U.S. Soldiers Charged With Unspeakable Crimes
KAGAN: Still a lot of questions about what happened on the upper east side of Manhattan. Earlier today, just over three hours ago, this four-story building collapsed. Fire department believes at this time that it was a gas explosion. At least one person was inside. He was taken away with serious and critical injuries, believed to be the owner of that building. Also, as many as 11 people were hurt. A combination of firefighters attacking the blaze that came out after the explosion and civilians that were walking by at the time of the collapse. More on that just ahead. Meanwhile, some other headlines, including a Mississippi courtroom fight. It is a legal fight of one Katrina victim which is being watched by thousands of other homeowners. They all believed they were shafted by their insurance companies. In today's trial a homeowner is suing his insurer for not paying for the storm damage. Nationwide blames flooding, which the company says was not covered under the policy. The homeowner says the company is ignoring wind damage, which was covered. Thousands of policyholders are at the center of similar insurance disputes nearly eleven months after Katrina struck. Well, summer is here, of course, and with it comes storm season. With the winds starting to howl, it's too late to discover whether your home is adequately prepared. So all this week, CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis will show you how to prepare and protect your home.</s>GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR (voice-over): Storm season means it's prime time to take steps toward protecting your home. And it all starts at the top. (on camera): So, Rob, let's talk about the roof here. A big vulnerability. How do I know if I might have a problem?</s>ROB DAVIS, FLASH.ORG: Well, there's several things you can do. If you can safely access the inside of your attic, go up there and look for any broken wood, any cracked wood. If you can get up on the roof, check for missing, broken or loose shingles or tiles. It's the hip and the ridge tiles that you can see and that -- those had the most problems during Hurricane Charlie.</s>WILLIS (voice-over): One of the best things you can do, remove any projectiles from your yard before a large storm. (on camera): You've got a lot of stuff sitting out here that you'd want to bring in, in a storm. What would you do here?</s>DAVIS: Just go out with your family and walk around the house. And anything that you possibly think might fly up in the air, go and pick it up and put it inside.</s>WILLIS (voice-over): But it's not just the outside you have to worry about.</s>DAVIS: Well, the inside definitely needs to be inspected, as well. And you want to make sure it's in top shape for hurricane season or any extreme weather coming through. If you have safe access to the attic, it's good to get up there and just look around. See if you see any broken or cracked pieces of wood up there. Look at the nails. See if you have any nails sticking out, stray nails. And we're talking about the longer nails here, not the shorter roofing nails. See if you have any roof leaks. If you have any roof leaks, that's definitely something that says your roof isn't as strong as it should be.</s>WILLIS: And while you're up there, check those outfits. They can provide leverage for high winds and rain, and cause many problems for your home. Gerri Willis, CNN, Miami Shores, Florida.</s>KAGAN: Police there in Phoenix, Arizona, are already looking for two serial criminals, and now they say there might be a third suspected in 13 random shootings since may. The so-called baseline killer is suspected in a series of robberies, rapes and killings; and a task force is on the hunt determined to track him down. Kevin Kennedy of our affiliate KPNX has the story.</s>KEVIN KENNEDY, KPNX REPORTER (voice-over): Somewhere out here, roaming the streets of Phoenix, is a serial killer.</s>LT. GREG GARNICLE, PHOENIX POLICE: This is a bad person that we need to get off the street.</s>KENNEDY: This is who they're looking for, and Lieutenant Greg Carnicle is part of the task force looking. His job, find a killer.</s>CARNICLE: Our sole purpose out here is to protect the citizens. And it's very difficult to do that right now, and, you know, we want to get this guy and we want to take him off.</s>KENNEDY: So far, the suspect has struck 19 times, raping, robbing and killing, five murders so far. The latest, June 29th.</s>CARNICLE: It's one of those, it's a crime series that we got to get taken care of.