Sword and Scale - Episode 102

Episode Date: October 30, 2017

The death of a little girl named Jodi Parrack send a small town into a spiral of shock and disbelief. Everyone goes looking, but when a reserve police officer named Raymond McCann suggests looking in the cemetery all eyes turn on him as the primary suspect.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences Listener discretion is advised Mr. McCann Saddy pulled into the south side at the first road of the cemetery He said he jumped out of his truck and seen and heard the mother screaming. I think she was just saying my baby, my baby. Welcome to season five episode 102 of Sword and Scale, a show that reveals that the worst monsters are real. This episode will be released on the fourth anniversary of the conception of this show. And over that time, we've told you many scary stories about the world in which we live. And here we are on the cusp of another Hallows Eve, a time in which we celebrate the very

idea of fear. But unlike ghosts and goblins, the story we have for you today evokes a completely different type of fear, a fear-based in reality, a fear of what could happen to any one of us because of the innate imperfections in this thing we call the criminal justice system. Stay tuned. Thursday, November 8th, 2007. Eleven-year-old Jody Christine Parick was playing at a friend's house in Constantine, Michigan, a small town of around 2,000 people close to the Indiana border.

She left her friend's house on her bike and headed home. But after Jody did not arrive home before her 5.30pm curfew, her mother Valerie Carver, who also went by the name of Joe, grew concerned. She had last been seen in town at around 4.45 pm, writing her bicycle. Family members began searching for Jody, and around 7.05 pm, Joe went to the Constantine Police Department to report her daughter missing. Friends and other residents joined in the search and because the town of Constantine is so small, they set out

to search for Jody without much of a plan. They likely figured that the town was small enough that sooner or later they would have to cross paths with Jody. Police officers and town residents searched the DNS market, the local dollar store, the town's baseball field, and other locations, trying to locate where Jody might have gone. Eventually, Jody's mother, Joe, decided to check the Constantine Township's cemetery, along with a car full of searchers, Joe headed to the cemetery. When she arrived, the car headlights flashed on a silver, moncoose bicycle.

When we first pulled into the cemetery, the headlights shone on her bike. At around 10.30 pm, Joe found her daughter in the cemetery at the foot of a headstone. I fell on the ground saying, no, God, no, God, I can believe it. I didn't want to believe it. Her mother would say about her lifeless body that it looked like she was sleeping. But Jody was gone. Police arrived on scene shortly thereafter, and a responding, Constantine Police Officer wrote the following in an incident report. When I pulled up, there were already a few vehicles there. I pulled up and ran over to

where the body was. I observed Valerie with the body in her arms. I observed the bike on the other side of the headstone near the body. I observed the stepfather rolling in the grass near the body. Both Valerie and Kevin, Tody's parents, were hysterical. Medics pried Valerie from the body and began their work. Chief Hayden from the Constantine Fire Department then arrived. He began CPR. The paramedic told me that they are pronouncing her deceased on arrival. November 8, 2007. It was a crisp morning. It kind of tells you, fall is here and winters closing in.

The relative quiet of Constantantine in St. Joseph County was interrupted by squads of police and CSI vans, all converged on the village cemetery. That's where they found the body of 11 year old Jody Perry. According to a report filed by Michigan State Trooper, Matthew Barry, there were contusions on both wrists. On a right wrist, there were two scratches. And they were between the contusions on both wrists, on her right wrist, there were two scratches, and they were between the contusions and hand. She had bruising on her chest.

When an incision was made down the middle of each nipple, you could see the bruising. Dr. Cole said it appears to be either a pinch or possibly bite that caused the bruising. There were no obvious signs of sexual assault. There was an abrasion on the neck that was about one-eighth of an inch wide that did not go all the way around the neck. There were blood spots on the tracheal and those were observed after it was cut open. All fingernails were cut and turned over to us. The cause of death has been ruled homicide.

