Kevin Fox

[Legs]

In June 2004 - 3 year old Riley Fox disappeared from her home sometime during the night, her parents reported her missing.

She was found face down, drowned in a nearby river and had been sexually assulted.

The family was questioned extensively and Kevin Fox (tRiley's Dad) acted supsicously, eventually he confessed to having sex with his daughter and killing her by accident and then staging the abduction/river to cover the deed.

Within weeks he recanted this confession, he had made it without speaking to a lawyer.

He has been in jail awaiting his trial for a year now... today the charges were dropped against him, DNA found on little Riley did not match his.

I have no idea what the hell is going on with this case... they do not know whos DNA is on Riley - they don't have a match. I can't believe any person would confess to such a horrible crime - in such detail - and not be involved somehow.

Kevin Fox and his lawyers have filed a civil suit for millions against the Police and district attourneys office.

http://www.nbc5.com/news/4621751/det...94&dppid=65192

[Ymir's blood]

Unfortunately, there are have always been incidents where people were coerced into confessing to a crime that the investigators knew that the suspect had committed. Under duress, most people will confess to anything just to make the interrogation stop. It has happened throughout history, the most extreme examples being the Medieval witch trials where people were forced to confess to crimes that never even took place.

I'm not saying that this has happened on this case as their isn't enough information in the article to judge that.

[Legs]

Hi Ymir.. in medievil times I am assuming the person is being tortured into confession.

Kevin Fox was just sitting at a table with detectives taking to him - if someone brought me in supected of killing my child - there is no way I would confess, I would get pissed off that they had me in there instead of the real killer, I would be telling them to F themselves.

[Ymir's blood]

Torture is only one form of coercion. Other forms include intimidation, sleep deprivation, blinding lights or just playing psychological games.

It is hard to discuss the actual case without more information, but it is also possible that he thought he would be convicted regardless and it would go easier if he confessed.

[Legs]

Originally Posted by Ymir's blood

, but it is also possible that he thought he would be convicted regardless and it would go easier if he confessed.

or he is covering for someone and he knows exactly what happened to his little girl

[Ymir's blood]

It is possible but doesn't seem likely. If he were concerned enough to confess initially and thus shield the perpetrator, why recant later?

[livius drusus]

Covering for someone by confessing to a capital crime he did not commit? That seems highly unlikely to me. If the real killer was a family member they could tell from the DNA; if not, I just can't imagine Kevin Fox putting his neck on the line like that. To what end?

As Ymir's blood noted, people confess to all kinds of crimes they didn't commit. Even really horrendous ones done to people they love. The Innocence Project, a non-profit legal clinic which used DNA testing to exonerate the wrongfully convicted, has a good page on false confessions.

from TIP

A false confession to any crime is counterintuitive and self-destructive; therefore, it requires a valid explanation. Some false confessions can be explained by the mental state of the confessor. Confessions obtained from juveniles are often unreliable, as children are easy to manipulate through positive and negative feedback and, because of their age, are not always fully cognizant of the situation. Juveniles in particular may believe that they can "go home" as soon as they admit guilt. Confessions obtained from persons with mental disabilities are often unreliable because being accommodating and agreeable, especially to authority figures, is often a survival method for such persons. Further, many law interrogators are not given any special training on questioning suspects with mental disabilities. An impaired mental state due to mental illness, drugs, or alcohol may also elicit incorrect admissions of guilt.

Even absent those factors, adults also give false confessions due to a variety of factors like the length of interrogation, exhaustion, or a belief that they can be released after confessing and prove their innocence afterward. Though law enforcement must at times employ tactics to extract the truth from uncooperative suspects, police officers, convinced of a suspect's guilt, may occasionally use interrogation tactics so persuasive that an innocent person feels compelled to confess to a crime. In convincing the suspect that the evidence against him is overwhelming, law enforcement may push an innocent suspect to the point where he believes that his fate is sealed with or without a confession. The suspect realizes the injustice inherent in the situation but decides to cooperate, resigned to the notion that a confession will be more beneficial than continuing to claim innocence. The perceived benefits of a false confession may include protection of family members, a more lenient sentence or avoidance of capital punishment, promised deferential treatment by the police or prosecutors, or, in extreme circumstances, avoidance or cessation of physical harm or discomfort. Another inducement to confess may be permission to leave the interrogation room itself, as it is often implied that a suspect is not actually allowed to leave the room until a confession is produced.

[Legs]

liv.. I have been following this case for a long time, there are so many other things that have happend to make me raise an eyebrow - not the least of is that the family immediately set up a website soliciting donations for funeral expenses and Kevin's defense - but not one cent towards finding the 'real killer' and Kevin's wife was caught in a scandal of using the funds to purchase expensive diamond jewelry for herself

Now the family will be suing for millions and Riley lies in her grave with no one held accountable.

[livius drusus]

I don't really know anything about the background, but offhand I'd say that setting up funerary or legal defense fund but not a reward for killer fund doesn't strike me as particularly suspicious. I think find the killer rewards are kinda weird (isn't that the police's job?) and from what I've read the police are not big fans because they avalanche of useless/grasping/crazy tipsters increases their workload enormously.