FBI PROFILERS strike out again...

In January, the FBI released a profile of the man they were looking for in the string of Louisiana murders. They were looking for a white man, but the guy they arrested this week, Derrick Todd Lee was black. In January, the Associated Press said, “Police have linked all four victims to one murderer with DNA evidence left at the crime scenes. An FBI profiling team has said the killer likely was a white male between the ages of 25 and 35 who acted awkward with women and likely held a blue collar job.”

Lee was described by those who knew him as a woman charmer.

The NewOrleansChannel.com (which has a good collection of stories on this case) says it is similar to the D.C. area sniper case. Investigators, you will remember, initially talked about a white suspect and a white van. They arrested two African-American men, John Lee Malvo and John Muhammed who allegedly did their shooting from a car.

My favorite line..
....UNO criminologist Peter Scharf said witness descriptions can vary widely.

"But there's a Casablanca line," Scharf said. "Round up the usual suspects. Let's find a pimply white guy."

This appeared a the very fine Al's Morning Meeting on Poynter Online.