“Police Give Polygraph Tests to Family Members of Slain Couple”

Waco Tribune-Herald staff writer Tommy Witherspoon reports. Excerpt:

Waco police have asked family members of Orville and Ruby Loving to take polygraph tests as the investigation into the deaths of the elderly couple continues.

While some polygraph tests have been administered, Waco police report that arrests in the May 12 slaying of the Lovings at their home at 3424 Forrester Lane are not imminent.

Waco police Sgt. J.R. Price declined to say who has taken the lie-detector tests. However, sources familiar with the investigation said that several family members of the slain couple have taken the tests, while one member reportedly has refused to take one.

“The polygraph tests are an investigative step,” Price said. “We are at the stage now where we have to eliminate people whose names have been given us through our investigation. We have made available polygraphs to two or three people and they have consented to do that. But that is typical in an investigation like this, on a whodunnit.”

Because polygraphic interrogation is not a valid diagnostic technique and is easily defeated through simple countermeasures that polygraphers cannot detect, suspects should never be eliminated on the basis of polygraph chart readings.

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