</s>KENNEDY: So every hour of every day, at least 20 task force members are patrolling. This is the area, 63 square miles. The attacks first starting in May of 2005. Every dot is a victim.</s>KENNEDY: Every tip is checked out.</s>SGT. ANDY HILL, PHOENIX POLICE: We are working every possible lead that we can get, and we've gotten a lot of leads. They continue to come in.</s>KENNEDY: Thousands so far, but none have panned out.</s>CARNICLE: I think it's personal for every officer out here. I mean, it's happening on our watch, and we don't want it happening in Phoenix.</s>KENNEDY: And until he's caught, Lieutenant Carnicle will be out here.</s>KAGAN: Let's talk more about these serial crimes in Phoenix and efforts to hunt down the suspects. Sergeant Andy Hill of the Phoenix Police Department joining us. The sergeant knows Phoenix -- well, where did he go? Let's get the camera back on him. I can tell you the sergeant knows Phoenix very well. He was fulfilling this role when I was back in Phoenix quite a few years ago. Sergeant, good morning.</s>HILL: Good morning, Daryn.</s>KAGAN: All right. So you're talking about three different serial killers you might be looking for here in the valley of the sun.</s>HILL: Well, actually one serial killer, Daryn, and we have a couple of series of other crimes that may possibly be related and we don't have suspect information on them.</s>KAGAN: What is it that's tying together these latest series of crimes?</s>HILL: Well, most recently we've had 13 incidents which we believe may be connected where we've had random victims by themselves, either walking or riding a bicycle or standing, and they've been alone, and they've been shot in the late hours of the night and early hours of the morning.</s>KAGAN: And these aren't even necessarily sketchy areas of town. I was reading the story, Camelback between Indian School and 44th Street. That's a very nice area of Phoenix.</s>HILL: You know, some of these areas are nice. It really doesn't -- it's not a matter of gender or race or part of town. What we have is a suspect or suspects that we don't know that are out there, shooting and injuring innocent people. And we need help from the public on this, Daryn. And we really do need those calls to find a witness or someone with information and sees something suspicious to give us a call at 911.</s>KAGAN: And we just put up a picture of a suspect. This was the baseline rapist, baseline killer. What is it you know or suspect about this person?</s>HILL: Well, in this series of crimes, we had 19 incidents that we believe may be connected. Five of those crimes have been homicides, which we have connected forensically. We have a suspect that's been described as a black male between 25 and 40 years old, 5'6" to six feet tall, 150 to 190 pounds. We have a composite drawing. We have a photo from a surveillance camera which shows somebody with long hair and a fisherman's hat. That may be a disguise, but we do at least have a description of this person and we are looking for information, calls from the public, again, on this suspect or suspects.</s>KAGAN: And what's the common tie between the crimes with that particular suspect?</s>HILL: Well, this suspect, this serial killer, is lurking around, trying to make contact possibly a few moments before he strikes. People do, in some cases, have an opportunity to call us, to call 911. We want them to go to a safe area immediately if they see someone trying to approach them. If you're in your car, honk your horn, drive backwards, go back into a store, get away, get to a safe area, and then call 911.</s>KAGAN: All right. A lot of work to do there in Phoenix with the police department. Sergeant Andy Hill. Sergeant, thank you for your time.</s>HILL: Thank you, Daryn. Appreciate it.</s>KAGAN: And as you heard the sergeant say, if you have any information about the suspected serial crimes you can call the silent witness number. The number is 602-261-8600. We are continuing our coverage from New York City. The collapse of a four-story building on the Upper East Side of New York. Eleven people injured. The fire commissioner suggesting this could have been a suicide attempt gone bad. More with Allan Chernoff live on the streets of New York City just ahead. Also the gruesome killing of a 9-year-old girl. Today the man accused of that crime goes on trial. Jurors will hear details, but not the defendant's own confession. We'll tell you why. That story is just ahead. And a teen drops his keys and gets carried away by a flash flood. Nail-biting moments right up to the end. Don't miss this dramatic story and the outcome ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.