Devising A Plan

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I’ll never forget one memory I have of my dog Lucy that absolutely astounded me and I think it will astound you, too. Lucy was a brilliant dog on many levels, and she had one of the keenest intellect I have ever seen in a dog.

We were eating dinner one night about eight or nine years ago, and it must have been something Lucy really loved because out of the blue with total silence around us, she started to bark and went running to the front door. My husband I both looked at each other. It’s dark outside, and there were no noises, so we wondered what she was barking at.

Read moreOddly, she barked three or four times, and then came circling around the living room and back into the kitchen–promptly sitting in the beg position, where our other dog Charlie had previous sat. He was now barking at the front door endlessly convinced someone was out there. We figured we just didn’t hear whatever it was, and we went back to finishing our meal, which included sharing nibbles with each dog, but now Charlie was out in the entry way barking–missing his share, and Lulu was now getting bites from both my husband and me. At first I didn’t pick up on it.

Then as Charlie returned because no one materialized, our little rascal Lucy did it again. She ran off around the living room this time, which was not a direct route to the front door, and started barking again. It was odd behavior.

This time I decided to figure out what this was all about, so I hightailed it in behind her and watched her, unknown to her. What I saw perplexed me. She stopped barking for a second, and stood there looking around. She didn’t look out the door like she normally did. Instead, she looked left and then right, and then barked again off into nowhere. If you weren’t paying attention, you might have thought she flipped her lid mentally. But when she saw Charlie, who was always slower to come running around the corner, she turned around like “Good! I gotta ya, fool!” and took off back to the kitchen with intent and purpose!

I was like,”What the heck is going on here?” She startled when she ran into me in the doorway to the kitchen, watching her. I could sense this feeling of “Oh no” from her and out of the blue, she turned back to look at the door and barked once again as if to say there really is something out there. Then she looked at me. I wasn’t buying it!! It was clear to me there was no one out there, and she and I both knew it. She then promptly followed me into the kitchen and proceeded to beg.

When something is outside, she is usually so roweled up that we can’t pull her away from the door for anything. I knew instantly there was a change in her behavior.

At first I was perplexed, but as soon as Charlie came in again to get his fair share and she ran off barking again, I saw a pattern. She realized if she could fake Charlie out with a false bark, he would get distracted for a reasonable amount of time, and she could then go and get his nibbles because he was out of the kitchen. She’d get twice the bites– because now she could beg from both of us, without any competition. We watched poor Charlie go barreling to the front door, thinking she had sounded a true alarm, and he’d bark for 4 or 5 minutes before finally giving up and realizing he was missing food.

Our little stinker Lucy devised a plan, and must have realized that if she lied and acted like there was someone at the door, her slower companion mutt would fall for it, and she would get all the goods! We watched her repeated it several more times. Her body language was clearly “off” as was the tone of her voice for an alert bark at the door. She was trying to fool all of us and nearly did!

Science has uncovered that animals lie in the wild to gain the upper hand when it comes to food, mating and survival. Here is an article that talks about deception in the animal world. Who knew Dolphins lied, too? Have you ever seen your dog pull a fast one?

My Thoughts on Matt Baker

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If you watched 48 Hours last night, they re-ran the story of Kari and Matt Baker and added an update at the end. Several people have e-mailed asking my thoughts.

Here are all of my thoughts on the case. Scroll to the bottom to read the first post.

Two Cases: You Decide

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I have been struggling about how to classify two cases lately. The first case is Daniel Wade Moore. He was tried three times for the murder of Karen Tipton. In the first trial, he was convicted and sentenced to death, but that was overturned. The second trial ended with a hung jury, and last time around he was set free and found innocent. I wrote my first opinion about the case after the first trial was overturned here. Now, today, Moore is a free man.

Read moreThis case is not cut and dry, even though I feel justice was finally served. I did not believe Moore committed this crime long before he was set free, but I am not sure how we should classify this case. I am looking for your help. What do you think?


