Monday, June 25, 2018

Exercise: Amazon Deceptive Reviews


Analysts and hobbyists are always looking for examples from which to improve their skills. Although most people who enroll in training do so with some future considerations of professional use, others do so to further their own personal growth and...

everyone hates being lied to.

We've examined Amazon reviews previously as an exercise in lie detection and we have noted:

1. Shill Reviewing
2. Paid Reviewing

The Paid Reviewing is where Amazon sellers gave away free products in exchange for positive reviews.  When a less than positive review was posted, the seller wrote to the reviewer.  Several of these were posted including one consistent:

"I am a single mother of two children and I will lose my job if you post a negative review.  What can I do to make you change your mind?" as a general theme. Most of these are in "google-translate" English. 

The Shill Reviewer is the company reviewing its own product, posting as customers. 

Here is a very inexpensive home blood pressure monitor.  At the time of this posting, it has 100 reviews:

all 5 Star.

What do you find when you review the reviewers?

Post your findings in the comments section. 

Link:  100 Five Star Reviews! 

You are seeking to answer a general and necessary question:

Is this a good product for purchase? 

With this particular product, your finding may be critical to a customer's health. 

Deception presupposes contempt. The liar believes you and I to be incapable of discernment. 

What can you tell the public about your findings?




Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Missing One Year Old: Updated Analysis

Shaylyn Ammerman (Provided Photo/Jessica Mae Stewart)

Sometimes investigators and analysts will ask for a sample of a truthful statement or of an innocent mother's statement to compare to others, including Kate McCann. 

There are not many found online because they do not create news.  Here is a very short statement by the parents of a missing child in which the father did not give us enough to go on, but the mother showed indication of concern for her child, which suggests belief that the child is alive. Regrettably, the child was raped and murdered and the killer found. News: 



Kyle Parker, 23, who was charged with murder, rape and a slew of other felonies in the girl's death. Of the three people questioned with polygraph machines, two failed.
That left one option: Offer a plea deal.
Owen Circuit Court Judge Lori Thatcher Quillan accepted the agreement after a hearing during which she expressed disgust for Parker, but said the risk that he could walk free was too great if she rejected the deal.
Quillan sentenced him to 60 years in prison, per the agreement. Parker pleaded guilty earlier this month to murder and kidnapping, and will serve 60 years for the murder and 16 for the kidnapping. He will serve the sentences simultaneously. The plea agreement also stipulates that Parker will register as a violent offender, but not as a sex offender.

  Consider mother's statement compared to DeOrr mother and father.  These are limited statements.  Even in a single statement, the mother expressed concern, not for herself, but for what her child might be experiencing.  This was not heard from in other cases, including, Madeleine McCann,  Baby Ayla, Lisa and above mentioned DeOrr, in spite of his parents speaking extensively in an interview.  Neither expressed any concern over DeOrr's condition or care.  


Investigators have been searching for 14-month-old Shaylyn Ammerman since Wednesday morning. Shaylyn is described as 20 inches tall, 20 pounds, blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing white zip-up pajamas with an owl design and carrying a “Winnie the Pooh” blanket.

She was in the care of her grandmother and father Tuesday in their Spencer home, according to Indiana State Police. The mother and father are not together but share custody of Shyly.

Police say the child has now been missing for more than 24 hours and they are worried.

Tamera Sue Morgan, the girl’s grandmother, told police she put Shaylyn to bed and last checked on her around midnight Tuesday in a home in the 400 block of West Jefferson. When Morgan checked the crib in the morning, she told police the child was gone.

“The first feeling was panic,” Morgan said. “‘Where is the baby, she can’t get out of her baby bed so somebody had to take her.'

Note the contemplation of what occurred to the baby instead of "I have no idea" which is often heard when a subject does not want to give information. We all have lots of ideas about most of everything in life. Here, the grandmother identified panic and then immediate reasoning taking into account the baby's age. This is to show alert hormonal response, even from grandparent.  


Morgan said she won’t stop at anything to find her granddaughter. She was putting up signs Thursday morning. Next we see "impotence" from the parent or grandparent. This is where the parent (in this case, grandparent) has a broken pattern. 

The parent feeds the child when hungry.
The parent changes the child when messy.
The parent soothes the child when the child falls. 
Suddenly:  the parent is left bereft of the fulfillment of natural instinct: 

I’m going stir crazy at home. I’m not getting any information whatsoever from anybody so I’m just going out and trying to spread the word as far and as wide as possible,” Morgan said. “I am very concerned. It’s been so long since we’ve seen her. I’m just so scared to death of where she’s at, if she’s safe, if she’s being taken care of.”




