Which story is better?
One image I can’t get out of my mind. It’s from a case I handled when I was still new to homicide.
The guy had brutally rapped and killed a several older women. He was very smug about it when I brought him in here to be questioned. NO remorse at all.
He would find out the addresses of vulnerable old women and then attack them in their homes.
I was questioning him trying to get a statement when he turned to me and said, “Where does your grandmother live?”
I lost it.
There he was challenging me with this threatening remark. And I had to do something, so I jumped on the guy. I just lost it.
It took four other detectives to pull me off the guy. Now I can can still see his face crystal clear anytime I close my eyes.
The tactical lieutenant said to us, “Our guys need to see him. Tell him to turn all the lights on.”
We tell him, “We need you to do us a favor, Bob.”
The guy turns them all off, and comes back on the line, proud as a peacock, “OK, I turned them off.”
“No Bob. We need them on. Turn all the lights on.”
“Oh, sorry.” He drops the phone and goes through the house turning the lights on. He’s compliant, but confused, like a little kid.
We can’t see because there’s a fence there, but Tactical radios us, “OK, they’re on.”
Now, without consulting anybody, the negotiator says just like this, “No, Bob. I wanted a Bud Lite.” We just all burst out laughing and laughing.
Then he starts laughing.
Now while he’s laughing the tactical guys just go in and take him out. To this day the negotiator doesn’t know why he said that. It just popped into his head. You had to be there.