. Once again, it wasn't directed at anyone specifically, but it referred to hedonism. It referred to Christianity. It referred, in many references, to the hatred for the wealthy. With all we have learned today, especially in the last few hours, the question remains, should someone have realized that Cho was a walking powder keg, and done something about it? In New York is criminologist and former criminal profiler, that is, Casey Jordan, along with Court TV's Lisa Bloom. Casey Jordan, your reaction to just the little bit that we have heard and seen so far from this package mailed off to NBC News?</s>CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST: The package is enormously disturbing, particularly in light of the fact that it was mailed between the two shooting incidents. And I think that it's going to take a long time for us to get all of the details put together. But what struck me most, in just very quickly going over the details, is the progression of the photographs, from happy and smiling and normal, to increasingly agitated, angry, the introduction of guns and knives and hammers in his series of photographs. It's almost a trajectory of his emotions.</s>ZAHN: Let's listen in now as -- some of that anger that he directs to the entire world.</s>CHO: I didn't have to do this. I could have left. I could have fled. But, no, I will no longer run. It's not for me. For my children, for my brothers and sisters that you</s>ZAHN: Casey, it is terrifying to listen to these words. What is it he was trying to say?</s>JORDAN: I have to tell you, especially after reading his two plays, which have been posted on the Internet, I see an amazing cry for help. And I have to tell you, I have dealt with sexual assault victims for more than 20 year. And I have no doubt in my mind -- of course, it's unprovable at this point -- that -- that I believe Cho was the victim of sexual assault, perhaps repeatedly, through his teenage years. It's -- the people -- normal people don't write the sexually explicit tales of molestation that he wrote without having firsthand knowledge, in my experience.</s>ZAHN: Of course, we don't have anybody here that can independently confirm that, but I think what everybody is in agreement on is, this is a man who has had contempt for people for a very long time. His suite mates, his roommates, describe a guy that would just basically grunt, would never talk to them. In addition to that, they seemed to show, or indicate, a pattern where he became so desperate, he became suicidal. Will we ever be able to know definitively what his breaking point was?</s>JORDAN: No. But I do think that the signs became increasingly evident to those around him the more he withdrew, the closer -- it was just a little over a year ago that he had the diagnosis of being a potential threat to himself. So, I think that this -- this was not something -- of course, we know it was premeditated, but the road there didn't happen overnight. I think that it was actually years and years in the making.</s>ZAHN: We're going to listen to more of Cho's last words from NBC's manifesto.</s>CHO: You sadistic snobs, I may be nothing but a piece of</s>ZAHN: So, Casey, in his own sick, warped mind, is he trying to make us believe, in some way, he thinks he's saving the world?</s>JORDAN: No. He is offering himself as a sacrifice, is what he believes. And it's a persecution complex. It is a product of his mental illness and his despair and feelings of revenge. Again, this -- this was years in the making. And what he wants to know is that he died as a person in pain.</s>ZAHN: And one last piece of -- of this audio portion of what he sent in his NBC manifesto, once again, where he makes that very direct comparison between his death and that of Jesus Christ.</s>CHO: You have never felt a single ounce of pain your whole life. Did you want to inject as much misery in our lives as you can, just because you can? You had everything you wanted. Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats. Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs. Your trust fund wasn't enough. Your vodka and Cognac weren't enough. All your debaucheries weren't enough. Those weren't enough to fulfill your hedonistic needs. You had everything.</s>ZAHN: Does this reflect, once again, this persecution complex, Casey, you talking about?</s>JORDAN: Yes. I think some very, very bad things happened to this man in his life. And, again, we will probably never know the answers, but, if you try to reconstruct how he came to that point, I think he feels pain that the masses of us cannot possibly imagine the darkness that existed in his soul.</s>ZAHN: Lisa, we heard our reporters at the top of the hour talk about the number of times law enforcement visited this guy. And it doesn't seem to appear, after the point at which he so-called voluntarily went in to a psychiatric hospital, that there was much tracking of him in the system. If -- if that is the case, what kind of legal exposure might the university have on this?</s>LISA BLOOM, COURT TV ANCHOR: Well, the question is, what did the university know about Cho, and when did they know it? Did they know that he was threat to himself, that he had two stalking allegations made against him, although one was not pursued, that he was writing dangerous materials, as reported by the English teacher? If the university knew all of that at relatively high levels, and they failed to act to present the student body as a whole, you bet they're going to be civilly liable, and they're going to face some wrongful death suits.</s>ZAHN: So, whose responsibility is it, though, to -- to track a student like that? It's not solely the responsibility of the university, is it?</s>BLOOM: Well, the university does have a responsibility to protect the health and well-being of all of their students. They're not Big Brother. This is not a paternalistic culture. And we have a heavy presumption towards liberty. This is America. On the other hand, if they have concrete knowledge that there is a ticking time bomb on campus, and they fail to act, and damage results, they are going to be facing some civil liability. And I think that's what's next around the corner in this case.</s>ZAHN: Of course, that is the last thing any of the families I spoke with today want to talk about. They have such raw pain just dealing with the sense of loss here. But what is it that attorneys would have to prove for these families, if they decide to pursue this civilly?</s>BLOOM: Well, they have to prove knowledge on the part of university. They have to prove that university knew not just that the guy was scary or creepy or isolated in his room or wasn't talking. That's not going to be enough. They have to know that Cho was a threat. Now, somebody knew that. A magistrate knew there, because we have the legal papers where the magistrate said he is indeed a danger to himself or others. But, Paula, he was not apparently involuntarily committed. Instead, when it got to the judge, the judge said, we're going to do a less restrictive alternative under the law, send him for voluntary counseling. All of that is perfectly legal, because we have a heavy presumption towards liberty in our culture. But, if the university, taking a step back, not operating like the criminal justice system, but operating as a college, where young adults are attending, if they had knowledge that there's a danger in their community, and they failed to act, indeed, they are going to have to pay some substantial damages. And I think, of course, immediately , the families are not interested in this kind of thing. But, as with Columbine, down the line, as more facts become available that make the university look like they knew, and failed to act, they probably are going to be facing some civil lawsuits.</s>ZAHN: Lisa Bloom, Casey Jordan, thank you for both of your insights tonight.</s>JORDAN: Thank you.</s>ZAHN: By now, it is painfully obvious that a lot of people thought Cho Seung-Hui was dangerous. So, if he didn't kick out of -- get kicked out of college, what does it take? I'm going to get some answers next. And, then a little bit later on: a student with an incredible story to tell. Not only was he inside Norris Hall, where dozens of people were killed. He may have been the last person that Cho shot before killing himself. Wait until you hear what he has to say.