Water. The small town marks the spot where the Mississippi River empties into the gulf of mexico. Locals call it the end of the world. Everybody knows everybodys business pretty much, good and bad, and some people like it and some people dont. I tend to like it. Many people in venice make their money trawling for shrimp. Its hard, dangerous work. The sea can either be friend or foe. Its rough, and the people there are rough. Its not a genteel community. Theres friction there. Theres friction there between the pleasure fishermen and the workaday fishermen that do it for a living. In july of 2000, a storm battered the louisiana coast while the fishing boats were still at sea. All the boats somehow made it back safely, all except one. Captain raymond leiker, otherwise known as tinky, and his deckhand alvin latham were missing along with their shrimp boat named the bandit. The coast guard was notified. They searched the area in the gulf where tinky had made his last radio transmission but found nothing. 14 hours later, a vietnamese fishing trawler picked up a man in the gulf clinging to a piece of wood. It was alvin latham, the deckhand. He was exhausted but unharmed. When interviewed by the coast guard, alvin told a horrifying tale. Alvin said the storm came up so fast that he and tinky were unprepared. The wind just picked up, and we was bouncing all over the place. With fivefoot waves crashing over the bow and the fishing nets full of shrimp still in the water, the boast started to list. It seemed like it was just sinking, and then he reported mayday, mayday, mayday when they tried to pull the nets into the boat, tinkys foot got stuck. Alvin said he tried desperately to get tinkys foot out of the net, but he was unsuccessful. He said he wasnt going to make it. He had asked god to take care of his son. Tinky told alvin to try to save himself. So i told him i was going to go try to get some help. Thats when i started swimming. Just moments after alvin jumped into the water, the boat slipped below the surface. Like that, the boat was just gone down. Alvin said he managed to grab hold of a piece of wood and swam for 14 hours, until he was rescued. I was doing everything i could to try to catch my keep my head above the water. You know, it seemed like i was swimming forever. Hes told his story. He tried to save his captain. It was tender. It was endearing. It could have happened to anyone. But alvin didnt want accolades. I dont see myself as i feel that what i was doing, i couldnt get no help to get him. Several days later, the coast guard found tinkys body floating in the gulf of mexico, and the body told a story that was very different from alvins story. The coast guard found tinky leikers body in the gulf of mexico five days after the storm. The only other person on the boat, alvin latham, said he tried to save tinkys life but was unable to free his foot from the fishing nets. So we gave people the power of the review. And now angies list is revolutionizing local service again. You can easily buy and Schedule Services from toprated providers. Conveniently stay up to date on progress. And effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects with our snapfix app. Visit angieslist. Com today. You fifteen percent or more on huh, fiftcar insurance. Uld save Everybody Knows that. Well, did you know words really can hurt you . What. . Jesse dont go jesse. No im sorry daisy, but im a loner. And a loner gotta be alone. Heee yawww geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Jesse . The coast guard found tinky leikers body in the gulf of mexico five days after the storm. The only other person on the boat, alvin latham, said he tried to save tinkys life but was unable to free his foot from the fishing nets. He was going around talking about how he was a hero. He had survived the storm and all that type of thing. But when the local coroner performed a routine autopsy, the findings contradicted alvins story. He had trauma to his head. His left arm was partially amputated. The coroner also found five stab wounds on the arms that would be considered defensive wounds, as if the victim was fending off a knife attack. Someone trying to defend themselves would raise their arms in front of their face, and in that way, they would catch the stab wounds at about the forearm, and thats where they were on raymond leiker. And the coroner found evidence of bluntforce trauma to the head. Tinky leikers death was ruled a homicide. Someone killed raymond leiker. Alvin latham was the only one on the boat that we know of. His own self said he was the only one. When the coast guard interviewed alvin just after his rescue, he said nothing about tinky being stabbed or struck in the head. So police asked alvin to come to headquarters and explain the discrepancies. So we started him en route to the jail, and he said, well, you found the body . And i said, yeah, we did. And he says, well, i guess im in trouble. Investigators videotaped the interrogation. His original story when we first picked him up, he said the captain was caught in the trawler net, the boat was sinking and he swam off from the boat and watched it go down. He was underwater, and i started swimming off for the first platform i could get to. Police informed alvin latham that the story he told didnt match the forensic evidence. He had several stab marks on his body, and we just need to know why you stabbed him. I didnt stab him. If raymond leikers foot was caught in the net, he would have went down with that boat, okay . Did you murder him . No. Did you murder him . No. Well, then i dont have to lock you up. But i want to know what happened. Im trying to tell you, thats the best that i can. Well, who murdered him then, if you didnt . I dont know. After five hours of questioning and three more on the following day, alvin gradually began to change his story. Alvin started saying things like he felt uncomfortable with raymond leiker. He didnt make him feel