It is believed that Jody Parrick was suffocated. The sweet 11 year old girl, who according to her mom loved animals, fishing, bike riding, swimming, playing dress-up, singing, football, and life itself had died around 6.30 p.30pm on November 8th, 2007. Her life was cut short, and with it, everything she would have gone on to do. And Jody's killer would get away with her murder for years. It's been just over two years since 11-year-old Jody Perrick was found murdered in this

constantine cemetery. For her aunt, Kristy Pearson, it doesn't seem like this nightmare unfolded that long ago. We came back once when they had the first vigilante that was over there, and I haven't run back since. Beanie Babies placed lovingly by her cousins and a ring around this tree. The most difficult part, possibly not knowing who's responsible, prematurely snatching Jody from the arms and lives of those who love her. It's hard, I guess, not knowing who did it or why they would do it. I just, I don't know, some type of clarity, peace.

Each year, community members would organize a vigil at the cemetery in honor of Jody. A small West Michigan community racked by the brutal murder of an 11-year-old girl is still looking for her killer. It's a story we've been tracking for you for three years now. Tonight we are live as the family pleads for answers. 24-hour New State's Danny Kausen is in constant team right now, Danny. Susie, a vigil is underway right now, remembering 11-year-old Jody Parick. You can see dozens of family, friends,

and community members are here. Marking, this is the actual third anniversary of Jody Parick's death. She was found murdered three years ago today. We just spoke with her mother and she told us that it's important for her to keep holding vigils each year. So Jody isn't forgotten and the man who killed her is caught. Jody went on a bike ride around her neighborhood on November 7, 2007.

She never came home. Her mom went searching and found Jody's body in the village cemetery just a few blocks from their home the next day. Police here in Constantine haven't arrested anyone for this crime, but say it's not a cold case and two Michigan State police investigators will be assigned to this case in January. Even though no arrests have been made in this case, Jody's mom told us that she is confident whoever did this to her daughter will be caught telling us tonight that she sure his days are numbered. But the search for Jody's killer was far from over, and the yearly vigils continued.

Four years after 11-year-old Jody Perrick was found dead, police were still searching for a killer. There had not been any arrests, but this was not a cold case. Police were slowly zeroing in on a suspect who had first aroused suspicion on the night Jody's body was discovered in the cemetery. Raymond McCann, a reserve police officer who lived in Constantine, had been helping in the search for Jody Parick on the night of November 8, 2007.

Ray McCann's son was a friend of Jody's, so Jody's mother Joe had stopped by the house to see if she was over there. Ray told Joe that she hadn't seen Jody's, so Jody's mother Joe had stopped by the house to see if she was over there. Ray told Joe that she hadn't seen Jody that day. Although Ray was out on sick leave with Vertigo, he called into the police department requesting permission to join the search for Jody Parach. Officer Mark Donker approved Ray's request, and he headed out to help search for Jody. But Ray drew attention when Jody's body was found in the cemetery. It was Ray who suggested to Jody's mother that they checked the cemetery.

A suggestion that two other investigators was not an unlikely coincidence, but a sign that Ray knew something about Jody's death. At 2.14am that night, Ray was interviewed at the Constantine Police Department. The minute details from that interview might not seem important now, but trust me, they are. Detective Lonnie Palmer reported the following from that interview. Mr. McCann said when he spoke with Officer Dunker, he stated he told Dunker that he knows these people, his family. He could not remember all he said to him, but he wanted to go out and search for the young girl himself.

He then asked Dunker, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to go out looking? And he said Officer Dunker told him to do what you got to do. Mr. McCann said he got dressed, got in a truck, and went to the DNS market in Constantine. He went into the store and said, you don't have any dogs tied up or anything anywhere. He didn't want to get bit by a dog, he didn't have a flashlight, he was going to walk around the store and check the perimeter. McCann said he left from there, and went to the town park in the center of town. He said he walked that whole thing.

