Sniper used voice-disguising device - reports

Investigators hunting the Washington DC sniper believe the killer phoned police directly but used a voice-disguising device, according to reports.

Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose yesterday urged the possible sniper to “call us back”.

“The person you called could not hear everything that you said. The audio was unclear, and we want to get it right. Call us back so that we can clearly understand,” Moose said.

It was the third time in two days that Moose has tried to communicate with the sniper blamed for killing nine people and wounding three others since October 2.

“We are in a very sensitive stage in the investigation,” said police spokeswoman Lucille Baur.

Moose first sought contact on Sunday after a handwritten note was found behind the restaurant where the latest sniper was shot on Saturday.

That note “hinted at a demand for money” and threatened “more killing", law enforcement sources told CNN.

They would not elaborate on the specific language used in the letter, which is being analysed at an FBI lab for DNA, handwriting and other details that might help determine who wrote it. They said they were working under the assumption that it is from the sniper.

The sources said authorities were comparing the letter and the handwriting to a message on a tarot card found near a Maryland school where a 13-year-old boy was critically wounded on October 7. That message said, “I am God.”

The handwriting, at least initially, did not appear to match, the sources said.

Authorities arrested two men yesterday near Richmond and questioned them as part of the probe. The area had been under surveillance.

They described the men as illegal workers – one Mexican and one Guatemalan - who may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

One was in a white van parked at a pay phone at an Exxon service station. The other was at another nearby location. Neither was charged and they were both expected to be deported.

The van, which had a Virginia licence and a small Marine Corps sticker on the back window, had been idling beside the phone at least 45 minutes, said David Dunham, a mechanic at a nearby car dealership.

Another mechanic, Mark Deering, said police watched the vehicle for about 15 minutes before three officers in bulletproof vests crept closer.

“The three went up to the passenger side, kicked the front door and tried to pull it open,” said Deering, who was less than 50ft away.

“After he opened the door, they said something to him and they had guns pointed at him, and then one of the guys went into (the) van through the sliding door and pulled the guy out through the sliding door.

“They slammed him on the ground and put handcuffs on him.” Authorities refused to disclose details about how the other man was seized.

Meanwhile, Saturday’s shooting was linked to the other sniper cases after the bullet removed from the victim in surgery yesterday morning was taken to a lab in Maryland for testing.

“The ballistics evidence uncovered during our investigation has been matched with the other shooting cases,” said a police spokesman.

The victim was in a stable condition at a Richmond hospital after having his spleen and parts of his pancreas and stomach removed.