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We have obtained copies of all — at least we are told it is all — of the statements made by Joran van der Sloot, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe while in custody last summer. The statements are in Dutch and we have begun the process of having them translated into English.
Monday night, we presented part of Deepak's first statement — the one police say, per the documents, he made to them upon his arrest on June 9. Note that the statement is not signed (he declined to sign it until he spoke with his lawyer about it), but the police say it is what Deepak said to them that first day.
We expect to present more of the June 9 statement on tonight's show and then the rest of the June 9 statement on Wednesday. We will then either move on to his next statement made while in custody or present the first statements of Satish and Joran. Like Deepak, Satish and Joran made many statements — beginning with their June 9 arrests. How we present them is a decision to be made by my producer. We have hundreds and hundreds of pages of statements from the three and from others the police spoke to during the first few months, so it is a challenge to decide what to do with them. What the statements do give us is the inside track on the investigation — not just what was said, but the direction the police were taking, etc.
The interrogation statements are important in that they allow Aruban investigators to compare and contrast each statement with statements made at later times by the declarant or allow for comparison to statements made by the others. You should expect minor inconsistencies among the statements — no one has a perfect memory. In fact, you should be suspicious of "perfect" memories. Investigators instead look for significant differences. Significant differences show lies... and provide clues. Also, in studying the statements you should consider that they were made while in custody and the age and experience of the declarant.
When an investigation hits a wall — and it seems that this one has — a good investigator goes back and starts over. You need to re-look at everything. You need to start with a fresh slate — without fixed ideas. These statements are extremely valuable in that they are a history of the investigation. But, it is likewise important to continue to consider all other possible theories. In starting over, you really start over... with an open mind.
Last night before our show, we pre-taped an interview with Jane Seymour. Starting Friday, at 9:30 p.m., she is in a new sitcom on WB. She is a life coach for three guys who sound like they need one. I have seen a clip from the sitcom and it is pretty funny. The sitcom is called "Modern Men." You may recall that she was on our show last summer to talk about the movie "Wedding Crashers," which was a huge summer hit. (By the way, before we did the taping, one of the guys in our studio admitted to me to having had a crush on her years ago. So, yes... I told her... but not on tape. He would have clobbered me if I had done that. Of course now it is "open season" on him since some FOX employees in the D.C. bureau read the GretaWire and will no doubt tease him.)
I have some questions for you. If you have answers that are relevant, please e-mail us with details, including your phone number:
QUESTIONS: Has there been a mysterious death in your family? Do you think the medical examiner incorrectly declared the death an accident or could not determine the manner of death and that, in reality, is a homicide? Or, did the medical examiner get it wrong and declare it a homicide when it is an accident or natural causes? If so, e-mail me... we might investigate it for you.
Now for some randomly chosen e-mails:
E-mail No. 1
Hi, Greta! Did you know that right now on gretawire.com there is an advertisement for 75% off cruises?! Well, it's not Royal Caribbean so... I'm actually traveling on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas in April. Already planning what to pack: pepper spray is on my list! And I definitely plan to watch all of my beverages very carefully!
Hey — I love that you asked that question last week! I haven't been on your site in a while else I probably would have chimed in. Loved the answers you shared...
Marcia
MD
E-mail No. 2
Greta,
I work with statistics. In fact I studied statistics at Carnegie Mellon, one of the top schools for stats in the country. I noticed in the 'randomly selected' e-mails you post on the blog that there are a disproportionately large percentage of writers that say 'Bernie is my favorite' or something to that effect. I have been tracking this on your blog.
If in fact your e-mails are randomly posted, this means that Bernie is by far your viewers' favorite panelist. Yet he seems to get the least airtime of your guests, perhaps due to his manners and hesitancy in interrupting others. He also has a concise effective manner of communication which viewers apparently prefer to the rambling on and on as some of your other panelists do.
Therefore, I think you should devote one entire block of the show to be the Bernie block. He can talk about whatever he wants without interruption.
Love,
Bernie's Mom
(Just kidding, I am not Bernie's mom, just another viewer that likes Bernie best)
ANSWER: Here are other possibilities: 1) Bernie pays me to post favorable e-mails; 2) I am jealous of all the nice things said about the others and therefore won't post; 3) No one says anything nice about the others or me; 4) All of the above, or 5) Any suggestions for No. 5?