He said he didn't find anything there, so we got back in his truck and started heading south. He's seen Officer Dunker in a squad car on a side road so we pulled alongside at Dunker at the park where they met. He did not have a duty belt on, nor did he have his handcuffs or any other accessories just his gun and it was in a holster under his seat. He said this was approved by Officer Dunker. Mr. McCann said when he left Dunker at the park, he said he went to the baseball field, just a little league field at the other end of town. He searched

that field and found nothing. McCann said while he was searching the baseball field, Officer Dunker called him on the phone and told him he needed to meet him on station street. There's a path that went back to the dam that he wanted to search and he didn't want to search it by himself. McCann said he headed that way. He said they ended up not meeting at the dam because something happened and Dunker had to go back to the PD. McCann said he met Dunker at the Constantine PD. I asked McCann if he knew what time that would have been. He said he didn't have any idea at the time.

He just lost track. Mr. McCann said that it touched his heart because he knew the girl and their family. He said all he could think about was his own kids and he kept telling himself, we are going to find her, we are going to find her. He said he just didn't know we were going to find her like that. I asked McCann what he did next, and he said he and Dunker left there and went to the gas

station just across the bridge, which used to be the shell mart as he put it. He said, docker, wet inside, with the photo, and he, with his flashlight, searched outside the gas station and didn't find anything. He said they left his shell mart and went back to the Constantine PD. Officer Dunker had something to do at the PD. He can't say he took his flashlight across the street, down to the river, next to the PD,

and started looking around there. He said after going to the park, he noticed two cars parked there. He said he knows one was a white car. He said he couldn't tell me about the other one. He said it was the mother, Valerie Carver. He said they were looking in the hole back in the park. He said he had a flashlight and started flashing it down by them.

He said he met with them and started talking to them about where they had searched and where he had searched. McCann said he asked one of them. He believes it was the mother. If you check the cemetery yet, they said no and they headed that way. McCann said he walked back up to the PD, got in his own personal vehicle and headed to the cemetery. McCann said when he arrived at the cemetery, he said the reason the cemetery popped into his head was because they had searched the other places, parks, stores, etc. He said that was the next logical place. Mr. McCann said he pulled into the south side.

At the first road of the cemetery, he said he started driving down real slow. He was looking with his flashlight out of his window and each side of the truck. McCann said he's seen the cars go out to the particular area to where the child was found. He said he jumped out of his truck and seen and heard the mother screaming. He said the mother picked her up right away and was screaming. He said he's seen Mrs. Carver picked a victim up at the

cemetery. He said she was holding her. I asked Mr. McCann if he knew what the mother was saying. And he said, I think she was just saying my baby, my baby. McCann said when he first got up there, he seen where the bike was in relation to the victim's body. And he said his first stop was maybe she had fallen and hit her head on the tombstone or in some fashion. He just wasn't sure. Then he said it just didn't look right.

It just didn't look right in relation to how the bike looked in the body's position. Mr. McCann said we got up to the scene. He didn't believe he touched anything, but he just wasn't sure. He knew in the EMS arrived they had to get the mother and the other family members off the scene, so they, along with the police, could do their job. Mr. McCann said when he pulled up, he could just hear the screaming, so he jumped out of his truck, ran up to the scene, the mother was holding her.

Her shirt was kind of pulled up and the color configuration on her skin, stomach area, and the one on her arms, he apparently made the assumption that she was dead at that time. Mr. McCann said he was in shock. He got on the cell phone and started calling Donker. And Donker was already flying up in his quad car to the scene.

I then asked Mr. McCann if he could tell me what time he got home on November 8th, 2007. He said he had been off on medical for about a week. He hadn't been feeling well. He said last Thursday on November 1st, 2007, his equilibrium got messed up. He was feeling a lot better on November 8th, 2007. It was home all day. I asked him if he left the house on November 8th, 2007, he said yes.

As soon as his kids got home from school, he took them to the dollar store so they could buy some laser guns. I asked him if he knew what time it was and he said approximately 315 or so, they had left for the dollar store. I asked him what he did next. He said he just hung around the house. He said he made a fire in the fireplace. His wife had just made him dinner,

and she got home from work. He said he started to get the kids around for bad, and that is when Mrs. Carver came to the door. I said so I can confirm that you never left it all that day. He just left to go to the dollar store to buy laser guns for his two sons. I then asked Mr. McCann about his gun, was it still in the truck? I then asked him about his belt, and he said all that was home.

