ABC 7 News aired video Monday of an interview with Albrecht Muth from his hospital bed at United Medical Center.
Muth, lying in bed, with a gray, disheveled beard, told ABC’s Martha Raddatz he was the “convenient suspect” but was not home at the time of Drath’s death. He told Raddatz the Iranian agents had a key to the home, which explained why there were no signs of forced entry to the residence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Kirschner referenced the ABC interview at a trial readiness hearing Thursday. Kirschner said the interview had been filmed earlier in the morning, before the 10 a.m. hearing was due to begin.
Judge Russell Canan, fearing that reporters were still in Muth’s hospital room, and would thus be able to listen to the proceedings, verified there were none before beginning.
WJLA, Washington’s ABC affiliate, aired the footage, although Raddatz is the Chief Global Affairs Correspondent for ABC News, often reporting from war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq. Raddatz moderated the vice presidential debate last year between Vice President Joe Biden and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan in Danville, Ky.
Judge Canan delayed Muth’s trial – which had been scheduled to start this week – to December, after Canan, prosecutors and Muth’s defense attorneys couldn’t agree on how to bring Muth to court.
