AZ - Timothy Romans, 39, & Vincent Romero, 29, slain, St Johns, 5 Nov 2008 - #1

[southcitymom]

OMG!

This is the entire interview. The entire interview can be found on this site.

http://www.azfamily.com/video/localnews-index.html?nvid=304921

Wow - going to listen right now!

 

[liljim]

that phone call to the wife is just an incredible stroke of luck, just from what we know so far it seems like this child has some major issues and that a skilled defense attorney could get the confession thrown out and the boy off without a conviction on any charges. its certainly a possibility. that phone call really forces you to reconsider lots of other evidence in a whole new light.

the gunshot residue and his fingerprints on every gun in the house can be easily explained to a jury that doesnt want to believe this kid is a budding little monster. i still want to believe there was some form of abuse or something tangible to blame this on. its unsettling to think this 8 year old did this over some typical spankings after getting in trouble for common childhood wrong-doing.

but maybe this poor little kid is just the "perfect storm". its extremely sad, but it happens.

 

[SuziQ]

Alrighty, I am 15 minutes into this video. I would be interested in seeing the entire one hour plus of it. Here are my observations so far. Other than the one officer empathizing the importance of telling the truth, I see no intimidation or threatening manner on the part of the two officers. Their body language is very relaxed and they are sitting at his level and not standing over him or anything. What struck me most about this kid is his emotions just do not jive with the situation. My kids have shown more emotion over being sat down and talked to over a mere dishonesty over breaking something in the house and lying about it. This kid might as well been talking about what happened to the broken DVD player than the fact his dad is dead. I am reminded of the typical sociopathic behavior of viewing a living breathing thing the same way as a broken DVD player. They do not value anything else's life and they are all just merely disposable objects.

Of course I am not an expert, only have a fascination with what makes sociopath's tick and this is all JMO.

Going back to watch the rest of the video.

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Hi
He says I think so through the whole interview.Even if they used this interview in court.It doesn't sound like a confession to me.I might have?I think so?Why wouldn't his fingerprints be on the gun.It's his gun right?In his house right?What would a defense attorney say about the gun residue?on his shirt?(I know nothing about guns)The little boy said I think I shot them?That's not saying he did shoot them.He can explain the gun residue on his shirt.He did say he shot the gun at the car.

suzanne

 

[liljim]

yeah, its not so much intimidation or threatening to me either, its more of a lack of following protocol and leading the kid into answers. the woman is constantly suggesting to the child what he might have done and letting him respond with just yes/no/i think so, then after he expands on that you dont know if he is just trying to placate them or if this really is the truth now, one thing is for sure - the whole truth is nowhere to be found in that video.

and the one thing you cannot escape from is that the wife talked to tim as he entered the property and she says she heard the child call to tim "something is wrong with my dad, come help tim" (paraphrased, exact quote is posted multiple times above) and tim then tells her "the boy is calling me, something is wrong i have to go see"... and then shortly after that tim is dead.

i cant completely rule out that someone else was there, but assuming there are no unexpected fingerprints on that gun, it sure doesnt look like anyone else shot any of the shots other than the child.

i do not believe this, and i certainly dont mean to cast suspicion on a dead man or insult his family, im just acknowledging a remote possibility - that tim and the father had an argument, tim shot the father and left, the boy finds his father dying and "puts him out of his misery", then hears tim returning and somehow knows or strongly suspects tim shot his father so he lays in wait for him, calling to him to come in, and then shoots him.

but for that situatiion to be true you HAVE to find gunshot residue on tim's hands and tim's fingerprints somewhere on the childs .22 rifle. again, i do not think this will turn out to be the case, but it is a possibility. i dont think gunshot residue on tim's clothes would mean anything, he might have a jacket he wears hunting constantly and hasnt washed, but on his hands, after being at work for the day, that would be unexpected. his fingerprints alone on the gun could also be explained away since he lived in the house and i believe it is said that he hunted with them.

