Watts: We're gonna find them right?
Officer: I need your help.
Officer: When we find the guy who took them
Officer: What do you think we should do?
*This is what is known as a behavior provoking question. An innocent person will usually give what is known as a draconian response;
*they will immediately respond with the harshest sentence possible for the crime
-they are falsely being accused of committing.*
*A deceptive individual will often give an equivocating response.*
*This means that they will fragmentise and divert from the question to a certain degree as a means to avoid
-responding to the query in its entirety.*
Watts: They're going to come home safe, correct?
-When you find the guy?
Officer: When we find the guy they're going to come home.
Watts: Life in prison would be the... that’s what I w... that’s what I would think for two kids that are involved.
Officer: What if he hurt them?
Watts: The... Uh... The...
-I’m not sure if like that penalty is even used,
-is it used in Colorado? I'm unsure.
Officer: What is? Watts: The death penalty.
Officer: OK.
Watts: I mean like, if these kids are not alive like, there's no...
-there's nothing you could do to, to cope with that,
-to make me cope with that if those kids are not okay.
Officer: OK.
- Can we keep talking about some complicated things? Watts: Sure.
Officer: Some things that are are going to make you uncomfortable.
Watts: Yeah, that's fine. Officer: OK
-you've done very good at talking to me about this really hard conversation
-you guys had, OK? Very good. That's sometimes hard and I understand why sometimes
-someone your position says...uh
-doesn't want to tell me about that because...
-'please go help me find my kids and you don't need to know about my, my marriage argument'
-OK? So I got to say you're doing very good at that and I need you to keep doing that.
-So I need to ask you about
-your marriage and infidelity.
Watts: OK. Officer: OK, tell me about it.
Watts: I have never cheated on my wife. Officer: OK.
Watts: And I fully suspect she's never done that to me. Officer: Oh OK.
*The interrogator was already aware that Chris was cheating on his wife with a woman by the name of Nicole Kessinger.*
*He had handed over his phone
-earlier on this interview for what he thought was for the purpose of going through his and his wife's mutual contacts, to look for potential suspects.*
*Judging by Chris's bold face denial, it's safe to assume he deleted all of his correspondence with Nicole beforehand,
-yet he was most likely unaware that the FBI have programs that can recover every single piece of digital
-exchange sent from a device, even long after it's deleted.*
Officer: Highly trained investigator over here, all right?
Officer: I see pictures of you from a few years ago... Watts: Mm hmm
Officer: And I see you standing before me now.
-You've gotten pretty fit. Watts: Yeah.
Officer: You can imagine when guys start cheating, or want to cheat, that's what happens.
Watts: Yes. Officer: So tell me about it.
Watts: I did not cheat on my wife. Officer: OK.
Officer: What do I do
-to help you walk out of this room and not look like the person who is responsible?
Watts: You have to trust me
-I had nothing to do with these... With this act of like, evil cruelty whatever has happened here.
-Because my love for these two girls
-and wife, like, I don't want anything to happen to them. I've never want anything to happen to them.
-No matter if my, me and wife separate or not. Or divorce or anything. I never wish harm on anybody, on a human being in general.
Officer: OK. Watts: Like
-just seeing that picture like, I need them
-I want them just to run through that front door and just grab me, or just barrel, just tackle me, knock me to the floor,
bust my head, I don't care.
-The amount of love I have for my family is exponential and that, it's never going to die
-And they need... I want them back.
Officer: OK.
Watts: I have to have them back.
Officer: When you walk out of this room
-there's nothing I can say to a room full of police officers, that's going to convince them that you have nothing to do with this.
Watts: I know.
Officer: Do you know what they think? Watts: I... I know what all the... all of them, yeah.
Officer: Here's a guy who didn't call 911,
-who woke his w... wife up at a ridiculous hour,
-because he was so guilty about something that he had to get it off his chest and say 'I don't love you anymore. I'm leaving you.'
-That didn't go well.
-OK, so what happened?
Watts: She told me that she wanted me to wake her up before I left.
-That's why I... I didn't just wake her up like,
-just to tell her this like, I woke her up. That's what she wanted to do. And we talked.
-Like usually at 4.00am I wake up, I go down and work out.
-This day I wanted to talk to her about this...
Watts: I love these girls. I love these girls so much and this picture right here,
-Celeste and Bella,
-those are my life.
-I helped make those kids.
-There's nothing in my life
-that means more to me than these kids.
-Nothing.
-Kids, that's... That's your life. That's your lifeline.
-That's everything like, you make kids. They come first before anything. Kids, spouse, family.
-That's what it's always been.
Officer: Nothing you've told me tonight makes sense.
-Nothing you've told me tonight feels like the truth.
-Can we start over? Watts: Sure.
