Tag Archive for: unsolved crime

Friend of McCanns speaks

Jane Tanner, one of the Tapas Nine, came forward to talk to BBC about what she saw the night of Madeleine’s disappearance this week. She says, “I believe Madeleine was abducted.” Thanks to one of my readers for the news tip!

You can watch the video of her speaking here.

It’s nice to see one of the Tapas Nine speak out as we’ve only had the McCann’s word up to this point.

Do I believe Jane Tanner? I do.

Drew Peterson’s Interview with Matt Lauer

To read the latest posts on Drew Peterson, click on the label of Drew Peterson below to display all posts on the topic, ordered from newest to oldest.

When I watch Drew Peterson talk to Matt Lauer on the Today Show, I get a sense that some people will stop for a second when watching Peterson talk, and wonder for a minute, if maybe, just maybe, Peterson is innocent of the crimes he is suspected to be involved. If they listen to what he says, however, I am confident many people will doubt Peterson’s story.

Peterson’s demeanor during the interviews is strong, smooth, and without so much as a flinch. Peterson comes across as confident yet for those of you who pick up on it, there is an palpable air of arrogance about Peterson that is undeniable.

Why is Peterson so arrogant? For an innocent man, arrogance would be the last emotion he would feel right now.

Read moreIf you are wrongly accused or suspected of murdering one, let alone two people, and you know you didn’t do it, how would you feel?

I can be confident when I say you would feel frustrated, misunderstood, angry, and violated, but certainly not arrogant. It is an unnatural emotion for a man who is uninvolved, and furthermore, it is a complete contradiction to his claimed circumstances.

A person who committed the perfect crime and appears to have gotten away with hiding the body, however, would feel arrogant and most definitely superior. It is this arrogance that disturbs me the most. Second, are Peterson’s answers, smirks and inappropriate laughter.

If you want my opinion, I suspect Peterson has been accomplished at deceiving others for many, many years. I suspect he is one of those people who can look you in the eye, and lie, and not flinch one inch. Furthermore, I suspect Peterson has learned the evil trick of the master deceivers–admit to some of the truth to keep them guessing!

Be cautious.

With that, I have reviewed the first video only at this point, but rest assured, it didn’t take long to see red flag after red flag. The review is long. I apologize. I didn’t have the time to go back through it, and cut it down.

Interview Review:

  1. When Matt Lauer talks to Peterson about the exhumation of his third wife, notice Peterson’s answer. At first, he said, “It’s a a shame her rest in peace has to be disturbed.” A minute later, he says, “But ah, I really…ah…have no opinion on…ah…”

    Then he says that …”if anything happened to her, then it should be found out. “

    Is Peterson just saying whatever he thinks people want to hear here? He changes his tune with the wind: “It’s a shame”, “I have no opinion”, “they should find out.”

    Is this how you would feel if your ex-wife was being exhumed on the suspicion of murder, if you had nothing to do with it? I can bet my bottom dollar, if you were innocent, you would react with emotions, feelings and opinions. Why isn’t Peterson showing any of these?

  2. When Lauer asks Peterson what his life has been like since the media moved in, notice how Peterson only reflects on his kids. He doesn’t talk about how horrible it feels to be wrongly accused.

    Why doesn’t Peterson direct the focus back to finding Stacy?

    He also has no emotions again. He only seems to feel the pain of having to deal with his two oldest children. It appears it has been an inconvenience for him to have to get them to school, and so forth, because of the media. That’s his only complaint: certainly strange.

    Why doesn’t he feel anger towards Stacy for running away and leaving him in this mess? It’s strangely missing.

  3. Matt Lauer (ML), Drew Peterson (DP)

    ML: They’ve (the police) have decided that you are, in fact, a suspect in this case (4th wife). Why do you think, in your opinion, they’ve changed their characterization of you?

    DP: I think they’ve always considered me a suspect.

    When Peterson says this, look at the arrogance. He is smirking, and swaggers his head with attitude. It’s mind boggling. Why is he cocky about this? It’s flat out inconsistent.

  4. Lauer talks about an email from Stacy to her friend about her relationship being manipulative, controlling and somewhat abusive.

    ML: What do you think she meant by that?

    DP: I don’t believe that’s her words. That doesn’t sound like a thingshe would say.

    Peterson says that he believes this e-mail was made up.