comfortable. He was coming up with things that happened to him on that boat as saying that raymond touched his leg, made him feel uncomfortable, that type of thing. Im thinking finally were getting somewhere with him, you know . Finally, were starting to get the truth, and thats when he came around, started telling us what he told us, you know, about the stabbing. Alvin now said that when the boat took on water, he feared for his life, and there was only one lifejacket on board. To get the lifejacket, alvin waited until tinkys back was turned, grabbed a pipe and struck him. How many times did you hit him with that pipe . Just once. Alvin said when he tried to grab the life jacket, tinky came after him. Alvin used a knife to defend himself. I guess i stabbed him in the arms five times, and he fell overboard. Are you telling me the truth . Yeah. And with his confession, alvin latham was charged with murder. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court. Not many cases you begin with someone being a hero, and then in a matter of two or three days, he was a villain. He was a killer. As alvin latham sat in jail on a murder charge, everyone in venice, louisiana, was talking about what happened or didnt happen the night tinky leiker died. Everyone debated it. Two people, one lifejacket. What would i do . Would i share it . Youd like to think youd share. But would you . Since alvin was a man of limited means, the Court Appointed attorney peter barbee to defend him. Barbee couldnt understand why alvin would have killed the captain over a lifejacket, yet wasnt wearing it when he was found floating in the water the next day. I told alvin, i said, whatever you do, tell me the truth. I said, if you did it, thats all right. Well figure out how to handle it. But, i said, whatever you do, tell me the truth. Alvin now told his lawyer that he didnt kill tinky. He reverted to his original story, the one he told the coast guard the day after the storm, that tinkys death was an accident. I had to prove to a jury that he was vulnerable and very capable of confessing to something he didnt do. Man, you would not believe how strong there is amongst people and the public that you wouldnt confess to something you wouldnt do. Why would you confess to something you didnt do . To find out, barbee showed the entire eight hours of alvins Police Interviews to dr. Jill hayeshammer, a forensic psychologist from the lsu school of medicine. Come on, alvin. What happened . Everything you say do you know anything . You couldnt swim for 14 hours, alvin. I was very annoyed, actually, because it was obvious to me as a professional that alvin was incredibly slow and that he was being taken advantage of. Dr. Richard leo, a professor of criminology and psychology at the university of california at irvine, agrees. This is an awful, awful interrogation. I think this is shoddy, poor police work, and i think these the detectives who conducted this interrogation should be retrained, and until theyre retrained, should not be permitted to do another interrogation. During the first day of police interrogation, alvin denied he killed tinky. Never. Come on, alvin. What are you going to do . Say something. Explain it. What you saw was an incredible amount of intimidation. Over 100 times, alvin said that he did not do it. He was emphatic in saying that he did not do it. Why did you stab him . I didnt. Why did you stab him . I didnt. Alvin, the autopsy shows you did. You hit him in the throat with something . No. You hit him in the head with something . No. You didnt do nothing . No. I dont believe that. The police continued saying, alvin, until you tell us what we want to hear, you will not be able to go home. But during the second day of interrogation, alvin started repeating what the investigators were telling him. Thats one of the most hostile interrogations ive seen. Theres only one lifejacket. You wanted it. You didnt give a [ bleep ] if he lived or died. You didnt say no damn prayer. Youre a liar about that. Interrogators are trained across the country not to be hostile. Theyre going against the standard training that interrogators receive. Experts say another sign of a false confession is when the suspects story doesnt match the physical evidence. The part about the hammer dont sound right. You sure you hit him with a hammer . I dont know what i hit him with. Yes, you do. He was in that water and you hit him with something. What did you hit him with . Maybe a board. Maybe a board . Did you hit him with a board or you didnt hit him with a board, alvin . I dont know. What they failed to see is he doesnt have any memories of doing the things that theyre accusing him of doing, that he then caves in ultimately and passively accepts and thats why hes using that language. Dr. Hayeshammer discovered that alvins iq was 74 and that he had dropped out of school in the ninth grade. You have many people with low iqs who have had rap sheets as long as my arm. Alvin did not. So, he was very naive to what was going on in the criminal justice system, and he also did not have the intelligence to be able to cope with the questioning by the Police Officers. False confessions do occur. One of the most famous cases happened in england when a teenager, richard buckland, confessed to the rape and murder of a young girl, but dna testing proved he didnt do it. Most people dont understand how someone can be made to falsely confess, but as an empirical matter, the fact is that they occur and they have been documented, so many have been documented. The question should not be do they occur, but rather, why do they occur and what can we do to minimize them . Most femme questioned by police dont realize they can leave the interrogation any time, meaning they dont have to put up with relentless questioning. But trying to explain to a jury why someone would confess to a crime they didnt commit is always difficult. Confessions override lack of evidence, improper searches and