Officer: Tonight's been pretty intense I can imagine. How are you feeling?
Watts: Ha.
-I've slept like two hours last night. So I'm like running on empty right now, but... Officer: I know, I can see it.
-So why don’t we do this...
-I'm sure you don't mind if we take a break for the night.
-I'm sure that you are...
-feeling some of the pressure from me, OK?
Officer: I'm going to commit to you, that we're not going to stop working until we find them. Watts: OK.
Officer: OK, and I want to commit to you that...
-there is going to come a time
-when you're going to feel this pressure from other people.
-I'm not the only one who thinks that there's a possibility you have something to do this.
Watts: Like another FBI agent, like, pressure like this? Like...
Officer: Everyone. Watts: OK.
- Everyone Chris. - OK.
*The interrogator is clearly receptive to Chris's anxiety and endeavours to amplify this,
-emotion before ending the interview.*
*He wants to inflate Chris's apprehension as much as possible, for the looming polygraph test that approaches the following day.*
Officer: Tonight when you go home
-one of two things is going to happen.
-You're gonna pass out because you're so tired. OK?
-And that's probably not going to be what happens.
-Your heads gonna go race, OK?
So tonight when you lay down and your head starts racing, there's going to be things that come to your mind, OK?
This always happens. Always. It's very natural.
You're going to say 'I wonder why he asked me that?'
OK, you're going to say 'screw him! How dare he accuse me!'
OK? And you're going to say I wonder if they thought of this
OK, and then you're going to say 'I probably should have told him something' or this or that OK? Those are the most common things
When those thoughts comes your head I want you to call me.
Those are beautiful kids. Those kids have a good dad and I know it.
- You should see the picture that's on my phone. - Yeah?
It's a better one. But...
That’s just. I’ll show it to you. But it’s...
Those kids have a good dad.
The following discourse from the officer could be construed as the 're-framing technique' where an
interrogator will try and shift the suspects view of themselves from negative to positive as a means to
lightening the iniquity of their crimes and increasing the chances of a confession. However, this is more likely what is known as passive
accusation where the interrogator is almost certain of a suspects guilt and indirectly
accuses and in some manner indignifies the suspect. This is made evident by the high praises the officer gives to Chris for
extremely trivial deeds.
A lot of dads don’t get second pairs of clothes and cook eggs and give them snacks at night, you know.
For a lot of men that’s women’s work, right?
I like to get involved.
But you're not that kind of guy, OK?
So can we say that tomorrow at...
11 o'clock we can do a polygraph?
- Here? - Here.
I appreciate you coming in tonight.
- Mm hm - All right, gimme a few s... A few minutes.
- Did you meet Tammy yesterday? - No I... - OK, well this is Tammy.
Hi Chris, how are you?
- Sit on this? - Yep.
I know, I'll explain what that is here a little bit. But you don't have to worry.
It's not on or anything right now. It's not going to, its not going to buzz you or anything (laughs).
Obviously, you're probably nervous about taking today's test. Honestly, I think something is wrong with you if you weren't nervous
- about coming in here... - No. - to take a polygraph.
Even if you're all like 'I don't have anything to hide' it is nerve-racking, but I have taken
tonnes of polygraphs, obviously in my training. I went to ten weeks for training. I've been a polygrapher about for about five years
Um, I went to the best school in the country.
So I want you to have confidence in the fact that if you had nothing to do with this disappearance
like, we're going to find that out today. OK? I have the best training that they offer in the United States.
Um, I, we use the most validated testing
That's the way I'm going to ask you the questions.
So believe me if you had nothing to do with this, I would be able to show them that today.
This is psychological pressure disguised as reassurance.
It's not a routine procedure during the pretest phase of a polygraph exam yet,
this technique will be used when the suspects guilt is almost conclusive.
Polygraphs are not a foolproof system and they can be beaten but with a heightened state of anxiety
it becomes considerably more challenging and unlikely.
On this occasion, the polygrapher distinctly applies this technique for maximum effect.
There's actually only two ways you can fail a polygraph, OK?
So the first way would be if you fail to follow my instructions.
I'm going to give you a lot of instructions today about how to still, how to answer questions, things like that.
So if you fail to follow those instructions, you will not pass today's test, OK?
The second way would be if you choose to lie to me today. You know, if you did have something to do with their disappearance
um, it would be really stupid for you to come in and take a polygraph today.
Exactly.
Right, like, it would be really dumb. Like, you should not be here right now sitting in this chair if you had anything to do with
Shanann and the little girls disappearance.
- Mm hm. - OK?
Everything, as far as from there, like in 2011 I proposed to her over at Ocean Isle Beach.
As she was sitting there crying there was <inaudible> and she had it on, she recorded it.
