Was it a hate crime?

/in , /by

I am sure the face and story of Matthew Shepard are seared into the brains of most people. Young beautiful gay guy beaten, tied up and left for dead in Wyoming. The year was 1998. Matthew Shepard was a college student with a big bright future. That’s the story most of us know…

However last night, I decided to watch a video tape recording of ABC’s 20/20 from November 26th which had the first ever interview with the two convicted murderers: Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson.

Since I am fascinated with lies, I was really interested to watch these two guys. However, they proved much harder to read than the average guy. They are polished. Plus other sources in the story added to the mix and confusion as they weren’t trustworthy either.

Certainly these two young killers had years of practice at lying and deception as they were heavily involved in drugs scene, most specifically with meth. McKinney, the instigator of the killings, says he was strung out on meth for an entire week without sleep prior to the murder. He says he just wanted money and more drugs — so when Shepard, drunk in a bar, asked for a ride home from him as they sat and talked that night — McKinney says he saw an opportunity to rob Shepard. Henderson said he quickly realized the plan of action.

I believe them here. I believe the motivation for the crime initially was money for drugs.

McKinney continues to say the killing wasn’t motivated by Shepard’s sexual orientation. It was when he answered Elizabeth Vargas that I saw a expression (I suspect what experts would call a microexpression –an expression that flashes on someone’s face for an instant — which most people aren’t privy too). He squinted his eyes with a deep sincere anger for a flit of an instant. It made his statement completely convincing. By this expression, you knew he was really pissed off by the fact people thought this was a hate crime when it was really just a case of drugs, money, robbery and murder. However, he didn’t want people to see this emotion. He was trying to hide it.

As for Henderson, when Vargas asked if he had an prejudice against gays, he flat out lied. He paused, looked around and didn’t have a good answer. He truly had problems with gay people but apparently he didn’t beat Shepard. He just never stopped McKinney and helped save Shepard.

McKinney goes on to say that on the ride to Shepard’s home, he had planned to pull a gun on Shepard to rob him but Shepard put his hand on his knee — and that send him into a rage. He said he then just beat Shepard with a gun and continued to beat Shepard. He said it was a rage that once was started couldn’t be stopped.

Meth is known to cause violent outburst for the most benign circumstance. I believe McKinney here. I have no doubts.

Several people spoke on 20/20 about McKinney. They said he was known to have sex in a threesome: two men and a woman. The mother of his child says today she believes he is bi-sexual because before all of this, he asked her to be part of a threesome with two guys. Another man, a limo driver named Copp, also spoke about stories he had supposedly heard about McKinney having sex in a threesome. When asked how he knew, Copp then switched his story and said he knew because he was one of the guys. Copp was lying. You could see it by the phony machismo face he made. It wasn’t sincere at all.

The facts of this case are overwhelming. I don’t believe McKinney hated gays. I believe him when he says this killing wasn’t motivated by hate. Nor does anyone ever offer anything to the contrary — that McKinney did talk about hating gays — yet a simple gesture for sex is what started a violent outburst from McKinney and caused him to kill Shepard.

What a FINE LINE.

Another odd fact: McKinney says he didn’t know Shepard prior to the killing — yet multiple people spoke out on 20/20 stating that they did in fact see them together. However, none of the people speaking up were convincing. I don’t believe they were lying but due to the fact they were all drug users, I don’t trust their perception which leaves a gray area for me.

Was McKinney bisexual and keeping it a secret?

Did he know Shepard beforehand — and perhaps had some secret encounters with him? Is that why when Shepard put his hand on McKinney’s knee that night, McKinney flipped? Did McKinney flip because he knew Henderson hated gays and would never let him live it down??

It’s all so intertwined and twisted! I do firmly believe:

  • McKinney didn’t hate gays.
  • Henderson did.
  • McKinney intended to rob Shepard, Henderson just followed along.
  • McKinney didn’t plan on killing Shepard but did in a rage.
  • McKinney was bi-sexual.

I wonder:

  • if McKinney knew Shepard beforehand. I suspect yes, he is lying but I am uncertain. McKinney is hard to read here.
  • if McKinney had secret sexual encounters with Shepard before (pure speculation).

Playing Poker

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One of my readers, Mayim, asked me, “Have you thought of playing poker professionally?”

Actually, no I haven’t. I don’t like to gamble. More than that, seeing lies is only half it. To be good at poker, I am going to guess you have to equally good if not even better at bluffing! On that front, I have no idea of my skills level.