The second case is regarding the Stanley sisters, Erin and Kelly, from Indiana. Both girls, who were teenagers, ended up dead six days apart. Both girls died at home when their parents were present. Both girls died at night. In a surprise twist, the boyfriend of Erin, who died first, James McFarland, was charged with murdering both girls yet McFarland wasn’t even known to be at the house when Kelly died. He was in the bedroom with Erin when he realized she wasn’t breathing right and summons for help. The arrest was shocking and didn’t make any sense, and I stood firm on that from the beginning, even though I never saw McFarland speak publicly. You can read my thoughts on the case here (scroll down to read my first post). In 2007, when McFarland was arrested, I spoke out about my concern. In a strange twist, in early 2009, he was released and all charges were dropped.

How should we classify this case?

48 Hours Updates Kari Baker Story Tomorrow

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48 Hours: Did this bright young loving mother really take her own life?
Or, did her preacher husband commit the ultimate sin?

Set your DVRs for 48 Hours tomorrow night. They are airing an update to the Matt and Kari Baker story at 9:00 CST.

To read more about this story, click on the labels below.

My Thoughts on the Admitted Liar

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In my last post, I shared a comment from someone who called themselves a pathological liar. I want to say that I have no exceptional skills here to identify if this person is legit or not by these few words alone. I can only look at the words they write, like everyone else, and see if they fit with people who I have known in the past who are chronic liars. When I do that, the words written do ring true and are believable for someone who is a chronic liar. I personally don’t think this comment by “Liar Liar” was a hoax.

Flame projected in eye of senior man, close-up

Read morePeople who lack a conscience seem to be aware they don’t feel guilt or remorse, and know they are missing this emotion. They know they are unique and different. Yet in a twisted reality, I think it is this conscious understanding of their difference that becomes their biggest tool. They seem to realize people who feel remorse, compassion and empathy are excellent targets to use in their quest to get anything their heart desires. If they can find the right people, they can target their wants and needs, and meet them twice as fast than honesty would ever allow.

I believe there are high-functioning super liars that live among us and dupe more people than we’d ever want to know. I have witnessed more than a handful in my lifetime and what makes a super liar is not only a lack of a conscience (empathy or sympathy), but a keen wit to keep facts straight and an exceptional understanding of human behavior. If one possess these three traits, they are quite dangerous, because they will lure and use most of the population without anyone being the wiser for many years, if not a lifetime. It’s flat out chilling to witness.

I have witnessed normal everyday, honest, trusting smart people fall into the spell of a chronic liar/manipulator more times than I care to admit, and more often than not, with highly-skilled liars, the victims are absolutely clueless. I have seen communities rally behind these people, because they buy the lies they are fed.

I have even tried to pry open the eyes of honest people in these circumstances only to get rejected by them, because the chronic liar long ago sniffed me out as a threat, and painted me as evil before I ever spoke up. Super liars are even challenging for me. Their game plans are well thought out and executed to prevent people like me from exposing them. They are usually one step ahead of everyone, most of the time.

You must remember, these cruel people know how to role play better than everyone else in society, and they will play the parts they need to in order to accomplish their goal. They will elaborate great schemes to get what they want, because in the end they don’t feel remorse. They actually get an emotional high that they outsmarted everyone and that no one is the wiser. This game of cat and mouse is what continues to drive them, and ultimately what creates their superior self-image of arrogance. It gives them great confidence, which is a natural tool to gain the trust of others. They find it fun to outwit, outplay, outlast and outsmart their opponents, and often up the ante over the years to chilling levels, because they get away with it for so long.

Think of Hitler. Think of other evil dictators who came to power. They didn’t come to power being evil. The evil only surfaced once they established a trusting base that they later could manipulate.

People who are capable of great evil are the ultimate chameleons of our society. They quickly judge, assess and pick their soldiers, charting them on mission where the true motivator is disguised in fancy fluff, so they can win their personal war and achieve their personal goal with precision, speed, accuracy and ease.

But what is interesting about these people, as “Liar Liar” wrote, is that they do feel pain. They feel their own pain and that pain will often cause them to lash out with evil intent. These people are usually very vindictive, even if they do it anonymously or in private. Their pain can often be their downfall, because it fuels their desire for revenge, and revenge without a conscience is what ultimately exposes their evil deeds to the average trusting person, but often it is too late, and the victim by this point has usually paid the ultimate price.