E-mail No. 3 — This next e-mail refers to the wildfires in Texas:
Hi Greta:
I'm in Dallas and could smell the smoke here this morning. Gives you an idea on how bad the fires are.
Love your show... watch every night.
Best regards,
Julia Sizemore
Dallas, TX
E-mail No. 4
Just a FYI — the town your reporter called Columbus is COLUMBIA, MO. Columbus is in Ohio. I was upset to hear that from a professional reporter. Columbia hosts one of the nation's best journalism schools and they can get things right. The people in the Midwest suffered enough we do not need you guys to call our towns by the wrong name to all those watching. I hope you can fix this.
Thanks,
Lin
ANSWER: Lin, our reporters work around the clock in dangerous conditions, often without food or sleep. If a mistake is made like this under those conditions (here it was tornado coverage), cut him some slack
E-mail No. 5
Hello Greta,
I am a great fan of your show, but I was deeply upset and appalled by your producers (or whoever made the decision) who displayed a mug shot photo of the black teenager who was, I think, beaten to death by white police officers, as you did this story on 3-13-06. Towards the end of the piece, the producers maybe realized how insensitive, ridiculous, and "borderline" racist, the mug shot photos were and displayed other photos. As a regular FOX News watcher, I am beginning to see more of these type insensitive occurrences. Usually, but not always, it's a gross and bold insensitivity towards blacks and minority. As a black male myself, I take offense to this, and unless it is cleaned up, you will lose a loyal fan.
Mark
ANSWER: First, I am flattered you are a fan of the show. Second, I am stunned by your criticism that we are "insensitive towards blacks and minorities." Did you not watch the segment? We reported — and I might add were the first — that this African-American 14 year old was beaten, an autopsy was done claiming a blood disorder and then a second autopsy was done indicating he died from the beating. The substance of our report is so important — and should be profoundly important to you (it is to me) — that I am baffled by an objection to some picture posted. You should be pleased (and should expect it) that the media (us) are so quick to put this on the air. What happened to this 14 year old and his family is a terrible tragedy — it is a crime — probably murder. And if the second autopsy had not been done, no one would know. This 14 year old would never get justice.
We have now shown the video, reported the injustice and you write me about the picture? We should all be yelling from our rooftops about this injustice to this 14 year old — the picture is so wildly insignificant to what is probably murder of this young man (really, a child.) Like you, I am deeply upset, but for a different reason. I want justice for this 14 year old. Incidentally, the reason we did the segment is that Dr. Baden is so upset about the injustice. He pulled me aside last week and told me that he would be attending the second autopsy and gave me all the reasons he did not believe the first autopsy. After attending the second autopsy, his fears were confirmed — this child did not die from a blood disorder... he died from something so much worse.
E-mail No. 6
I'm so surprised by how many people just vote for their party. Those people don't even know who is running yet. Seems there's not much use for a candidate debate. Interesting poll though.
DC
Thousand Oaks, CA
ANSWER: If you have a poll question you would like to post, please send it to me. I just might post it for 24 hours on this Web site.
E-mail No. 7
Last summer when you were in Aruba, I noticed you pronounced the establishment "Carlos & Charley." I just wrote it off that you were unfamiliar with "Carlos & Charlie's." Tonight, you were reading a "transcript" from Deepak's statement, and you continually said "Charley" instead of "Charlie's." That makes me question the validity of the transcript. Was the "Charley" your mispronunciation? Otherwise, I don't believe Deepak would be referring to it as such, as it's a regular haunt for him. Carlos & Charlie's is a chain, and well known in many cities and states, including Austin, TX!
Gail Mindlin
ANSWER: I read the statement as it was written, translated and given to me. I did not correct it.
Finally, some articles that caught my attention:
• Rapper Master P pleads no contest on gun charge
• Former game show host Peter Tomarken killed in SoCal plane crash
• Mothers of vanished sons seek solace in each other's story
• Panel recommends penalties for skipping jury duty
• Harris to decide this week whether to stay in Senate race
• Coast Guard searches for three University of Rhode Island students
Send your thoughts and comments to: ontherecord@foxnews.com
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