 

[Linda7NJ]

He has major issues which is why he should have never been allowed to get a gun to begin with. Normal children would call 911; instead this boy decided to "to put them out of their suffering" like an animal.
Maybe he knows the difference; yet obviously he doesn't care.

..Around minutes 24:00 of the video he claims he gets in trouble a lot.

IMO he said he shot them again so they did't suffer....he said that to justify shooting them so many times. To make himself look better. He wanted them dead & he made sure of it.

 

[Linda7NJ]

Hi

It was really hard to hear this interview.I honestly got the feeling when I heard this little boy.He had no idea what happened.He said he shot them when the police officers were getting impatient with him.This interview should have never happened with out his lawyer or others in the room with this little boy.It did not sound like he was being interviewed as a witness at all here.Twice he said the other man was asleep?I thought he was on the phone?

suzanne

He's a remorseless, lying, murder. He knew exactly what he did. He knew it was wrong. How did you miss that?

 

[liljim]

yeah, at every turn he shows a willingness to change his story when he is presented with new evidence that the officer claims to know.

one other thing - after watching this complete interview about a dozen times now the one comment that jumps out at me every time is when near the end she asks what he is thinking and he says "that im going to juvie" - how does he know this term?

was it used at the police station? was he aware of it somehow from school or something? i didnt know what "juvie" was until i was about 13 or 14, 8 seems extremely young to be familiar enough with that term to use it that way.

i wonder/suspect that something significant will be learned from a friend of the boys or a schoolmate. had he been playing with older boys recently? had he told anyone that he hated his father or tim? that kind of thing...

 

[oceanblueeyes]

He's a remorseless, lying, murder. He knew exactly what he did. He knew it was wrong. How did you miss that?

Yes, he seems to even want to make him finishing them off as some type of good deed. How creepy can one get!

This is his own father and his father's friend laying there, supposedly quivering and shaking and he just pumps two more bullets in them to put them out of their misery? No wonder this kids exhibits no remorse for what he has done. But what the heck.......two year olds nowadays dial 911 for immediate help these days.

 

[OneLostGrl]

Yes, of course Linda and we all know "conduct disorder" is attached when the child is a minor and are really fledgling psychopaths. They just aren't labeled so until they turn 18.

I watched it again. It is scary as hell imo.

imoo

They are not ever labeled so anymore.. Psychopath is no longer a diagnosis. It is now considered Anti-social personality disorder.
This kid has got some major issues, that's for sure!

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Hi

Did they find gunshot residue on the little boys hands?Would it still be there if he washed it off?(I do not know anything about guns.I'm sorry).It looks like someone missed a shot to me.One of the video's shows a shot in the door?or wall?I am very interested in the psychiatric evalution.In the interview he said "THEY" hit me.Did that happen alot?I feel they might find abuse.Physical and mental abuse.I do not feel this little boy would kill his father if he loved him.I am wondering what led up to this.

suzanne

 

[OneLostGrl]

I'm not sure why but I wasn't able to view the video. Maybe I'm just impatient and it was taking too long to load.

I'll take you guys' word for it though. It's just so hard to believe that there were no signs before that this boy was capable of doing something evil.

I have a hard time with that. I imagine there have been signs, behaviors- people just didn't realize or notice because they didn't know what to look for.

 

[OneLostGrl]

Perhaps he had some type of undiagnosed head injury?

Doesn't really matter, he is what he is and he can't be fixed.

The 11 yr old previously mentioned seemed to be created by the perfect storm of prenatal drug exposure, chronic physical & sexual abuse, and frontal lobe damage that was never diagnosed until I had a complete neurological work up done. Amazing there were still many that believe he was totally innocent of every single allegation and charge .....dispute detailed confessions and polygraph results, JSOAP assessments along with MMPI and other psych evals. Many believe he's "rehabilitated"

Now that is scary! Is he living with another family now or in a safe place?

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Now that is scary! Is he living with another family now or in a safe place?

