Howard (Ron) Beigler Cleared

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News reports from October 3, 2007, are now reporting that both ex-husbands of Paige Birgfeld have been cleared by police as persons-of-interest in her missing person case — even though Beigler was the last person to see Birgfeld before she disappeared.

If you aren’t familiar with the story, you can read my first post about it here.

Back in August, when Beigler was still considered a person-of-interest in this case, I wrote that I believed Beigler on ABC’s Family Secrets series when he said “I’m not the least bit worried about them coming after me for this.”

Police have now identified a formal suspect, Ralph Lester Jones. You can read details here. Unfortunately, Mr. Jones has not come forward and spoken publicly. If anyone sees him speak, please feel free to contact me.

Honesty

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When I see honesty, and I try to show other people, I am not always able to get what I see across to other people. I don’t know how to, actually. How do you, for example, point out sincerity when you see it? How do you identify a genuine expression?

It’s a bit of a quagmire for me.

When someone lies, I can usually point out the clues that I see that support my hypothesis, and usually people will see some of them. I can identify inconsistencies in fact, and behavior. I can point out smirks as well as smiles that don’t make sense, or that have odd timing. I can identify inordinate pauses in speech, strange word usage, or clues to fear when no fear should be present. But with truth, there is nothing to point out. There are no red flags, no oddities, nothing unusual. The behavior in question is normal, as expected. The emotions are genuine and sincere.

Read moreMany times when I watch people who are trying to identify honesty, I detect an emotional bias that skews their ability to register emotions, and facts correctly. Because of their belief system, they want to see something, yet no matter how hard they try to scale their fundamental beliefs, they are unable to do so. People will even speculate that the person speaking didn’t mean exactly what they said, and the person I am watching won’t think twice about rearranging the spoken words to make the message mean what they think it should mean.

Other times, people are not able to interpret emotions: they misinterpret the subtle expressions of sadness, and mistakenly assume that the sad person is callous and cold and showing no emotions. Many times, people miss the expression of contempt completely, as if it never had flashed before them.

One thing is for sure: I think our emotions are one of the biggest obstacles we have to seeing the truth. That is one reason I avoid writing about, or talking about politics and religion—two highly emotional subjects that no matter what is the truth, we will convince ourselves our beliefs are correct, and that others are misjudging the true meaning of what really is…

Wachovia Bank Robbery

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There is an interesting story coming out of Hollywood, Florida. Have you heard about the bomb-strapping bandits, again? No, I am not talking about the Brian Wells story — where unfortunately, Wells paid the ultimate price.

I am speaking about Christopher W. Ferreira, and his girlfriend Cindy Wade. Ferreira says three people came to his home, strapped a bomb on him — and made him rob the Wachovia Bank where he works as a teller.

Read moreWhen I saw the story break, I was able to see Ferreira on video as he sat waiting for the bomb squad to dismantle him. I write about the story in more detail at The True Crime Weblog –formerly CrimeBlog.US.

Several things struck me as odd right off the bat:

  1. Why was Ferreira wearing work-type clothes on his day off — while he was at home? This may be explainable or it may not.
  2. While I can’t see for sure, I don’t clearly see a bomb strapped to Ferreira. I wondered if perhaps the bomb is strapped under his shirt? If that is true, it makes absolutely no sense. Why would a robber take the time to strap a bomb under someone’s shirt? What purpose would that serve?
  3. Look at Ferreira’s body language as he sits waiting for the bomb squad. Remember Brian Wells? He was tense, afraid and nervous. Do you see that with Ferreira?
  4. I find it strange that the robbers who put Ferreira up to the robbery stayed at his home two hours before robbing the bank– planning it all out. Most professional robbers have a plan. They don’t create one at someone’s house, or depend solely on the insight of a teller — that’s way too risky.
  5. I also found it odd that the robbers depended on Ferreira to drive to the bank in his car. They had to be sure he had keys, gas, etc. I thought that was odd.
  6. I also find it interesting how Ferreira’s girlfriend comes home in the middle of all of this, and is just gets included in. Wouldn’t you expect that instead of hauling her with them that they would have simply tied her up and taped her mouth shut to get her out of the way? Wouldn’t she be a liability going with them?

