CO - Richard & Mayumi Heene charged in Balloon Boy hoax, Fort Collins, 2009 - #1

[Muffet]

OK, it looks like the milk throw was during his return appearance:

Mr. Heene displays a hot temper, screaming often and even throwing a glass of milk on Silver at one point. He comes around only after the woman does a past-life regression workshop with him, his ego clearly boosted when they determine he was once the captain of a spaceship that shuttled aliens back and forth from Earth.

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/juice/2009/10/balloon_boy_heene_wife_swap_video.php​

I'm curious about how he behaved on each appearance, because I'm hoping it wasn't so bad on the first one. If it wasn't, then we don't have to lose quite as much faith in the voters, and we could figure that he went over the top on the second one because the vote encouraged him to do so... make sense?

 

[jjenny]

IIRC, his initial story was that there was a basket attached that the kid had crawled into and the parents were indoors for the launch when they saw it float off and then the older brother said Falcon had crawled on board. I think the video completely undermines his story such that I wonder why he made it, aside from clearly being insane. When I look at the balloon launch, I don't see what looks like anyplace where a person could hide. It looks like a sealed container of helium to me. I can see why it might have appeared different to LE looking up in the air in the moment, but on tape it's clearly a balloon.

Again, I don't think he made the story about the extra basket attached.
You are not going to find any direct quotes from him saying there was an extra basket attached. If you do find those quotes, by all means post them here.
The stories about kid letting the balloon loose, extra basket falling off, etc-these stories did not came directly from him.
The kid was supposed to have been hiding in the container underneath the balloon. The sheriff had already said they tested that container and in fact it could carry that weight, even though it made of plywood.

 

[jjenny]

BBM
That doesn't quite mesh with his saying they were already suspicious of him and just didn't want to let on, does it?

Kinda thinking this sheriff needs to stop yakkin' so much...

They became suspicious of him after the kid said "we did it for a show." The sheriff said so during the press conference. The sheriff already admitted that they were fooled at first.

 

[Spawngasm]

Headline News is taking calls about this and their neighbor is on the phone right now. He's saying he don't think it's a hoax, yeah right. Here's the number to call in live 1-877-tell-hln

 

[Spawngasm]

Headline News is taking calls about this and their neighbor is on the phone right now. He's saying he don't think it's a hoax, yeah right. Here's the number to call in live 1-877-tell-hln


nevermind spoke too soon, it seems like a repeat

 

[jjenny]

Just reported on Fox News that on one 911 call, that the wife had cuts/bruises on one eye, but nothing became of it. I guess she didn't pursue with charges.

She blamed it on her contact lenses.
So they can't very well charge him if she says he didn't do anything and they have insufficient evidence to the contrary.

 

[jjenny]

The neighbor could hardly say, "He was an obnoxious child" and "the family is terrible," while the boy was missing! I wonder what the neighbor says now. I do agree with you that it's hard to believe the neighbors would welcome having those rambunctious, foul-mouthed boys visit their homes.

Yea if it were to turn out to be the truth, and the kid was injured or dead, no one would want to be on tape saying the kid was obnoxious, or wasn't well behaved. That'd be a reciepe for a becoming a most hated person in America.
LOL.

 

[jjenny]

Another thing I don't get - why would they want to only partially release it? What's the point, you either release it or you don't. Why do they seem to be claiming that they didn't mean to release it at all, only to have it "hover" ? I mean, apparently it didn't have any hovering ability in its own right, so what's the point of basically what sounds like loosening its ropes so that it stands up a little higher?

Who says they only wanted to partially release it? That was their story, but the sheriff says he believes the whole thing was a hoax.
So their story is that they wanted to partially release it, but why would you believe that's what they actually wanted? It doesn't make any sense that they would only want to partially release it if the whole thing was a hoax.

 

[MysteryAddict]

I thought it surprising that the sheriff had been fooled from the start by the amateur acting ability of these people.
Maybe I'm naive, but I would think a sheriff, from experience in the job,
would instinctively pick up on clues of deceptiveness.
Signs just had to have been there if you were looking for them.

