Ep 68: The Interrogations

Sanotaan nyt vaikka, että otat puolisosi kanssa yhteisen asunto lainan. Se, että te puhlocuitit pahimman varalle auttaa vähän. Yhteinen henkivakuutus auttaa paljon. Laske hinta ja turva puolisosi jotenään. Ifpistefi kautta henkivakuutus. Henkivakuutuksen yhteistyö liiton jäsennelle myöntää kalva-vakuutus, jonka asia meihänä toimii Ifvakuutus. June 2012. It involves an 18-year-old named William Hart, who is sitting in an interrogation room at the Evansville Indiana Police Department. William is visibly upset. He is seated at a small medaltable, looking up to the ceiling and sighing loudly as two detectives seated across from him are leaning forward in their seats, staring at him intently, while they ask him questions about what he did on the night of June 14, 2012. They believe he's involved in a murder, and at the very minimum, believe he knows more than what he's telling them about the last time he saw the murder victim. Okay, look, I want to know what happened to Marcus. I think of one time you cared about him, all right, and you still care about him, all right? I need to find out what happened to him. We need to know. We need to know how much he's involved in this. We need to know if you're the one who's hearted. I'm not the one who's hearted. Do you know who is? No, I don't. I think you're leading some out. I don't know. I'm being serious. I don't know the truth, man. I don't know who hearted him. After he left, I told him I got it. I honestly do not know who hearted him. This is Jillian, and you are listening to Court Junkie, episode 68. When William first went in to speak with the investigators, he was very happy. William first went in to speak with the investigators. He was very willing to speak with them. Okay, now, do you want to talk to me about this incident? Well, I got to know if you want to talk to me about it or not. I can talk to you. It's not wrong. About two weeks earlier, on June 17, 2012, a man was found dead in the Ohio River. A man named Marcus Goliqi was a letter from the Social Security Administration, addressed to a man named Marcus Goliqi with an Evansville Indiana address. An autopsy concluded that the cause of death was manual strangulation. It noted that there was trauma to the hyoid bone in the man's neck and that it was fractured. Not only that, but one of his ribs was also fractured, and there was hemorrhage around the tissue. On June 27, 2012, 10 days after his body was discovered, the Evansville Police Department was able to make a positive ID using the man's fingerprints. He was 54-year-old Marcus Goliqi, and he appeared to be homeless. Detectives with the Kentucky State Police, as well as the Evansville Police Department, found in a dress for Marcus's foster sister, Debbie Hurt, and they went to visit her to see if she could tell them anything about Marcus. Debbie had five children who lived in the house with her in her husband. One of them was 19-year-old D.Dra, her biological daughter, and then her adopted children, William, who was 18, Andrea 16, and Stephen, the youngest, and then finally, 16-year-old Harley, her foster son, who had been living with the family for the past month or so. Debbie told the detectives that she lost saw Marcus at her house on Saturday, June 16, 2012. She said she made him dinner and then went to bed, but noted that William had stayed up with Marcus, playing chess. When she got up the next morning, Marcus was gone. Detective Jeff Fantlin then spoke with William. William said that the date and question was actually on Thursday, June 14, 2012. He said he and Marcus, who he called Mark, played a game of chess for two hours and then Mark left afterwards. And that was it. He hadn't seen Mark, who he considered an uncle after that. As he was talking to William, Detective Fantlin noticed that William's right hand looked like it was swollen. And there were two small scrapes near his knuckles. When he asked him about it, William told him that he sometimes deals with anger issues and said he had punched a tree. William then pointed out a couple other injuries, an older cut he said was from grading laundry soap and some other newer scratches were from the freezer at the ice cream shop where he works. A week later, detectives returned to the hurt house and this time another detectives were in the house. Another detective, detective Zachary Jones, interviewed William. Detective Jones suspected that William knew more than he was saying, so he outright accused him of not being forthcoming. He asked William if he thought he could pass a polygraph and William told him that he had doubts about being able to pass, but that he was willing to take one and would also be willing to come into the police station for another interview, if needed. As the detectives continued their investigation, they learned that Marcus had a brother, so they went to visit him too. Marcus's brother seemed to be surprised when they told him that Marcus had been killed, not necessarily surprised that he had died, but surprised that it hadn't been a suicide. He asked, quote, it is verified that he was killed other than jumping off a bridge, because he's been on that bridge three times before threatening to kill himself. The detectives assured him that he had been murdered, but it wasn't the first time the idea of suicide had come up. They learned that Marcus had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and that he had been released from prison just days before his death, while in prison he had been placed on suicide watch. Later that day Debbie called one of the detectives, Detective Jones, and told him that her foster son, Harley, had previously choked her almost to the point of passing out, and that she was afraid he might be involved in Marcus's death. She told them that he was placed back in foster care and was now a ward of the state. But detectives still had their eyes on William. As part of their investigation, they wanted to verify William's claim that he had cut himself on those metal rods in the freezer at his work. So they went to the ice cream shop and saw for themselves that there really were exposed metal rods in the freezer that could have been responsible for the scrapes they had seen. But even so, on June 28, 2012, detectives asked Debbie Hurt to bring William into the police station for an official interrogation. Okay, I'm going to read you something. I want to make sure you understand it. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used to get you in court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have him present with you or you've been questioned. If you're going to afford to hire a lawyer, you want to be appointed to represent you before any questioning if you wish. You can decide at any time to ask if he's right to not answer any questions or make any statements. Okay, would you sign here to show that I read that to you? Oh, that's that's dating is that I read your your Miranda rights. William was asked to go over in detail everything that happened on the day he lost some markets. So he walked them through his entire day, even detailing the seemingly mundane parts. He told the detectives that he got up, showered and played some games around 315. He took the bus to work at an ice cream shop across town. He said it was a very long drawn out day. He left work around 9.45 pm and waited about 30 minutes for the bus home. When he got home around 11.30, Marcus was sitting at his kitchen table eating a bucket of macaroni salad. Also in the kitchen were his little brother Steven and his mom. He said he went over to his mom and gave her a hug. He told her he loved her and that he was home. After a while, he and Mark started playing a game of chess. He said his foster brother Harley came in from the living room and started cleaning up a bit. Harley then grabbed a sunny D and walked back out. Right in the middle of the chess game, his mom said she was going to go to bed. He said Marcus couldn't see the board very well because he had bad eyes. And so he surrendered after about a half hour of playing. William said he shook his hand and then they talked for a little bit. About 20 minutes later, Marcus said he was going to leave. He took a container of instant coffee that William's mom had given him before she went to bed and filled up a container with water. They shook hands again and then chatted again for a few minutes. Then Marcus put on his shoes and walked out