Confession Tapes is a remarkable series and every episode is disturbing. However, the false confessions in most of these episodes are understandable in the sense that the police seem to be (falsely) convinced of the guilt of a suspect and use coercive tactics to get a bogus confession. There are many examples of police planting false evidence, wearing down people with limited education, in emotional distress, with low IQ, and planting ideas in their minds, etc. We all know these are common techniques that the police use.
This episode is different. It focuses on a corrupt, and likely psychopathic, police detective named John Palmatier, who plays the key role in exploiting a media-fueled public furor against a man who suffered a tragedy when he drove into the Detroit River with his wife and four children. There's something far more disturbing to me in this episode than the usual run of police mishandling of an investigation. The filmmakers have exposed in detective John Palmatier, a man so evil, so sick, so heartless, with such callous indifference to the truth, that it makes your skin crawl. By the end of the episode, it is obvious that Palmatier almost certainly knew that he had manipulated an innocent man into "confessing" to a crime he didn't commit, and showed no remorse at the man's conviction and life sentence. I would be hard pressed to find another example of a documentary that so effectively exposes raw evil as this episode does. It is obvious by the end of the episode that there was only one criminal in this case, and that was John Palmatier.
However, I warn you. I had nightmares after watching this. I felt dirty. Palmatier is an example of someone so nakedly evil, so diseased, he makes your skin crawl. He makes you feel hopeless. God help the many victims this sick man has interviewed over the years. That this diseased man is still walking free is very disturbing to me.
By the way, the judge in the case disallowed Palmatier's "interview" and ruled that the "confession" was involuntary. He also stated at sentencing that he was bound to give the sentence, but had not been convinced of the man's guilt. (To the best of my knowledge, there was no evidence against the man, apart from the disallowed "confession," no plausible motive was ever proposed, and the forensic evidence regarding the car's mechanical problems corroborated the man's original account to the police.)
Here are a few selected quotes from Palmatier from the episode:
1. "I don't know why, Larry, but it seems that I have been given a gift to look much deeper into people than anyone ever thought it was possible to do," and "I've been able to pull rabbits out of the hat so many times that it's not even funny." These cruelly narcissistic statements come close to admitting that he enjoys playing games with other people's lives.
2. "I don't know if it was the baby crying so loud. I don't know why the Lord empowered children with the ability to cry at the pitch and frequency that they are able to. But you know you could ... I threatened my own daughter to tie her in a garbage bag and leave her in a closet for a while. You know, when she was small. Just -- damn kid, shut up!" A stunning admission of how cruel and sick this man is. As a father of 3, I can say that, I don't care how much your children cry, anyone who's threatened to tie their daughter in a garbage bag and leave her in a closet, has no idea what a normal parent, or even what a normal person, is.
3. " Larry, within each of us, there's a demon, and it's when we deny it exists that it'll come up behind us. It's the fool that won't acknowledge its existence." I doubt there's a demon inside each of us, but I do know there's a demon inside Palmatier, and that's why I think this evil creep let this one slip.
For further background, I encourage you to research the case further. There's only so much you can fit into an episode of a show, and there's a lot of exculpatory information.
This episode is different. It focuses on a corrupt, and likely psychopathic, police detective named John Palmatier, who plays the key role in exploiting a media-fueled public furor against a man who suffered a tragedy when he drove into the Detroit River with his wife and four children. There's something far more disturbing to me in this episode than the usual run of police mishandling of an investigation. The filmmakers have exposed in detective John Palmatier, a man so evil, so sick, so heartless, with such callous indifference to the truth, that it makes your skin crawl. By the end of the episode, it is obvious that Palmatier almost certainly knew that he had manipulated an innocent man into "confessing" to a crime he didn't commit, and showed no remorse at the man's conviction and life sentence. I would be hard pressed to find another example of a documentary that so effectively exposes raw evil as this episode does. It is obvious by the end of the episode that there was only one criminal in this case, and that was John Palmatier.
However, I warn you. I had nightmares after watching this. I felt dirty. Palmatier is an example of someone so nakedly evil, so diseased, he makes your skin crawl. He makes you feel hopeless. God help the many victims this sick man has interviewed over the years. That this diseased man is still walking free is very disturbing to me.
By the way, the judge in the case disallowed Palmatier's "interview" and ruled that the "confession" was involuntary. He also stated at sentencing that he was bound to give the sentence, but had not been convinced of the man's guilt. (To the best of my knowledge, there was no evidence against the man, apart from the disallowed "confession," no plausible motive was ever proposed, and the forensic evidence regarding the car's mechanical problems corroborated the man's original account to the police.)
Here are a few selected quotes from Palmatier from the episode:
1. "I don't know why, Larry, but it seems that I have been given a gift to look much deeper into people than anyone ever thought it was possible to do," and "I've been able to pull rabbits out of the hat so many times that it's not even funny." These cruelly narcissistic statements come close to admitting that he enjoys playing games with other people's lives.
2. "I don't know if it was the baby crying so loud. I don't know why the Lord empowered children with the ability to cry at the pitch and frequency that they are able to. But you know you could ... I threatened my own daughter to tie her in a garbage bag and leave her in a closet for a while. You know, when she was small. Just -- damn kid, shut up!" A stunning admission of how cruel and sick this man is. As a father of 3, I can say that, I don't care how much your children cry, anyone who's threatened to tie their daughter in a garbage bag and leave her in a closet, has no idea what a normal parent, or even what a normal person, is.
3. " Larry, within each of us, there's a demon, and it's when we deny it exists that it'll come up behind us. It's the fool that won't acknowledge its existence." I doubt there's a demon inside each of us, but I do know there's a demon inside Palmatier, and that's why I think this evil creep let this one slip.
For further background, I encourage you to research the case further. There's only so much you can fit into an episode of a show, and there's a lot of exculpatory information.
