– Pietro Aretino
Case Overview:
Adam Saleh was accused and later charged with murdering an aspiring young model, Julie Popovich. Popovich disappeared from a college campus night club and was found three weeks later in a farmer’s field near Hoover Reservoir in Ohio.
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Marie K. wrote the following | 05.02.07 – 7:08 pm |:
You got another one. Adam Saleh was found guilty today on all counts but the most serious aggravated murder charge. He’s getting 38 to life in prison. While there wasn’t any physical evidence to link him to the crime, he made efforts to establish a false alibi, which, when discovered, convinced the jury of his guilt. I no longer disbelieve that lies can be discovered through body language.
Thanks for your comment, Marie. I didn’t know the verdict came in! I have been watching what little snippets I could find about this trial online because I’ve been getting comments this week, and I knew the jury was in deliberation, but I didn’t know a verdict had arrived.
Back in early February of 2006, another reader of mine asked for my opinion on this story. There was a good video of Saleh online. Saleh talked to a news reporter because he was detained for another charge that was subsequently dropped. Saleh talked on and on and on, and acted like he was a at a tea party instead of being questioned about a murder. It was clear he liked attention. It was also clear he was very intelligent. I gave my opinion and wrote about it here.
I had no knowledge about any of the facts in this case because at that time, Saleh was not charged with anything. Then slowly over time, Saleh was arrested and some facts came out. I wrote an update on it last summer. It didn’t look good for Saleh, but I like all of you, I watched eagerly at the edge of my chair wonder what the facts would ultimately support.
Would they support an honest person or would they support a liar? I believed Saleh’s actions, behavior, and expressions supported that he was lying, and I think the facts that came out in court clearly showed for everyone that Saleh was in fact lying.
Justice was thankfully served today for the Popovich family.
I called another person accurately as Marie says above by spotting deception before any facts were known. I will add Adam Saleh’s name on my list. That makes my total accurate calls NINE right to ZERO wrong (or 11 to zero if you count all three in the Duke University rape case).
Do know that I don’t add people in court cases unless I believe a reasonable person can clearly see the truth in a trial. Given the fact that Saleh, in the end, asked an undercover cop to give him an alibi — I think that speaks for itself. (With the Mary Winkler case, while I still don’t believe her, not everyone sees it so hence she is not on my list).
…but it makes for a quiet blog.
There are few stories in the news right now where people wonder what the truth is — so with that — if you see a local or national story that you are interested in a getting a second opinion on — don’t hesitate to tell me about it.
I just request that you send me a video link that clearly shows the person’s face when they talk.
– Michel de Montaigne
I think of the person who tells me that I look good when I know I don’t. Perhaps I have an outfit on that isn’t flattering, or a haircut that leaves much to be desired. For it is he, who says I look good when I don’t, that convinces me he has bad taste, and isn’t a good judge of such attributes.
So you may think you are being nice telling a political lie. I see it differently. I believe, instead, you are tarnishing your credibility.
Last night, the jury came back with voluntary manslaughter for Mary Winkler.
With that, I wanted to read the police report again, because I remembered something else that was a hot spot for me. But instead of finding the police report, I found Mary’s confession — which was transcribed as she spoke. You can find it here.
I find this document to be interesting. What Mary says seems to be inconsistent with a woman who accidentally shot her husband.
(1) “I don’t know of anything he specifically said or did to me to upset me, but I had an uneasiness about me. I remember not sleeping well.”
Usually when women reach their breaking point with their husbands, especially when they are abusive, there is a breaking point. There is a moment, a memorable moment that sets them off, that makes them snap. This is odd. Either this isn’t the truth, or perhaps she didn’t snap – but premeditated this?
(2) “The next morning, the alarm went off 6-6:30 and I got up. He was still in bed. I don’t think I left the room. He had a shotgun he kept in the closet just in case. I don’t remember going to the closet or getting the gun. The next thing I remember was hearing a loud boom, and I remember thinking that it wasn’t as loud as I thought it would be.”
If you shot your husband by accident, you don’t have any preconceived notions about how loud a gunshot would sound if you didn’t anticipate discharging it, would you? Doesn’t this hint at premeditation?
(3) “I heard the boom and he rolled out of the bed onto the floor and I saw some blood on the floor and some bleeding around his mouth. I went over and wiped his mouth off with a sheet. I told him I was sorry and that I loved him, and I went and ran.
I do remember me holding the shotgun, hearing the boom, and then the smell. He asked me why and I just said I was sorry.”
She was so calm, she just wiped away the blood — as if she was resolved to the outcome, wouldn’t you say? She obviously wasn’t in shock about what she just did, was she?
If she was truly boiling over from abuse when her husband asked her why she did what she did — would you expect that she would tell him? “You were a bastard! You deserved this!!” Perhaps she did — but she wasn’t going to admit to it?
Furthermore, if she shot him “by accident” — and he was still taking — why didn’t she call the police? She left him to die, knowingly.
(4) “Patricia came to the hallway and asked what was going on, and I told her Daddy was hurt and I told her we were leaving.”
She even has enough reason about her to talk rationally to her daughter and say that daddy is hurt. It obviously registered what she had done.
(5) “That Tuesday night, we had also talked about our finances that night. I had gotten a call from the bank and we were having troubles, mostly my fault, bad bookkeeping. He was upset with me about that. I was upset at him because he had really been on me lately, criticising me for things, the way I walk, what I eat, everything. I was just tired of it. I guess I just got to a point and snapped.”
I find the choice of the word “guess” interesting. You know you either snapped or you didn’t. You don’t guess that you did — for no apparent reason.
Does this sound like a woman whose husband was horrible to her? As I have seen this morning, Mary was involved in a check fraud scam of sorts — and if her husband knew about it as she suggests above — if he was abusive — don’t you think he would have really let her have it here? She is admitting it was mostly her fault, and she doesn’t say he hurt her in anyway. Earlier she even says “I don’t know of anything he specifically said or did to me to upset me, but I had an uneasiness about me. I remember not sleeping well.” This is a complete contradiction.
What a complete tragedy.
I have to admit, I double-checked the documents source — it seems so unreal.
