- Collection:
- WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection
- Title:
- Series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips of a crime scene at an Atlanta rooming house and Robert T'Souvas, a possible suspect, being questioned by police and then interviewed by various reporters, 1970 December 29
- Creator:
- WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
- Contributor to Resource:
- Whipkey, Jim
T'Souvas, Robert - Date of Original:
- 1970-12-29
- Subject:
- Murder--Georgia--Atlanta
Police--Georgia--Atlanta
Boardinghouses--Georgia--Atlanta
Shotguns--Georgia--Atlanta - People:
- Whipkey, Jim
T'Souvas, Robert
McSherry, Barney - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, 33.79025, -84.46702
United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798 - Medium:
- moving images
news
unedited footage - Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- In this series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips from December 29, 1970, a crime scene at an Atlanta rooming house is shown and Robert T'Souvas, a possible suspect, is questioned by police and then interviewed by various reporters. The clips open with an exterior shot of the rooming house located on 14th Street referred to by some as "White Columns." The next scene is a close-up of a "ROOMS FOR RENT" sign. The next scene is a close-up of a mugshot with "Atlanta A.P.D." underneath a photo of Barney Leigh "Tree" McSherry, who was murdered at the rooming house. The next clip shows the entryway of the rooming house and then the camera pans down to show a pool of blood on the floor. The next clip shows a close-up of nearly a dozen confiscated shotguns. The next clip takes place at the Atlanta Police Department where officers escort Robert T'Souvas, who was also facing murder charges for the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam (he was were later cleared of these charges). The next clip shows T'Souvas entering a room to be questioned by police. The next clip shows him being interviewed by several reporters, including WSB-TV reporter Jim Whipkey, which is transcribed below:
T'Souvas: "On this incident that happened last night, me and my wife and my brother-in-law were asleep at the time, and the owner of the house and a police officer came up to our apartment and knocked on the door and told us to get out of bed and get dressed and told us to go to the front of the house. We went to the front of the house; there I was handed a ticket along with the rest of the occupants of the other apartments in the building."
Reporter Jim Whipkey, from off-screen: "Are you saying you knew nothing about this until the police came?"
T'Souvas: "Right. Until the police came and they took me along with everybody else in the house to the city jail."
Different unidentified male reporter from off-screen: "You never heard any gunshots?"
T'Souvas: "No, except for my wife and baby, they stayed. The police let them go over to a friend's house."
There is a brief pause between clips. The next clip opens with a close-up of a door reading "HOMICIDE 322." The interviews with the news reporters resume.
An unidentified female reporter from off-screen is heard asking an unintelligible question.
T'Souvas: "It was just a shock to me because I was woke up in the middle of the night and here I was..."
Unidentified male reporter interrupting from off-screen: "Charged with murder."
T'Souvas: "Mmhmm."
The camera then pans back to show several reporters.
Jim Whipkey: "The atmosphere in this house has been described as tense. Do you agree with that?"
T'Souvas: "Yes."
Jim Whipkey: "Why?"
T'Souvas: "We've had people come in before with sawed-off shotguns and go from room to room robbing everybody and kicking them."
Unidentified male reporter: "Why do you live there under those circumstances?"
T'Souvas: "Well, I've never been bothered in my room since I'm isolated in the back where my room's at. I've never been bothered. Plus it fits my Army pay."
Unidentified male reporter from Channel 5: [audio cut-off] "...you might be aware of the possibility."
Jim Whipkey: "Mr. T'Souvas, what do you think about the outcome of this case of the charges against you? Are you going to be...?"
The series of clips end abruptly here.
Reporter: Whipkey, Jim
Title supplied by cataloger.
Supporting information was taken from the following source: McCartney, Keeler. "Slaying Hits Hippie Area." The New York Times 30 December 1970. 1. Web.
Stepp, Diane. "Army Clears 4 GIs of My Lai Charges." The New York Times 23 January 1971. 13. Web. - Local Identifier:
- Clip number: wsbn42403
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/news/id:wsbn42403
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/news/id:wsbn42403
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/ugabma_wsbn_wsbn42403/presentation/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: wsbn42403, Series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips of a crime scene at an Atlanta rooming house and Robert T'Souvas, a possible suspect, being questioned by police and then interviewed by various reporters, 1970 December 29, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 0933, 21:03/23:35, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia
- Extent:
- 1 clip (about 2 mins., 32 secs.): color, sound ; 16 mm.
- Original Collection:
- Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.
- Holding Institution:
- Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection
- Rights:
-
