Stabbings and Lies

Audrey Bain


When you talk to a police officer you always hear, “No day is ever the same. Everyday brings a new surprise.” I didn’t really take that to heart. It seemed to me that I had being doing pretty much the same, but not so mundane, work. Today completely changed my mind. Today, I worked a case involving a possibly fatal stabbing and aggravated assault.

I went into the office this morning and was surprised when I was handed a set of examination gloves as I walked through the door. I was told to put them on before I came in and not to touch anything just yet. When I rounded the corner, I saw several evidence bags, bloody clothing, and was informed that there was a car that needed to be processed in the sally port. Apparently, two Hispanic men got into a scuffle at approximately 1 o’clock this morning. One of the men stabbed the other severely and sent him to the hospital. Right now, he is in ICU and the officers’ aren’t holding their breath. We arrested a man at nine this morning. Around 10 o’clock I was sent in with Lt. Richardson to interrogate the man. He was cut up head to toe. We asked very politely, but forcefully, if he knew what happened to the knife he had been stabbed with. We even played with his head a little bit and told him that he wouldn’t be charged with anything because he had to act in his own defense (Little did he know, that his parole officer had already revoked his parole because he wasn’t allowed to be in Missouri. This man was going to be shipped back to Arkansas as soon as our investigation is finished).

I was taken aback by the way he lied to us. I could tell when he was lying, he wouldn’t look at us and he kept changing his speech pattern. While he was making up lies, he would leave out words such as dawg, homie, brotha. When he told us the truth, his speech was littered with those words. He lied to protect himself. However, he didn’t use his lies to his advantage. He lied about things that could not be disputed like photographs, DNA, and blood spatter. This man lied to complicate his friends and family. He was going to do anything not be taken down.

After we interrogated him, I was informed about the rest of the situation. When I was in the interrogation room, I didn’t know the fight and stabbing started from a bad drug deal. It would have been nice to know those kinds of things; however, in hindsight I can see more and more of this man’s lies unfolding. I can also understand why I wasn’t informed of everything that had happened before we spoke to the suspect. The more information that I knew, the more I was likely to give away, whether that was by facial expression, or by a slow reaction time to telling my own lies to the suspect. Lt. Richardson was protecting me in a way, and he was making sure that the investigation wasn’t going to be compromised.

I went with another officer to process the car and the fingerprints and blood inside and on it. While taking notes and collecting samples, I thought more about what had happened only a couple of rooms away. I continued to work right through lunch until it was time to go. Never again will I think that everyday will be the same. It is all how you take it- you can run with life or you can just sit back and watch the game. I will run with whatever life throws at me and never, if I can help it, sit on the bench and watch the game.