Tears, Lies and Videotape - 2
29.05.2009
transcrit par Constant_Dieter
Sont mis en relief les propos des psychologues David Canter et Paul Ekman.
VO : It’s rare for there to be a high-profile criminal case in
Britain without a major TV and media press conference or personal
appeal, often transmitted live into the nation’s living rooms. The
bereaved relative is put before the cameras to help the police gather
vital evidence and to elicit sympathy from the public. The emotion
appears raw but sometimes it’s fake. News
footage. Men in white forensic suits in a woodland.
Reporter : It’s now more than three weeks since mother-of-two Kirsi
Gifford-Hull was reported missing from her home in Winchester. And 5
days ago her husband, Michael, made an emotional appeal for
information. Michael Gifford-Hull at press conference.
MGH : Please come back. I want you back. The kids want you back. The
kids need you back. I need you back. Please get in touch. Please come
back.
VO : Less than three weeks before this press conference, this same man,
Gifford-Hull, had murdered his wife and buried her in nearby woods.
Rod Chaytor : (Daily Mirror) You just know that at the back of their eyes they’re thinking
‘How did I ever get here? How did I get into this? Why did I ever
think that killing this person or committing this terrible act was
going to be a good idea, that would solve my problems?
MGH
at press conference: “If anyone has seen her, please let us know
where she is.”
PE : “Normally in a blink it opens and closes in an instant.”
MGH at press conference blinking slowly
PE : But a longer eyelid closure, which we have found in the past
is a sign that the person is thinking a lot about what to say.
MGH at press conference
MGH : There’s two small children who are going frantic…who are
desperate for their mother. Thank you.
RC : Eventually they probably manage to squeeze out a few crocodile
tears, thinking of something sad but they’re not crying for their
lost loved one or whatever they’ve done. They’re crying for
themselves.
DC : People are impressed by the tears that are generated by a lot
of these people who fake grief. But talk to any actor about how they
generate tears. They do it by drawing upon their actual emotional
experiences and in these cases the individuals are going through
certain emotional traumas in relation to what they’ve been involved
in.
Picture
of Paul Dyson
VO : Like Paul Dyson who strangled his fiancée, Joanne Nelson, in Hull
in 2005. Picture
of Joanne Nelson. News
footage of Paul Dyson at home with a photo of Joanne.
Reporter : Yesterday it was the turn of her boyfriend to appeal for the woman
he said was one in a million to get in touch.
PD : (crying) She’s absolutely beautiful. Real bubbly. Real outgoing.
Real forward. Really friendly. I love her.”
PE : The best way to mask a lie is with a strong emotional display
that could be appropriate to the situation.
Valentine cards in PD’s front room.
VO : He’d murdered Joanne on a Sunday morning, the day before
Valentine’s Day. He spent Sunday afternoon clearing the evidence
and disposing of her body. PD in a shop.
VO : CCTV footage from a local shop shows Dyson buying cleaning
products and bin bags, which he then uses to wrap Joanne’s body. PD at a petrol station.
VO : And at this petrol station Dyson casually buys petrol while his
girlfriend’s body lies in the boot of the car. But to a TV crew
he’d given a detailed account of a loving Monday morning kiss and
cuddle. The reality was, he’d already buried her body. PD crying in living room
PD : We’d…Monday morning, because I couldn’t get Valentine’s
Day off, erm, we swapped cards upstairs. Sniffs. Erm, I gave her a
kiss and a cuddle, got ready for work. She was going to get her head
down for another hour or so. Got back in bed. Cuddled her. Kissed her
goodbye. Went to work.
VO : He is crying about what he has done.
PD : (crying in living room) I love her to bits. I just want her back. Holding
a photo of Joanne.
VO : He says of his victim she’s the only person I ever loved. I
would like her back. Clearly he is deeply upset about what he has
done. But we interpret it as if he’s really asking for somebody to
come forward.
PD : I want to know where she is. More crying.
