Kidnap Suspect's Interview Upsets Lawyers

Attorneys for kidnapping suspect Michael Devlin criticized jail security, saying a New York Post correspondent obtained a jailhouse interview with him by identifying herself as one of his friends.

The newspaper obtained the first interview with the 41-year-old pizzeria manager accused of kidnapping Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby. Hornbeck, now 15, was held captive for more than four years. Ownby, 13, was missing four days when both boys were found Jan. 12 at Devlin's apartment.

The Post published a story Sunday in which Devlin talked about being lonely but said life was good for him over the past four years.

"There was a standing order that no media was allowed in to see my client," said Michael Kielty, an attorney for Devlin.

But Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke released a statement late Sunday saying security at the jail was not breached. He said an inmate can accept or decline media requests, and in this case, Devlin accepted.

Kielty said lawyers planned to ask a judge Monday to move Devlin to a more secure facility.

The reporter, Susannah Cahalan, told jail officials she was a friend of Devlin's when she went for a visit Friday morning, Toelke said.

Toelke said jail authorities do not know whether Cahalan told Devlin she was a reporter.

"It would actually not make any difference to us who she was as long as Devlin granted the interview," Toelke said.

The sheriff said after that interview, Devlin signed a statement saying he did not want to conduct media interviews, though he already had a second meeting set up with Cahalan for Saturday. After the two met again Saturday, Devlin's attorneys issued a list of visitors allowed to see Devlin. That list excludes the media.

Kielty also said the reporter told Devlin she was writing for a university publication, not the Post.

After speaking with Post editor Col Allan, spokesman Howard Rubenstein said, "The response of the New York Post is that they stand by their published report."

In the Post article, Devlin said his parents had not visited him since his arrest.

"I don't know how I'm going to explain myself to my parents," Devlin said in his only public comments, except for a brief court appearance on Thursday where he pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping Ben. He faces a separate kidnapping charge in the Shawn Hornbeck case.

Devlin is accused of taking Ownby just after the boy got off a school bus Jan. 8 about 50 miles southwest of St. Louis. A schoolmate's tip about a white pickup led authorities to Devlin's apartment, where they found Ownby and Hornbeck, who had been missing since 2002 after being kidnapped while riding his bike.

"I guess I was relatively happy" during those four years, Devlin said.

Devlin said he "was never really interested in" romantic relationships — but would not say whether he was attracted to women.

"I can't talk about that because it has to do with the case," he said.

The Post said Devlin appeared downcast and red-eyed during the first interview Friday, but was smiling and more upbeat during an interview Saturday.

"I feel nothing," he said in the first interview. "I hide my emotions from other people. I hide the way I feel."

Around 2002, he started losing contact with close friends, most of whom he knew from Imo's, the pizza parlor he managed in Kirkwood.

"I guess you could say I was lonely. All my friends starting getting married and having kids," he said. "Hanging out with friends just becomes a lower priority (for them)."

The 6'4", 300-pound inmate says he's being kept away from other prisoners at the Franklin County jail because his lawyer and guards think he may be attacked. He says he thinks that is likely, and he'll deal with it when it happens.

But he says he's not a danger to himself, calling it "bizarre" that he was kept on suicide watch the first two days he was in jail.

Devlin spoke of having a "normal" childhood. "It was happy as far back as I can remember," he said.