Oct 11, 2007 8:08 pm US/Eastern
Columbia Hands Over 'Noose' Security Tapes To NYPD
Rival Professor Denies Any Involvement In 'Deplorable' Act
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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A noose was left on the door of a Columbia University professor on Tuesday morning.
AP
Who hung the noose? The clock is ticking.
Police have acquired surveillance tape from Columbia University and will next begin the arduous process of narrowing down suspects in the case of a noose hung on an African American professor's office door inside Teachers College.
"The first 24-48 hours is key, to be able to move, to be able to get the witnesses, to acquire information," said Dep. Insp. Michael Osgood.
The victim in this case, Dr. Madonna Constantine, has received unwavering support from the faculty and student body at Columbia since this ugly incident came to light.
"I'm upset that our community has been exposed to such an unbelievably vile incident," Constantine said.
In May, Constantine took legal action against colleague Dr. Suniya Luthar, claiming "defamation, libel and slander."
However, most detectives believe the professor is not a suspect.
On the phone, Dr. Luthar told CBS 2 HD, "I had nothing to do with (the noose). I think the whole incident was unspeakably ugly. It was deplorable."
On Wednesday there was another twist: detectives were told to get a subpoena before they could get Columbia's surveillance tapes.
Requesting a subpoena first is almost standard practice, but Thursday morning Teachers College gave police the tapes without a subpoena to show cooperation.
What police will do is go through tapes from these surveillance cameras matched against a time frame of when they think someone may have gone in to place the noose. Then they will cross-check with any ID cards that may have been used inside by anyone.
They will make a list. They will call those people in and have a talk.
Stay with wcbstv.com and CBS 2 for the latest in this continuing story.
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