VO : You can see that he has an enormous amount of remorse about
what he did and that’s what he’s expressing. And that’s why
it’s not surprising that he did actually eventually confess.
Car driving fast down a country lane.
VO : December 1996. Alvechurch, just south of Birmingham. The case that
almost defines the term ‘crocodile tears’. This time, thought,
the murderer does not confess their guilt. Former glamour model,
Tracey Andrews, is a passenger in a car driven by her fiancé, Lee
Harvey. They’re on their way home from a night at the pub. They get
into a road rage wrangle with another car. It escalates out of
control and Lee is murdered. At least, that’s what Tracey Andrews
tells the police.
VO : It was a huge story. Road rage was the flavour of the month, in
terms of news. There had been various incidents. It was a new concept
and nobody could quite believe at that time that people would get out
of their cars to start fighting each other over some imagined sleight
which had happened on the road. And now here we had the road rage
murder. And not only was it a road rage murder, it involved a pretty
blonde and additionally her boyfriend, a good-looking young man.
News
report from the time.
Reporter : Here Lee Harvey lost his life because of road rage. His Escort
Turbo was chased from Bromsgrove to Alvechurch at 60 miles an hour
down narrow country lanes.
Ian
Johnston : (West Mercia Police) There was no evidence to contradict
what Tracey was saying at that stage. Hers was the only evidence that
the inquiry had at that particular moment. It was feasible. We had to
go forward on what she was saying. Press conference
VO : Immediately, the police call a press conference. Tracey Andrews
takes centre stage.” News
report of the press conference.
Reporter : At Redditch police station Lee Harvey’s girlfriend, accompanied
by his parents, bravely came forward to appeal for information.
RC : I was astonished that this young lady was being put up to the
media so quickly.
IJ : The police are well aware that the media is a very effective tool,
and particularly in these sorts of cases where you haven’t got a
lot of evidence to start off with. Tracey Andrews walking into the press conference in slow motion.
RC : When she walked through the door the atmosphere was electric. All
the photographers’ motor drives started going off immediately like
a choir. That always adds to the tension, the expectation, the
electricity and there was a tremendous sense of anticipation as she
was shown to her chair. Press conference. Tracey Andrews is crying.
TA : Both Lee and the other person were playing cat and mouse with each
other for a while.
IJ :
“She was clearly upset. She was shivering. She was pale. She had
all the hallmarks of a woman who had been through this sort of
ordeal. TA in her modelling days (to show the difference in her
appearance)
RC : But we had seen pictures by that time of… She had posed for some
modelling shots with her face fully made up. The person who presented
herself was in totally marked contrast to that. No make up,
obviously. Black eyes. Black and bruised face. Red-eyed. She looked
every inch the victim that she was portraying herself to be. Press conference.
TA : And then I got out the car because I’m not the sort of person to
sit there. I got out the car and then I went over to the man. We had
a confrontation. He hit me. I can’t remember. I fell to the floor.
I can’t remember if I was… knocked out for a bit or what. I don’t
know, but…
VO : The interesting thing about Tracey Andrews is she was a model so
she’s actually quite used to being in front of cameras and
photographed and I think her confidence in giving an account of what
happened to her and her willingness to portray it is drawing on her
being used to being in front of cameras and she has her hair down in
front of her face so that she doesn’t actually need to show too
much of her… of her face in this process.
RC : But there was a moment about half-way through where she started to
mention the ‘starey eyes’ of one of the men who had apparently
been involved in the attack on Lee.
Press
conference
TA : It was just the way he looked. His eyes. He had starey eyes.
RC : And her eyes flashed. And what you saw in that moment was that the
woman is capable of rage. Photo
of TA looking very angry.
RC : And again all the motor drives hit instantly on that moment. Even
if you just sort of missed it or she’d been looking the other way
or whatever… The fact that all the photographers reacted meant that
everybody’s eyes were focused on this brief flash of anger which
was instantly controlled and contained.