Police said several people were at the home the night Shaylyn disappeared. Officials said they have interviewed several witnesses including family of little Shyly. This is important when looking at the short statement of the father. 


We like to hear parents express concern for what the child is experiencing at the moment the statement is made.  This is the father's quote and then the mother.  

“Just shocked that somebody would do this to me. I have no idea why or what’s going through somebody’s mind that would do this,” said Shaylyn’s father Justin Ammerman. “I’m going crazy. I don’t know what to think.”

a. "just shocked" is without commitment. Without the pronoun "I", we cannot say he is "shocked" since he does not say it. 

This raises the concern regarding who he associates with. 

He considers this done to him.  He does not know what to think after telling us what he thought. He puts the brakes on thinking (unlike grandmother) by having "no idea why" someone would do this.  When taken with the sentence beginning without the pronoun "I", we wonder if: 

He does, indeed, have some ideas regarding those he associates with. 

"To me" may indicate feeling of failure of father to protect. 

  No remark about care for child, but the quote is very short.  From this alone, I would question his associates closely as well as explore with him why he thinks this was done as a grudge. In other words:

In his perception of reality, those near him are capable of kidnapping for a grudge. 

Few of us might think this in our lives. 

Ammerman said he didn’t have people over Wednesday night, and he thinks someone took his daughter from her crib in the middle of the night. He now engages the idea process.  

“I don’t know who in their right mind would do this,” he said. “Somebody’s got a big grudge over us. I don’t know who it is, but they better confess and give my baby back.”

It would be someone not in their "right mind" that would do this. 
Also notice that 'confess' comes before 'give' in his language.  
He does not here express concern for what the child is experiencing at the moment.  It was done to "him" and "better confess and give my baby back" suggests, in order, that he sees this done to him and he is responsible. He does not issue a threat, but it may be implied. 

Here is the mother:  

Jessica Stewart, the girl’s mother, spoke to 24-Hour News 8 Wednesday evening.
She said her daughter’s blanket and diaper bag are also missing.

Next, this mother is concerned about the baby's comfort, at this moment in time, while missing:  

“I’m hoping that whoever has her is taking care of her and will bring her back home safe,” Stewart said. “I’ve got a bad feeling since talking to the cops today and I am hoping I am wrong.”

Stewart also said she knows of no one who would want to take the child. We don't have a quote, but my guess is this:  her friends are different than the baby's father's friends. 

“I just want her home,” she said.

Here the mother is concerned for the very thing a mother should be concerned about; in the moment. Recall in the early McCann interviews that this was missing. The same concern was missing from other parents indicated for guilty knowledge. 

Next, note the dent in denial/confidence, is explicitly caused by what was said in conversation with police. 
The word "just" is a comparative word of reduction, as to say "only"; her sole 'want' or desire is to have her home.  

Then note the unnatural pessimism is assigned as caused by the knowledge police gave her.  Yet even here, there is hope against it. 

The word "just" is a dependent word in which we know the subject is thinking of something else.  In context, it is related to what police told her. 

This did not end well. 

A sex offender was charged with the child's  murder. 

What did we learn from the statements?

1. Mom showed no signal of guilty knowledge that the child was dead. Instead she showed concern for the present circumstance of the child.

2. Mom assigned "blame" of pessimism upon why police told her. 

3.  Dad indicates some guilt over not protecting the child ("to me") and some sensitivity about those of whom he was associated with. 

4. Grandmother, who was caretaker at the time, showed immediate processing of information, like a machine, to facilitate information to lead to the child's recovery. 

Although these are very limited quotes, we do see, especially in the mother, a natural and expected reaction:

"I hope someone is taking care of her" which is to show concern for the child while the child is missing. 

This is something that may be absent from those who know their child is beyond helping or human care. 





Sunday, June 17, 2018

Happy Father's Day: Those Wintry Sundays



"Those Wintry Sundays" is still one of my favorite poems after all these years from Robert Hayden. 

To all dads,

from Peter and Heather: 

Happy Father's Day! 








                             Those Wintery Sundays

                                   By Robert Hayden


“Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he’d call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?”

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Roger Kearney: Wrongful Murder Conviction or Embedded Admission


A documentary on BBC TV  about a possible miscarriage of justice for a man imprisoned for life for the murder of his girlfriend he was having a secret affair with gave us quotes for analysis. 

Did police get it right?

Or has a man been in prison for more than 6 years for a murder he did not commit? 

In the murder of Paula Poolton by Roger Kearney, the documentary reported that there was  was no forensic evidence, only circumstantial evidence upon which he was convicted. We listen to him speak. He should plainly tell us,

"I did not kill Paula" and even with years of processing, this should be the psychological wall in which he remains behind, with no possible alternative reality. If he did not kill her, he did not kill her. 

Period. 