I asked him about his handcuffs, and he said they were home as well. I asked Mr. McCann if he had anything to do with Jody's death, and he adamantly denied he didn't. I asked Mr. McCann this a couple of different times during the interview. Mr. McCann was obviously very frightened when I asked in these questions and made it clear he would be cooperative in any way which he in fact was. I advised Mr. McCann that it was likely the crime scene text would want to take pictures of his clothing, his hands, him. And he said that would be fine. He was more than receptive to that too.

Mr. McCann advised, he would take a polygraph at our convenience. And I think that there's a possibility he could have found Jody's body first, that he could have found it in the cemetery. And that's why he was leading the search party towards that location. That maybe he was afraid that I found the body, and I don't want to be blamed for this. There's a time period from the time that Jody Parick was that discovered that she was missing that night to where the McCann was and what he was doing. No one seems to know what he was doing in that time period there. For

instance, he apparently told detectives he took his two sons to the dollar general. But when cops interviewed those two boys, they told police that trip never happened. Also that night court documents say McCann repeatedly insisted that people search the cemetery for Jody's body, but he himself never went to the cemetery. Court documents also say he acted very odd about the discovery of her body. We want the murder. If he is not the murder, hopefully he leads us to him because he knows work and vets he knows something about this case.

Jody's family knew Ray McCann and had he not said anything about the cemetery that night, they might not have ever suspected him. Jody's aunt, Christy Pearson, could not have imagined Ray being involved in something like this. Pearson says she's known McCann for years herself and is close with some of his family. She says initial suspicions came as a surprise. When I first happened, they questioned everybody about it and nobody would have thought

that they would do anything like that. But Ray McCann, a reserve police officer and a friend of Jody's family, became the target of an intense police investigation. And over the course of the next five years, Ray was repeatedly brought into the consent team police department for interrogations. On November 5, 2010, Ray was interviewed on tape for the first time. So I know you've been talking several times and this shouldn't take too long because you're going to tell me the truth.

You're not in the height, correct? And what I need you to do is pretty much just November 8th, 2007, and if you would, I'd like you to start from about noon. Let's pause for a second. Think about what you were doing two years and 362 days ago. Without notes, starting at about noon. It's not easy, right? It's an impossible task.

So I'm what you did that day. I brought my paper. Would you like to read that first? Do I need to remember that? I don't know if you got a copy. Do you remember? I mean, the order of things you own to do, what they were talking about there. I was a thing I had to do, so I'm just behind you, sad.

I don't know if you want to read yet. First. I know, but I was like, you can't be, but I didn't say anything else to be more. Well, I like you to do, but just don't read it. I don't want you to read in here. I just want you to open up. Ray brought a written statement to the interview, but police chief Jim Badell wants him to talk about that day from memory. I'll be home. We've all lunch time.

Probably eight lunch. I'll be home. I was playing the PlayStation football game. Most of the days when the kids got home. We went to the store, our store. We came back. We came back. We came back.

We came back. We came back. We came back. We came back. We came back. We came to the store, our store, came back. People were telling you what the dollar store is. Kids get out of school, they can have a lot of freedom, and we went straight up there, and mom didn't have a little ways of doing this.

Came back, remember a certain fire at fireplace. I wanted to go to get homework and I was doing that. I had no other boys playing on his videos. So, starting at New England, your boys were holding the door? No, at your school. Okay. Yeah, New England them now, they're at lunch. You're at Newham, what were you doing until the boys came up in school? I'm at the police station, football, man.

Okay. So you're home alone from 12 o'clock to the boys' camp? Mm-hmm. What's your name? I was three or three tenants on there. I would say about 3-3-10 and someone there. I'm not really sure what time. School that I... And...