He is being held in juvenile detention.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Hi

Did they find gunshot residue on the little boys hands?Would it still be there if he washed it off?(I do not know anything about guns.I'm sorry).It looks like someone missed a shot to me.One of the video's shows a shot in the door?or wall?I am very interested in the psychiatric evaluation.In the interview he said "THEY" hit me.Did that happen alot?I feel they might find abuse.Physical and mental abuse.I do not feel this little boy would kill his father if he loved him.I am wondering what led up to this.

suzanne

If he suffers from an antisocial disorder then he really loves no one but himself.

imo

 

[Ms Suzanne]

Hi
We do not know what is in the evaluation yet.We do not know if he is suffering from anything yet.

suzanne

 

[Trino]

If he suffers from an antisocial disorder then he really loves no one but himself. imo

He may have an antisocial disorder (or whatever), but I think it was interesting that the boy talked so much. He didn't just answer questions; he elaborated on his story.

 

[OneLostGrl]

Here's some info on the DSM-IV's criteria for "conduct disorder" which is basically the child version of anti-social personality disorder, an umbrellla term covering socipaths/psychopaths:
Diagnosis
The diagnostic criteria for Conduct Disorder (codes 312.xx, with xx representing digits which vary depending upon the severity, onset, etc. of the disorder) as listed in the DSM-IV-TR are as follows:

A repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate societal norms or rules are violated, as manifested by the presence of three (or more) of the following criteria in the past 12 months, with at least one criterion present in the past 6 months:

Aggression to people and animals

often bullies people, threatens, or intimidates others

often initiates physical fights

has used a weapon that can cause serious physical harm to others (e.g., a bat, brick, broken bottle, knife, gun) (except for activites such as archery and hunting)

has been physically cruel to people

has been physically cruel to animals

has stolen while confronting a victim (e.g., mugging, purse snatching, extortion, armed robbery)

has forced someone into sexual activity

Destruction of property

has deliberately engaged in fire setting with the intention of causing serious damage.

has deliberately destroyed others' property (other than by fire).

Deceitfulness or theft

has broken into someone else's house, building, or car

often lies to obtain goods or favors or to avoid obligations (i.e., "cons" others)

has stolen items of nontrivial value without confronting a victim (e.g., shoplifting, but without breaking and entering; forgery)

Serious violations of rules

often stays out at night despite parental prohibitions, beginning before age 13 years

has run away from home overnight at least twice while living in parental or parental surrogate home (or once without returning for a lengthy period)

is often truant from school, beginning before age 13 years

The disturbance in behavior causes clinically significant impairment in social, academic, or occupational functioning.

If the individual is age 18 years or older, criteria are not met for Antisocial personality disorder.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conduct_disorder

I have heard nothing to suggest that this kid has done any of the above with the exception, of course, of the recent horrific murders, but we are talking about a repetitive and persistent pattern of conduct.

Yeah, I'm having a hard time with it too because there are other behaviors that should be present if this is what his problem is. He wouldn't just murder people, that would not be his first symptom of this illness.

 

[OneLostGrl]

He is being held in juvenile detention.

Thanks, but I was asking Linda about her adopted child, the 11 year old she was just refering to.

 

[OneLostGrl]

yeah, at every turn he shows a willingness to change his story when he is presented with new evidence that the officer claims to know.

one other thing - after watching this complete interview about a dozen times now the one comment that jumps out at me every time is when near the end she asks what he is thinking and he says "that im going to juvie" - how does he know this term?

was it used at the police station? was he aware of it somehow from school or something? i didnt know what "juvie" was until i was about 13 or 14, 8 seems extremely young to be familiar enough with that term to use it that way.

i wonder/suspect that something significant will be learned from a friend of the boys or a schoolmate. had he been playing with older boys recently? had he told anyone that he hated his father or tim? that kind of thing...

Could be juvie has been a threat people have used against him in the past to attempt to keep him in line. I do not think that this child was "good" before this murder.. If this kid killed these men like LE claims, I'd put money on there being a history of unacceptable behaviors with him.