The Baton Rouge Area Homicide Task Force is trying to decipher if John Allen Williams Muhammad and John Malvo are connected with the Baton Rouge serial killings.
Muhammad and Malvo were arrested Oct. 24 in connection with the Washington, D.C., sniper case. According to family members, Muhammad, a Baton Rouge native, and Malvo were in the Baton Rouge area during the summer.
BRPD Cpl. Mary Ann Godawa said authorities immediately began steps either to connect or eliminate the sniper suspects in the serial killer investigation through comparative DNA analysis.
“The Baton Rouge district attorney is in contact with the Montgomery County district attorney to get all of our needs met,” Godawa said.
The FBI profile released in August identified the suspect as a white or Hispanic male. Though Muhammad and Malvo do not meet the profile, authorities still are looking for a possible connection, Godawa said.
“It is something we have to look into,” Godawa said. “We are standing behind [the profile] they gave us. Anything is possible, but we still believe it is a white male.”
Authorities also are looking at a possible connection between Muhammad and other unsolved murders in the area, Godawa said.
The task force still is investigating actively all 7,000 tips that have come through the tipline since July.
Lt. Darrell O’Neal of the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office said the tips are very helpful, but citizens must be patient.
“[The task force] spends hours daily contacting people,” O’Neal said. “Give us an opportunity to get back in touch with you.”
Though authorities do not have a suspect, they have noticed people are becoming complacent.
“Be careful, be safe, be prudent,” O’Neal said. “Don’t put yourself in a place of danger. We still feel there is someone out there in Baton Rouge or the surrounding area who knows more information.”