the back door. William said that was the last time he saw him. He asked where his siblings were at that time. He said Harley was already in his room. Andrea was upstairs asleep and he didn't know where Deager was. After Marcus left, William said he went downstairs to his room. It was around one o'clock in the morning by then. So he fed his rabbit, watched some TV and fell asleep. When asked what he and Marcus talked about that night before he left, he said they mostly talked about football. The doctors pointed out that as William was telling them the story, he seemed to be having some trouble telling it in chronological order. For example, he had said when Marcus was leaving, he grabbed the instant coffee that his mom had given him. Detective Jones stopped him and asked when she had given it to him. And it turned out it was before she had gone to bed. William had left that detail out. So William started his story over again, but this time he completely left out the part about his mom going to bed. Then he seemed to get flustered and forgot what he was saying after he recounted how he and Marcus talked about football. He apologized and told the detectives he was nervous. I'm sorry, I'm nervous. I've never dealt with this stuff before. Well, I tell you, you give him something here that I think you'll be a little withholding a little information. Yeah. I've never dealt with anything before. Okay. What you need to deal with it straight up, okay? Be honest. It's the best way to do this. William started his story over again and went into more detail about the instant coffee, but this time, Detective Jones said he was leaving out the parts about Harley. He had told the detective in an earlier interview that Harley had wanted to play chess with Marcus that night too. And he had also said that he heard Harley's door shut when he went to bed. Harley, you said earlier Harley, Harley's door shut. After he went to bed, you're leaving out some stuff, right? Not been patient with you. It's time to tell it all. It's time to be honest. You understand we know more than what you think? Oh, I already know. I was feeling you guys already know. Even more than I think. Because you guys are detectives. What do you think we know? Well, I think you know what happened to Mark. And I think you know, you don't know necessarily what happened. Not like all what happened. I know he goes on the entire time and days he was there. And some of the stuff that he has done was in the last week. That's about all I know. The detectives asked if Harley and Mark got into a physical confrontation that night. And William said no, not from what he knows. He said he didn't hear anything after he went to bed. If you try to cover up for somebody and if you try to keep something, I'll see if you're trying to cover up. Listen, here we go. Okay. If you know something, if I don't care if there's all the done something, I don't care if it's you know, I don't care who it was. And you know about it. You know, and this ends up turning south. Then you know you can get trouble for this, right? Yes. Okay. If you want to come clean right now, the time to come clean. And I mean, with the detective ant1, certainly talking to you. Those are so many inconsistencies in your story right now that I have a hard time leaving anything you're saying. Honestly, I mean, I don't really do. Yeah. So why would I want to sit here and believe you when you're so inconsistent on changing the story? Yeah. You're inconsistent. You're leaving parts out of your changing story. You mean you're fabricating? I mean, I can tell you what they're trying. You're fabricating parts of this up. Where I when you get to the point, he won't have to back door. That's when he's fabricating. Everything else I believe happened. I like I told you earlier when I interviewed you earlier. I said, you know, I may I believe you, you know, I'll sit down and play chess. I believe the coffee. I believe everything else. I do not believe after he walked up his back door, that was the end of everything. Okay. Something happened that night. We know what happened that night and it happened around that residence. Someone in that residence is involved. You were involved now because I'm calling it from that. You were holding the information. Now, do you want to be involved in the crime? No, I don't. Then you need to start telling us what everything you know because you're not telling us everything you know. Do you want me to start from? I want you to tell me what part you're leaving out. What happened that night? What you heard, everything. I don't care what you tell me as of right now. You understand that? Yes. Because all the things you're going to do is if you tell me everything, it's help yourself out. You're not helping us out no more. We already know everything now. You didn't do this to me earlier. You didn't get me with the earlier. So we went, I told you we started investigation. We did everything ourselves. So yeah, I mean as far as you, you don't help me out. You've not done it so far. The only way you're going to change my mind is, hold on. If you tell me, somebody wants to happen because as of right now, you're eye contact, you've got way too much eye contact. This is not normal. You're staring a hole right there. You know, take the event on the whole time you've been talking to him. It's not normal. You're starting to start a meeting a little time. That's not normal. We can pick up on your body language, all your deception and everything else. So I'm telling you, if somebody threatened you, you know, not to tell us or whatever. My body's starting to be well, probably she threatened you to hurt you anything. I honestly don't know what I'm withholding. I mean, honest, you agree with this that you were withholding something? But I don't know what it is because I'm just trying to, I want this case to end because I'm trying to help you guys figure out what happened. They asked him if he had ever been down by the river and he said, no, never. As for his sisters, he said probably, Deedra had said she was going camping by the river before a couple times with her friends. As for Harley, he said he didn't believe so. Detective Jones pointed out that William had mud on his shoes. William said that was from doing yard work the other day. He said there is work shoes and sometimes his grandma's boyfriend will pick him up from work and he'll do yard work for them. He took one of his shoes off and gave it to the detective. Do you feel like you're involved in something really big here? Well, yes, I do feel like I'm involved because according to what you are saying, I've been changing the story a lot. I would hold the information but I don't know what the information is. I mean, I'm telling you everything that I know it may be like a different way of telling it. It's different like sequence but I'm telling you all that I know. William was asked if Mark ever wrote in the family van and he said no, not that he knows of. Detective Jones asked him if they'll find his shoe prints down by the river and William said no because he's never been there. He pointed out that the type of shoes he wears are pretty popular in Evansville but said I promise you will not find any footprints of mine down there. I promise you that. The detectives didn't seem to believe him and that's when William started to get visibly upset. I'm telling you, if they're working, something's troubling you. Were there a tell us? I can see it. Something bothering you. You know if you're a child. So your guys are interrogating me constantly. I just want to say it's getting on my nerves. What do you mean? I have a tell us. I'm not involved in this. Who is involved in this? Nobody I know of. Did Holly do something to him? No, that's what I know of. Because after I went to bed, I don't want to sleep. I don't remember anything. After I go to bed, I just black out. I just like not like I'm just going to start a blackout but I just go to sleep. And when I'm really tired, I'm a heavy sleeper. William said he told them everything he knows that he knew Marcus had died because he overheard the detectives talking to his mom in the living room about his funeral. And he said he knew that Marcus had mental issues and didn't like riding in vehicles. He also knew that he was found in the river. He had gotten a notification on his phone that said a man had been found in the river. He didn't know it was Marcus at the time, but