everything else. So, if you want to prosecute somebody, whats the best thing in the world . You have a confession. It just got to where i just agreed with what they said just to get them off my back, cause i know they would have stopped the questions after i agreed with them. Life has been very hard to alvin and i will be damned if i was gonna sit back and watch the system steamroll him out of convenience to cover for corrupt, stupid cops. And thats the only way to describe it. But there was still the matter of the coroners report, which had ruled tinkys death a homicide. Nineteen years ago, we thought, wow, how is there no way to tell the good from the bad . So we gave people the power of the review. And now angies list is revolutionizing local service again. You can easily buy and Schedule Services from toprated providers. Conveniently stay up to date on progress. And effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects with our snapfix app. Visit angieslist. Com today. Honey, we need to talk. We do . I took the trash out. I know. And thank you so much for that. I think we should get a Medicare Supplement insurance plan. Right now . 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Anywhere in the country. I like that. You know what else . Unitedhealthcare Insurance Company has years and years of experience. What do you say . Im in. [ male announcer ] join the millions already enrolled in the only Medicare Supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. Remember, all Medicare Supplement plans help cover some of what medicare doesnt pay and could really save you in outofpocket medical costs. Youll be able to choose your own doctor or hospital as long as they accept medicare patients. And with these plans, there could be low or no copays. You do your pushups today . Prepare to be amazed. [ male announcer ] dont wait. Call today to request your free decision guide and find the aarp Medicare Supplement plan to go the distance with you. Go long. Police believe alvin lathams con confession was coerced. The coroner did not know the depth of the socalled knife wounds. The coroner never measured them, never dissected them, never checked them for the angle. From the photographs, dr. Cyril wecht, an independent forensic pathologist, didnt believe these were stab wounds at all. Expect all or at least some of the wounds to have had some significant depth of penetration. We do not have that in this case, hence, i do not believe that these were stab wounds. But if they werent stab wounds, what were they . When you think of a propeller and a portion of it striking some part of the body, then it is easy to understand how you can get these kinds of injuries. Dr. Wecht thinks this is also what caused tinkys fractured skull, that his body was accidentally run over by a passing ship while floating in the gulf. I believe that it is most plausible to infer that those areas of apparent trauma to the body was sustained postmortem when his body was floating for about five days in the gulf. Interestingly, the tug boat captain who picked up tinkys body agreed. He says, ive been a boat captain a long time and this is not the first body ive seen. And he says, that man was run over by a boat. And the tug boat captain told peter barbee something else, something which hadnt been made public. He said he had one boot on and one boot off. Well, the lights went off on that one because that was alvins basic story was that on the boat, at the end of it tinky had gone down with the ship because he had a foot stuck under a cable. Correlated with the story that the foot was caught in the trawling net. That is as good a reason as any and better than most to explain why one boot was on and one boot was not on. With these new findings, peter barbee believes the coroners ruling was inaccurate. You have an incompetent coroner and thats being polite so these wounds tell me that the story that mr. Latham originally gave was the correct one and that there are were no injuries inflicted on mr. Leikers body by alvin latham. When alvin latham went on murder for the trial of tinky leiker, prosecutors played alvins confession for the jury but later, the jury watched the entire eighthour interrogation. Did you it. How you did it . I dont know. What did you do . I didnt hit him. Well, how did it happen . I dont know. Anyone that watched the tape, that saw what happened, any intelligent person couldnt help be convinced that this was a blatant case of police brutality. The jury also heard from the defense pathologist who concluded tinkys death was an accident. And alvin latham took the stand in his own defense and told the same story he told to the coast guard after the storm. That tinkys foot got stuck in the fishing nets and that his death was an accident. After the six hours of deliberation, jury came back with their verdict. Not guilty. With my technology today, with all the learning people got, i knew i had a chance. When you look at the evidence and you look at the forensic and what it shows us, alvin was telling the truth. Unfortunately, just nobody wanted to accept it or believe it, so they just kept pushing him till he came up with something that they wanted to believe. And they wanted to believe it because they fed it to him. Today, alvin works at the local supermarket, stacking shelves. The man who conducted alvins interrogation thinks the jury made a mistake. Everybody cant be the good guy or no one would confess to a serious crime. In all my years experience, i never knew anyone that come and say i committed this crime without interrogation. And thats the tactic you use to get confessions. But peter barbee thinks interrogations should be about getting the truth, not getting a confession. He wanted to pick on alvin. I like to see him come pick on me. And you can print that one. Thats how badly i feel about what he did to that man. Hes a bully and a punk. The winer family were active members of their local church, where lovin