 

[easttexas]

Octobermoon post #860 has the link about the domestic call that was suspicious


from the link:
The Larimer County Sheriff's deputy who went to the home said he heard a man yelling and, once inside, noticed Mayumi Heene had a mark on her cheek and broken blood vessels in her eye. She said it was because of a problem with her contacts.

 

[jjenny]

I thought it surprising that the sheriff had been fooled from the start by the amateur acting ability of these people.
Maybe I'm naive, but I would think a sheriff, from experience in the job,
would instinctively pick up on clues of deceptiveness.
Signs just had to have been there if you were looking for them.

I am surprised also, because I never thought balloon boy father and mother were such good actors. But let's say they didn't believe them and turned out to be wrong? Public would have been after them for not doing anything if balloon boy ended up injured or worse. They should have done a better search of the house and the sheriff admits that, but it's not even clear right now if balloon boy was in the attic the whole time.

 

[Muffet]

They became suspicious of him after the kid said "we did it for a show." The sheriff said so during the press conference. The sheriff already admitted that they were fooled at first.

Thanks, Jenny. I could have sworn I read on one of the articles (the one that talked about how they only pretended to be fooled so they could get the family to trust them) that they were suspicious and investigating it even before that slip-up.

Maybe it's just my wishful thinking - I find it hard to accept that they didn't get suspicious enough to investigate until the kid slipped up. It didn't take most of us that long, anyway.

 

[jamiect]

I cannot even imagine the stress in the Heene home tonight. Out of fear for what might erupt, I hope the neighbors keep their windows open a crack tonight.

 

[jjenny]

Thanks, Jenny. I could have sworn I read on one of the articles (the one that talked about how they only pretended to be fooled so they could get the family to trust them) that they were suspicious and investigating it even before that slip-up.

Maybe it's just my wishful thinking - I find it hard to accept that they didn't get suspicious enough to investigate until the kid slipped up. It didn't take most of us that long, anyway.

No, he said during the press-conference they really were fooled at first. They became suspicious after LKL show, and at that time they pretended to be fooled to keep on the good side of the balloon boy's father, but they really were fooled at first.

 

[Sharyne]

MOO, dad's explosive temper? What possible violence have they witnessed towards their mother at the hands of their father.

I noticed on the LK show the father blamed the mother for not securing the tethers and the oldest boy Bradford for stating he saw Falcon go into the base of the balloon. Hmmmm, that father sure knows how to 'cover' his faults, eh?

 

[Capri]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/18/colorado.balloon.investigation/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

CNN has body language expert going over the Heene family video of Falcon saying it was for the show, etc...

Report was done on Sat. 10/17 before the Sheriff announced it was a hoax, but very interesting hearing the body language expert talk about "hot spots" and "Stalling" techniques in lying.

 

[jjenny]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/18/colorado.balloon.investigation/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

CNN has body language expert going over the Heene family video of Falcon saying it was for the show, etc...

Report was done on Sat. 10/17 before the Sheriff announced it was a hoax, but very interesting hearing the body language expert talk about "hot spots" and "Stalling" techniques in lying.

I don't think someone needs to be a body language expert to see something was off when the kid said "you guys said we did this for a show."
Father's response seemed really awkward to me (and I presume many other people who saw this), and I am not the body language expert.

 

[Capri]

I don't think someone needs to be a body language expert to see something was off when the kid said "you guys said we did this for a show."
Father's response seemed really awkward to me (and I presume many other people who saw this), and I am not the body language expert.

I agree, but it was still interesting to me to hear the terms used and stalling techniques, etc.

 

[legalmania]

Cnn Now they have a lawyer. They want to turn themselves in. The attorney said, if they get arrested at their house it would be just to embarrassing for the couple.

 

[nnglas]

I'm honestly worried about little Falcon. His father is delusional enough to think he would have gotten away with this if not for him. I sure hope they are on high alert for any hangup 911 calls or noise reports from neighbors.