That was really... It was an amazing day to see that and then she, Celeste,
she was, she was, I was there like, she had a midwife for this one
so like they actually had me like 'alright you can stand there I you can stand here and like, you know
catch her and like, but Celeste came out like, so fast at like, I've barely had a chance to go like this and they
moved me out of the way, cause she just like, came out.
The polygrapher will also obtain the examinees version of the facts regarding the specific issues under investigation
Like, I was hoping that I would get that knock on the door or a phone call or a text,
I mean, her phone, they have her phone like, hopefully it, maybe it's a number I don't know
Hopefully it's like, you know, like a burner phone or some some kind of, some kind of like, phone she bought.
She could just text me or call me like 'hey, I'm OK'.
Something. Or just get a knock on the door and then the kids just run in.
I miss like, the kids like, sitting at the dinner table and like,
having to tell them to eat their dinner and
like, I miss them throwing their chicken nuggets at me. Like I was...
I just want to find them.
I want them to come home safe, like, wherever they are, I hope they are safe
and I really, I really hope they can just come home
It makes me feel like all right, maybe
somebody has her that's not, that's not keeping her safe.
Or something terrible has happened.
And that is... That's the nightmare.
And what would that terrible thing be?
Well someone might hurt them.
Chris recounts a brief summary of the events and states multiple vague
possibilities for his family's disappearance. The polygrapher then starts to elect specific timelines for Chris to give his account on.
Um, so the next thing you know is her getting into bed with you. Is that right?
- I could, I felt get her into bed. We didn't say anything. I guess I just kind of felt it.
OK. Do you know if she was on her phone or like, how any of that works?
I don't, I don't think she was on her phone.
Was she mad at all?
I mean, been crying. Crying like she was, crying like I was. I mean, yeah, I mean she was upset.
But I mean, it was, it comes with that kind of conversation.
In the next moments you will see another subterfuge of psychological pressure, this time disguised as routine questioning procedure.
It's a vastly open-ended question relevant to the crimes under suspicion.
These types of questions are common knowledge and easily clarified by the innocent while the guilty will, in most cases, have severe difficulty in responding.
I know it's totally awful to think about but,
what are ways, because I need to make sure that you know what I'm talking about,
what are ways that you can make someone disappear?
I mean like, if you're talking about like, what I've seen like, on the movies or like how you like, how people
if you read about other people, I mean,
- hire somebody? - Like a hit man?
Yeah, I mean that's, I mean. I'm just being honest.
No, that's what I want. That's what I want cause
I want you to go through all of these scenarios in your head
because I want you to know for sure what I'm talking about when I say that,
you know, asking you if you physically caused her disappearance.
OK, like, like, you'd hire somebody or you have a
somebody you know that
that would do it, I mean, it's like... I don't... I mean, it's hard. Its a hard question
It's a hard question to answer.
Right.
Because I didn't...
I didn't have nothing to do with this disappearance but like, I don't even want to think about like,
if, if your asking me like how I would do it?
No, anyone. Like
how would, how would anyone cause someone else's disappearance?
I mean, you would...
- You could cause someones disappearance by murdering them, would you agree with that? - Yes, yes.
So what different physical ways could you cause someone's disappearance through murder?
- You could stab someone, agree? - You could stab someone, shoot someone...
Hit them with a blunt object, um...
Also there, I mean, use a weapon like, gun or knife. I mean...
- OK. - You could...
- You could smother someone. - You could smother someone.
You could strangle someone.
Hang someone, I mean, yeah you can, all that kind of thing, I mean...
It's hard to even think about that kind of stuff right now.
Mm hm. So you can strangle someone, you could drown someone...
- Yep. - You could shock someone to death.
Ah, you could burn someone... Alive.
Um, what other ways
can you think of?
As far as like,
lure them into a trap, I guess.
What do you mean?
Like, you know, like have somebody waiting like, around the corner and like...
Sure.
- They're in a coma. - Sure.
Um...
So if I ask you that question on the test Chris, are you gonna have any issue with that?
- About you physically causing Shanann to disappear? - Like, like, going through every single one of those?
Yeah, like that would be a way to cause someone's disappearance.
OK. I can definitely like, I can...
I mean, you can murder them, you can kidnap them,
you could take them to another country. You could, you know, bury them in your backyard.
You could do a million things
- as far as, um, trying to conceal them. - Yeah.
- Right? So that no one could find them. - Yes.
Because at this point, she's gone.
So when I ask you the question on the test, I'm not asking you about guilt
I'm not asking you about, did you make her feel so horrible that she ended up leaving?
I'm saying that you were the one that physically caused her to disappear.
Either by murder, kidnapping, you know, all of those other things that we went through, OK?
You don't want me to, do you want me to list all those, like?