he knew that Marcus had gone missing because the detectives had talked to him. Detective Jones told him that he couldn't have gotten that news notification when he said he did, but William insisted that he remembered seeing it on his phone. I fucking hate this. I am not involved in this in any way, William said. Who is involved in earlier your dosiwork? How would I have involved in it? Said you were involved. Okay, I talked to him. Okay, okay, I'll start from the beginning. I'll give you exactly everything that I know. Is it going to be the same story we've already heard? Yes, possibly. I don't know. Okay, look. I want to know what happened to Marcus. I think of one time you cared about him. And you still care about him. We need to know. We need to know if you're the one who's hurting. I'm not the one that's hurting him. Do you know who is? No, I don't. I think you're leaving something out. I don't know. I'm being serious. I don't know who I am, though. After he left, I don't know. Oh, my God. I honestly do not know who I'm hurting. Honestly, don't. Who do you think would harm him? I don't know who he would have. Are you getting one of the hells? Or what's your assing? If anyone of the house would have harmed him? I left that open to you. No one brought up in the house. Is somebody in house, Army? What about you, Ed? He wouldn't harm Mark. He wouldn't. Your mom? No. No one in the house would harm him. Nobody. Nobody. No one. Nobody. Not even him. William was then grilled about his foster brother, Harley. He insisted that he wasn't scared of him and that Harley would never hurt Mark. Harley loved to fight, he said, but he never talked about hurting Mark. He said Harley would only fight someone who posed a threat to him. He would never hurt anyone otherwise. He said Harley would clash with William's older sister once in a while and then go back to his room for about 15 minutes to cool down. But then he would come back out and be happy, go lucky. That's how he is, he said. So he's never done anything wrong at home. The guy that has a trouble passed like him and in so much trouble. He's an angel in your house. I don't believe that for a second. I think you're still covering for him and I'm getting fed up with it. You need to tell me what he did wrong. I'm not going to tell anybody. I'm not going to squeal him out. I want to know what he's done wrong at home. The only thing he's done wrong is get smart with my sister constantly. That's it. He does always chores. He doesn't smoke cigarettes. He doesn't smoke weed. He may smoke weed but I'm not for sure. Let's expand on that. How might he smoke weed? How might you think that? When he first came here, he said he smoked weed. He said he would love to do it again. Instead of he knew somebody who would get something right now. And you know what I'm going to do about that? Nothing. I don't care. You understand? I don't care. What else has he done wrong at home? He's not an angel. I know he's not. I know he's not. He's got a trouble with that. I know that he's been on walk-up. He's on walk-up since he was like 10. Okay. But other than that, let me start with my sister and talk about smoking weed, obtaining it and doing all this other stuff with weed. I don't know. He don't know. He's not dead. Anything else wrong? He's not. Not bad at night? Not someone I know. At all. Detective Jones pointed out that in a previous interview William had told them that he got home at 10 pm on the night Marcus came over. And today he is saying he got home at 11.30. They asked if he has trouble telling the truth and he said yes when he's put on the spot. And he told them that he knows he's a suspect. I already know you guys think I'm a suspect because my hands swollen and I'm four or five of the truth or what would you figure this out? Did you guys keep asking about my hand at the tell sign when? Did you guys keep asking me the day or the last week? What thought I'm a suspect? No. But your hand. You came in. Okay. I'm a day that I worked. You guys told my hand. I know. Is that when you thought you were a suspect? I thought I was suspect. I've used pictures of my hands. Okay. Suspect of what? That I did something two more. Or it helped in any way to possibly kill more. Well, kill now. But pardon me in any way at that point. I thought I even broke down and cried at work because you guys came to push my hands. That's when I clicked. You guys think I'm a suspect? Two orders have to come. I really do after that statement because not one time. Even one of the same thing about you know. Oh my god. Really? No. I'm not. No. Not one time. You just brought that up on your own. Oh my goodness. You're all insane. He's found the higher ever. You're one now. You're saying he's killed. Oh my god. It's time for honesty. What are those orders and investigations? I know you guys are. We're in a vest relation. Concerned in order. We're looking at the markets right now. I'll try to help him to. If I did anything to harm him, I don't know. Honestly don't. You're giving us a lot of information that usually completely innocent person wouldn't do. If you did anything to harm market, I really don't know is what you just said. What kind of statement is that? Because after what you guys are saying, you think I did something to market. That's what you just said. If I did anything to harm markets, I don't know. I did not. I did not harm markets in any way possible. After he left, I want you to leave it. Thank you guys. Detective Jones asked why he left the house later that night. And William said he didn't. That he's positive. He didn't leave that night. The detectives then tell him that they have him on camera. So hang on the camera at the store. Right through. Point right towards. Point right towards. I'm not going to have you on camera. I said you had an eye to go by before or after. So when I got your camera down there, that would be the night. The market was there. You went to bed and the market was there and then you left. You know, I got some Marcie Kola maybe. So there you go. I'll be honest. I have a terrible terrible memory when it comes to time and day. You have a terrible lie, I'm proud of what you get on them. It was an accident that we need to know, Detective Joan said. I don't remember anything after I fell asleep, William responded. He insisted that it was either that night or a couple nights after that he went to the kangaroo gas station. Detective Joan's told him that his theory is that an accident happened and that everyone in the family freaked out and didn't know what to do. He said they're trying to cover for each other. He told William that the first person who comes clean will be lucky and said, "I'm telling you you want to be the first person who comes forward." The detectives then leave William alone in the room for a few minutes. When they come back into the room, they ask if he's done any soul searching and William said he will tell them all he knows. "Where do you want me to start?" he asked. "Where we haven't heard anything before," Detective Joan said, "where it's going to be new and fresh. The information we're looking for." William shuffled in his seat and repeated, "The information you're looking for." "Mhm, the detective responded." William told them that after Marcus left that night, he went down to his room and went to bed. The next morning, he helped his mom with the chores and did yard work. Then he played poker with his family. After that, he said the detectives came over and interviewed him. William then went into describing what happened when Marcus was over, detailing again how he shook his hand, how they talked about football, and then how Marcus put his shoes on and left. He was repeating the same details as before, but adding new, even more mundane details, like the fact that he got a drink of water from the kitchen sink at one point and cleaned up the macaroni salad in the kitchen. This version ended the same way, however, with Marcus leaving and William not remembering anything after that. When he was finished talking, Detective Vantlin asked him what the hell he was talking about, telling him that he's all over the board, that he started this story with when Marcus was over, described playing poker with his family the next day, and then went back to when Marcus was over. They told him that he's talking in circles, that he's making no sense. I'm looking at this two ways. You're a guy that harmed him, no