If asked, "Why should you be believed?", we expect to hear the basis of truth as asserted. 

If he said: 

"I did not kill Paula. I am telling the truth" to investigators when first arrested, it is 99.9% reliable. 

Yet, even after years, we find an avoidance of the reliable denial. 

When asked if he had killed her, he said the following: 

"I can guarantee you that I did not do what they said.

"I've got nothing to hide." 

 "I've got nothing to be ashamed of."

In the part two of the documentary he gave us a larger statement for analysis. 

"One thing I wanted to say to you umm from the last time we spoke was the fact ah, you were concerned that if it came up that I actually killed Paula sometime in the future that it ah would make you look bad. Well ah really, I understand that. I you actually feel that I ah possibly could have done, I ah, I wouldn't blame you if you dropped my case at all but I assure you, I don't think you'll find any evidence to support the police and I promise you that I did not kill Paula, that's all I can say."

The denial comes after several programs and after 6 years in prison. 

Lets look at them all with the longest statement last.

1.  "I can guarantee you that I did not do what they said.

This is to avoid issuing a reliable denial ("I did not kill Paula") while specifying "what they said."

It is very likely to be true that some things that were said it court were not accurate. 

Except the actual killing. 

"I've got nothing to hide." 

Is another avoidance of a reliable denial and it is to enter into an expansion of time, very likely before the killing of Paula. It is also something that investigators see as an invitation to search. 

 "I've got nothing to be ashamed of."

This is actually making his lack of denial more pronounced:  it is to say "she deserved it."

Killers often blame the victim. In Statement Analysis, we look for this human nature guilt issue of assigning blame to a victim. In his statements, there is very likely to be some degrading, insulting or shifting of responsibility to the victim in his language. 

2.  "One thing I wanted to say to you umm from the last time we spoke was the fact ah, you were concerned that if it came up that I actually killed Paula sometime in the future that it ah would make you look bad. Well ah really, I understand that. I you actually feel that I ah possibly could have done, I ah, I wouldn't blame you if you dropped my case at all but I assure you, I don't think you'll find any evidence to support the police and I promise you that I did not kill Paula, that's all I can say."



 "One thing I wanted to say to you umm from the last time we spoke 

Here we have "one thing I wanted to say to you" is very personal to the journalist. This is something very important to the subject. It is not "I didn't kill Paula" but more important to the subject that that. He wants this to be first and it is something he is in earnest to share. 

Why?

He does not make us wait long to tell us why this one thing he wants to say. 

Pronouns are critical.  Note that "we" indicates a unity between two subjects: the accused killer and the journalist. 

The subject (accused killer) has a perception of reality that unites, in a positive way, himself with the journalist. It is a closeness he feels at the time of this statement. 

The journalist may have gotten him to talk via Ingratiation. The pronoun "we" indicates success.

Enter into the subject's verbalized perception of reality.  He sees himself unified or possibly even close friends, with the journalist. 

What does this unity produce?

was the fact ah, you were concerned that if it came up that I actually killed Paula sometime in the future that it ah would make you look bad. 

a.  This statement was produced by the unity between the subject and the journalist. 

b.  The subject is concerned about the well being of the journalist. This is a "positive linguistic disposition" towards the journalist. 

Now we deal with the language: 

"If it came up that I actually killed Paula" is an embedded admission. 

a. First note that the word "if" allows for the possibility of murder. 

Those who did not commit murder (or something of this elevated nature, including child molestation) will not allow for it as a possibility.  It is rejected because it is false and the emotional heightening comes from the accusation.  It is not to say, "if I had stolen $10 from you..." but is murder. 

The subject is allowing for the possibility of guilt.  We will not contradict him. 

b. "if it actually came up" is distinctly not the quote (or even the thoughts) of another. He did not say, "you said that I killed her" or even "police said that I killed her."

There is no "linguistic genesis" from another. 

It comes solely from the subject. 

It is wording produced by the subject. 

"people say that I killed Paula" is to report what people say.  This is not the case.  He is instigating the scenario and articulating it from his own personal subjective internal dictionary.  

This is what an embedded admission looks like. 


Well ah really, I understand that.

c. He affirms the embedded admission allowing for understanding of "it to actually come up" with the pronoun "it" indicating proof, evidence, etc.  

d.  "actually" is produced by the pronoun "we";  at the time of this statement, the subject believes the journalist believes he did not do it.  "Actually" is a comparison of two or more thoughts.  Here, the context tells us of the supposition of innocence. 

Believing them to be unified, he must make sure his "friend" does not entertain doubt. 