No no no. You're just going to say 'no' to that question.
When I ask you if you physically caused Shanann's disappearance.
- OK. - Your answer should be what?
- No. - Right.
- So do you have any issues with that at all? - No.
Or have any question about what I would mean when I was...
No, that was totally, like, I just like, going through all those, that...
- Like, a lot to really think about. - Right.
Like, trying to figure out like...
I'm gonna have you take a bathroom break. We've been in here quite a while.
You're going to be taking what's called a 'Directed Lie Polygraph'.
So what that means is they're going to be questions on the test where I want you to lie.
I know it seems kind of weird, but you're going to know which question these are. They're going to be easy to answer.
They're all going to start with 'before 2018'.
The Directed Lie Test has three types of questions:
Known truth questions.
These are easy questions to answer, such as 'are you sitting down?' or 'are you wearing shoes?'
They serve two purposes. The first purpose is to provide a baseline reading for when the subject is telling the truth
and should elicit very little bodily responses.
The second purpose is to disconnect the examinees thought patterns between each question as a means for resetting their
cerebration for a more accurate reading.
Control questions.
These are what the polygrapher just explained to Chris. Whenever she says 'before 2018' at the start of the question
Chris will know he is purposely supposed to lie.
Each of these questions are deliberately constructed that all answers will be responded with 'no'.
Relevant questions.
These relate specifically to the crime being investigated and the examinee will know that they are supposed to respond truthfully.
A guilty subject will show a much stronger
reaction to the relevant questions than to the control questions, even though they will be lying on both of them.
This is due to the immediate threat posed by the relevant questions.
So I'm going to say 'before 2018
did you ever lose your temper with someone you cared about?'
- You're gonna say? - No. - Because you're telling a...
- Lie. - Awesome.
The test is about to begin. Please remain still.
- Did you write the number one? - No.
- Did you write the number three? - No.
- Did you write the number five? - No.
This portion of the test is complete.
Please remain still while I take the instrument out of operation.
OK, you can relax. How do you feel?
This is the last time the polygrapher will have any correspondence with Chris before the real test begins.
She gives him an initial compliment in a reassuring tone.
You did great!
You remembered to lie and everything. That was awesome.
That was... <laughs>
This momentary boost in his confidence is then abruptly ripped away as he receives the following information:
So you obviously are a really bad liar. Have people told you that before?
Like, the second you tell a lie, like they can tell like, on the face, that...
Because the second you lied to the number 3
like, I don't know if you heard me clicking, but I had to like, turn down the sensitivity because you were starting to go off the page
so, that is what I need to see as the polygrapher because that tells me that you know its wrong to tell a lie.
Um, and you're actually having a significant reaction when you lie so that is awesome.
So thank you for being a horrible liar. No, that's a good thing! That's a good thing. We don't want to be good liars.
So, thank you for being a horrible liar.
Um, and that just shows me that you know, obviously on the test when we're asking, you know
significant stuff about your wife, if you're lying to that it's going to be even ten times more amplified. So...
I appreciate that. I appreciate that very much. More than you know, so...
That was awesome.
And the coolest thing about this is that right now, there's only one person in this room
that knows what the truth is and in about five minutes there's going to be two of us. So that's the coolest part.
OK, and then I can go share that with them out there.
- OK? - OK.
- All right, you ready? - Let do it.
The test is about to begin. Please remain still.
Do you understand that I will only ask you the questions we have discussed?
Yes.
Regarding Shanann's disappearance, do you intend to answer all of the questions truthfully?
Yes.
- Is your first name Christopher? - Yes.
Before 2018, did you ever lose your temper with someone you cared about?
No.
Did you physically cause Shanann's disappearance?
No.
- Were you born in 1985? - Yes.
- Before 2018, did you ever say anything out of anger to a loved one? - No.
Are you lying about the last time you saw Shanann?
No.
- Are you now in the state of Colorado? - Yes.
- Before 2018, have you ever wanted to hurt someone to get even with them? - No.
Do you know where Shanann is now?
No.
This portion of the test is complete. Please remain still while I take the instrument out of operation.
Alright, how do you feel?
Faint, with all of it?
<inaudible>
- I'll be right back. - OK.
<phone video plays>
Oh my gosh, I did forget part of it, didn't I?
So I brought Graham in here because we want to talk to you about the results, OK?
OK.
So, um, it is completely clear that you were not honest during the testing, but I think you already know that.
- Um, you did not pass the polygraph test, right? - OK.
OK, so now we need to talk about what actually happened
and I feel like you're probably ready to do that.
I didn't... I didn't lie to you on that polygraph I promise.
- Chris. - I'm... I'm...
Please stop. It's time.
I...
Just stop for a minute. Take a deep breath.
I want you to take a deep breath right now.