Last week Cynthia Sommer talked to Matt Lauer.

When I heard the news she was released from prison and all charges were dropped, I decided to look at Sommer with fresh eyes. If she was wrongly convicted, she would be carrying a lot of pain on her shoulders after being locked up for two and a half years, but oddly, I didn’t see a hint of it.

In the video (link above), Cindy Sommer was asked if she was angry (about being locked up when she was innocent), and oddly, she happily smiled and said, “Would you be? Yeah.” Yet Sommer doesn’t look angry or upset in any way when she says this. Her facial expressions clearly contradict her spoken words. It’s perplexing. Where is this anger that she talks about?

Of course, one will argue that she is happy, and that she should be happy about being let out of prison, if she is innocent, and that is true to a degree. But every human being knows how violated they would feel if they were wrongly convicted of killing a man they loved dearly, were ripped away from their children, and had to live in prison for two and half years while they were innocent.

Read moreWith that, newfound freedom for anyone wrongly held in prison would be very bittersweet. There may be a few smiles, but there would also be a lot of anger, and sadness for all that they were denied and missed while locked away. And even if they tried to hide it, there would still be visible signs to this pain, but oddly, with Sommer, there is none of this–across the multiple interviews she has done to date.

In the video, we see a clip of Sommer talking to Josh Mankowitz while she was still in prison about why she slept with her husband’s fellow Marines shortly after his death, and she says:

“I wanted someone to hold me, …uh…I wanted my husband back, and I missed him, and… I didn’t have him, and… the closest thing I could have were his friends.”

When Sommer says this, she seems to be thinking as she speaks–not talking from the heart. When people talk about their true feelings, the words flow naturally, and there is little to no hesitation. When people don’t tell their true feelings, however, we often see choppy speech, hesitations, and lots of “um” and “uh” words used. Sommer continues this pattern throughout the entire interview with Lauer. It definitely raises my eyebrows.

At time marker 1:57, the video shows Sommer as she is released from prison. Watch her behavior. She is completely avoiding eye contact with the reporters. The lack of eye contact here doesn’t tell us she is lying, but it does suggest incredible insecurity. Why is she insecure at this time? Why doesn’t she want to look the reporters in the eyes? And talk of her injustice? She finally has support for her claims. You wouldn’t know it by looking at her here. Why?

We should see a woman who feels violated, who feels her voice has never been heard, who has much to say about her injustices, but oddly, Sommer says nothing about this at any point in her interviews. Instead, we see her smile, and say she is shocked to be out of prison. If she is innocent, why is she shocked? Wouldn’t it be about time?

Matt Lauer asks Sommer to explain the range of emotions that she has felt over the last several days since she has been released. Sommer says:

“I’m overwhelmed with emotion…I… can’t… describe, um… being in jail one day, one minute actually, and being out the next.”

Here was Sommer’s chance to let it all out, again, but she doesn’t. Doesn’t she feel violated? Misunderstood? Treated unjustly? Instead, I see the most incredible grin on her face like the cat who ate the canary. It’s perplexing behavior.

Sommer then talks about how incredible it was to see her children, and she talks about “how it was really fun” to visit with them. I found this statement very odd.

Most parents who were deprived of watching their children grow for over two and a half years would tell you that the reunion was bittersweet, that seeing their children, and how they have grown without them re-ignites the pain of the injustice done to them, and to their children. Such a visit would be a reminder of the unfair price they and their children had to pay at the hands of a faulty system. But again, we hear none of this from Sommer.

Notice there is absolutely no pain and no burden on Sommer’s face when she talks about her children. Why?

Matt Lauer asks Sommer to go back, and think about the feeling she felt the moment she was being arrested for Todd’s death. Watch Sommer when she speaks.

“Um, I was devastated….I didn’t…um………………I don’t know how to describe…………what goes through your head….what…what you could….what I thought…it….you, you could never prepare yourself for something like that …to ever have happen.”

Does she hit you as a woman who was wrongly accused?

Does she have any feelings of being violated?

She’s had two and a half years in prison to think about this.

If you were wrongly accused, tell me you wouldn’t have relived that day in your head a thousand times. It doesn’t appear Sommer ever did? Does she have other memories she has been reliving these past two years?

Matt Lauer talks about Sommer’s unusual behavior after Todd’s death, and he says to Sommer, “You have to admit, even to a casual observer, this doesn’t sound good.”

Watch Sommer’s response. Her eyes wander all over as she thinks how to respond.

“Not knowing…ah…the scientific…um…end of it…um…we’ve gone over everything…and…eh…it doesn’t sound good (grin) because it isn’t good. It doesn’t add up. Two and two didn’t equal four….you know.”

Wow. She says it plain as day. It didn’t add up, and it still doesn’t add up. She is right on the money. Everything adds up when you have the right pieces of the puzzle. I just don’t think we have all the pieces of this puzzle yet.

I also find it perplexing that she never tried to understand the scientific end of the arsenic claims made against her. Wouldn’t you want to understand exactly what happened, if it were you?

Matt Lauer goes on talking about how Sommer didn’t act like the typical grieving wife, and what other decision could the jury come to? Watch Sommer respond.

“Well, I don’t think that that’s true. I believe everyone grieves differently, and I believe she….um…. made… me…um…out to…”

Matt Lauer says, “You think you were misunderstood in those days after Todd’s death.”

Okay, maybe now we will hear how she feels violated.

Sommer responds:

“I do. I do. And I think she put …um…my behavior… Right the prosecutor put…….um…put my behavior in an exaggerated something that didn’t really happen and I think that …um…the things that she… said that happened didn’t happen the way that she said that they happened.”

Does that make sense? She has had two and a half years to think over all the wrongs done to her, and this is all she can say?

Instead, we see classic signs of thinking-as-she-speaks behavior instead of talking from the heart. And more than that, we see absolutely no pain on her face. It’s amazingly absent. We see smirking instead, which I find a complete contradiction to someone who should be feeling violated.

Matt Lauer ends the interview asking Sommer if there is a lesson in all of this, after these three and a half years, and if so, what is it?

“Well, I think that…um… the lesson is that…um…that our judicial system is flawed. I’ve seen more than just myself…um….that…this has happened to….I’m… in the spotlight…I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to be in the spotlight and to be able to have a voice, and there are so many people that this has happens to, and um… and that’s a scary…that’s a scary thing that…that… people sit in jail and in prison…that have been wrongfully accused, wrongly charged, wrongfully convicted, overcharged.”

Notice her eyes glancing at Matt Lauer the entire time? It’s like she is looking for his responses to her thoughts as they ramble off the top of her head. Does she wonder if he is buying her story?

I’m not.

I also find it exceptionally unusual that Sommer feels fortunate to have a voice, and be in the spotlight. She feels fortunate! Does this make any sense? Here is a woman who wants you to believe that she was locked up for two and a half years based on an unfair trial, and she says she feels fortunate.

And she says it is very scary that “people” sit in jail and in prison being wrongfully accused. What about her? Is she not one of them? Why does she not enter into this equation?

Sommer’s behavior is absolutely perplexing, and very inconsistent for someone who claims innocence.

Did Sommer forget to feel violated, wrongly accused and treated unjustly? Or did she not feel violated from day one because she did do something to Todd? You certainly do have to wonder.

You can also watch Sommer on Dateline NBC.

Please Note:
I realize my opinion will be controversial because it is far from the common opinion. If you disagree with me, you are welcome to post your opinions, but keep them respectful. I will not tolerate bashing of any kind. Crude or rude comments will be deleted.