 I you actually feel that I ah possibly could have done

He allows for the journalist to entertain doubt, and he wants the journalist to know:


I ah, I wouldn't blame you if you dropped my case at all 

They would still be "we" if he dropped the case.  They would still be friends, or unified and it is, in the language of the subject, something "understandable" to believe in his guilt. 

This is the language of manipulation.  

We often find this in addicts. 

The victim died of 7 stab wounds, which is a very "personal" and "intrusive" crime. 

It is brutal and it is unclose. 

There is no linguistic connection between this brutal unclose personal murder and innocence. This is the "greater context" in analysis. 

His allotment of "understanding" as lesser context, indicates a willingness to accept the crime, in exchange for friendship.  

He "assures" the journalist


but I assure you, I don't think you'll find any evidence to support the police and I promise you that I did not kill Paula, that's all I can say."

This is not to say "You will not find evidence because none exists. I did not kill Paula."

Instead, he only "thinks" the journalist will not find "evidence to support the police."

Not "evidence of the crime" but he now triangulates the police.

He and the journalist, linguistically, are united against the police. 

PS Profile:  the journalist "supports" him, and in doing so, he can't think of the journalist "supporting" police.

He does not state that he did not kill Paula, but he "promises" that he did not kill Paula. That is an unreliable denial introduced by the indication of habitual deception ("promise") followed by the 
ending of communication:  "that's all I can say."

This is to indicate the following:

the word "think" is appropriately used.  He allows for himself or the journalist to "think" otherwise. 

It is the "rule of the negative" coupled with the weak assertion: 

"I don't think..." 

It indicates his belief that evidence could possibly surface. 

"that's all I can say" is in the lesser context, about his weak assertion about evidence that can be found.

This is to indicate:  the subject may feel strongly that there is something that could be produced as evidence that will "support" police. 

He manipulates this to be "us" versus the "police" as he and the police complete for "support."

"That's all I can say" is to self censor about evidence. 

Going further with what he could say, would harm the support.

This is very likely why he must not go on talking about evidence. 

Analysis Conclusion:

The subject killed Paula and police were correct. 

For training in Statement Analysis, please visit Hyatt Analysis Services. 

Home course and Seminars. 






Friday, June 8, 2018

Stepmother of Lucas Hernandez Emily Glass Dead



Emily Glass, stepmother to deceased 5 year old Lucas Hernandez, was found dead early Friday in a Wichita home. 

Wichita police Officer Charley Davidson said during a press briefing that officers responded around 1:40 a.m. after Jonathan Hernandez called to report finding his former girlfriend, Emily Glass, dead of a gunshot wound upon arriving at his Wichita home.

Davidson said officers found a rifle at her feet and three suicide notes in the home. Hernandez said in a statement that Glass killed herself. Davidson said the official cause of death will be determined by the coroner's office.

Glass, 27, reported Hernandez' son, Lucas, missing on Feb. 17. She told police she last saw Lucas playing in his bedroom before she took a shower and fell asleep.

On May 24, Glass led David Marshburn, a private investigator hired by Lucas' father, to the boy's decaying remains. The boy's body had been hidden under a culvert bridge about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Wichita and covered with debris.

Emily Glass was indicated for deception and guilty knowledge in the child's death.  Her language revealed two things:  Lucas was dead and she knew where his body was located. 


A private investigator listened to her for 11 hours and obtained the location of the child's remains. 

This is analysis from March, 2018. 


Statement Analysis training can solve cases before an investigation commences. 

This is a telephone interview with a journalist. 



Q. There’s obviously a lot of rumors going on, a lot of things that people are saying about your stepson Lucas, just curious if there’s anything that you wanna say about that situation?
A. Ehm, yes, ehm, in the past, you know, there’s been times he's being a boy and playing with older brothers and his cousins, ehm he gets bruises. He has had some falls… ehm… falls, you know, it could be there or at the porch ehm……. (pause), I’m sorry, ?...

We first note that she avoids giving a description of a single event, injury or incident, but speaks only in general terms. This is not simply indicative of avoidance, but suggests ongoing child abuse issues by the subject. This is a typical pattern heard from parents accused of child abuse and/or neglect. Introducing the word "porch" would immediately cause a child protective investigator to focus on that area of the house.

"Tell me about your house" beginning with a general question, moving on to note any repetition and/or avoidance of "porch" in te language.

A legally sound interview is one that holds up best in court.

The avoidance of a specific fall is important. It is likely at this point where she says, "you know", that she is considering a specific fall; likely one of significance.

That he has fallen and has been bruising roughhousing is likely true, but note that it avoids conclusive language and any denial of causing bruises.  This is technically truthful in the sense that kids fall and bruise.  Yet note that she enters into a hina clause of the need to explain not how, but why, he got bruises, with "he's being a boy"; rather than "he got bruised playing with his other brothers."