doubt about it. You're the one who's the evil son of the bitch and he's the first forever, or you're helping somebody else. You're holding information back, helping somebody else. I think your loyalty is leading towards someone else in this, and I'm Mark. You're also these to be from Harvard right now. Maybe you did something wrong, you should have done it, Mark, we'd like you for it, but you know what? That's what we can deal with. We can deal with it right now. If you keep holding back, and it seems like the protectance of somebody, it seems like he don't tell us the full story every time, and he's talking in circles. You understand what I'm saying? There's something that you're not telling me, and I can sense it, I can tell it. You understand? That's church and justice. The very least of church and justice. We get somebody in here, improve your liar, I'll come after you. If you tell me right now what's going on, let's work with it. We can work with it. I think you know more than tell me. I know you don't know more than tell me. I just know it. All your body language, the way you're answering, your mannerisms, will you go to schools on this stuff? We learn that now. Okay, and in question. And you're not, you're not telling us what we need to hear. It's just none. You're so far out there left, Bill, that I don't know if I'm going to be on the history of that, because you already made your proposal bad wire. I mean, you made that more than one time. I mean, you're telling me you could have done something, you could have done something. I asked you about your shoes. You know, they might be down there. She'd pray like mine. That was river. Okay. And you're saying you killed, we never said he was killed. No one ever said he'd been killed. No one ever said he was in a hall river. You're going to come up, boy, yeah, I know he's in a hall room. Okay. You're going to get on that all the facts. You're going to have so many facts that you don't think we can build a case against you. But all the facts are really, she's about to take the answer. Okay. Then why would we want to help you out? Because you know, because you know that I'm innocent and you want to know how to help you. You know, this boy has this one. I do not believe in things like that. You understand that? I don't do. They told him that his background doesn't suggest that he would do something like this, but that Harley's does. They said Harley has it in him to do it and that Harley will pin it all on him. But William said that the truth is he didn't see Harley again after seeing him in the kitchen for the rest of the night. The detectives lean back in their seats and sighed loudly. Why? Why do you do this? Why do you do this? I get so picked off. When I talk to you tonight, you seem like a good kid. That maybe have made a mistake. You don't understand how big a mistake you're making now. You're a lot of inches on this. Being truthful. I don't know who does. I'm telling you, Harley is a little punk. I'm telling you that right now, Detective Jones said. He said if they bring Harley in, he will cry like a little baby, that he will run like hell and that he doesn't have Williams back. He's a little 16 year old pathetic punk. That's what kind of role model you want. This continues on and William continues to insist that he doesn't know what happened. Except at this point, he seems to have started believing the detectives about Harley having something to do with it. He says things like, after Mark left, I have no idea what Harley did. I truly don't. What did Harley do to Mark? They asked again. I don't know what he did. William replied. He again rattled off who was in the kitchen that night. Himself, his mom, his little brother Stephen, Marcus and Harley. The detectives said, so maybe Stephen did it then. In William said, no, he would never. And they said, so maybe your mom did it then. And he replied, no, she would never. Then William said, so that leaves me in Harley, but I would not harm Mark at all. You can't convince two people about your story. Let alone 12 people. Detective Jones told him. Somebody did. Somebody hurt Mark. Somebody did hurt more of the person. It was nobody in my family. Okay. Yeah. Those were her Mark then. I don't know. You just said there and said someone hurt Mark, but it was on me. That was your statement. Somebody hurt Mark. So therefore you know, or you would have said, I don't know who her Mark. You said that you agree. You said somebody hurt Mark. Somebody had to have her. Otherwise, he doesn't be in the question of your now. Well, I will back her back. Detective Jones told him, I can't take any more of this. William put his head in his hands and said, I'm trying. And they told him, no, you aren't. They told him that they'll be in touch about scheduling a polygraph. It's pretty pathetic that if you know something that you're not telling us that show you your true character, it's pretty pathetic. That you do this to your family. You do this to a mob, you do this to everybody else. It's pretty, it's pretty low. About low as you get. Well, I'm covered for anybody. I'm not coming from nobody. I'm trying to help save myself. You've done that support. I don't know. Let me say, I don't know and put the other information that I already know into the, but I know of into the investigation. Just not know. And information that nobody else should really know. I know it doesn't help. For more than 10 minutes, the detective say things like until you wake up with this every day for the rest of your life, you have not felt pain. You know what we want to hear, Detective Jones said, don't feel the burden anymore. Don't feel this pain. You're so close. Get it off your chest. Don't do this to your family. Don't do this to Mark. William said nobody in my family would harm Mark in any way, but he then continued. The only person who's not considered family is Harley. What did Harley do? The detectives asked. William put his head in his hands. After some more prodding, he said he heard someone walk out the back door that night. He heard a vehicle start up and then he fell asleep and doesn't remember anything else. Who left in the vehicle? They kept asking him. And finally, he said Harley. They then leaned in and pressed him for more details. Detective Jones told him to get this off of his chest for Mark. You said you truly cared for him. William replied, I can't remember if Harley made me go or if Harley made me do it. That's what I can't remember. Detective Jones continued. Do it for Mark. Do it for your family. We have got to do something or Harley might hurt another person in your family. Protect your family. Come on, William. Let the burn go. Tell me. After repeatedly saying he doesn't remember, William finally said he threw him in the river. When asked why Harley did that, he said he didn't know. Detective Jones asked, what did he do to him? How did he hurt Mark? And then William said he beat him up. And then what? Detective Jones asked, tied him up and threw him into the river. William responded. Detective Jones then asked where he beat him up at, saying that William knows as well as he does that Mark wasn't the type to get into a vehicle. He was hurt before he got into that vehicle. Detective Jones said. He then asked if William hit Mark, pointing out the cuts and swelling on his hand. William insisted that he doesn't remember. You're looking at your hands, okay? This is the hand that you hit Mark with. How many times did you hit Mark? William again said he doesn't know. More than once, five, Detective Jones asked. It had to have been because my hand wouldn't have been as swollen William replied. Detective Jones then asked where William had hit him. In the face or on the torso, William said. Detective Jones asked who choked Mark and William said it wasn't him, it was Harley. He was asked to demonstrate how Harley did it and William mimicked choking someone from the front. When asked where it took place, William said, it had to have been down by my house. You said that we had the van, so it wasn't that far away from my house. Detective Jones asked if Mark left and then they all got in the van and then chased him down. William replied that after Mark left, he lay down and then he doesn't know what else happened. Detective Jones wasn't about to accept that and he said William had already told him what happened. Where did you guys beat Mark up at, he asked. William responded by asking him