Today's Blind Items - Murder In New England Part Four - The Tapes

 The Bad Seed was summoned to the police station. She knew it was over. The boys squealed on her and cut a deal. The Bad Seed had nothing to offer. She assisted at a rape, she planned a murder and made the decision that ended a brave man's life, and covered up the crime. She is looking at life without parole or appeals.

       The Bad Seed knew from experience that you should never argue with the detective. You shouldn't lie to him, but you never disagree with him.

      To her surprise, they told her that the widow seduced the rapist into shooting her husband. That was news to the Bad Seed. She knew the Rapist rarely saw the widow after the rape, let alone be seduced by her. The Rapist hated women and wanted to avoid all of them. The Bad Seed did not disagree. All the police wanted her to do was to wear a wire and record conversations with the widow. If she did this, all her crimes would be forgiven. This was an opportunity of a lifetime and she knew it.

       The Bad Seed wore a wire and recorded a number of conversations of which only four were played in court. When the police stopped the recordings, the Bad Seed was worried. She could not think of any statement the widow said that would convince people that the widow was guilty of murder. The Bad Seed was worried that she failed in this mission and might still go to prison.

       Experts have written long essays on how the tapes are faked and doctored. The detective in charge of the case admitted that he broke the chain of evidence and edited the tapes. For argument's sake, let's pretend the tapes are real

       Almost all of the conversations on the tapes were started by a statement or a question by the Bad Seed. She knows everything about the crime so she knows what to say or ask. The Bad Seed is a ruthless interrogator. She keeps at it until the Widow says something. You have no right to silence in the presence of the Bad Seed!

      The subject of most of the conversations was the Creep. There were rumors that the Creep cut a deal to claim that the widow paid him to kill her husband. The widow mentioned one day where everybody was surprised to see her. They were told she was arrested because the Creep squealed on her. Imagine if you were accused of a horrible crime by some hardened criminal that you never met and the authorities believed him. The widow talks about how she would defend herself against these accusations. This is normal behavior for someone who is innocent.

       It has been noted that much of what the widow is saying is confused and rambling. One problem for all innocent people is that they know very little about the crime. They do not know what to say.

      There is also one statement the widow makes. It is soft and said quickly. The widow asks the bad seed "What do you know about the murder?" According to the prosecution case, the Widow and the Bad Seed planned the murder. This would be the last statement any guilty party would say.

      The Widow was arrested. While her defense lawyers did mostly a decent job defending her. They underestimated the value of the tapes.

      The tapes have been destroyed by the state. You would think that they would keep them and put them in a museum. Let everybody hear how the evil widow seduces innocent youth to commit crimes!  The reality is different. All agreements between the Bad Seed and the state are verbal. Since conspiracy to commit murder has no statute of limits, they could always charge her with this crime. The tapes would convict her. If they convicted an innocent person, it would be easy for a guilty person to be convicted.

     Every police academy should have a copy of this tape. It shows how a relentless interrogator can get a confession.