The need to explain "why" (not "how") he bruised should be considered with the incomplete information about bruising.  It is likely that at this point, the subject is concealing another source of his bruising. 



Note also "with older brothers" drops a common pronoun of possession.  


Q. No, you’re fine, take your time
A. He’s my son too, you know. I may not have given birth to him, but he's my baby boy… (pause)… I take care of him every day, you know, ehm, I ? ah… (long pause), this is very painful that this is happening at a time like this, right now

In missing child case, we view the Linguistic Disposition towards the victim.

A parent, caretaker, relative or close friend will care for the safety and wellbeing of what the missing child is currently experiencing. The unknown can drive them to the point of trauma. Someone who cares for a child cannot bear the unknown; it goes against instinct and it goes against habitual care.

When the baby cries, the mother soothes the baby. When the child falls, the "boo boo" is kissed and comfort given.

When a child is in the hands of a stranger, in an alleged kidnapping, the focus of the subject is always going to be what the child is experiencing, which pales out everything else. The focus or "Linguistic Disposition", which is measured, is to be positive (measure) and the priority.

Here we find the subject expressing empathy for herself.

Analytical Question:  What is her linguistic disposition towards the victim's plight?

As a missing 5 year old, we expect her, his "mother" with her "baby" to indicate concern for his present circumstances.  

We continue to wait to hear empathy for the victim.  As "missing", we expect to hear human empathy over what he is going through at the time of this interview:  who is caring for him, is he getting fed, his favorite toy, etc.  

Similar to the McCanns'  interviews:  they showed no linguistic concern for what Madeleine was experiencing, as biological parents, because they knew Madeleine was beyond their help, intervention or concern. Concerned parents show no concern for a child for a reason:  the child is beyond their realm of parental concern.  

Video of McCann interview analyzed.  


Q. Do you have any idea where Lucas might be at this point?

The pauses have been added by the transcriber. A pause means the subject needs time to think, which indicates sensitivity.
A,… (long pause)…. ah… but if anyone does know, please say something because me and dad are worried sick… you know…. I keep thinking and keep thinking what could have happened, you know… And I keep thinking back to these two people… ehm… that were outside of my house a few days prior… ehm, ‘twas a black man and white woman

The word "but" refutes and/or minimizes by comparison, that which preceded it.

"please say something" is deemed "appropriate" but it is weak as analysts have noted. It may be due to the now common expression about "see something; say something" in the United States. We do, however, expect more, such as "call police right away", etc.

"say something" is appropriate (acceptable) but then she adds on why someone should "say something"

"because" she and the dad's comfort is disrupted. "...say something because me and dad are worried sick."

This is a positive linguistic disposition towards self. It is not an expression of concern for the victim.

One should consider that:
a. Step mother is sociopathic and has no concern for the child or
b. Step mother knows or believes that the child is beyond her concern.

This latter (b) was evident in the McCanns. I did not see sociopathic indications or elements in Kate McCann's language.

In step mother's other statements, she does not indicate, even in the small sample, sociopathic indicators. We would need more sample to work from. She is concerned about herself, and shows no concern for the victim.

She then introduces two people.

She is thinking a lot, and is, at this question, very aware of the interviewer.  

She introduces "these" two people.  The word "these" indicates closeness.  With such closeness, we might wonder what the relationship and quality of contact was.  If she suspects them, we expect "those people" along with suspicion and linguistic concern for Lucas. 

We should consider the possibility of "narrative building" (story telling) with the language of, "a black man and white woman."

We should also be concerned about a drug purchase. There may be elements of fabrication stitched together with reality. 

This next question and answer impacts the previous analysis. 

Did she say "standing" outside?  If so, we can compare how "standing" is analyzed with how "staying" is analyzed below. The editing of the article is worthy of criticism. 




Q. Do you know them?
A. No, they were staying outside ? approx…. approximately 3 early morning, so I went out there and be like, hey, is everything okay, do you need to come inside or you stand here or you … stay here just like… no, I felt like I offended them or something… eh. And I said okay, I'm sorry, it's cold outside and I didn't know if you needed to come in, you know. I was just being nice. They stuck around for maybe 10, 15 more minutes. I actually did snap a picture of them walking away because I wanted to send it to their dad to say hey this is what's going on. Because I'm at home alone.

a. "standing outside" analysis
b. "staying outside" analysis

a. "standing outside":

They were not "outside", but they were "standing."  This is a body posture that indicates lack of movement.  Therefore, in her mind, time is stopping with this increase of tension.  This suggests that the presence of "these" two people is now very important to her.  In her mind, time is now stopped.  What follows is critical; even if there is falsehood within the account (such as race/sex):

"standing outside" slows down the pace and now introduces language:

"talking

This is an indication of her involvement in the communication.  As we progress through the statement, pause here and enter into her verbalized perception of reality. 