if it was an area by the river and Detective Jones said, no, don't ask me, where did you beat Mark up at? The kangaroo, William asked, referencing the gas station the detectives had told him about earlier where they said they had him on camera. Was it at the kangaroo? Detective Jones asked him back. You said you had my face on a videotape, William replied. Detective Jones asked him again where he beat Mark up. It had to be by my house because he wouldn't have gotten that far by the time that I had gone downstairs. William answered. He was then asked how Mark got into the van and he said they forced him in after they beat him up. He was asked who took Mark's wallet and he said he did, but when asked where the wallet was at now, he said he had no clue. Does Harley have Mark's wallet? Detective Jones asked. Yes, William said. He said it's probably hidden somewhere in Harley's room. Detective Jones then started asking questions about who else was with them in the van. He asked about William's sisters, Andrea and Diedra, and William said no, they weren't there. But Detective Jones said that someone else had to have been driving. William said, the only two people that drive the van are my mom and my sister, Diedra. He then asked again if Diedra was driving that night and after a few times saying that he doesn't remember, he then said she was. William was prodded about why they decided to kill Mark and William said he doesn't know that he would never hurt someone just for fun and that he didn't know Mark has had any money. You realized you killed someone? Detective Jones asked a few minutes later. Yeah, I never dreamed of killing a person at all. I didn't think I did it, William said. Detective Jones said to him that there's been a lot of weight lifted off of him now and that deep down, William must feel better because the pain has lifted. Yes, this did happen. He told William. Detective Vantlin then asked William to walk them through it step by step one more time. William told them that after Marcus left, he went downstairs and then was woken up by Harley who said something about going out and doing something. They got in the van, Diedra was in the front seat and they saw Marcus out on the street. They beat him up, tied him up, put him in the van, took him down to the river and threw him in him and Harley. He said when they first saw Mark on the street, they were all cracking jokes and then Mark said something that made Harley mad. He said he doesn't know what Mark said, but then Harley started hitting Mark in the face and then William jumped in and started hitting him too. When asked why he jumped in, he said he doesn't remember. He told the detectives that after they were done hitting him, Harley choked him. They then put him in the back seat of the van. He was asked what they used to tie him up with and he said he doesn't remember. He was asked repeatedly if Andrea was in the van and he kept saying he didn't know if she was there or not. Detective Joan said, "Man, I'm telling you, you're not protecting anybody. You're not protecting anybody. Was Andrea in the van?" Yes, William said. She was. Where was she sitting at? William said she was in the middle seats. William, who tied him up? Who tied him up? Detective Joan's asked. Me, William responded. And Harley. And Andrea? William asked it instead of telling. Detective Joan's asked him, "Did she?" And William said he doesn't remember. When asked again what they used to tie him up with, William said sheets, although he couldn't recall what color they were. When asked repeatedly whose idea it was to dump him in the river, William twice said he didn't remember. Then said Harley. And then after some more prodding, said Dijra. He said they were driving past it and Dijra said, "Let's go dump the body in the river." He said he and Harley were the ones who dumped the body. "He's pretty heavy," Detective Antlin said. "Somebody else had to have helped you." William, "Who else helped?" Detective Joan's asked. "It was Dijra," William said. Detective Joan's asked if when they threw him in the river, if he floated or if he sunk immediately. "He floated," I believe, William said. He said they went home afterwards, but Detective Joan stopped him and told him that they must have been talking about it on the way. William said Andrea remarked that they were going to get caught for this and get in trouble and that they all agreed. So you all tried to come up with the same story? "Yeah," William said. He said the story was the same one he had told them earlier. Detective Joan's asked if William's mom Debbie knows about what happened and he said not before today. Detective Joan said he had a hard time believing that and asked who told her. William first said it had to have been one of the girls and then said Harley. He told Detective Joan said he wasn't there when Harley told her, but when asked how he knew he told her then, he said he had just walked in when he was telling her. Did she ask you about it? Detective Joan's asked and William said no. I'm having a hard time believing she didn't ask you about it. What did Debbie say? William said, "She asked where it all happened?" And what did you tell her? "I told her what all happened," William replied. He then said he didn't recall what she said about it, but then said she told him that they were going to get into a lot of trouble and she didn't want to be a part of it. Did you ask her to cover up for you? William said no. Who asked her to cover up for you guys? William said he didn't remember. William, you do too. Who asked Debbie to cover up for you all? Harley, William replied. Detective Joan's asked what Debbie said and William said that she told them that if anybody asked to say that it happened on Saturday. Debbie said this. William asked you a question. Is this what Debbie said? She didn't say that, William replied. Detective Joan's asked what she said then and William said she told them that she was going to have to notify the police. Detective Joan's pointed out that she never did and he surmised that obviously somebody talked her out of it. Later, William said that either Deedra or Debbie cleaned out the van because they're the ones who drive it. He said it was him, Harley, Andrea and Deedra in the van that night. After it happened, he said they went to the kangaroo gas station and although he didn't remember what they bought, Detective Joan's told them they bought junk and goodies and pop and all that. When asked how they paid for it, William said he doesn't know because none of them had any cash. So you used his card, Detective Joan's asked. You used Mark's card at the kangaroo gas station? Mark's card was used that night and it was on the way back from the river when you used his card, Detective Joan's told him. Okay, William said. Detective Joan's told them that there are cameras at that gas station. Who's going to be on the camera actually using the card? He asked. The oldest one probably, William said, referencing Deedra, but he said he's not certain. Detective Joan's asked if William used the card and he said no. I'm not going to find you doing a transaction with it. William, am I going to find you on camera using that debit card? William said, most likely not. Detective Joan's tried again. William, am I going to find you on that camera using that debit card? William said, well from what you've told me you say you have me on camera. So yes, it's probably on the camera. You told me that you found me on camera. Detective Joan's told them not to worry about what he said earlier that he's asking him now if they're going to find him on the video camera using Mark's debit card and William said yes. He said he signed it in his own name. Detective Joan's told them that he's going to step out for a second and be right back. You're not free to leave, okay? I'm telling you that right now. Are you serious? William asked. Detective Joan said yes. William told them that he just wants to go home, that he has worked tomorrow. Detective Joan's asked him for his phone and William handed it over. William said, I honestly like you guys had to like really reach over in order for me to remember. I know when you did a good job, Detective Joan's told him you did all right. It took you a while to get there, but you did. And then William asked, was I close to it? And Detective Joan's replied, I don't know, were you? If you told me everything that happened and you told me the truth, then