Former coach: This is not the Chris Dorner I knew

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Football coach: The Chris Dorner I knew

College football coach of ex-LAPD officer wanted for killing spree speaks out

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," February 8, 2013. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Christopher Dorner is the most hunted and feared man in the nation. He is accused of three cold-blooded murders, including of a police officer. But Dorner's college football coach says that is not the Christopher Dorner he knew. Aaron Alford joins us. Good evening, sir.

AARON ALFORD, FORMER COACH (Via Telephone): How're you doing?

VAN SUSTEREN: Very well. Tell me, when did you meet him, under what circumstances, and what did you think of him then?

ALFORD: You know, I met him when I became a coach at Southern Utah University. That was 1999 and 2000. And in those two years, you know, the things you obviously are seeing on television and hearing in the news, don't -- obviously don't fit. They're ludicrous in that manner, just to think that he's gone to this level of violence and anger.

But he was a good kid. You never heard anything negative. He stayed out of trouble. He had good grades. You know, we talked quite often while I was there, and you know, there was nothing to speculate that he would have this kind of issue.

VAN SUSTEREN: In the manifesto that he has published, he has had some chilling words about a number of things, but one of the things he talks about is integrity. He says, honor, courage and commitment are traits embedded in his DNA.

Is that sort of -- was he that type of sort of serious-thinking person, or hung up on integrity and -- did you discuss those things back then?

ALFORD: Yes, he definitely was. I had an interview earlier, and I talked about he was very -- an analytical-minded kid, young man at the time. Yes, he was serious, you know, so those things in his manifesto do definitely fit the characteristics of who he was in college.

But, you know, he would -- I just was completely dumbfounded and just at a loss when I found out this was Chris Dorner because this was not the person anybody that knew him back then, that his teammates knew back then, (INAUDIBLE) that was his friend up unto whatever certain point, that wasn't the young man I knew.

VAN SUSTEREN: When was the last time you heard from him?

ALFORD: I was talking to some of your affiliates earlier, colleagues earlier. The last time I -- you know, and the timeline's off, but the last time he called was hovering around 2007, 2008. He would call periodically just to check in and say hello, you know, because I obviously went on to different universities to coach college football. And he would just keep in touch.

The last I heard, he had called when I lived in Ohio. And he was a Navy reservist and was talking about -- he had talked about in college being a police -- being in the military. But then when he told me about being a police officer, which I don't know if he was already in the process or had been hired or not, but he had talked about it. And obviously, he became a police officer. So it was about that time.

VAN SUSTEREN: Coach, thank you very much. Thanks for joining us.

ALFORD: Yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: And from college graduate to a Navy reservist to a police officer, and now to a wanted man. For a closer look at Christopher Dorner's downward spiral, LA Daily News reporter Mariecar Mendoza joins us.

Tell me, what can you tell me about his life after he left college?

MARIECAR MENDOZA, LA DAILY NEWS: After he left college, we know he got enlisted -- he enlisted in the Navy in 2002. And what we're learning is that, you know, when he was in police academy, he was having some issues, not that he was having (INAUDIBLE) issues or any requirements at the academy, but that he was -- he was complaining about his fellow recruits. Apparently, there were some racial comments, and then he didn't like how officials dealt with those issues.

In talking to a college buddy of his, actually, I did ask if racism was an issue in his life at all because he brought that up while he was in college. And he did say that, yes, every once in a while, he did talk about it, but no red flags to say -- you know, to point to this.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, now when he felt very wronged just a few years ago about what led to him being fired is that he made an accusation against a fellow officer about how the fellow officer conducted an arrest. He had a hearing, and he felt that he was wrongfully accused of lying in that hearing. Is that right?

MENDOZA: Yes. So again, you know, he -- there are many times, he's made claims about -- he was complaining about some of his fellow officers. In this particular case, it was a training officer. And again, he was not happy with the way officials dealt with those issues. He felt they were racially spurred. And so you know, again, we were seeing that in his manifesto, that those were some of the issues.

VAN SUSTEREN: Do you know what he's been doing in the six months prior to the first set of homicides last Sunday? Do you know what he's been doing with himself?

MENDOZA: We don't know that right now. I know my colleagues and certainly everybody that's been watching are wondering, you know, what happened, what triggered all of this, because that incident, you know, that is at the root of all of this was in 2008. We are looking into that, but I can't speak to that right now.

VAN SUSTEREN: Any idea how he's supporting himself since 2008 until now?

MENDOZA: Again, not sure what he has been doing since being let go. We do know that he was officially let go with the Navy just earlier this month, on February 1st.

VAN SUSTEREN: And he doesn't have -- doesn't appear that he has any friends left at the LAPD. It sounds like when he left, he was sort of the odd man out. Is that right?

MENDOZA: Yes, that what it seems to be. Again, we've actually been reaching out to some of the friends that he listed in his manifesto. I did speak to one, but that one was from his college days when he played football in Utah. And you know, again, he only was able to speak about Dorner before the Navy and before police.

VAN SUSTEREN: Mariecar, thank you very much.