"standing outside"
"talking" and
"smoking a cigarette"  



All of these observations are unnecessary. Yet for the subject, they are critical. 
She compares the time ("actually") with another time.  This is to affirm the "stopping" of time in her statement.  This suggests that there was more communication between her and them than she wishes to let on.  We are now given more insight:

a.  "so I went out there" tells us that she has a need to explain why she went out there, because she anticipates the interviewer asking her. She is pre tempting the question.  The interviewer may not have even thought of the question had she said, "I heard two people talking outside my house..."

b.  ""so I went out there to be like hey is everything okay?"

She goes on to explain, again, why she went out there. 

We now can safely know:  She went outside with them for another reason. The reason is so sensitive to her that she employs deception (two blues here). 

What was the reason?

c.  "to be hey like is everything okay?" indicates the need to be seen as a good person.

This helps answer the question, "Why did she go out there?"

We may know that she went out there for something that makes her "the bad guy"; that is, for an illegal illicit reason. 

This could be a drug purchase.  This could be worse. 

Either way, it is related to the disappearance of the child. 

The use of "like" is to avoid telling us the genuine, but to characterize instead. 

She continued:  

Do you need to come inside? Are you stranded? 

She did not say that she said these things.  This lack of verbal commitment is narrative building. 

They were just like, no and just like looked at me like I offended them or something.


The communication was intense, with "looked at me":  

 "And I said okay, I'm sorry. It's cold outside and I didn't know if you needed to come in. I was just being nice. They stuck around for maybe another 15 or 20 minutes. I actually did snap a picture of them walking away because I wanted to send it to their dad to say hey this is what's going on. Because I'm at home alone."

We now know why she keeps "thinking" about them.  As narrative "strangers" she "actually" (dependent, comparison) "did snap" a picture of them walking away.  

She anticipates being asked, "Why did you take their picture?"

She anticipated this so intensely, that she revisited the explanation even further.  The tension ("I'm sorry") is high and she was "just" (dependent, comparative) being "nice."  This tells us she is comparing her behavior with something else.  

Staying Outside 

There is a significant difference between the words.  We are not certain which she said.  

b.  "staying outside" indicate that the subject attempted to get them to come indoors (as stated) but their refusal is something that was very important to her.  Remember, she was asked a "yes or no" question only. 

Every word after the word "no" becomes critical. 

We note that in this recall, she portrays herself as the "good guy", which in analysis indicates the opposite. 

We note that she has given them a good deal of volume of words, which must be compared with:

What we know about the victim. 

What do we know about the victim from the step mother's words only?

This answer is important. 

She relates him, repeatedly to herself, via possessive pronoun. 
She changes him, linguistically, which must then be viewed in each specific context. 
She avoids using his name. 
She talks about him being bruised, avoiding all specifics, tagging "normal" (factor) which indicates to the contrary, removes herself from the equation (care for self; not victim, by sending him elsewhere) and introduces some words that likely indicate specific child abuse/neglect events, including the porch and cooking. 

Note that Neglectful parents often boast on how accomplished their children are in terms of self care that is not age appropriate. 

"I'm sorry" often finds its way into those with guilt, no matter what context it is found in. 

By them "staying outside", they did not yield to her will.  This is very important:

Her will, whatever it was, in context of Lucas being missing, was not followed.  

I am very concerned about this difference.  She anticipated being asked, "Did you take a picture of them?" which is not something an investigator or an interviewer would have thought to ask without some prompt from her.  This is how we see the high level of sensitivity in the word "because" in her statement. 


Q, Did you end up sending that picture to Jonathan?
A, Yes, I did, I did : he’s my baby boy…. he has sisters and he has brothers. He's so loved

She wanted proof of someone's presence regarding the disappearance of Lucas.

She claims ownership repeatedly in the context of this picture. Was she under some form of threat, prior to this event, where others said they were going to remove him from her custodial care? Was money involved?


Q. Now, Emily, I hope you understand I do have to ask you because of, you know, the arrest and because a lot of rumors; did you hurt Lucas?
Q. I did not. I would never hurt my son.

The follow up should have been something about the two people hurting him; this would have given her opportunity, according to her profile, to shift the blame to others. It was a missed opportunity, but it is easy to criticize the interviewer here, but he was up against "the clock"; that is, anything he says could cause her to hang up.


Q. Do you have any idea what could have happened?

poorly worded. Better, "What happened to him?" By using "any idea", he allows her to drift from what she knows; away from experiential memory and on to hypotheticals or former news stories or simply imagination. Although these can produce information from analysis, best is to use the Assumptive method: she knows what happens and has a psychological need to release it verbally.