it's got to be pretty well spot on, doesn't it? William told him he feels a lot better now. After the detectives left William, they focused their attention on D.Dra and placed her under arrest. She signed a waiver of her Miranda rights and underwent her own interrogation for nearly two hours. The detectives told D.Dra that William had confessed and that he had implicated her in the crime too, saying that she had driven them to the Ohio River with an unconscious Marcus in the back of the van. D.Dra asked, driving who to the river? Detective Sergeant Nelson said, driving your foster brother to the river and Mr. Goliqi. D.Dra immediately responded, no. Detective Sergeant Nelson continued, he said, you drove after they beat him up and knocked unconscious Mr. Goliqi and threw him in the van. D.Dra asked, who said that? They told her that William told them that. They told her the investigation is complete, that it's all caught up to her now. He didn't say you did it, they said, but he said you were there. D.Dra said, right hand on the Bible, I did not drive them to the river. Where did you drive them to? Detective Sergeant Nelson asked. I didn't drive them anywhere, she said. They told her that this is going to go to a jury, but there's going to be a trial. Why would he place you there if you weren't there? That's what I don't understand, D.Dra said, because I wasn't in, I didn't see Mark that day, like I told him, I haven't seen Mark in like a year. D.Dra continued to tell the detectives that she hadn't seen Marcus, that she doesn't understand why William would say that she had driven them to the river when she didn't. Detective Wise said to her, okay, listen to me, you seem like a bright young girl, it looks like you just made a stupid mistake. I don't think it's every day that you're doing these kinds of things, I really don't. And I know that you screwed up this one time. D.Dra responded, I didn't though. The detectives told her that it's too late, that they already know she was there, and that she can't hide from it. D.Dra was adamant that she's not hiding from anything, that she didn't drive them, that she didn't understand why William would say something like that. Detective Wise told her that there's a reason why she deleted her Facebook posts, text messages, and phone calls from her phone. D.Dra said that she deletes that stuff out of her phone every day. Detective Sergeant Nelson said that just because she drove them to the river, doesn't mean that she committed murder. And D.Dra said she knows that, but she didn't drive them. She said she would admit it if she did. She then said that she doesn't know why William would even say that he committed the murder, because he did it, Detective Sergeant Nelson said, he knows facts of the murder that only the police know, and the people who committed the crime. D.Dra said that she couldn't recall what she was doing on that Thursday, that she was trying to remember but couldn't. She said she doesn't do drugs and drinks every once in a while, but doesn't lose her memory. So there's no reason you wouldn't remember someone being beat up and murdered Detective Sergeant Nelson asked. I would remember that, she responded. So what time does this happen? She then asked them. They told her they wouldn't give her that information. They told her she better remember where she was, because as it stands, she's being placed at the murder scene, and she's going to be charged with murder for driving the van. D.Dra said she was probably at work or over at her friend's house. They continued to tell her that she was lying. Are you going to live with this for the rest of your life? Is this something you want to live with? Detective Wise asked her. "No, because I didn't do it," she said. "Well, where were you then?" he asked. "I'm not sure, okay, but I'd know if I was down at the river dumping somebody's body or watching people dump somebody's body." They argue back and forth, and D.Dra doesn't budge. She tells them that she would remember something like that. She recalled that when she was 12 or 13 years old, when her grandma passed away, and she went into her apartment and saw, quote, "freaking body fluids everywhere." She said she can still picture that. And if she can't forget that, what makes them think she's going to forget about seeing somebody dump somebody's body? They told her that they're going to bring her entire family in, and that they think everyone was involved. They told her that they can't believe she doesn't feel remorse for what she did, but she continued to say that she didn't do anything. "Do I have the right to have like a lie detector test or something?" she asked. Detective Wise told her, "You heard all your rights and agreed that you understood them." She said she knows that, but does she have the right to ask for a lie detector test? I mean, you can ask, but that doesn't mean you're going to get one, Detective Wise responded. At one point, Detective Jones enters the room, and tells her that he was the one who had spoken to William. He tells her that he knows she was there, knows she drove the van, and knows that they all went inside the kangaroo gas station and used Mark's debit card to purchase soda pops and candy. He told her they had video from the store. Dejra told them that Mark doesn't have any money. Detective Jones said that he had a debit card and that they used it. "Now, I could tell you everything you did that night, but I'm going to give you the chance to save Grace, and you do it," he said. Dejra repeatedly told them that she doesn't remember what she was doing that night. Detective Wise told her that she's blocking it out, that she doesn't want to remember it, because she can't believe she did this. "I didn't drive, I promise," she said. Detective Jones told her that he knows every detail of that night, that she went to the gas station and down to the river, that she got out of the van well at the river, because her footprints are there in the mud. Dejra said that everyone wears each other's shoes at their house. She again denied knowing anything. They told her that she needs to tell them what she did, or she's going to jail for murder. She said she doesn't remember going to the gas station, but they tell her they know she was there. "That's what I don't understand," she replied. "Dejra, you drove that van that night," Detective Wise said. "I guess I did, I just don't remember," she said. Detective Jones told her that she drove William and Harley because she's the only one with the driver's license in the bunch, and that she got caught in a bad situation, that she didn't have a choice, she freaked out, and they would freak out too if they were her. "I just do not remember driving that night, I don't," she said. "What do you remember doing that night? Do you remember going to the river?" Detective Jones asked. "Dejra said no. You just said that you guessed that you did drive," Detective Wise pointed out. "I mean, I guess I did. I mean, that's what you guys want to hear," she said. "No, all I want to hear is the truth," Detective Jones said. "I know, and that's what I'm trying to tell you guys, but if I do tell the truth, you don't believe me." They told her that she hasn't been telling the truth, that she's been lying, but if she tells the truth, she'll be helping out her entire family, including Marcus. "I guess I did," she said. Detective Jones told her, "No, there ain't no guessing, Dejra. I don't remember," she said. "Dejra, there ain't no guessing it's sweetheart. You did it, and you know you did it. You're just too chicken shit to say the words." "Okay, I did it," she responded. Detective Wise asked Dejra what happened, and she responded, "I don't remember." Detective Jones told her that the only way she's going to save her ass is if she tells the truth. "If not, you're going to hang," he said. He asked her if there's a reason why they would find her fingerprints on Mark, and she told him that they wouldn't find her fingerprints on him. When asked how she knows that, she replied, "Because I didn't touch him. I haven't seen him." She was then asked what she would say to Marcus if he was there right now, and if she would at least apologize to him. She said, "If he was here right now, I would tell him to tell you guys that I wasn't there." They told her that they know that later that night they cleaned out the van and washed all the blood and mud out. Dejra said, "No, you can