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Reward For Christopher Dorner Will Be Split Four Ways

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Robert Siegel.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish.

A California couple who had a run-in with an ex-cop on a killing spree will get $800,000 for turning him in. That's most of the $1 million reward that was offered in the Christopher Dorner case. Dorner was the subject of a massive manhunt around Los Angeles back in February. A man who found Dorner's burning truck will get $150,000. And as divvied up by a panel of three former judges, the rest go to a tow-truck driver who spotted Dorner at a gas station. NPR's Kirk Siegler recaps the case.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: When Christopher Dorner was on the run and accused of killing four people, including two police officers, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stepped to a bank of TV cameras at city hall and made a surprise announcement. In just a couple of days, his city and other entities had assembled a huge reward pot for any information leading to Dorner's capture and conviction.

MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA: Collectively, this group, led by my office, is posting a reward of $1 million for information that would lead to Mr. Dorner's capture.

SIEGLER: Only Dorner wasn't captured. Just a few days later, he killed himself during a fiery standoff in the San Bernardino Mountains. Because there was no capture or conviction, several entities, including the city of Riverside, backed out of the reward fund. Nevertheless, Mayor Villaraigosa said the reward would still be doled out even though Dorner was dead. That brings us to the report made public this week by the LAPD. In all, 12 people had filed claims seeking the reward money, but the report says only four will get any of it, and most will go to James and Karen Reynolds.

They're the couple who stumbled onto Dorner, who had been hiding out in their condo for most of the manhunt. He tied them up and stole their Nissan, but the couple managed to break free, and Karen called 911. The remaining money is to be divvied up between the tow-truck driver and a ski area employee, who authorities say also gave some crucial information on Dorner's whereabouts during his nine-day rampage. Kirk Siegler, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Kirk Siegler
As a correspondent on NPR's national desk, Kirk Siegler covers rural life, culture and politics from his base in Boise, Idaho.
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