GUILTY Canada - Marie-France Comeau, 37, & Jessica Lloyd, 27, slain, Ont, 2009 & 2010 - #6

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mister happy said:
What do you guys think of the interview between Williams and Detective Jim Smyth? I've read the Smyth was brilliant with the interrogation. Now, I'm sure he did a very competent job, but when it comes right down to it, the police already had the goods (tire tracks and boot prints) on Williams. Smyth just pointed that fact out to Williams, and he folded.
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The way that LE and Smyth went about this was brililliant. They could have gone to RW's home and arrested him as they did have the goods on him as you stated. RW could have denied it all and plead not guilty, possibly having a good lawyer getting him off on some technicality or getting a lesser charge (not likely, but anything is possible) LE could have then missed some the evidence that he had hid in his home (Im thinking of the pics on the memory cards that he had hidden behind the piano etc) IMO Smyth saved alot of time and money by doing this the way he did.
 
mister happy said:
What do you guys think of the interview between Williams and Detective Jim Smyth? I've read the Smyth was brilliant with the interrogation. Now, I'm sure he did a very competent job, but when it comes right down to it, the police already had the goods (tire tracks and boot prints) on Williams. Smyth just pointed that fact out to Williams, and he folded.
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I thought Smyth was good. Overall he was deft and tactful. I don't know about brilliant...I'd call being brilliant being able to wrest a confession out of a smart guy when you don't have as much evidence against them as the cops already had or were going to be able to get against Williams anyway.

I really liked how Smyth spoke to Williams (he called him Russ, not Colonel) in an appropriately serious, yet soft and understated tone of voice. I especially liked how he said Williams had the options of telling the truth and avoiding the cold blooded sociopath route for the sake of the victims. And that he didn't perceive him as another Bernardo who actually liked the sociopath label.

I could understand how Smyth mirrored Williams gestures eg. holding up his hand to his face in much the same way Williams did, or crossing his legs the way Williams did. It was irritating when Williams mentioned how his main concern was for his wife and her new house getting torn up and Smyth was almost forced to immediately agree with him and say "me too", even though we know Smyth probably could care less about MEH's new house getting ripped apart to find evidence. But Smyth had to go along with Williams pretending to actually care what was going to happen to his wife (in order to show he wasn't a complete sociopath).

I doubt that Williams was fooled by Smyth's tactics at all, because Williams had already received lots of training himself in interrogation techniques. Smyth could have been almost inept, but Williams knew he would have to give it up in the face of the overwhelming evidence the police had amassed by then. Smyth however, was smooth enough and efficient enough that he probably got a confession earlier than most. I think Williams under nearly any other skilled interrogator like Smyth would still have wanted to avoid the messiness of a trial. I don't think it was Smyth's skills alone that accomplished that goal.

Hopefully Smyth will be interviewed soon. I read that he has to wait a month after the conviction before he can talk to the media.
 
I found it amusing that Russ drove to the interview in his SUV with the incriminating tires, and he was wearing the incriminating boots too! I suppose he figured: no fingerprints, no case.
 
well, tire tracks & bootprints do not prove murder ...

I think Smyth outmanouvered Williams - it was a long (mostly) boring game of psychological chess
 
While searching for something else, I came across this article.
Military chiefs in near-disaster
Published On Fri Aug 07 2009

From left: Lt.-Gen. Angus Watt, head of the air force, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, head of the army, and Vice Admiral Drew Robertson, then head of the navy but now retired, were onboard the Challenger jet that avoided a mid-air collision in April 2009.
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Full article: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/677556
 
LadyL said:
well, tire tracks & bootprints do not prove murder ...

I think Smyth outmanouvered Williams - it was a long (mostly) boring game of psychological chess
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In addition to the tire tracks and bootprints, Smyth also told Williams that search warrants were being executed at his residences. At that point, Williams knew the cops were going to have overwhelming evidence against him. He knew the game was over. IMO, it was fairly easy for Smyth to outmaneuver Williams just by telling him what was going down.
 
mister happy said:
I found it amusing that Russ drove to the interview in his SUV with the incriminating tires, and he was wearing the incriminating boots too! I suppose he figured: no fingerprints, no case.
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I don't think RW is as intelligent as we thought! I was surprised on the interrogation videos that he really doesn't seem to be that bright.
 
maxfactor said:
I don't think RW is as intelligent as we thought! I was surprised on the interrogation videos that he really doesn't seem to be that bright.
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RW might have thought it was only going to be a routine interview, so 'just smile and get through it'. Then he started to melt when he saw the tire track matches. There was lots of deafening silence from him. But Smyth did a good job playing along with RW's stonewalling. He knew he had him, it was just a matter of time.

