Shooting Now Seen as Attempt to Kill Clinton

Federal investigators now believe that Francisco Martin Duran, the Colorado man accused of opening fire on the White House, came to Washington to kill President Clinton, sources close to the investigation said Tuesday night.

Prosecutors are leaning toward charging Duran with attempted assassination even though Clinton was nowhere in sight during the shooting Saturday afternoon, the sources said.

Officials said Tuesday that further examination of evidence uncovered from Duran’s truck and an interview with a man who worked with Duran in Colorado have significantly altered their deliberations by suggesting that the hotel upholsterer came to Washington not merely to get attention or protest but specifically to kill the President.

David Millis, an employee of the Broadmoor Hotel and Resort in Colorado Springs, told the FBI that Duran said he was going to Washington to harm Clinton, sources said.

Millis told the TV show “A Current Affair” on Tuesday that Duran said he planned to go to Washington “to take out the President.” In the TV interview, Millis said he didn’t take Duran seriously, but after the shooting, fearing that he might get into trouble, he went to the FBI.

Law enforcement officials have taken from Duran’s truck a map with the words “kill the (prez)” written on it, said a number of sources familiar with the shooting. The exact spelling of the abbreviation of the word President could not be determined. Handwritten notes recovered from Duran’s truck refer to the occult, the sources said, noting that the material heightened their concerns about his mental state.

Duran, 26, was charged Monday with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, destruction of government property, resisting a federal officer while armed and unlawful use of a firearm during the commission of a felony. If convicted on these charges, he could face a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison and $1 million in fines. An attempted assassination of the President carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Some Treasury officials were initially skeptical that there was enough evidence to warrant charging Duran with an assassination attempt because the gunman aimed at the White House, not the President. FBI officials believe, however, that the written material indicate Duran’s intent, sources said.

Officials from the Treasury’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Secret Service met Tuesday with FBI officials , and sources said the government was close to a decision to add the new charge.

Two notes have emerged as of great importance to the case. One letter confiscated from Duran at the time of his arrest has been described as a “semi-suicide” note in which Duran hints that he expected to die in the assault, sources said. In that scrap of paper Duran discusses how to distribute his property to his son and wife, sources said.

But officials have been silent on the second note taken from Duran’s truck and the details about the other items recovered at the same time. A federal magistrate ordered the note sealed during a hearing Monday.

Holder declined to elaborate on the second note at the hearing, other than to tell the judge that its contents were troubling enough to bring to the judge’s attention. Assistant U.S. Atty. John F. Finnegan said the letter “brings into question whether the defendant is truly competent to proceed.”

U.S. Magistrate Deborah A. Robinson ordered that Duran undergo a day of psychiatric screening to determine whether he is competent to face the charges against him. Duran’s lawyer, Public Defender Leigh Kenny, launched a series of legal moves Tuesday in an attempt to block the psychiatric tests.

Kenny lost an appeal of a federal magistrate’s ruling but succeeded in delaying the examination until today.

At issue is Duran’s possible use of an insanity defense. His lawyer is concerned that prosecutors could develop information through the psychiatric screening that could be used to thwart the insanity defense, if one is used by Duran.

Duran is due back in court today. Prosecutors are hoping that the doctor can conduct the examination by this afternoon and submit a report to Robinson. The magistrate then will decide whether Duran is capable of understanding the proceedings.

Duran is accused of opening fire on the north side of the White House from Pennsylvania Avenue with a Chinese-made SKS semiautomatic rifle Saturday. Authorities said he fired at least 20 rounds at the mansion. Several hit the building, some shattering the glass near the press room. As he attempted to reload, bystanders tackled and subdued him.