Interesting question though 🙂

Calling the Plumber

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A week ago, today, I picked up the phone and called our local plumber who we have used before. I had left him a message the previous Thursday and since he didn’t call back, I called him one more time.

I was surprised when he answered the phone instead of his secretary at two in the afternoon. I asked him if I caught him at a bad time and he said no. I then told him we have a lot of work that we need to get done (explaining it in a little detail) and asked if he could come out and give us a quote.

He replied, “Sure. Are you going to be around this week?”

“Not this afternoon, but the Tuesday and Wednesday,” I shot back with a raised eye-brow and then a frowning, wrinkly face — getting frustrated.

“Good,” he said. “I’ll call you back then. Okay?”

Let down, I said okay and we hung up before I knew it.

My mind was bursting at the seams with emotion. He just lied to me!! He isn’t going to call me back!! He didn’t want the work for whatever reason. He doesn’t want the job, but didn’t want to tell me!!

I was pissed off. Why would he call me back later when he can arrange an appointment now? It made no sense – especially since he said it wasn’t a bad time to be calling him. It was a tactic to rid himself of the obligation!

I thought about calling him back up and saying if you don’t want the work, can you at least just tell me?! I need a plumber for Pete’s sake and I don’t care to wait around for another week on the hopes I can work with you!! Worse, I don’t know who else to call!!!!!

Tuesday and Wednesday came and I didn’t get a phone call. I always hope I am wrong, but nooo…no, I wasn’t. Damn it!!

Who is telling the truth?

/in /by

I was watching the Chicago news last night. An elderly black man accidentially bumped the car in front of him. The man in the car that he tapped, got out, put a gun to the elderly man’s face and threatened him. The guy with the gun then goes back to his car, calls the police and they arrive.

The police talk to the elderly black man, and he tells them the other guy threatened him with a gun so the police handcuff the other guy. The other guy then says he is a police officer, and they then proceed to take off the handcuffs — and the off duty cop then says the elderly black man tried to run him over and succeeded in pressing charges against the elderly black man for assault. The black man then gets locked up.

The black man denies ever moving his car.

So, who is telling the truth?

On the news, they interviewed the elderly black man and his son. I am 100% confident that the black man is innocent. The way he spoke, the way he looked at the camera and the story he told was completely consistent. More than that, it is just a gut instinct. I believe him. I don’t need to hear the other half of the story to know.

The black man’s son (who is also a cop in another jurisdiction) said something interesting. He said, “A law officer who pulls a gun after a very minor traffic incident is unstable, and should be fired.”

This is so sad to see. My heart goes out to that black man and his family. You wonder if this was racially motivated. I would love to see this off-duty cop in an interview, and I’d love to hear from the cop who charged the elderly black man and locked him up. I’d love to hear their stories and basis for their actions.

Here is the story in print.

Channeling my Energy

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Since I have been bursting at the seams with hopes of some how using my lie-detecting skills, I decided to do some investigation on the web.

I went to a bullet board on the web for cops — and I posted a question to them. I mentioned that I could see lies beyond what is average and would police have interest? Two traffic cops responded in a joking manner that everyone can see lies — what they need help with is getting the guilty to confess. In the mix, however, was a deputy sheriff. He told me if I could truly see lies more than average, the police would certainly be interested!

My interest was piqued. Really? Really!!

He reiterated police stations would have interest. He was a kind guy.

Then he told me to call the homicide-investigation units using their unpublished psychic hotlines! Huh?

He said that way I would get through to the people who would like to know about my skills as these hotlines typically go directly to the homicide unit and are not screened.

Isn’t that interesting??

Unpublished numbers? And how do you get those????

Psychic hotlines?

Somehow I was crushed. Forgetting about the nonsense his reply… I am not psychic and don’t ever want to be. And hey, how do I call unpublished numbers anyway?

Yeah, right. This is going well.

Not.

Well, he went on to tell me who to ask for from the main switch board. He gave me an official title within the ranks. Then he told me to tell the captains that I can provide “intuitive consulting”. That’s the big buzz word in the field today.

It sounded interesting. I checked into it. Intuitive consulting is just a fancy word for psychic and mystic people!

AHHhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Shoot me now, please!

I just don’t know if I have the guts to call police stations at this point — and talk about my skills. I don’t want to sound like a loony, or a nut job!! That really bothers me. I certainly won’t mention the buzz words “Intuitive Consultant” if I do. It gets under my skin!!

I’m not a flake. Really, I’m not. I’m genuine. I just have to be 100% confident in my abilities. Right now I guess I am about 75%.

So far, getting myself out there hasn’t been easy but I shall not give up!!!

Any ideas?