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When investigators interrogate a suspect in a crime, they have to
pay careful attention to the process. Months or years of work on a
case can be lost when just one interrogation is run without forethought
and preparation.
I've conducted a few interrogations; profilers are sometimes called
upon to do this. But most often, their job is to help select and prepare
investigators from local law enforcement or state or federal agencies
-- often other FBI agents -- to question the suspect. By formulating
an approach that zeroes in on the suspect's weakness, profilers augment
the investigators' knowledge of the case with a script and setting
for the interrogation -- what I call "staging."
My first opportunity to stage an interrogation came in December 1979,
when an FBI agent in Georgia called me for assistance. He was investigating
the rape and murder of 12-year-old Mary Frances Stoner, who had disappeared
the previous week after a school bus driver dropped her off 100 yards
from her front door.
Darrell Gene Devier, who'd been trimming trees in the area the week
before, drove up just after Mary Frances got off the bus. He forced
her into his car and took her to the isolated, wooded area where her
body was found soon after she was killed. He raped her in the car
and was surprised to find that she wasn't going along with it. She
struggled and begged and cried, ruining the fantasy he had constructed
of what it would be like to have sex with her.
He couldn't let her go
He let her out of the car and told her to get dressed, but had decided
he couldn't let her go. When she turned her back to him, he began
strangling her, knocking her out while pushing her to the ground.
But he wasn't strong enough to choke her to death, so he lifted a
50-pound rock and dropped it onto her head again and again until she
was dead.
There were no witnesses. How did we know what had happened? By telephone,
I was given descriptions of the crime scene, autopsy results and the
victim's personality. From this information, I constructed a probable
scenario for the crime and a profile of the unknown subject, or UNSUB,
which turned out to be very accurate. I'll elaborate on this aspect
of profiling, which is probably the most well-known part of the job,
in the next column.
The police brought Devier in, but he was uncooperative, cocky and
evasive. His polygraph results were inconclusive. He felt confident
he could beat the system. The way we staged his interrogation was
going to be very important.
So I went to work and came up with a plan.
Setting the stage
First, a team made up of both local police officers and FBI agents
from the Atlanta field office would conduct the interview, which would
intimidate Devier and let him know this was a big deal.
Second, the team would question Devier in the evening, in a room with
dim lighting. The setting would relax Devier, which would make him
vulnerable to a key stressor that would be placed in the room (keep
reading).
Third, stacks of overflowing folders with his name on them would be
placed in the room. Even if the folders were filled with blank paper,
Devier would believe that this was a thorough investigation.
Fourth, they would bring up the issue of spattered blood. I knew from
other blunt-force-trauma cases that the murderer would've gotten blood
on his clothes and hands. If Devier was their man, he would respond
strongly to the mention of this.
Fifth, and most important, the bloody rock from the crime scene --
the murder weapon -- would be placed a few feet from Devier, 45 degrees
below his line of sight. If he was guilty, I knew he'd never be able
to keep his eyes off it. The interrogators wouldn't mention the rock
at first, but would allow Devier to sweat and sneak glances at it
while they talked about other aspects of the crime.
Transfixed by a bloody rock
The rock was his weakness, the key stressor he'd be unable to ignore.
Finally, I warned the interrogators that they'd have to sink to Devier's
level. They would need to project blame onto the victim by suggesting
that she'd seduced him. Allowing Devier a face-saving scenario was
their only chance of getting a confession because Devier knew that
Georgia is a death penalty state.
The instant Devier entered the interrogation room, he was transfixed
by the rock. He started sweating, breathing hard and cowering. As
planned, interrogators projected blame onto the victim. Devier got
really quiet. An innocent man will scream and protest, but a guilty
man will listen to what you have to say if you've surprised him with
a chance to save face.
Then they moved the rock, placing it on the table right in front of
Devier. They told him they knew he was guilty, but that they believed
he'd only planned to rape the victim, not kill her. They said others
thought the killing was premeditated, but they knew better and had
spoken with the district attorney. They said they understood that
he'd been frightened and acted suddenly, otherwise he would've brought
a real weapon instead of using ... a rock.
Boom. Devier confessed to the rape and murder of Mary Frances as well
as another rape the previous year. He was executed in 1995.
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