A. Pause.. I mean, I have ideas but that ideas, I mean… ehm… I really should have spoken to you, ehm… through my attorney, but eh… I have (one thing?)

Here is the entrance of the need for an attorney. It was worth taking the chance by the interviewer, but it did produce defensive posture.

To have kept her on the phone, (I don't know if there was a time limit but there may have been), best to ask her things according to her own language. He did see her focus on self. Therefore,

"Tell me what you did for him"
"What was a typical day of caring for him like for you?" (note focus on her)
"Did anyone ever help you caring for him?" *(note avoidance of his name; we avoid using his name if she avoids using his name. We allow her to gain comfort by distancing herself from him).

"Were you his primary care taker?"
"Why didn't others help you?
"What could others have done to make things better for you?"

This slow progression of questions allows her to be exactly who she believes she is: the victim.

There may have been a 15 min time limit.
OK, yeah, is there anything else you wanna say?
I do want peop… I mean, I do want people to know my side, I’m just not there yet, you know… ehm…  ‘cause there is a huge history between Lucas’ family from New Mexico and I and all of the accusations… A majority of the time when he had gotten hurt and ended up with bruises, he wasn't under my care because I would send him off with my cousins and there's older boys over there and he's a very little, small boy and he can get hurt easily and when he's playing with older boys who are like 10 years old, even though we'd say hey Lucas be careful. We had to tell him all the time you know, be careful

Note that she did not call him "Lucas" in her Linguistic Disposition. Here we have Lucas' family and what "we" "would" say. This is not her linguistic disposition towards him, but further distancing language and blame shifting.

Here she uses a form of subtle distancing regarding the bruising. First, she shifts the bruising away from her responsibility with the needed explanation of why this is so.  Rather than saying, "he bruised at his cousins'" she gives a more lengthy explanation.  This takes extra effort which, for a 5 year old, may be unnecessary. 



Next, she switches from "I" to "we", which indicates:  she does not want to be psychologically "alone" in context of bruising.

Who is the victim?

We had to tell him all the time you know, be careful
The flow of the interview is better discerned than the edited news story. Here we find the flow, or context, to be more natural and clear.

Who is the victim in this event?

The linguistic disposition towards the victim indicates a subject in need of persuasion of her audience of being a good mother. Yet, she does not tell us anything about him of significance until this point:

We had to tell him all the time you know, be careful

We now know.

What happened to Lucas was Lucas' fault. His behavior brought this on. "We" did not tell him to be careful; we "had to tell him all the time", not just sometimes. He would not listen. This was his fault.

She is the victim and even as such, she wishes to be the victim with someone else ("we") which further tells us of her own personal responsibility in what happened to Lucas.

If Lucas had only listened to "them" ("we") then they would not have had to tell him this "all the time." This is taxing and it is to show concern for herself and the other person, and not for the victim.

Verbalized Perception of Reality

Statement Analysis recognizes that the words one uses is not reality, but the subject's own verbalized perception.

Lucas' behavior "made" her and someone else "have to" caution him. It was so often and so taxing that it was "all the time." Plus, he had to wear a pull up because he always had accidents.

The Linguistic Disposition towards the victim is Negative.

He "deserved" what befell him in the step mother's verbalized perception of reality.

We hear this in the language of child abusers...routinely.

Q. So you’re saying that all of those bruises and those things from the pictures and the accusations are all from him being a little boy and playing with other boys?

leading questions should be avoided; they allow for conclusion and to use his language. It is to directly reduce her stress.

A. Absolutely. Him and my older boys would be rough around the house and they would even get rug burn, you know, just normal boy things

"Absolutely" is persuasive and unnecessary. She continued to avoid any specific event (timing) but introduced:

"normal" which indicates anything to the contrary and

"burn" which means child protective investigators needed to check the victim's feet for cigarette burns in prior reports as well as current investigators seeking to learn if fire was used to cover a crime.


Q. Is there anything that you would want to say to Lucas if you could right now?
That I love him very much and I want him home

She loves him. She wants him home.  

How is he doing?

Q. Is there anything you want to say to the people who are saying you had something to do with this?

This is a good question and it allows for her to deny the obvious; particularly as she is in jail.
A. No, ‘cause that's on them it's not my concern

She avoids issuing a denial. She puts the burden upon "them" (this is very insightful for how to conduct the interview) and we now see that she is not concerned about them.

She is not concerned about Lucas.

She is, however, thinking a lot about "these" 2 people.

She may be banking on creating doubt by using them as a tangent.