    His enunciation of the words “thing” and “say” stand out to me as unusual. It hints that he is spouting off the top of his head saying whatever comes to mind — not talking about what he believes to be true.

    Clearly, there are plenty of people speaking out about Peterson here to support that this was not made up. Lauer then plays a video of Stacy’s sister which clearly supports the fact Stacy was afraid, and to that Peterson has no answers.

  5. Lauer asks Peterson what is relationship was like with Stacy Peterson. This is interesting. Peterson talks very little about the positives of their relationship, and instead gets right to the heart of what bothered him the most. Drew Peterson talks about how after Stacy’s sister died, every day thereafter, life was an emotional roller coaster.

    It really bothered Peterson because later on in the interview, he talks about how his third wife, Kathy Savio, became emotional after she had children (time marker 8:58). He uses the word “again” which tells me he had issues with women when they were emotional–especially after they had children. It’s like women weren’t allowed to have emotions with Peterson. Or, he really resented hormones. This is telling, and it furthermore shows that he likely had no ability to empathize or sympathize with others–especially those he supposedly loved–when they were going through difficult times.

  6. Lauer asks if Peterson’s relationship with Stacy was ever violent. Peterson says “I don’t believe it was ever violent.” Lauer retorts back at Peterson when he should, by saying to Peterson it’s all or nothing here. It either is, or is not violent. Peterson is hedging here ,trying to paint a different reality when he says “I don’t believe it was…”

    Yet oddly, he admits that he would get in verbal confrontations with Stacy, that he would get into her face, and that she hated to be cornered. He also later admits that he had a one-up relationship with his third wife, that they each had to prove who was smarter. Did he have the same with Stacy?

  7. ML: You have said that Stacy came to you and said she was seeing someone else. That there was another man. And is it fair to say that you believe, Stacy, right now is with that other man?

    DP: She never told me she was seeing another man. The…ah…ah…well, maybe she did. But I believe she is with someone else right now.

    ML: Did she or did she not tell you she was seeing someone else, Drew?

    DP: It wasn’t put like that. She found somebody else.

    Good old argument of semantics: A trait of liars. Need I say more?

  8. Lauer talks about how Peterson has said that Stacy was a great mom. So then, asks Lauer, how does a good mom go off with another man, and never call the kids to see how they are doing, or to tell the kids that she is okay?

    DP: I don’t know. I can’t answer that.

    Peterson seems to say “I don’t know” a lot. I would expect more of an answer from someone who is wrongly being accused of a crime they know they did not commit.

    I would expect anger, pain, frustration and perhaps and answer like “I don’t know why she hasn’t called! She should. There is no reason for her not to. We will leave her alone if she’d just tell us where she is–all of this would go away!!!”

    Why aren’t we seeing any of it??

    * I can hear the responses now: He is a cop. He is trained to not show emotions. But you must realize that not all of our facial expressions are under conscious control. I should see some leaks of anger, pain, feelings of being violated by Stacy if she ran off, if they truly exist, but I do not see a hint of it. I do see anger at the media, and arrogance towards everyone except the media which tells a very different story than what Peterson wants us to believe.

  9. Lauer asks if Peterson has gone out, and helped in the search for Stacy. Peterson’s answer here is clearly off. He says the search would be “hampered” by all the media attention he would be getting, and two, why would he want to search when he doesn’t believe she is missing.

    Peterson is talking out of both sides of his mouth here. You either believe one, or the other. If you truly believe she ran off, you don’t even think about the search, and media because it is absurd–let alone come up with the ridiculous statement that you would detract from the search efforts!

    This statement is an absolute contradiction to what an honest person would never ever say, think or even consider.

    Also, has any suspect of a crime who has searched for their loved one detracted from the search in any way, ever? If anything, they keep the story in the news which draws attention to it. Peterson’s answer is pure nonsense.

  10. When Peterson says “She is where she wants to be.” It is just a chilling statement. If he truly believes she is with another man, why isn’t he pleading to Stacy to make her whereabouts known, even if confidentially to the police, to stop their ridiculous media frenzy?

    He should show some anger, but he doesn’t at a very key time. If she is messing up his life because she is in hiding with another man, he should be furious! He is not. It speaks volumes to me over, and over again.

