Fuhrman riles Spokane police
Published 9:00 pm Saturday, May 19, 2001
By John K. Wiley
Associated Press
SPOKANE — Robert L. Yates’ arrest last year was cause for celebration, marking the end of serial killings that had terrorized this city.
Among those offering congratulations to the task force that apprehended Yates was Mark Fuhrman, a former Los Angeles police detective then doing a call-in program on a Spokane radio station.
"I have to say that I’m impressed. It looks like some pretty good police work," Fuhrman told co-host Mike Fitzsimmons after Yates was arrested on his way to work on April 18, 2000.
On Tuesday, Fuhrman will offer less flattering words on those efforts with the release of his latest true-crime book, "Murder in Spokane: Catching a Serial Killer."
The book’s premise — that Yates would have been caught two years earlier had cops relied less on technology and more on footwork and intuition — drew protests from the two police agencies whose members comprised the serial killer task force.
"We’re proud of the fact that we caught our killer … and Mark didn’t," said Spokane County sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan. "And we don’t want to help him sell his book."
Sheriff Mark Sterk questioned how Fuhrman wrote the book without access to law enforcement files or crime scenes.
"How do you write a factual book when you don’t have information?" he asked. "This is all about making money for Mark Fuhrman, nothing else."
Police contend that Fuhrman did not have an insider’s knowledge on how the task force tracked Yates, or which of more than 6,000 tips led investigators to him.
"Over and over and over again, throughout the book, the facts do not support the speculation," said Sheriff’s Sgt. Cal Walker, the task force supervisor.
Fuhrman, convicted of perjury for his testimony in the O.J. Simpson murder case, is author of "Murder in Brentwood" and "Murder in Greenwich." Scheduled to begin a national book-promotion tour Monday, he did not return several calls from The Associated Press.
His new book chronicles efforts by Spokane city police and sheriff’s detectives to find the killer of as many as 20 women.
Key to resolving the case was DNA evidence found in Yates’ Corvette that linked him to the 1997 death of 16-year-old runaway Jennifer Joseph. Her remains were discovered more than a week after she was seen getting into a white Corvette in Spokane’s prostitution district.
Fuhrman contends the task force ignored or overlooked crucial evidence about the Corvette — evidence that could have resolved the case before nine more women died in 1997 and 1998.
Sterk calls the contention a fabrication.
Yates, who turns 49 on May 27, has admitted killing 14 people. He pleaded guilty last year to 13 murders and one attempted murder and was sentenced in November to more than 408 years in prison.
The father of five faces aggravated first-degree murder charges in two additional slayings in Pierce County.
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