Ric Sapnu reports for the Philippine Star on the use of polygraphy in a high-profile murder case in the Philippines. Excerpt: Sr. Supt. Ismael Rafanan, Pampanga police director said that Siegfried Wittman, 68, a German national, earlier a suspect in the killing of American tourist Brian Thomas Smith, passed the lie detector test conducted by … Read more
Los Angeles Times staff writers Jill Leovy and Matea Gold, in an article titled “Parks Defends Record on Crime, Consent Decree,” mention that Police Chief Bernard C. Parks acknowledged a 50% pre-employment polygraph failure rate in a meeting with reporters on Friday, 8 Feb. Excerpt (emphasis added): On recruiting, Parks argued that factors outside his … Read more
In an article titled “Madison-Plains arson probe is heating up,” Madison Press (London, Ohio) staff writers Steve Smith and Jim Boggan report. Excerpt: LONDON — Out-going Madison-Plains Superintendent Adam Miller has provided what he called “an alibi” as investigators increase their efforts to solve the Nov. 29 arson fire on the campus in Paint Township. … Read more
Xu Xiaomin writes about polygraphy in China for the English language Shanghai Star. Excerpt: You can remain silent, or everything you say may be subjected to a lie detector test, whose value is still suspect. Generally speaking, perspiration is easiest to control by individuals attempting to cheat the polygraph, but pulse, blood pressure and especially … Read more
Palm Beach Post staff writer Bill Douthat reports on alleged impropriety in the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. The allegations involve polygrapher Harold Thomas Sorensen, a member of the Florida Polygraph Association. Excerpt: A sheriff’s polygrapher who gave a lie detector test to the daughter of his boss failed to properly report her deceptive answers … Read more
The South African Press Association reports on the polygraph interrogation of Luyanda Mboniswa, who is accused in the strangulation and stabbing death of Marike de Klerk, the ex-wife of former South African president F.W. de Klerk. Excerpt: Cape Town The man accused of murdering former first lady Marike de Klerk, Luyanda Mboniswa, failed a second … Read more
In an article titled, “FBI Flooded With Applicants,” Los Angeles Times staff writer William Overend reports that about 20% of special agent applicants who make it as far as the polygraph fail it. Excerpt: Mike Hilliard, who retired three years ago after 21 years as the chief recruiting agent in Los Angeles, estimated that about … Read more
In a Dallas Morning News article titled “Narcotics unit has troubled past,” Robert Tharp reports on a massive but fruitless polygraph dragnet conducted by the FBI in the Dallas Police Department’s narcotics unit in 1996. Excerpt: The FBI investigated the narcotics division in 1996 at the request of former Chief Ben Click following the disappearance … Read more
Donna J. Robb reports for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Excerpt: Akron – A Summit County inmate admitted yesterday that his headline-grabbing claim of being a serial killer was an elaborate lie. Jason Roland West apologized to the public and to sheriff’s detectives for sending authorities on a sweeping but fruitless investigation that has dragged on … Read more
Cape Cod Times staff writers Karen Jeffrey and Emily C. Dooley report. Excerpt: Asking a murder victim’s father to take a polygraph test is not an unusual tact for police, according to experts on both sides of the polygraph issue. Family and close associates of a victim are the first people police should look at … Read more