PE : She gives an account without being asked questions, without
being prompted. That suggests that she prepared what she would say.
She did her homework.
Press
conference – TA sitting holding hands with Lee’s mother who is
holding hands with Lee’s father
VO : Tracey grows in confidence as she tells her story. And she takes
one step further than the police expect.
TA : The…er…driver…er…walked off. It was nothing to do with the
driver. And all I want to say is please will the driver of the car
just come forward because you are not blame for this. And I know
that.
RC : So often when you see someone involved in these situations in
these press conferences, they…they…kind of over-egg the pudding.
They over-do the story. They get the details wrong. Press
conference
TA : Please, just tell us who he is because you won’t get in any
trouble at all. It was not your fault.
RC : Now, you just have to think about this. This guy, the driver, had
been involved in, according to Tracey, a cat and mouse game in which
he pursued them up country lanes. He was absolutely complicit in what
happened. He may not have dealt the actual blows, according to her
story, but he’s the one who overtook their car. He’s the one that
forced their car to a halt. He is utterly complicit. How can he be
forgiven 48 hours later?
IJ : If she was lying, then I didn’t want to stop her lying. I wanted
her to lie even more.”
Press conference – Tracey is leaving.
RC : We all gathered outside…er…as we tend to do and just sort of
said ‘What do you think?’ and we all kind of looked at each other
and I thought ‘I think she did it.’ Ian Johnston driving down a country lane
IJ : After the press conference we were going to move on into things
like timelines and fine detail and all that sort of thing, making
sure that we got the exact story and then we found that she’d taken
this overdose. Now I have no doubt about it that this was a serious
attempt by her to commit suicide. Police forensic activity at the scene.
VO : While Tracey Andrews recovers from her attempted suicide in the
Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, the evidence against her begins to
mount up.
RC : We now knew that the timings didn’t add up. However you stacked
it. However you tried to do it, we drove the route ourselves and did
all that kind of stuff. You just could not make what was alleged to
have happened fit in that timescale.
Maureen
Harvery : (Lee’s mother) This murder had actually happened
outside Cooper’s Cottage and obviously the little girl that lived
there had given her statement to the police. And she thought there
was a man and a woman arguing. That was her description of what went
on.
RC : And we had heard about a man and a woman who had been driving on a
route that coincided with Lee Harvey’s and Tracey Andrews’ that
night. Their paths had crossed. And they saw no sign whatsoever of a
pursuing car. Tracey Andrews’ arrest.
IJ : On the Saturday she was released from the Alexandra and she was
arrested. Picture
of a penknife
News
reporter : The police said it was a knife like this one with which
Lee Harvey was stabbed. Blood stains on Andrews’ sweater also
showed she was very close to Harvey when he was attacked.
IJ : He must have struck her the face. She’s got out of the car. He’s
got out of the car. The forensic evidence indicated that they’d met
at the back of the car and she’s turned round and she’s stabbed
him straight in the neck. She must have totally lost all control and
I envisage that at this stage she was sat over him repeatedly
stabbing him at his neck. Lee had been stabbed 42 times in total. Court
sketches of the trial.
IJ : “At the trial I didn’t feel anymore confident than 50:50 that we
would obtain a conviction in this case.”
RC : Juries give the benefit of the doubt. And I was no means convinced
that a jury would convict on the evidence. By no means convinced.
MH : She sat there with crocodile tears and she sat there and she lied
to the world and to me.
IJ : She’d convinced herself that there was feasibility in this and
all she had to do was stick to script and keep going.
RC : And the prosecution QC just took her story apart over 3 days. When
you thought there was nothing more he could ask her, he just kept on
remorselessly going over her story with her, checking the details.
There were some parts of her story which she apparently remembered in
great detail perfectly and other parts of it that all she could say
was constantly ‘I don’t know’, ‘I can’t remember’, ‘I
don’t know’. And in the end, the cumulative effect of all that ‘I
don’t know I can’t remember’ was just it’s an invented
story. TA entering court for the verdict.
