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Toddler Shoots Mom-Statement Analysis by Susan Constantine

The way one phrases and constructs their words are strong indicators to what the truth is and to what really happened. People say what they mean, and they mean what they say.

Humintell’s associate and body language expert, Susan Constantine comments on this terrible tragedy and the “distressed” 911 caller.

Susan’s advice while listening to the call: don’t get caught up by the hysterical voice, rather listen to what is said and the background noises to tie it all together.

Susan states, “I listened to the tape over and over again and it was clear “the father was lying.” Here is why…

DISPATCHER: “Okay.  Who shot her?”
CALLER:  “I was taking the gun from him.  I was trying to take it from him.”

Susan: A truthful person would have said who did it “the son” not what happened. The father also said I was
TAKING the gun from him, and right after said I was TRYING to take it from him. Trying is an attempt or
struggle to take something away. Keep in mind the child is under 3 years old.

DISPATCHER:  “From who?  From Who?  From Who?”
CALLER:  “From my son.  From my son.  He’s right here.”

Susan: Why did the father say he is right here “this is irrelevant and unsolicited information?

CALLER:  “Oh God.”
DISPATCHER:  “Okay.  What’s going on there?  You need police or rescue.”
CALLER:  “Yes.  Police.  We need ambulance.  She’s on the ground right now.  I have the gun.

Susan: Father says she is on the floor RIGHT NOW, Where was she before? Then he says he has the gun and
later says it’s on the couch

My little boy had the gun and he picked it up off the ground, I don’t know.  He never have been (inaudible).”

Susan: Father had to have seen the gun on the floor before the toddler picked it up

DISPATCHER:   “Okay.  Okay.  Slow down for me and tell me what happened.
DISPATCHER:  “Listen. Listen. Listen.  I already have a call in for dispatch.”
CALLER:  “(inaudible)  Oh God.  I can’t believe this.  Oh God.  Please she is still on the ground.  Please.  Please.”

Susan: Father says she is STILL on the floor, where was she before? If mom was shot you would expect her to
be on the floor if that is where shooting occurred.

DISPATCHER:  “Okay, listen.  I already have a call in to dispatch.  I need you to tell me how old is your son.”
CALLER:   “My son is 3 years.   He will be 3 years in two months time please.”
DISPATCHER:  “Okay.  Where is the gun right now?”

Susan: Dispatcher – great clarification

CALLER:   “It’s on right here.  Right here.  Right here now.  It’s right there on the couch.”

Susan: The father says its right here NOW. Right here NOW (where was it before). Then he
contradicts himself by saying “It’s right THERE on the couch” (now it is in a different place)

DISPATCHER:  “Okay.”
CALLER:  “Jesus Christ God.  Why do you put myself in this spot?

Susan: He now takes ownership that HE is in this SPOT not his son or victim

Oh God.  Oh no.  Nothing in my life.  I never go through nothing like this in my life.”

Susan: Now becomes his agenda (victim).  Qualifier statement, irrelevant, unsolicited

The major element that’s missing is the father never calls out the mother’s name (distancing). He also
pauses when the dispatcher asks if she is breathing I believe he made the call from a different room and
walks into the room she is in to see if she is breathing. The father also says the son is with him, you never
hear the son in the background.

What do you think about this caller?  Is he being truthful?

I Cannot Spot a Lie

What does it say about a person if they cannot tell if someone is being sarcastic or lying?

Katherine Rankin, Ph.D., a member of the UCSF’s Memory and Aging Center and senior author of a recent study, suggests that it may be possible to spot people with particular neurodegenerative diseases early by looking for the telltale sign of their inability to detect lies.

UCSF’s website states that the ability to detect lies resides in the brain’s frontal lobe.  In diseases like frontotemporal dementia, an area that progressively degenerates because of the accumulation of damaged proteins, the frontal lobe plays an important part in complex, higher-order human behaviors.

Would the inability to detect sarcasm and lies actually match the brain regions hit early in these diseases?

The UCSF researchers focused on the fact that people with frontotemporal dementia often lose the ability to detect sarcasm and lies compared to a person who has Alzheimer’s .  The article goes on to purport that doctors have observed evidence of this for years.  People suffering from this disease sometimes lose significant amounts of money to online scams and telemarketers because of their blind trust.

175 seniors participated in this study and more than half had a neurodegenerative disease.  They were shown a video of two people conversing.  In the video one of the conversers would occasionally lie or use sarcasm, which was prevalent both in verbal and nonverbal cues.  The participants were then asked yes or no questions about the video. Patients with frontal dementia were unable to discern between sincere and insincere speech.  An interesting fact is that patients with Alzheimer’s disease fared much better.

News Medical also commented on this new research.  They state that frontotemporal dementia makes up about 5% of patients with dementia and tends to occur at a younger age (40-70) then say Alzheimer’s disease, which accounts for nearly 80% of such patients.

“If somebody has strange behavior and they stop understanding things like sarcasm and lies, they should see a specialist who can make sure this is not the start of one of these diseases,” said Rankin.