Italian Court Overturn’s Knox Conviction

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Amanda Knox got word today she is a free woman as Italy’s highest court overturned her conviction.  There is no doubt she is a happy woman.  The Meredith Kercher family, however, must feel disappointed.

While I think the Italian courts made a mockery of the case with wild speculation and outlandish claims that were not based on evidence, but rather whimsy, I still don’t believe Knox was innocent and uninvolved.    There are so many elements over the years that give me great pause with her and make me not trust her.

I believe she knew a lot more than she ever revealed and still do.

Feel free to click on her name in the tag above to see some of the posts I have written over the years.

If enough people have interest, I can re-summarize why I don’t believe her. Let me know if you are interested below.

I hope Meredith Kercher’s family finds peace.

 

 

 

 

Looking at Andreas Lubitz

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You have probably already heard the news of the Germanwings pilot, Andreas Lubitz, who is now being looked at for intentionally slamming the plane he piloted and that carried 150 passengers into the mountain.

Why would a man do this?

A capable man who held a respectable job?

It’s mind-boggling.

Lubitz locked the captain out of the cockpit, experts speculate, and put the plane into a direct descent into the mountain.

When I look at Lubitz in photo (no longer available), I see a man who shows great neutrality in his face. This means he is not one to be emotional or act out emotionally. He was likely neutral in most of his interactions with people and in life.

This attribute can actually contribute to a superior pilot because a person like this isn’t driven by fear, or reacts to fear in the ways most people do, so he will react well under pressure. He and people who are emotionally neutral simply have a different emotional make-up. It can be good or it can be bad. It can have different manifestations.

Someone who is emotionally neutral may experience life on a very even-keel, or they could experience a void–a lack of feeling emotions all together–where they are checked out and removed–apathetic. There can be various reasons for this.  Both would lead to different personalities. I’d need more information to see how it could affect Lubitz.

I also see a gullibility in his face, and perhaps a lack in his sense of self.

When I saw that, it stopped me dead in my tracks. What that could mean caused my heart to stop.

Someone who is gullible could fall under the manipulation of someone sinister, right?

It can’t be ruled out. I am not saying this did or did not happen, but it has to be considered.

Was there some undercurrent in Lubitz life that people are unaware of? I would certainly want to investigate it.

Predators prey on people’s weaknesses.  Psychopaths are notorious for spotting people’s weaknesses instantaneously.

Have we ever thought about testing pilots, in today’s age, for gullibility? I mean we could have an outstanding and technically skilled pilot, but what if in other areas of his life he was unsure and susceptible to outside influence? This is a vulnerability.  I don’t think the prevalence would be high, but it could have some statistically significant where we might not want to ignore it.

I am not saying that is what happened here, but it is a possibility.

What other things can you think of that would have caused this man to drive a plane into a mountain and kill everyone including himself?

We have to assume he underwent regular mental health check-ups that would spot obvious signs of mental illness. I wonder when his last mental health check was?

Feel free to discuss this below.  This blog is about understanding human behavior and deception, which appears to be very applicable to this sad story.

Expression of the Day (3-23-15)

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What do you see when you look at this boy’s body language and stance?

48 Hours: Bruce Beresford-Redman

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I have yet to watch 48 Hours from last weekend, but I have heard and seen that Bruce Beresford-Redman has been convicted of killing his wife Monica in Mexico in 2012.  You can watch the show above. If the link doesn’t work, you can click here.

I teach this case in my class and wrote about it on my blog back in 2012 when this case came to light that I did not trust Bruce.  Now a jury agrees.

Yet Bruce is still clinging to his innocence. I’m really curious to see if he makes more slips in this show!

You can read my original analysis of Bruce back in 2012 here.

Bruce was convicted on March 12, and given a light sentence of only 12 years.

“The Jinx”: Robert Durst’s Confession

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This is quite the fascinating clip of Robert Durst (no longer available) talking to himself after taping The Jinx. He forgets to take off his microphone when he goes to the bathroom. Can you imagine the faces of the producers when they go to edit the recording and find this? How I would have loved to been a fly on the wall! To say they were stunned would be an understatement!

This is a golden piece because its almost never that we get to hear a suspected murderer debrief with himself and let out his real thoughts after an interview! And that is exactly what we are hearing. His mind is running through everything that happened and he is having a “wholly shit” moment!

It would be hilarious, if three people hadn’t ended up dead!

Clearly Durst enjoys the cat and mouse game, and outsmarting other people, or he never would have done this interview!

I wish I had HBO so I could have seen this. Unfortunately, I don’t and didn’t see any of this show.

I find the very beginning of this clip the most revealing and damaging when Durst says, “There it is. You’re caught. You are right of course, but you can’t imagine.”

Ouch. I think that speaks volumes of his guilt and involvement.

But in the end when he says, “What the hell did I do?” and he replies, “Killed them all, of course.” Was he flippant or serious? The tone of his voice intrigues me here. Did he kill two out of three? Was someone else involved and hence he doesn’t feel responsible?   I found that statement completely intriguing!

I’d like to watch more of him to see his behaviors to see if I can understand the meaning of that last statement better!

ROBERT DURST’S BLINKING: IS IT A TELL?

Robert Durst blinks a lot in the interviews and some have pointed out that its a sign of his lying. It’s a tell.  But is it really?

The only way to know is to watch Durst talk–when we know he is telling the truth.  When he tells the truth, he shouldn’t do it.

Does he pass this test?   My answer to that question is no.

In this clip of him which is full of him squinting/blinking/shoulder shrugging, Durst says, “I did make mistakes.”   That would be a true statement, correct?

When he says that, watch him.  He does the tic.  Again.  So it doesn’t seem to support this is a tell. It supports that it is a behavioral tic.

I have only seen one person who had this tell in well over a decade of watching people, so be very cautious when you think a behavior like this is a tell. It probably is not.  Blinking occurs for several reasons and you must rule out other reasons before you could ever say this is a clue to deception.