Reporter : She was branded a killer by the police, a woman of profound deceit
by the prosecution and the jury agreed. In through the front door, 90
minutes later she was in a cell waiting to go out the back door in a
prison van. Press conference again, showing Maureen Harvey holding TA’s hand
VO : For Lee Harvey’s mother, who had even held hands with Tracey at
the press conference, it was the story she didn’t want to hear.
MH : I wanted it to be the story that she’d told. And I preferred
that story. I wanted Lee to die in the arms of his lover. Not at the
hands of his lover. And this is what had happened. She’s stabbed
him and he’d died at the hands of his fiancée, the girl he was
going to marry.
Lee Harvey and TA followed by Craig Meehan and KM.
VO : It was the betrayal of a lover. After the break, how the world
discovered the betrayal of a mother.”
Aerial
footage of housing estate where Shannon Matthews was found
Reporter : The long search for Shannon Matthews ended just over a mile from
her home.”
Second
reporter : “Their hunt leads to a house in Dewsbury. Shannon
Matthews is found alive.
Reporter : The back door kicked in by police who went inside to find
nine-year-old Shannon hidden in the base of a divan bed.” Picture
of Shannon
VO : When Shannon Matthews was found alive after being missing for 24
days, there was nationwide relief. Neighbours hugging each other and the party in the street.
VO : In Dewsbury Moor, where people had put so much effort into finding
her, it’s a time for celebration. Children
shouting 'Shannon! Shannon!' Fireworks going off.
VO : But one person didn’t seem to be sharing the celebratory mood. KM and Craig Meehan outside the house with a policewoman
VO : Shannon’s mother, Karen.
DC : When Shannon was found and they got filmed, she seems a bit
shocked and surprised by the whole situation. She would have been
thinking to herself ‘I wonder how she’s been found, I wonder
what’s going on’ and that’s clearly expressed on her face.
VO : She even needs to be told to look happy.
JB : We were watching it on the telly and we’re giving it ‘She
ain’t smiling, she ain’t smiling’. So we just opened the front
door slightly and shouted ‘For God’s sake, Karen, smile!
Karen turning around to look at the front door and then turning
back round, smiling. Crowd outside the house cheers.
RE : My suspicions really started to prickle that something wasn’t
right within 24 hours of Shannon being found. Picture
of Shannon with a dog
VO : Shannon had been found in the house of Michael Donovan, who – it
turns out – is the uncle of Karen’s partner, Craig. KM and Craig leaving the house.
JB : Once it was released who she was found with, then people’s minds
started thinking ‘Well, hang on, with family?’ It just didn’t
make sense. KM being taken to court
VO : Three days later, Donovan is charged with kidnapping and false
imprisonment. But the spotlight was turning onto Karen herself. Had
Karen known where her daughter was all along? Press conference.
KM : (at press conference) Well I think there’s somebody out there who
knows Shannon…they probably know me as well… Police activity
VO : Had Karen allowed Shannon to be abducted? If so, why had she done
it?
RE : The rumours, and I’m not sure where they were coming from but
the community were fantastically well informed, really started to
crank up that Karen had had some sort of involvement.
VO : Local women, Natalie Brown and Julie Bushby decide to confront
Karen with their theory of what she had done.
JB : Well basically me and Natalie were sat talking on the Saturday
night and Natalie went ‘Do you know I’d love to be able to speak
to Karen.’ So I went ‘Well, I’ll see if I can arrange it, if
you want.’ So we met her at 6 o’clock down in Batley. The local area
VO : Karen is driven to the rendez-vous by a police liaison officer,
Christine Freeman.
RE : Then the two women got into the back of Christine and Karen’s
car and Natalie said that the rumours had been going round the estate
and asked her quite bluntly ‘Were you involved?’ saying to her
that she believed that Karen had known where Shannon was all along
and Karen replied ‘Yes, it’s true.’