"Russell..Russell.. what are we going to do about this?"
"Uhhh.. hmmm.."
 
maxfactor said:
There has been a lot of controversy about the amount of evidence released in the Statement of Fact, a lot of people think it was too much for the public to know. The crown said they wanted to be sure that if RW ever tried for parole he wouldn't be able to get it. For those people out there who believe that as an old man he wouldn't be dangerous:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Judge+jails+year+trying+have+with+year+girl/3832234/story.html
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Personally, I thought the Crown did the right thing. The public had a choice whether to attend the hearing, read the Statement of Fact, follow the case via media and twitter, etc. The crown has saved the taxpayers some money by not going after the "Dangerous Offender" status for RW. I also believe (even without reading the article) that if RW were to be released, even as an old man, he'd still be a danger to society - JMO
 
Make no mistake - good interrogation is a skill that takes years to be good at. Some will never make the cut. A good interrogator is always 20 steps ahead of the interviewee. They need to be actors, confidantes, and extremely intelligent. Other police agencies will be using this very interview to teach others for many years to come.
 
I will say this about Detective Smyth: He has a humble homespun style that really works for him. He definitely doesn't fit the macho cop image, and that's all the better for his speciality.
 
Hazel said:
While searching for something else, I came across this article.
Military chiefs in near-disaster
Published On Fri Aug 07 2009



Full article: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/677556
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From this article I am not really sure who was to blame in this near disaster and who was flying the plane? I can understand why they were all flying together -- to save money. Were they that essential that if they had all been killed in a crash the military would have fallen apart without them in a crisis?
 
SomeGirlOnTheNet said:
Make no mistake - good interrogation is a skill that takes years to be good at. Some will never make the cut. A good interrogator is always 20 steps ahead of the interviewee. They need to be actors, confidantes, and extremely intelligent. Other police agencies will be using this very interview to teach others for many years to come.
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I'd never make a good interrogator that's for sure, I'm not patient enough! While I was watching the interview with Det. Smyth and RW I kept saying to myself, how can Smyth just stay so silent during the times that RW wasn't talking, so calm and collected just waiting for RW to say something...I'd be jumping up and down, saying "come on man, just spill it, we know you did it...let's get on with it, I want to go home already"...

I definitely have to commend and applaud Det. Smyth for his interrogation, I really don't know how he could just sit there so patient for as long as he did and what an excellent job he did. The OPP should be honoured to have someone like him on their force.
 
I think Det.Smyth and his team were brilliant in their simplicity.Watching that interview, reminded me of a kindly school guidance councellor gently prompting a student to admit to cheating on an exam or vandalizing school property.The good detective seemed to strike the right balance between being a father figure and whatever was left of the little voice of reason, in RW 's head.
 
nobodyzgirl said:
I'd never make a good interrogator that's for sure, I'm not patient enough! While I was watching the interview with Det. Smyth and RW I kept saying to myself, how can Smyth just stay so silent during the times that RW wasn't talking, so calm and collected just waiting for RW to say something...I'd be jumping up and down, saying "come on man, just spill it, we know you did it...let's get on with it, I want to go home already"...

I definitely have to commend and applaud Det. Smyth for his interrogation, I really don't know how he could just sit there so patient for as long as he did and what an excellent job he did. The OPP should be honoured to have someone like him on their force.
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ITA. And remember that this went on for 10 hours! Both of them must have been totally drained and exhausted long before then. How Det. Smyth was able to maintain that kind of calm and patience is beyond my imagination. I could barely stand to watch the videos and he lived it. I think he deserves a high commendation for this accomplishment. It's one for the history books.

JMO
 
antiquegirl said:
ITA. And remember that this went on for 10 hours! Both of them must have been totally drained and exhausted long before then. How Det. Smyth was able to maintain that kind of calm and patience is beyond my imagination. I could barely stand to watch the videos and he lived it. I think he deserves a high commendation for this accomplishment. It's one for the history books.

JMO
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I think RW confessed after four hours, then the rest of the time was spent discussing the hows and whys.
 
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