look at that van. That van hasn't been touched in months." She said it hasn't been vacuumed in a long time. They then peppered her with questions like, "How did they get you to drive them? Why did you drive them?" And Dejra told them that she doesn't know. She then said, "I feel like the only reason why they did get me involved in it is because I do have my license. I don't know what I'm supposed to tell you." She told them to track her phone, but they ignored her, still telling her that she was lying. They accused her of not giving a damn about Marcus, saying that he was just a homeless crazy bum on the street to her, which she denied, saying that she loved him and that he was family. The thing is, she said at one point, "I don't sneak out of my house. I don't sneak the van because my mom keeps an eye on the mileage." She said she'd be too scared to even do something like that. They told her that her story has to match Williams. "You got to match it or that makes everybody a liar, okay? Can you tell the same story that William did?" "I suppose I can," she replied. They told her to try, and then she said, "went to the gas station, went to the river, and I don't know who touched Mark." She said they didn't clean out the van. They told her they needed her to go into more detail. "We've got a pretty good idea who touched Mark. It's between three or four people. I want you to tell us that way we'll know. You understand how this works? If your story, William's story, your mom's story, everybody's matches, we know who did it. Let's try this again." They asked her if she was woken up to drive them, and after telling them she doesn't remember, she said she doesn't know how they got her in the van. She said they all went to the gas station and that everybody wanted to go to the river, so they did. She said she didn't get out of the van. Detective Jones told her that Mark doesn't like vehicles and that he wouldn't have just gotten in the van. He asked who was in the van when they left the house, and she said, "Me, Mark, Harley, William, and I think Andrea." They asked if Mark was woken and she said, "Yeah." They peppered her with more questions. "What happened? Did you guys stop and talk to him or what?" "I mean, obviously you guys talked to him. What happened when you stopped? Who got out, Deedra? Who got out of the van? Were you driving at that point?" Deedra just responded to the last question. "I mean, I had my license, but it was my mom and dad's." Detective Wise said, "Okay, so you were driving?" And Deedra said, "Yeah." They asked if Mark was able to get into the van by himself. Deedra responded, "Probably not because of the way his body is, because he does nothing but walk." Detective Vantlin said, "Okay, listen, like I told you before, it's got a match William's story. Is William a liar? Huh? I know he's not a liar. We all know he's not a liar. He's a pretty good kid that made a mistake. We're all trying to decide if you're a pretty good girl that made a mistake. And what we're going to have to know sooner or later are you the one who killed Mark?" Deedra said, "No." Detective Vantlin continued, "Then you need to start talking. You need to tell your point of view. And it doesn't have to match William's word for word, but it has to match close." They asked her, "Who killed Mark?" And she said, "Harley was the most violent one." And then said, "William and Harley are the only two left." "How did they kill him?" Detective Vantlin asked. "Rap him up," Deedra said. "They didn't wrap him up and kill him. How did they kill him?" They asked again. She told them they beat him with their hands and legs. "Did you see this?" Detective Vantlin asked her. And she said, "No." She asked her again. "Deedra, did you see this?" Answered my question, "Deedra, did you see this?" Deedra said, "Yeah." She finally said, "Harley was the one who put his hands around Marcus's neck." She said, "William and Harley then put Marcus in the van." And they then went to the river and dumped him. The detectives told her that William and Harley couldn't have dumped Marcus by themselves. And so they asked, "Who else helped them?" She said she knows for sure she didn't touch him, that she remained behind the wheel. They asked if Andrea had helped them and she said, "Yes." She said they went home after that and the detectives stopped her and told her that, "No, they didn't, but they stopped somewhere. Where did you stop at?" They asked. She said she doesn't remember. What convenience store was it? She said Kangaroo, the one down the street from their house. When asked what they bought, she said soda pops. "Did you go into the store?" "Yes," she said. "I mean, you said you saw me on camera." The detectives asked if they used Marcus's debit card and she said, "Yeah." "Who swiped to the debit card? Was it William?" And she said she thinks it was. They asked if she was sure and she said, "No." She then said it could have been Andrea because she didn't touch it. When asked who threw Marcus in the river, she said, "William and Harley, they're the strongest." And when they asked if Andrea had gotten out too, she said, "Yes." The detectives asked her again about when they first saw Marcus that night. She said, "William and Harley got out of the van and when asked what happened next," she said Marcus got in. He didn't just get in the car, Detective Wise told her. "Dijor, you've got this all screwed up. You're sitting there telling me when he got in the van he was tied up." Dijor said he wasn't beat up in the street and that they went to the river. Detective Jones said, "And I told you a while ago Marcus not going to get into vehicle because he don't like sitting in vehicles. He will not ride in a vehicle." And that's when you said he was beat up and choked and put in the van. Dijor said she doesn't remember what happened. Detective Jones told her that they're done with the interview. Here's the deal, okay? Now you're starting to recant your story, so what we're going to do is we're going to stop. We've had enough. We're just going to stop the interview, okay? Because now you're trying to recant your story, trying to add things into it. He asked if they could look through her cell phone and she said, "Yes." They got up to leave and asked if she wanted something to drink and she said, "Yes." When asked what she wanted, she said, "I don't care." After William and Dijor were finished being interrogated, investigators obtained a search warrant for the Hurt Family home. Detectives, along with the Evansville Police Department SWAT team, executed the warrants. They entered the home, pulled Andrea out of bed, and then transported her to the police department. Since she was a juvenile, just 16 years old, her guardian, Ron Hurt, was with her during her interrogation with police. Andrea's interrogation lasted for about two hours and 16 minutes. She, too, adamantly denied having any involvement or knowing anything about Marcus's death, even after she was told that William and Dijor had said she did. She told the detectives that she would never be involved in a murder because her biological mother had been killed when she was very young. At one point, Andrea reportedly does say that she was in the van, but then she recants. William and Harley were ultimately charged with murder, robbery resulting in serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice. And Dijor was charged with murder, attempted robbery resulting in serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice. Before formal charges were filed against Andrea, her case was dismissed. On August 31, 2012, Dijor's attorneys filed a motion asking the trial court to suppress her confession, and after oral arguments were heard, the trial court granted that motion, ruling that her confession had been coerced by police. Five days after that, the charges against Dijor were dismissed. After four months of being held in jail awaiting trial, Dijor was then released. Harley's charges were also later dismissed, which left one defendant in the case, William Hurt. William's attorneys filed an identical motion to Dijor's, asking to suppress William's confession, but his motion was denied. After refusing a plea deal with prosecutors, William went to trial on February 19, 2013. If convicted, he was facing 45 to 65 years in prison for murder and six to 20 years for each of the other charges. The prosecution's evidence included William's interrogation