  11. Regarding Kathleen Savio:

    ML: Now state officials are saying that it looks like an accident staged to cover a murder. What was your impression at the time when she died. Did you think it looked like an accident?

    Notice Peterson doesn’t directly answer the question. Instead, he tells you what he wants you to know. He is controlling the situation not recollecting things like honest people do.

    Peterson does say that he couldn’t tell if Savio was dead or alive.

    I’d be curious to know what Savio’s time of death was approximated to be. This could be telling.

  12. Peterson talks about how Savio, and him had a “one-up” relationship, where each partner was trying to prove he/she was more intelligent. This shows us several things. One that Peterson was an insecure guy. It also shows us that he was competitive, and had a need to be the smartest. He had an ego.

    Was he ultimately the smartest person in their relationship? It obviously was a goal of his. Notice how he smiles when he talks about it?

    He has no pain, or emotions when recollecting Savio’s death either. He is absolutely emotionless!

  13. Lauer asks Peterson what drew him to these women if they were both from troubled homes? Peterson says that they were both fun and exciting. Did kids then come along, and ruin the excitement, Drew?

    Children raised in abusive homes often end up in abusive relationships.

  14. ML: Can you look me straight in the eye and tell me you had nothing to do with the death of your third wife, Kathy, or the disappearance of your third wife, Stacy?

    When Peterson answers this question, he is absolutely bone-chilling. He doesn’t flinch, respond, or act in anyway that tell us he is being deceptive. Does that mean he is being honest? It does not.

    People who are psychopathic do not feel guilt or remorse, and hence they do not always leak facial clues. Essentially, what would emotionally arouse you, won’t arouse them. Psychopaths can be the hardest people to read because of this.

    In reading people who don’t feel guilt, or remorse, you must focus on inappropriate emotions, if they do display themselves, and inconsistencies in fact, which I believe there are plenty in this case to warrant further investigation.

  15. When Peterson says “Basically, I am not afraid of law enforcement” you see him smirk which I find as a sign of arrogance, like ha, ha. If he is innocent, why would he feel that?

    Instead, Peterson says he is afraid of the media, and he has been hounded by the media. This is his truth. The media is causing him pain. They are his aggravation: Not Stacy nor the police. This is all about the media. Strange, wouldn’t you say?

  16. Lauer points out that both women were known to be asking for a divorce, or in the process of a divorce with Peterson, when these situations arose.

    ML: Do you understand why people see a rather alarming coincidence here?

    Listen to Peterson’s answer. He talks about how Stacy always said she wanted a divorce after her sister died based on her menstrual cycle.

    Yet shortly after Stacy went missing, Peterson was quoted as saying “I believed our marriage was good, but maybe she didn’t.” (source). This is a clear contradiction.

    DP: “It was like every…any other moment when she was unhappy with something, she would want a divorce.”

    Is that statement even logical?

  17. ML: What are you most frightened about?

    DP: Basically, my legal defense.

    Shouldn’t he be afraid that Stacy won’t reappear again, and will instead remain in hiding for years like her mother supposedly did???

    Here you can see what bothers Peterson the most–the money that will be required to defend himself. He says it may cost a quarter-of-a-million dollars per case. He then asks for legal help. He says to everyone watching, if you want to represent me, call me!

    I believe the ONE and ONLY reason Peterson came on TV to do an interview was purely with the hope he will get free legal services. He knows if he gets good legal representation, NO ONE CAN HARM HIM, or take anything away from him. As a police officer, he knows good legal representation means freedom.

    If Peterson really believes that Stacy is out there, wouldn’t he be confident someone would spot her, that she would be seen or discovered and that nothing would come of this? Why doesn’t he attempt to find her?? Does he know better?

    Instead, he worries about his pocketbook.

  18. ML: Why do you think they (both families) would target you if they think you had nothing to do with either the death or disappearance of their loved one?

    DP: I don’t know. Maybe…they are even prompted by the media to say this or do that.

    This is absolutely nonsense. I can’t believe he was so arrogant to say this. Then he tries to implicate Geraldo Rivera, too.

  19. ML: If you were me, or if you were the average citizen…would you think you were guilty?

    DP: Based on the media coverage, I am as guilty as they come.

    Look at the smirking here. If you are wrongly accused, are you going to get joy out of this? Absolutely not. Another example of inappropriate emotions.

