Diane Zamora on Dateline

Last night, Dateline NBC profiled the case of Diane Zamora. She was a high school girl and a young lover who whose boyfriend, David Graham, confessed to her that he had sex with another girl.

The situation so enraged Zamora that in her police confession, she admitted to police she told David Graham to kill this other girl. She also confessed to her involvement in the crime though she quickly took it back. Nonetheless, she was subsequently convicted on capital murder for the death of 16-year-old Adrianne Jones.

During this segment on Dateline NBC, Stone Phillips meets with Zamora ten years later because she says she never intended to kill anyone — and that confession she gave ten years ago? It was a big sack of lies. Phillips recollected years ago that Zamora said if she could take a polygraph, she would pass. Dateline decided to put her to the test.

Stone Phillips interviews Zamora about her story and then reveals the result of a lie detector test arranged by Dateline. The results? Diane Zamora was deceptive on the key questions on the test — though it could have been ruled inconclusive because she showed signs she was trying to fool the test.

With that, Dateline asked the audience if they believed Zamora. I am happy to report, the live poll on Dateline NBC clearly shows that people see through Zamora. Right now, 94 percent of the people polled, don’t believe Zamora is telling the truth. I suspect the majority of people don’t believe someone who makes a confession and then later retracts it. But furthermore, Zamora’s arguments were weak.

But putting the polygraph aside, can we tell if she is being honest or not by what she is saying to Stone Phillips? Are there any clues in her interview with Dateline that might indicate she is less than honest? I believe there are many clues and I will share a handful of them with you.

I happened to turn on the TV when the interview was nearly over as I was recording it — and when I did – I saw Zamora answer a question by Phillips.

Phillips: Despite the unusual breathing, here’s what the examiner found. We’ll—we’ll go through ‘em.

(1) Did you tell David to kill Adrian Jones? Your answer? No.

Zamora: No.

Watch it here. Video 5. Time Marker: 1:32

At this point in the interview, they are reviewing the results of the polygraph. As Phillips reads the questions from the polygraph aloud, Zamora answers them again in this interview in real-time. When she says no to the first question — amazingly she doesn’t shake her no in agreement. Instead, she shakes her head yes. She says no, but shakes her head yes. This behavior is odd and can be an indication someone is lying. It’s a contradiction between body and mind.

Zamora does it again.

Phillips: Many examiners, if they felt that you were altering your breathing and ignoring their warnings not to, would stop the test right there. I’m just gonna ask you very directly Diane, did you try to influence the outcome of this examination?

Zamora: No, I tried to keep myself calm.

Same video as above. Watch it here. Video 5. Time Marker: 3:39

She also shakes her head yes again when she says no here, too (it’s just a little more ambiguous):

Phillips: So you’re claiming she was not hit in the head when she left the car?

Zamora: No.

Watch here (Video 2): Start at time marker 00:44.

I also found this a little perplexing during the interview:

Phillips: Why did you go out there that night?

Zamora: I went out there to talk to her.

Phillips: Why? About what?

Zamora: ‘Cause I didn’t believe he was telling me the truth. And maybe I just didn’t wanna believe it. And now I know he was lying.

Phillips: But why go to those extremes? I mean, Diane, you’re hiding in the trunk of a car. You’re going out on this deserted lake. I mean, it almost just doesn’t seem to square with a story that you just wanted to go out and talk to Adrianne about what had happened.

Zamora: I didn’t know where it was gonna be. That wasn’t my choice. I didn’t know where we were go—where we were going.

Phillips: And what was the point of hiding in the trunk?

Zamora: He told me she wasn’t gonna wanna talk to me if I was there… which I can understand (notice she flashes a look of gloating here). If you slept with a guy’s girlfriend why are you gonna wanna to ….get… in a car (another gloating look here) with her there? …

Watch here (Video 1): Start at time marker 5:33

First, I find her word mix up interesting — “guy’s girlfriend”– but I am not sure it points to anything other than her nerves at this point. But if you look at what Zamora is saying, she is saying she only wanted “to talk to Adrianne” about what happened. Fine. Let’s take her at face value (though I don’t believe her). Let’s say that is all she wanted to do. Then why does she say this, “If you slept with a guy’s girlfriend why are you gonna wanna get in a car with her there?“

If you only want to talk to the girl — getting her into the car wouldn’t be important — but it clearly shows getting her in the car was important. You have to ask why. Her answer isn’t supported logically. In fact, her answer actually supports the story that she did in fact want to get Adrianne in the car for some reason. What reason might she have? It’s rather creepy.

During this interview, Zamora also:

• Varies the speed and tone of her voice. At times, she speaks faster and precise, and at other times, she speaks slower and softer struggling more for words. You can see a change back and forth, back and forth. Why? I suspect when she tells the truth she speaks differently than when she lies.
• She stumbles for words a lot. Why? Is she thinking things up as she talks — trying to remember contrived answers?
• Her answers aren’t always logical in multiple places throughout the interview, and that doesn’t make sense. Once or twice, we can overlook — but her answers repeatedly don’t add up. When we tell the truth, our answers do add up.
• Zamora also flashes a gloating expression (noted above) as if she is proud of what she did. Her expressions at the time they occur do not make sense, if she didn’t do anything. Why would she be happy or proud at that moment — unless perhaps she came up with a wise plan to trap Adrianne in the car — and she is proud of herself for it? What other reason would she have to gloat here? Play it in slow motion if you don’t see it.
• I also found it ironic that Zamora remembers her so-called false confession perfectly. When she recites a small segment of it to Phillips, it flows from her lips effortlessly. When you made up a supposed lie ten years ago — most people won’t remember it now. However, if you told the truth, it would be crystal clear in your head — even 10 years later.

There is just too much to write about. Do you think these items I pointed out above indicate potential deception?

Dateline has uploaded video of the entire show, if you want to watch it.