tape, which was played in its entirety in court. In addition to that, Officer Jason Pagget testified that as he was driving William to the jail after that interrogation, William made the comment, "I have to pay for what I did." Detective Jeff Fantlin also told the jury about the scratches and swelling he noticed on William's right hand, although he also told them how William had told him that he heard it at work, and he said he was able to verify that it was possible. But aside from that, the prosecution also didn't seem to have much physical evidence to support William's confession. An empty wallet was found in a drawer next to William's bed, but Detective Fantlin said they couldn't find anything to suggest that it was Marcus'es. And in fact, Detective Fantlin said they couldn't confirm that Marcus even had a debit card, let alone that it had been used at a store. He also told the jury that they had searched the riverbank for any sheets that may have been used to tie Marcus up as William had alleged in his confession, but they weren't able to find anything. Another investigator testified that he examined the surveillance video from the kangaroo gas station and didn't see the teenagers nor the van there, and the same was true for surveillance video at nearby stores as well. The clerk who had been working that night such he couldn't pick William out of a photograph line up that had been shown to her. And yet another investigator who processed the Hertz van testified that he tested the van for blood but was unable to find any, and a crime scene investigator testified that he found seven partial prints on the outside of the van, but none of those matched the prints of any known people in the case, including Marcus. Detective Sarah Hillsmeier told the court that she looked at the video surveillance from Dress Plaza or Marcus' body had been found and could find no footage of the van ever being in that area. William's mom, Debbie Hurt, testified that she never discussed anything about the events of that night with her son, and although she had initially told Detective Vanlin that sheets had been missing from her home, she said she later found them. The defense focused much of their attention on William's confession. They called Stephen Drizzin, a law professor at the Northwestern University School of Law and director of its Center for wrongful convictions to the stand. Drizzin, who has studied hundreds of cases of false confessions, wasn't allowed to say whether or not he believed William's confession was false. But instead, he testified about the techniques used in the interrogation and how those can lead to a false confession. Drizzin told the jury that virtually every fact came from the police officers and not from William. He said the officers were the ones who first said that Marcus's wallet was missing, and they were the ones who said he may have been punched, kicked, and strangled. William then repeated these things. He said it's clear that William was trying to incorporate the details the officers told him into his confession because at the end, William asked, "Did I get close to it?" He told the jury that instead of asking leading questions, interrogators should ask open-ended questions. Drizzin also said that the detectives in the case violated interrogation techniques by threatening William, telling him he would be going to jail or worse, and telling him that he should confess before the others. They also lied about what evidence they had, he said. All of these things, including a sense of self-doubt of one's own memories created by police and a desire to avoid going to jail, can lead to a false confession. Although Drizzin said the techniques are not against the law, most suspects don't know that police officers can lie to them. As the jury was deliberating, they requested to watch the videotape of William's interrogation again. Afterwards, they found William not guilty of murder and robbery. They couldn't agree on a verdict for obstruction of justice, which was then later dropped. William was released. About a year and a half later, in June 2014, Debbie Hurt, along with William, Deedra, and Andrea, filed a civil suit against the City of Evansville and the officers involved in the case. Among the things they alleged were malicious prosecution and false arrest or imprisonment, and they alleged that Marcus wasn't murdered at all. In the very introduction of the lawsuit, it states, in part, on June 28, 2012, defendants wrongfully arrested plaintiffs William Hurt, Deedra Hurt, and Andrea Hurt for the death of their uncle. Not only did the three young siblings not commit this crime, but the crime itself had not occurred. Tragically, their uncle had committed suicide by jumping off the twin bridges a short distance from where his body was found. The lawsuit also states that Andrea had been held at the jail for seven days before the prosecutor determined that they would not file charges against her. During those seven days, the lawsuit alleges that the officers provided Andrea's name to the media and falsely accused her of being a murderer, which, quote, "caused her tremendous harm well after she was cleared of the wrongful charges." The lawsuit then goes on to say that following Deedra's wrongful arrest, she spent five months in the county jail, and that both hers and William's confessions were coerced in voluntary and unreliable. Regarding William, "Defendants continued their malicious prosecution of William, fabricated additional material false evidence to use against him at trial, and withheld their fabrications from him." The lawsuit alleges that there was no evidence to support the coerced confessions, even though detectives tried looking for it, and, quote, "faced with this dilemma, the defendant said about to fabricate evidence proving the sibling's guilt." Among the fabricated evidence, they say, was the autopsy report, which wasn't finalized until after the confessions were made. In that statement that William had allegedly made to an officer while being transported to jail, where he said, "I have to pay for what I did." Wasn't fact false. That William never said that. It was, quote, "fabricated for the sole purpose of furthering William's wrongful prosecution." And there were other police reports that they alleged were fabricated, too, a police report by Evansville Police Detective Spencer, dated July 2, 2012, stated that he took William to the dress plaza early on June 29, 2012, and that William directed him to the ramp where Marcus' body was dumped. William had tests that he never went to the dress plaza on June 29, 2012. Another report made by Detective Vantlin stated that on July 6, 2012, he met with a clerk at the kangaroo gas station, who said she, quote, "remembered some kids, possibly four, coming into the store between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m." They bought about $30 worth of candy in soda and used a debit card to pay for the items. However, in a declaration dated August 18, 2015, that same clerk stated that when she spoke to Detective Vantlin, she told him that, quote, "I do not remember any kids coming into the store during those hours." Each of the plaintiffs has suffered tremendous damage according to the lawsuit, including extreme emotional distress, physical pain and suffering, and reputational injury. So where does this lawsuit stand today? Well, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that there is enough evidence to warrant a civil trial. Among the points made by 7th Circuit Chief Judge Diane Wood was that the investigators had forced D.Dra into an involuntary confession by telling her that she would spend time in jail and would hang if she did not tell the truth. Similar statements were made to William and, quote, "a trial of fact could find those statements to be threats." In January 2018, the United States Supreme Court ruled that it would not review that ruling, so this civil case will be headed to trial. And that's all for today's episode. I'd love to hear your thoughts on today's case. What were your impressions when listening to William and D.Dra's interrogations? Do you think there was enough evidence to convict William? Or did you agree with the acquittal? What are your thoughts on the civil suit? Let me know by tweeting me at court junkie pod, emailing me at [email protected], or messaging me on Instagram @courtjunkey. Thanks everyone for listening. Until next time. [Music]