  20. ML: There are probably a lot of lawyers and legal experts out there right now saying this guy should not be sitting on this show talking to this guy right now while he is the subject of this investigation….Why did you decided to do this interview?

    DP: I’m doing all that I can…My God. Get the media off my back…

    Notice how mad Peterson is. Does he realize what Lauer just said is true–that he shouldn’t be on TV telling his side of the story? Does it piss him off?

    Why isn’t this anger coming out towards Stacy, if she is the source of his frustration, and he is innocent?

  21. Lauer talks about how Peterson could face life in prison or the potential for the death penalty.

    ML: Have you thought about it?

    DP: Yes. And it’s… a… frightening thing, but my family is provided for, my kids will be okay, they are with my brother and sister-in-law, and my son, and ah…I can go in peace if that happens.

    This stopped me dead in my tracks. If you are innocent, are you going to think that far down the road about the death penalty, and being put to death, if you are innocent?

    Hell, no, instead you’d be on a mission to bring that beast of a woman home with your own two bare hands!

    ML: And if Stacy is out there as you say, where she wants to be, perhaps with another man, perhaps even watching this interview — what would you stay to Stacy?

    DP: Come home. Tell people where you are (smile) and that’s all I can say.”

    Notice how he looks into nowhere when he talks to Stacy, and his lips move up, and sideways? Then he breaks out laughing because he truly thinks it is funny to talk to Stacy. His emotions are flat out inappropriate for an honest man.

    He should be furious with Stacy for putting him in this situation. Hell, I’d be begging across the airwaves, apologizing–doing everything I could to get my ex to come forward because the truth is all that could save me.

    Instead, Peterson laughs because it is weird, and odd for him to talk to someone, I suspect, he knows is not there.

    Does Peterson know the truth won’t save him?

Amanda Knox

You’ve probably heard the story that is breaking out of Italy this week. A British Exchange student, Meredith Kercher, 20, was found murdered in her bedroom, and one of the accused is American-born, University of Washington student, Amanda Knox, also 20. Both girls shared a house with other students while living abroad.

Reports are saying “Extreme Sex Game killed Meredith.”

Steve Huff over at True Crime Weblog details the story here, if you want to get into all the details.

Several papers have printed a statement made by Knox to police, and if this statement is true, I find it quite interesting and telling that perhaps Ms. Knox is not being forthright with us.

Read more Knox says:

“Patrick and Meredith were in Meredith’s room while I stayed in the kitchen. I can’t remember how long they were together in the room, but I can only say that at a certain point I heard Meredith screaming and I was scared so I covered my ears. After that, I don’t remember everything, my head is very confused.” (source)

Furthermore, there is this report:

Ms Knox made her “confession” to police when she was taken in for questioning at dawn yesterday. She had claimed earlier to have left the cottage at 5pm on Thursday and returned only the next morning when Ms Kercher’s body was discovered. She now admits that she was at the house. She said that on the evening of November 1 she had met Mr Lumumba, who owned the Le Chic pub where she sometimes worked, at about 9pm after they had exchanged texts. She told police they had gone to the cottage. “I don’t remember if my friend Meredith was already there or whether she came later. What I can say is that [Meredith and Patrick] went off together.” (source)

It has been pointed out to me that Knox’s statement may have been translated from English to Italian to English again. If this is the case, I withdraw any and all conclusions, as it is ESSENTIAL for me to have Knox’s words VERBATIM to make a determination (see comment section below).

If these are Knox’s words verbatim, the four-sentence statement (above) gives us many red flags that are hard to ignore.

  1. The choice of words “while I stayed in the kitchen” is indicative that Knox was somehow doing something with Patrick and Meredith…yet in the report above, she does not say she is. This is contradictory. “To stay” is indicative of “staying behind” as if to break away from the group.
  2. The words “I can only say” and “at a certain point” are unique as well. When we recollect a story, we don’t talk like this. When we are controlling facts and being deceptive, however, we do. We only remember details that are important to us, and forget the rest. Knox really wants us to know that she wasn’t in the room, but doesn’t remember anything else. How interesting is that?
  3. “I was scared so I covered my ears.” When people are afraid because someone is screaming, they typically react by (A) running away for help, or (B) running to the aid of the screamer. Fear evokes a response.You don’t ignore a fearful/terrifying scream from someone, and hope it goes away by covering your ears when you or they could be in danger…unless, of course you know the reason behind the screams — and know you are not in danger.
  4. “After that, I don’t remember everything” When people are deceptive, the often have a selective memory — remembering “only” what they want us to know and forgetting everything else. It’s so convenient. Too convenient — especially considering strong emotions should have been elicited by the screams — which in turn should have burned searing memories that can’t be purged, no matter how hard she tries. Yet Knox seems to only remember one selective thing. I’m not buying it.

