Zodiac - Lying

         Two score and five years ago the Zodiac started his rampage with the murder of Cheri Jo Bates near Riverside, California and for all we know he could still be out there up to his old bloody tricks.

         The biggest aid when questioning a suspect is the ability to discern whether or not they are telling the truth. If you know some of the tricks you can fairly easily tell by their actions. Immediately after asking them a question they sometimes fold their arms in a defensive position. Also they start talking about a subject totally unrelated to what you were asking them and at the same time start shifting their eyes back and forth from left to right. They also might start to light up a cigarette and start chain smoking from that point forward. Casting their eyes downward and shifting in their seat is another action they might do. Nervous twitches in their face might start and also they might begin to stutter-a result sometimes of being nervous. The suspect might suddenly become very quiet or on the other hand he or she could become very agitated while being questioned. An old trick the FBI uses is to ask a question one minute and then ask the same question ten or fifteen minutes later. Sometimes the answer is the same and sometimes the answer isn't. The idea is that if the subject lies about the question, he or she has to remember how they answered so as not to conflict with the answer the second time. Also the subject might start tapping their feet or drumming their fingers on the table in front of them. The best way to question a suspect is to ask he or she questions that are relatively easy to answer to begin with and then hit them with a critical question and see if there is any movement showing nervousness. Chances are if there is some definite movement - then there is a good possibly they are lying.

         The worst thing that could happen is the fact that they could become violent on the spot and start swinging although this doesn't always mean that they are lying. Sometimes it just means that they are very unstable and can go off with very little provoking. If this individual is suspected of being like this then it's best to have two or more people questioning the subject.

         By the way add two more years to the first sentence so it reads two score and seven years ago the Zodiac started his rampage. Old Abe Lincoln was better at starting his Gettysberg Address than I am writing about the Zodiac.