As the story continues to unfold, it appears that after being questioned by police, Ferreira didn’t show up for another interview police scheduled with him. Instead, he hired an attorney and from what news reports say, now he isn’t speaking to the police anymore.

One of his co-workers said she believed Ferreira was a nice guy — but when you watch this video, you see Ferreira giving the media the finger. If you were innocent of a crime such as this — wouldn’t the media be your friend and not an enemy? If you spoke, don’t you think you could help bring witnesses forward to help in the search for these robbers? Why isn’t Ferreira using the media to help him? Why does he see them as his enemy?

While I can’t come to any conclusions, my eyebrows are arched up and high. This behavior is certainly odd and not what I would expect from a victim. Developments can still emerge, and put a new light on the situation.

If only Ferreira would speak. If you see him make a statement which I don’t suspect he will do, let me know.

Integrity and Honesty

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Honesty and integrity: They go together like the earth and moon. Where you find one, you will find the other. It’s an interesting mix, as both are related and somehow intertwined.

People who are honest, not only themselves but to others, have integrity. They stand strong on their word and in their actions, and will do everything in their power to be honorable. They raise the bar and challenge others—for the good of all.

People with integrity don’t struggle in a world of gray. They have definite boundaries for right and wrong. But don’t misinterpret this defining line: it doesn’t mean they aren’t of compassionate heart—quite to the contrary, they are compassionate, more so than the average person.

Read morePeople with integrity care not only about themselves, but also those around them, and that is what makes them honorable. That is what drives them to be truthful.

Truth is paramount in the world of someone with integrity—it rules supreme. It defines their code of ethics. It is their moral compass.

People with integrity don’t break pledges unless circumstances go beyond their control, and they expect the same from you. Let them down, and they will forgive you, but will not forget.

Put trust in the arms of people who have integrity, and you will get honest efforts—efforts to the bone of their existence. When they say they will do something, they will surmount big obstacles to keep their honor until they are no longer capable and able.

People with integrity don’t take words lightly, or use them without purpose. They say what they mean and mean what they say.

You will never hear a person with integrity berate someone—they just won’t do it. They will discuss the truth, however, within the boundaries of humanity.

People with integrity are self-assured, confident and know who they are. They are often passionate about life. They are honest, to their core. They are honest with others, but foremost, they are honest with themselves.

People with integrity are usually their own harshest critic. They stand out in a crowd.

When I see people with integrity— sincere, true and genuine integrity—I know I am looking at a person who I can trust, implicitly.

Two people who I have been reflecting on lately who place high value on integrity and honesty are Mehmet Oz and Oprah Winfrey.

If, due to some unforseen circumstance beyond my control, I had to place my life in the hands of these two people, I could close my eyes and feel confident that there would be no better hands at which to have to trust.

Who are others I would implicitly trust and who I believe have a high standard of honesty and integrity? Click on the label “People I trust” (below) to see who they are.

“Without integrity, there is no love”
Oprah

Melanie McGuire Diaries

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48 Hours this past Saturday ran the Melanie McGuire story. Thanks to the people on the Court TV message boards for letting me know it was on. You’ve asked for my opinion of the show, and I promised to share it with you.

I wrote my opinion about Melanie McGuire back when Primetime told her story in late June. After watching the 48 Hour video diaries episode of Melanie this past weekend, my opinion hasn’t changed. I still see a manipulative, psychopathic murderess.

The only thing that stood out in the 48 Hours show was that Melanie couldn’t hide her incredible hatred and despisal for those around her. Before the trial in the Primetime interview, Melanie was still hopeful she was going to get away with murder. Even when she started taping the video diaries, she was hopeful –playing her part of the innocent person — loving the attention — believing she could fool the world.

But as the trial went on, and it looked worse and worse for Melanie, she couldn’t contain her feelings. She realized she was losing control in her manipulative game and with that, expressions of pure hatred and despisal came over her. They flashed like wicked lightening.

If looks could kill, people would have dropped like flies in the courtroom and during interviews with 48 Hours. Her looks certainly caused my heart to race more than once. Did you see it?

It was bone-chilling as is Ms. McGuire.