Then you went... To your home and then went home for you at the dollar store. Home and we home? I'm sure. I mean... Well, I realize it's been three years ago. But it turns out it's to be a big day in your life. That's all it's a lot of other people. It's a day that you're going to remember for the rest of your life.

Ray says he started a fire, ate dinner, helped his son with some homework, and watched the news. When the kids were getting ready for bed, Joe, Jody's mother, came over looking for her daughter. She came over and went. Okay, she came over and said that her daughter hasn't been home for a couple of hours. She's supposed to be home in a certain time. So my wife was there and she was just, you know, you can tell that. How bothered she was. So I said, I called theker and see if you need help working

It's like all of us are donker and he kind of sound like I'll be something you know seem stressed I So he goes do what you have to do I took that hasn't yet so But you are supposed to be working. I wasn't working that night, but I asked him if he wanted to know. After searching around town for a while, Ray headed towards the cemetery. I hop in my truck. I head down this road.

What did you child doctor into that today? It's a little doctor who don't check the cemetery. Okay. So I go down this road and up the street and get to five points and then start. Mm-hmm. And the old park down the right-hand side, I get out there, walk around, turn left, or walk towards the summit area across the tracks. I turn left into the first one, first road. And I'm going across the road, both one of those shining underwear. And Steinbach, on my friends, he goes right there in that house. He calls me and I tell him, he said, hey, he called you.

I think so because he's seen, because he's seen the truck, he found it and I'm shining it. He was out there, he was balcony, he was like, back in, it was kind of close to me, and he called it the selines down. But he called me and I said, we got a missing girl. And I think, shortly after that, her screen, all the more her nose screens, which is the right and that's what everybody was. Good, and what did you do after your screen meeting? I once I see everybody running out, the trucking part of the junk dumps are running towards them.

What did you do when you got over there? I started running up torsile, seeing the mother holding her. That's why I was on the phone with the docker and as I'm popping to him, I turn around, there he is, right there. But why didn't Ray arrive at the cemetery first, if it was his suggestion to search there in the first place? Why didn't you just go check the stuff was there? Ben, I don't know, he got the ass down for that. there in the first place. I got bad at killing or whatever, but we didn't go in there and that's one thing I never got to talk to often. Why didn't we go check it? You know.

Chief Bidell starts getting to the point. He thinks Ray has something to do with Jody's death and he begins to apply some pressure. Of course you're like any other guy you have interested in. What's the fourth year? Well, that's not all bad at all that's here. Now, have interest in women and guys. all bad at it or that it's here. Have interest in women and guys. What were, like, young girls like, you know what I mean? No.

No. But Raid isn't fold. Having worked as a police officer, he knows how to handle himself in an interrogation. And whether you did it or not, I really have the feeling you know more than what you tell me this. If you're protecting somebody, you know what I mean? No, I

wouldn't protect our own family. I would not do it. You know, a little girl. You can do that. Believe me, I want to know just as much of you guys, maybe. This has been a hell of a last, we want to help and get going. Before the interrogation ends, Ray agrees to come back for another interview in the future and makes it clear that he is more than willing to help with the investigation. I don't know what every one of you has to say. I'm just not going to jump or something else to bounce it in the lab. Ray is back on April 19, 2011. This time, for an interview with state police detective Brian Fuller.

And he gives a similar explanation for suggesting that the searchers check the cemetery. Do you suppose that all of that was a result of you making that suggestion? Maybe one suggestion. Just check the cemetery. I don't know. I had no clue what the hell was that. Because you didn't mention that, but you did suggest that? I apparently sent a cemetery earlier when I was dog around the wrong I kind of remember because I was after I guess after Halloween I remember I was like that um let's check the cemetery Oh like spooky yeah right you know this and apparently that got blown I don't

don't hurt from out there I'm here he doesn't want me to get it I guess I don't want that guy blowing. I don't, don't get him out there. I'm here. He doesn't want me to get it. I guess I don't want him that well. But I'm not blame anybody. But I think don't got this whole thing blowing. I really like that guy. It's anyone who does. I just got some bad fillings right now. I'm sure it's not. We can't work through them.

