There is one small snippet of video of Pastor Lawless talking to reporters, where he actually says a few sentences. In this video, Lawless’ wife, Connie, is the one who predominantly speaks to reporters, and Lawless sits on the passenger side of the car and mumbles half the time. I don’t know if he drops his voice, or if the microphone doesn’t pick him up, but I can’t hear him through most of what he says. If anyone does hear what he says, please feel free to type his words below in the comment section.
Read moreWhile this video still does not provide me with enough information to draw any conclusions, I do find it odd how soft-spoken Lawless is when I do hear him speak. I find it odd that he doesn’t want to get out and talk to reporters, and share his thoughts. As a pastor, he is a man who is used to speaking publicly, and with that, we can confidently conclude that he is not a shy guy, so why is his demeanor shy now–especially if he feels the finger is pointed at him and he knows he is innocent? As a pastor, Lawless is used to helping people, so I am surprised he doesn’t want to do that now. At first, I thought this might be due to anger (for being wrongly questioned) and a lack of control over the situation, but when I see Lawless speak, I do not detect any hints of anger whatsoever.
Another thing that bothers me about Lawless is that when he is asked, “Did you have anything to do with Sandra’s disappearance or her death?” he acts like he doesn’t hear or understand the question. Yet he tells us he heard it, because he parrots back what the reporter said. He said, ” Did I have…?” in a very slow, subdued voice. It takes him a few seconds to say, “no”, and he says it without any strong inflection in his voice. It’s notable for me.
Parroting back is a hot spot for me, especially when someone confirms for us that they heard the question. This is often a trait that liars do subconsciously, because they flat out don’t know how to answer the question. If you see after Lawless says that, he looks down and appears confused. Notice how quickly his wife is to respond, “No, no!”. Why isn’t Lawless, himself, that quick to respond? Why does that question cause him to pause? It concerns me.
I also get a sense that Lawless is emotionally a bit despondent at this point, which is odd as well. I could understand upset, or angry, but I am surprised by despondent. Why would he feel despondent? I want to ask him are his church members rallying behind him? If they aren’t, could that be why he is despondent?
With just this little bit to go on, I don’t think it is enough for me to formulate any opinions at this time. Each of the these clues alone might be explainable, as no one clue by itself says anything. It’s only the computation of clues that gives me the best indication. I will only say that Lawless definitely has my interest piqued, quite notably, and I know that I want to see him talk more about this. He is on my radar, for sure. So if new videos come online, please post them below.
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Update 4-11-2009 8:50 AM:
Pastor Lawless’ granddaughter arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and murder.