If Knox wasn’t in the room participating in the killing, then her words (if they are indeed hers) certainly hint that she knew what was going on behind those closed doors. It hints she was involved with Patrick and Meredith, yet her story is leaving out any involvement with Meredith.

Each of these four sentences has a red flag in it. That’s a strong indication of deception. I don’t believe Knox is being honest with us –if these do in fact prove to be her words verbatim. That is now the question.

* Modification added 11/10/07 4:14 PM

To see more posts about Knox, click on the labels below.

Hans and Nina Reiser

Several people have asked me my opinion about Hans Reiser in the last few days. Apparently, 20/20 has returned to their normal scheduled time, and I didn’t realize it so I missed the show sadly. Furthermore, I had not seen this story in the news.

A reader pointed me to 20/20 where there is video of Hans Reiser talking about his missing wife. When I watched it, I was immediately troubled by Hans’ demeanor. It didn’t sit right with me.

When Jim Availa says to Reiser that his father and others say that Nina ran away and is alive and well, I don’t like the way Reiser says, “Well, this is very reasonable.”

Read moreHis voice is weak, and he shows fear and doubt in his expressions. If you believe something fervently, I would not expect to see this. Clearly, Reiser doesn’t believe with any certainty what he is saying here. This is a notable red flag for me.

I also saw in the 20/20 transcript text the following:

Asked if he thinks that Nina is alive today, Reiser said, “I think I’m a person who doesn’t know.”

Who talks like this? What is up with this guy? And he is a genius? One plus one isn’t equaling two here. This is another red flag — perhaps thinking-on-his feet behavior?

I also searched and found another video of Reiser here from an ABC news affiliate in California. In this video, Reiser talks about being a good father, a traditional father. When he does, he shows normal emotions and inflections when he talks. Yet when he talks about his wife later (time marker 1:00), Reiser is completely lacking emotions and voice inflection here. He is a blank slate when he says things that should provoke serious emotions for him. Yet strangely there is none. This is not normal.

I also wanted to see if I could find video of Reiser prior to the disappearance of his wife and I lucked out. I found a video of him here on YouTube talking about his Reiser4 Filesystem back in February of 2006. This video shows you what Reiser looks like when he is not under pressure. You see the real man. You see his baseline personality by which to compare his behaviors. In this video, while it is notable that Reiser is softer-spoken, we can see that he does show normal emotions, facial expressions and behaviors.

Why have they now changed?

If anything, I would expect his emotions to be more pronounced if he is wrongly accused of killing his wife — most specifically when he talks about her. I would expect him to say a lot more than he did. Stress evokes strong reactions. Instead, I see the exact opposite. I see a withdrawal and a lack of emotions which is another huge red flag for me.

Do I trust Hans Reiser? No, I do not.

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Updates added July 8, 2008:

Hans Reiser was tried and convicted by a jury in the Spring of 2008. On July 7, 2008, Hans Reiser led police to Nina’s body in exchange for a lesser sentence just two days before his sentencing hearing. To read more, click on the labels below to see all of my posts on Hans Reiser.
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Psychogenic (si-ko-JEN-ik) Seizure

As many of you know, the situation that is brewing in Indiana has kept my attention because there are a lot of strange events going on.

I was looking to see if any news came out this morning and I found this article which I think is interesting. The odds are getting more and more unusual day-by-day. In the article, it says:

…Dr. Kelley Parnell, a Richmond neurologist who published a detailed study on psychogenic or pseudo seizures in the Journal of Neurology in 1999 while completing an internal medicine internship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said Wednesday she’s never heard of the ailment causing death.

There is a very slight chance of death in an epileptic seizure, but ‘it is so rare,’ she said.

‘There may be some data on (death caused by psychogenic seizure) but I’ve never heard of it,’ she said.

Hmmmm… Anyone else find things to be strange?