But, you know, someday I hope I get my damn job. I bet that would. And again, I'm not blame for the bad fillings. I'm not blame for the bad fillings. I'm not blame for the bad fillings. I'm not blame for the bad fillings. I'm not blame for the bad fillings. I'm not blame for the bad fillings. I'm not blame for the bad fillings. I'm not blame for the bad fillings. I'm not blame for bad at Phillips right now, I'm sure it's not we can't work through it, but you know, someday I hope I get my damn job that I could. And again, Ray insists that he only wanted to help find the killer.

You know, I don't want this as mad as you guys do, I don't want to know. I don't want to go to my grade not knowing what happened to the school girl, I don't want to, I want to have my job at the act, we I love being on this farm on July 11th 2011 Ray was back again to talk to Detective Fuller Ray this has to be a little bit more formal than we're used to okay you know you've been down here we just met you the shit I'm just scared as you are right now. Detective Fuller puts Ray against the ropes, asking Ray where he was during the day on November

8th 2007. one problem though. Detective Fuller was bluffing. Okay, what was I supposed to be then? I know exactly where you are. But tell me then, you also know where you are. That's the problem. Okay, I'm not going to put words into your mouth. We have the whole case prepared. We have everything out there. Everything is there and your stuff is wrong. I'm okay with you, Halberain. I know you weren't right. I don't know where else but as I'm supposed to be. I don't know where else you're supposed to be either but I know that you weren't wrong.

I don't think I want any more, right? I don't think I, you know, I wish I knew. What do you think is the worst thing about this whole case? It's shit I'm getting lying for. I'm not damn it. I didn't like J.H.H. at least I thought I did. Damn Brian. It's just a fish day. Is someone trying to suck me up. I'm not gonna jump for somebody else's shit.

I wish I knew who did it. This is my life, we're talking about. What did you talk with them about? Nobody has much of a problem. Yeah, I know. You know, I could touch it, trust you. I don't know who he did this. I wish I did because you know what? I'd bring down here slap your asses on this other table.

So how I went through. My family. What did you say? Do you know what I'm saying? According to Detective Fuller, one of two things could have happened. There is a big difference between a monster and someone who, one of two things happened. Something went terribly wrong and the outcome is not what was intended. And that caused the someone to be extremely scared to the point where they panic

and now it's just one lie covering up another lie to protect that fear of something that went wrong that doesn't make you a murderer. I'm not saying what I'm saying. I understand what you're saying. It is the fear of being scared about what happened as opposed to being the other way where somebody thinks that there's this mad killer on the loose and pancantied. There's a big difference there. I understand. The biggest thing that will get you where you need to be but yourself in your life is the truth

Because this is going downhill fast for you And the only only thing that is going to help you is For you to be truthful and I know I've seen it myself. I know you have you then I know, I've seen it myself. I know you haven't been. The problem is, I know for 100% to 2000% that your story is wrong. He was still bluffing and he wasn't finished. We know, scientifically, that you touched her body. Dead.

And we know, without a doubt, that you put her in that cemetery. Oh, God. I know. I did not. No, I did not. It doesn't make you the killer race. I know, but you know what? I did not put her there. If I touched her at all, it was one of them. I was pulling the mother away. If I happened to touch her, and then that's how it happened. Listen to me. I need you to hear me clear.

I don't bullshit anybody. But he was bullshitting. They did not have any DNA evidence. But there is stuff that you can't get over. I can't even explain it. How it blows your story about certain things and where you were and what you did that afternoon into the time when you were searching that you did your video. You're on video in multiple places in this town. Thank God for DVR,

because they never got these videos. In most places, keep a VCR tape for, you know, a few months, but thank God for hard drives, in digital imagery. You're screwed, right? On July 28th, 2011, Ray came back for yet another interview. And once again, he was not about to admit to anything. Well, why don't you tell me what happened?