Q. Can you tell me more about what happened that Saturday when he disappeared?

He asks for "more", instead of, "What happened when he disappeared?" It is a subtle mistake. It produces "just" below:
A. Just the fact that I took a shower and he took a nap like we always do. I put him down for a movie in his pull up because, you know, he has accidents when he sleeps so that's why he had a pull up on. Ehm… he had fallen asleep after my shower which is why I went down… I gotta go

Sexual Abuse is indicated in the language.
Possible drugging of child
She "put him down" as a 5 year old child. I believe her. This may have been a habit. It could be anything from cough syrup to illegal drugs so she could get her "shower" and "nap."

Reporter: I understand

Analysis Conclusion:


Analysis Conclusion: Deception Indicated in the disappearance of her step child, Lucas Hernandez.  She is not only deceptive, but she withholds critical information while seeking to shift blame to another.  

The language indicates both substance abuse and child abuse.  She may have drugged the victim. 

Victim Blaming

The human brain seeks to justify wrongdoing.  Child abusers (and child killers) are often skilled in the subtle blaming of the victim.  In shaken baby cases, the subject says things such as, "the baby would not finish her bottle" or "he would not stop crying" which puts the blame upon the victim's behavior. 

Emily Glass blames Lucas Hernandez.  He would not listen and he made her (and someone else) always have to tell him to be careful.  This is a very subtle justification for what befell him. 

It was his fault.  

The context is vital:  the child is "missing" and the expectation is that the parent or caretaker will show a majority of the language (priority) with what the child is going through currently.  This is something that can drive a parent crazy with worry.  Yet, the parent's focus is so acutely honed in upon the child, that the parent will neglect his or her own health, which is reflected in the language.  It is all about the child. 

Kyron Horman. 

There are some examples of this in the blog, such as the missing boy, Kyron, of which his mother's language (Desiree Young) should be compared to his step mother's, Terri Horman's language.  One indicates nothing but concern for Kyron, while the other shows guilty knowledge of his death.  

Setting:  Note the need to explain why the 5 year old wore pull ups is stated in a jail house, while the child is alleged to be missing. 

She denied "harming" him but did not deny killing him or selling him for drugs. If he was taken in a drug transaction, for example, she is not the one who "harmed" him, but the recipients did.  This is compartementalizing of guilt. This minimization is consistent with her subtle blaming of the victim. 

Sexual Abuse

 Although I need more for a definitive analysis, I believe he was likely sexually abused as was his step mother in her childhood. The explanation for this is beyond the scope of a blog entry.  Advanced Analysis Training for social workers, therapists and Sex Crimes Units goes into linguistic indicators of such, and explores it from the psycho-linguistic profile. 

The two people are very important to her and may be something she is concentrating upon for the purpose of shifting blame from herself by creating a doubt.  Even with elements of fabrication, this may be her hope as she is, indeed, giving it much thought. 

Also, the need to pull in the "father" is to be noted.  She may shift blame to him in some manner, down the road, and he is likely a source of child abuse, including exposure to domestic violence, in the child's short life. 

Psycho-linguisitc profile:


Emily Glass is a strong candidate for obtaining a confession (or admission) in an Analytical Interview. Given the correct interview and a well chosen interviewer, she could give up the information on what happened to him.  The interviewer should use her words as much as possible, and an empathetic male interviewer may prove most effective.  He should be very willing to "clear" her in any manner possible.  She wants to speak.  

Tangent



In the interview, let Emily Glass  be the "victim" in the interview and pity her for all her "endless struggle" to keep him "safe."  Let the scenario of "...if only others had supported her in getting him (Lucas) to be careful..." 

Let her be the "good mom" who is misunderstood.  

Bluff 

The interviewer should be willing to "expose" information about a "suspicious male seen in the area" and allow her to alleviate her guilt of neglect.  She should be taken through her own childhood and the failure to protect she, herself, experienced growing up.  She should be permitted to focus on herself, and how much she sacrificed for Lucas and how she did the very best she could, with so little support from others...and so on.  

She does not present as challenging in this short phone interview. If the interviewer will allow her to separate areas of guilt in the interview, and then allow her to accept only a small area of guilt ("self medicating" instead of drug abuse) and permit her "freedom" from child abuse, she is likely to reveal what happened. 

Like the McCanns, she shows no concern over what he is going through in the present, while "missing."

She knows he is not "missing" and she knows he is beyond her care. 


Deception Detection Training.

We offer seminars for law enforcement, business, private sector, social workers, medical professionals, lawyers and all those interested in lie detection, content analysis and profiling.

Our profiling is used to identify the authors of anonymous threatening letters and emails.

Advanced Seminars available for Sex Crimes Units.

Complete Statement Analysis Course is done in your home, at your own pace, with 12 months of e support. Joint Seminars with Steve Johnson, retired detective and analyst, with hand writing analysis.