Retired Local FBI Agent Says Media Frenzy At Terrorists' Apartment Not Likely To Compromise Investigation
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It was an admittedly wild scene as the media was given its first access to the leased home of Sayed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, the seemingly normal young couple turned terrorists.
Former FBI supervisory agent Larry Likar admits when he first saw the rush of cameras, he thought, "Geez, leave it alone. Leave the area alone. You may be screwing something up."
But on reflection, says Likar, there's no way government investigators would allow access to an active crime scene.
"What you saw is they did the search," Likar told KDKA's Jon Delano. "They took the items they needed out of there."
And then turned the property back over to the landlord.
Delano: "Does it make a difference whether the renters are alive or deceased?"
Likar: "Yes, it does. Because if the rent is up or the renter of the property, they're the ones who'd be able to contest the validity of the search."
But with Farook and Malik dead, the residence would be returned to the landlord who could let the media in once government investigators had finished their work.
Likar: "Have I ever seen a landlord letting media into a location that has been previously searched? Yes."
Delano: "Is that common?"
Likar: "No, but that does happen."
What about all the stuff laying around the Farook home?
Likar says the FBI no longer takes everything.
"That can overwhelm and usually unnecessarily overwhelm your whole forensic efforts. They would have known absolutely what they needed for a case like this, particularly since they're dead."
The former FBI agent says the search was most likely directed at accomplices.
"They'd be looking more for lead material and information related to associates, other people who had been in contact with them, who stayed in there."
And Likar does not believe this media assault on the home compromised any investigation, unless the media turns up something in the house investigators should have found.
Likar: "That can happen, and all of a sudden they find something that's a crucial piece of evidence."
Delano: "That's just embarrassing."
Likar: "That's all it would be. There would be nothing legally that would be harmed as far as what the media did."
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