I don't know what happened to her. We could see her all the freaking night, guys. I do not know what happened to her. We could sit here for hours and hours, I can get fired for my job. But I do not know what happened to her. I did not find her, I did not put her there, I did my job that night. And this is the fucking hell that my family has gone through ever since this has happened. And it looks like I'm going to continue going through this shit.

I don't want to tell you guys. They can paint their fucking picture, make me look like whatever. So be it. You know, I know God knows I had nothing to do with this. God does know. That's right. God does know. One day, just like I told you, I hope the God and we're all standing together because

I'm almost at a told you so. More than two hours into the interrogation. Ray decides he's had enough. You're free to leave. You know these doors aren't locked. You know. You're free to leave, dude. We've been talking to you for your explanation.

This was your opportunity. I'm telling you. Yeah, I'm proud. But I am not admitted to something I didn't have part of. Okay? You guys, I've been treated like hell. Ever since this fucking case started. Our family's been treated like hell ever since this fucking case started I found these between the legs shit. I lost my job and here at the police department

And you know how it is continue There's something that I have more control You know I love being a police officer. We didn't make the lies up, right? No, I had nothing to do with making a guy. We didn't make the inconsistencies, we had to make them up. You did. This is whole shit. Nothing against you guys. I respect you, total hell. Okay, I didn't mind or respect you, but I had nothing to do with this song of bitch.

We just try to help you. I know it. But I can only take so much. You know what? I can only take so much. I know that. My family's been fucking through hell. Didn't I, didn't we start with that part of the conversation, buddy?

Didn't we tell you that? Didn't we send you new that? Were we here to turn it on? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no Ray refused to admit to killing the young girl. Nonetheless, on April 18, 2014, Raymond McCann was finally arrested in connection with the death of Jody Parick, but he wasn't charged with homicide. 46-year-old Raymond McCann, a former Constantine reserve police officer, is charged with perjury tonight in connection with the 2007 murder of 11-year-old Jody Parrack. When investigators failed to get Ray to admit to his involvement in Jody's death, they served Ray with an investigative subpoena, meaning that he would be interrogated under oath. On September 18, 2012, St. Joseph County prosecutor John McDonough interviewed Ray under oath. Roughly a year

and a half after that interrogation, Raymond McCann was charged with five counts of perjury. Yes, perjury, with the maximum sentence for each count being life in prison. The third count, which alleged that Ray lied about being at the tumble dam path while searching for Jody, stuck. On February 11, 2015, Ray pleaded no contest to the charge, meaning that he accepted conviction without admitting guilt. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison. While Ray served out that sentence, investigators were hoping for a confession. As Constantine police chief Jim Badell put it, whether he's the one who did it or he was

there when it happened, we don't know. Maybe if he sits in jail for a while, he will cooperate. But later that year, there was an unexpected development. It's a nearly eight-year-old cold case. 11-year-old Jody Parrot killed in 2007, found strandled to death by her mother in a constant cemetery. Tonight, police have made an arrest in the case. This is the man, a 65-year-old Daniel Furlong of White Pigeon, who is charged with murder,

kidnapping, and criminal sexual conduct. Police found him after he was arrested for a case involving another little girl in August. On July 28, 2015, a local man named Daniel Furlong assaulted a 10-year-old girl named Mackenzie Stafford. But when the 65-year-old Daniel Furlong tried to tie Mackenzie up with an extension cable at Knife Point, she escaped. Later that year, investigators finally got a confession in the Jody parrot case, but it wasn't from the man they had interrogated 20 times over the course of nearly seven years. It started with a cigarette. red. That's my head. I'm going to go. I'm going to go.

I'm going to go. For long, agreed to sit down with police in the St. Joseph County prosecutor after DNA linked him to the 2007 murder and sexual assault of 11-year-old Jodi Parick. A girl he says he didn't know whose name he learned only later. He was never even a person of interest until a few months ago, after kidnapping a girl in White Pigeon, a girl who escaped. When detectives in that case asked for his DNA, he said Jody Parrick didn't even cross his mind. He described

in detail how he kidnapped and killed Jody. That he saw her outside on her bike that afternoon while he cleaned his garage. As this girl would come over to help me move some stuff. She got off her bike, came up to the house. That's why my driver took her in a garage, took her in a back of his boat that was in a garage. He says he molested her, but didn't rape her. That he kept her in the boat about a half hour.

