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Man and his wife wrongfully accused of murder! Be careful with polygraphs!

This case you’re about to read is a classic case of police detectives, prosecutors, and even FBI polygraphists going too far. It’s the case of David and Cindy Dowaliby, of Miolothian, Illinois. It was big news in the late 80’s, and is a case we can all learn from.

On September 10, 1988, the couple’s child, a young female named Jaclyn, was found missing from the couple’s home upon them entering her room one morning. They searched frantically in their residence and the surrounding area and eventually notified police.

As the detectives investigated, they noticed a broken window pane around the back side of the residence. Police begin to question the couple relentlessly, to the point that the couple began to feel uncomfortable…hence they were possible suspects. One of the reasons why they became suspects is because detectives on the scene surmised through their observation, that there was more broken glass located outside the window, than inside the residence. Believing that the glass was broken from the inside, the couple became suspects, especially the husband and father David.

The couple’s daughter was eventually found four days later dead. The Dowaliby’s voluntarily submitted to a polygragh examination or test, and both passed it. Matter of fact, the test was reportedly passed with flying colors. Later, because police still suspected the husband, they asked him to submit to a second polygraph, which prove inconclusive. The strange thing about that second examination, is that the examiner asked the husband to intentionally lied, so that he could record what the machine would show upon knowing that he was lying. You know what question he wanted him to lie to? He wanted the husband to say that he in fact killed his daughter! Mr. Dowaliby flatly refused!

Now partly because of the broken glass, police locking in on them, as well as his refusal to answer that strange question, police later charged the couple with murder. Mr. Dowaliby was found guilty (his wife was found innocent) and served 18 months in prison before being released. He was released because an appellate court agreed with the evidence that this man wasn’t guilty. Matter of fact, many reporters and journalists didn’t believe he was guilty as well, and began a publicity campaign to let the public know that police had the wrong man.

Some of the reasons why he was freed? Well for one thing, remember the broken glass? Well come to find out, forensic analysts concluded that the glass was in fact broken from the outside! Another thing, imagine if Mr. Dowaliby would have done what the examiner suggested! The examiner asking him to lie was highly suspicious. In fact, that could have been used against him in court, especially if he had no witnesses (police detectives) that he in fact was only doing what the examiner asked him to do (or the detectives possibly present could have denied that it happened).  Another thing, it was reported that the prosecution was bent on convicting him, and didn’t look at the possibility that someone else could have done the crime.

There was soo many twist and turns in this case that I can’t go into the whole case, but in a nut shell, police detectives became soo lock in and sure that the couple was responsible that they refuse to consider their innocence!  Mr. Dowaliby refusal to lie probably was the one thing that saved his life! Another thing, polygraphs are inadmissible by every court in America, so why should you take it? That was a mistake he made in the beginning, trying soo hard to prove his innocence! Imagine if he had failed the test? I have no doubt they would have used that against him in court, no doubt!

In conclusion, three tips. Don’t take a polygraph test ever, they’re simply not accurate, as well as being inadmissible at trial.

Tip two, never, ever, sign anything placed in front of you that police say is some sort of test. In other words, if you didn’t commit the crime, why say you did?

Tip three, and understand this with a certainty.  

Whenever someone close to you (girlfriend, child, wife, etc) is found murdered, detectives will automatically look at your participation right from the beginning. It is a known fact that statistically, most people who are murdered “know” the killer, but the problem is that soo many detectives take this as gospel, and once they lock in on you, they don’t want to hear nothing else. You’re not a statistic though, so the moment you feel that the police are focusing on you, and you’re innocent, shut up and get an attorney.