Solved Cases 2

Analyst/D/Cpl. J.W. Wiggins reports that patrol officers responded to a report of a domestic disturbance with shots fired. Upon their arrival, officers were confronted with an apparently grieving husband who told them that during an argument that his wife had pulled out a pistol and shot herself in the head. The facts of the investigation indicated that the wife had probably shot herself, however, the investigating detectives requested that D/Cpl. Wiggins conduct a CVSA exam. The subject agreed and promptly failed the CVSA. The subject requested a second CVSA which he again failed. D/Cpl. Wiggins then began additional Defense Barrier Removal™ as taught by the NITV and the subject finally admitted that he had shot his wife and that the CVSA had been correct all along. D/Cpl. Wiggins states that “I believe that my use of the DBR™ and confronting the subject with his charts added greatly to the successful prosecution of this case.”

Analyst/Det. Ron Booker reports that an individual was brought into the station suspected of murdering his brother. Following an interview, Det. Booker states that he was convinced that, based upon his many years as an interviewer and the facts of the case, the subject was innocent. However, following four Deception Indicated (DI) charts utilizing the CVSA, he decided to fax the charts to the NITV for a ‘Cold Call’ as the subject was extremely convincing, consistent, and very well rehearsed. Without any details of the case, the NITV confirmed that the charts were deceptive. Det. Booker then interrogated the subject for three hours and the case ended with a full confession by the subject that he did, in fact, murder his brother. Det. Booker states that even though he has vast experience as an interrogator, he was fooled by this individual until the NITV and the CVSA saved him.

Analyst/Det. Pat Kemper reports that a 12-year-old girl accused a 31-year-old man of abducting her and attempting to have her perform oral sex on him. The suspect was questioned and the detectives became convinced that he was guilty and that he was very close to a confession. At this point, a CVSA exam was requested. Analyst/Det. Kemper, an 18 year veteran, was also convinced of the suspect’s guilt by both his verbal and nonverbal responses. However, the CVSA showed that the suspect was innocent. The investigating detectives then went to the victim’s house to question her again and she admitted that she had made up the entire story. Det. Kemper states that without the CVSA, the suspect would probably have been charged.

Analyst/Det. Terry Lankford reports that a 17 year old female alleged that she had been raped by three men following a party. Upon being asked to take the CVSA exam, two agreed and one refused. Both of the subjects that agreed to take the exam passed. The victim was then asked to take the exam to verify her story. The victim failed the test and finally confessed that she had consented to have sex with the three men and afterwards had become afraid that she might get pregnant. After talking with a girlfriend, they made up the story about the rape. Analyst Lankford states that “Through the CVSA, three innocent men were saved from being arrested and possibly going to prison, for a crime that they did not commit”.

Analyst/Chief Deputy Ron Smalldon reports that he was asked by detectives at a nearby agency if he would be able to conduct an examination on an individual who had been interviewed and cleared as a suspect by agents of the FBI and ATF of being involved in several pipe bombings. Unknown to them, the interview was tape recorded by a detective with the local agency and because he felt that the federal agent’s conclusions might be wrong, he requested that Chief Deputy Smalldon analyze the tape. Chief Deputy Smalldon felt that he clearly saw deception but due to the situation, he requested that several other analysts render a “cold call”. Each of the other analysts rendered deceptive results as well. Detectives from the local department re-interviewed the suspect and obtained a search warrant for his house where they found pipe bomb paraphernalia and arrested the suspect.

Analyst/Det. Don Bauman reports that he was contacted by Michigan authorities concerning an individual that they were holding on unrelated charges. The subject was suspected of many crimes in many states in the 1970’s, however, authorities had never developed enough evidence to make any arrests. The most notorious of the crimes was the brutal murder of an 87-year-old woman in Menominee, Michigan. The subject had been living in Palm Bay for the past 15 years without incident and, for all intents and purposes, had escaped justice. Det. Bauman was asked to interview the subject concerning the murder. During the interview the subject denied any knowledge of the murder and Det. Bauman offered him a CVSA exam which he agreed to take. After failing the exam and being confronted with two deceptive charts, the subject confessed to the murder and gave up the name of his accomplice who was still living in Michigan. The accomplice was immediately apprehended and the individual that was held by the Palm Bay P.D. and was extradited back to Michigan where he is currently awaiting trial for the murder that he committed 20 years ago.

Lt. Gresham reports that an individual reported that he was attacked by a woman after they had sex and that the woman severed his penis. Doctors were unable to reattach his penis. He stated that the woman told him that she was a friend of the woman that he was convicted of murdering in 1983 and that this was revenge for the murder. Police aggressively worked the case and received several telephone tips about the possible identity of the woman. While the victim was working with detectives on a sketch of his attacker, they requested that he take a CVSA exam concerning certain facts in the case. He agreed to take the exam and following two charts which clearly showed that he was lying about being attacked, the subject admitted that he had severed his own penis and made up the story about the woman.

Analyst/Polygraphist Det. Craig Ratliff reports that his agency was contacted by another law enforcement agency requesting a CVSA exam on a suspect that had been accused of sexual assault. The subject had taken a polygraph with that agency’s new computerized polygraph and the exam was inconclusive. The polygraph examiner then reported that the suspect was deceptive although he continued to declare his innocence. The alleged victim was the daughter of a high-level local government official, however, the detectives were concerned about the victim’s credibility. The suspect agreed to take the CVSA exam and his denials of any sexual assault were shown to be truthful. The resulting investigation revealed evidence that cleared the suspect and confirmed that the victim had lied about the sexual assault. That agency has purchased their own CVSA.