JB : She was sobbing and they weren’t crocodile tears. They were
proper tears. They were proper tears. It was the first time I had
actually heard her cry that way. Police cars.
VO : Karen was immediately arrested.
JB : We weren’t looking for all the signs then. We have now,
obviously. We’ve sat down and thought about it and there is a lot
of tell-tale signs there. But at that moment in time it wasn’t
about Karen. It was about a nine-year-old child.
PJ : She told that many lies to me and everybody else. She just made a
fool of everyone. KM and Craig during the search
RE: Those performances were Oscar-winning and I don’t hesitate to
hold my hands up and say that I, like everyone else, was absolutely
taken in by her.
JB : People felt anger, frustration. Yeah, I suppose they felt a lot
like me. Used. Used and abused. Neighbours carrying a banner during the search.
MA : Everyone just got taken for idiots. I think everyone just pulled
back after that. Just being used made us look stupid.
PJ : I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach by someone I
trusted.
MA : She’ll get out. Sell her story, no doubt. Then she’ll be off.
No problems. It’s Shannon now. And Shannon’s brothers and
sisters. She’s hurt all them people and she’s not bothered. So
long as she’s alright herself. Boarded-up house, former home of KM.
VO : Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan were both sentenced to 8 years
for kidnapping and falsely imprisoning Shannon. Even after the trial,
it was still no clearer as to why Karen had allowed her own daughter
to be abducted.
MA : To be honest, I just told Megan straight away it was Shannon’s
mum that had something to do with it. ‘Why? Why would her mum do
that to her?’ ‘I can’t tell you that. I’ve no idea’ and
then it’s just ‘Why? Why? Why?’ KM in handcuffs.
DC : I think the claim that Karen and Donovan were somehow or other setting things up to get some reward money for finding Shannon doesn’t really hold a lot of water. It’s very difficult to work out how they thought that could happen.
JB : “I personally don’t think it was for the reward. I don’t know
what it was for. I don’t know… It could have been attention.” Taxi driving along a street
VO : It’s now a year since Karen was arrested. Is she ready to give
us anymore answers?
Julie
is in the back of the taxi
VO : Julie Bushby visits Karen in prison to see if she’s ready to
talk. Taxi
turns down a road sign posted ‘HM Prison’.
JB : I just said ‘Why did you do it?’ and she just glared at me
actually and then says ‘I didn’t do it’ She’s adamant she’s
totally innocent. Absolutely adamant. I mean, a year on and she’s
still coming out with the same story. Well, she’s still claiming
that she’s innocent and she’s being used as the scapegoat but I
think she’s lying to herself that much that she’s convinced
herself. But…it was worth a try. Press conferences
VO : Have Karen and others like her made it impossible now for anyone
else in that situation to be believed?
MA : If someone goes missing and you come on TV and appeal for them,
straight away people are going to think you’ve got something to do
with it. This is what’s annoying. There are genuine people out
there who do want their loved one back and they are innocent but it’s
people like Karen and others that make you question them.
JB : You’ll always be there looking now. Looking for a tell-tale sign
in their eyes, their mouth, the words. Looking for that little grin.
DC : People will always be curious about whether they’re telling
the truth or not and I think now with all these cases of crocodile
tears, the public will be even more sceptical.
IJ : As a result of the Tracey Andrews case I am more sceptical about
victims. You know, you start to look to see if you can spot the
flaws. You start to think about whether they’ve set themselves on
this sort of story or not.
JB : I’d do it again. If a child went missing again I’d do it
again.
RC : I don’t think my attitude has changed. I think that genuine
people making public appeals touch my heart now just as much as they
ever did. And I can give you an example. The McCanns. Clearly
innocent. Absolutely clearly innocent. And they have my greatest
sympathy. Nothing’s changed.
RE : What I’ve been concentrating on, as hopefully have a lot of
people, is that there is actually a happy ending to this, in that
Shannon was found. She was found safe and she’s now going to go on
to a better life.
Closes
with a picture of Shannon Matthews.