He lived just around the corner from the Constantine Police Department, and not far from where Jody lived with her family. He says he zipped out her hands. Her hand really under that quick kick. She didn't scream, didn't fight, he said. She said, were you letting go? I said, I can't let you go. I got her out of the level. That time was our family. Got her in my truck. I thought, no, what am I going to do?

He said he drove her still alive to the nearby cemetery with a plastic mirebag already in his pickup. Why did you put the bag on her head? I don't know, a lot of people don't like it. I bought that time I was packing. Well, you know, it's a match for Daniel Furlong. Over eight years after Jody's death, Furlong pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Prior to his sentencing,

Jody's mother gave the following victim impact statement. I appreciate the chance to speak on behalf of Jody and everyone who loves her. I've never done anything like this before, so please be patient with me. I was told to direct my statements to you with a judge and explain how this has affected my life and how I feel or what I would like for a long sentency.

So how has this kidnapping, great torture and murder and finding my daughter's body in the cemetery affected my life? For eight years, I had to live my life every day, not knowing who killed my baby or why. I had to prove my innocence as well as many of my family members over and over again for eight years. I now suffer from severe social anxiety, and I was suicidal and hated God for the first three years. I now suffer from severe social anxiety and I was suicidal and hated

God for the first three years. I spent eight months in a Christian rehab to repair my relationship with God and it's by his grace and strength that I am here before you today. What Daniel furlonged to Jody has destroyed my family's lives with being repeatedly questioned by detectives who weren't always truthful and tried turning my family against each other because they believed our family had something to do with her murder. Jody is forever gone and everyone who loves her

will never be the same. I suppose I could go on and on about all the things Jody will never get to do, but I would rather address the injustice she is getting. When Daniel Kevin Furlong was arrested for Jody's murder, Mr. McDonough told me he was there for me, and if I needed anything to let him know. I asked Mr. McDonough if he could add a torture charge because I wanted the person who killed Jody to be charged with everything that he did to her, not just some of the things. Mr. McDonough told me he could add a

torture charge but wanted to talk to the detectives working on the case first. The next time I heard anything about this case was one for a long admitted killing Jody because of a plea bargain offered to him. I was never aware of any plea bargain until I heard Mr. McDonough say it in court and all I could do is sit there and launch. I have called Mr. McDonough numerous times as well as written him two letters over the last eight years and he has never called me back nor has he responded to my letters. I was able to watch some of Fr. Long's confession video after it was released to the news, and I know Fr. Long is not being 100% truthful in his statements about my daughter's murder. There is evidence that does not match up with what he was saying and evidence that he

didn't know anything about and can't explain. When I brought out my concerns to MacDonna and the detectives, they act as though it doesn't matter. But it does matter to me. It does matter to everyone who loves Jody. And it should matter for Jody to have justice. Daniel Furlong was given a sentence of 30 to 60 years in prison for the murder of Jody Parrick. Furlong told authorities that he acted alone and did not know Ray McCann. Despite this, McCann remained in prison for perjury, and prison is a very dangerous place

for a former reserve police officer. I was attacked within the first week and a half when I was in prison. Why is that, you think? Because being a law enforcement, I mean, at the word got out right away, and then I was attacked. Police Chief Jim Bedell refused to admit to any wrongdoing in their investigation of Ray McCann. But no apologies due of Ray McCann. I believe he knows something about that case that he wouldn't reveal to us for an unknown reason. If he wasn't involved, why not give it to us?

Ray was required to serve out the remainder of his sentence in connection with a crime that he did not commit. After his release, a felony conviction still remains on his record. Recently, however, Ray's case has drawn the attention of Stephen Drizen, who is known for representing Brendan Dassy, a nephew of Stephen Avery from the documentary series Making a Murderer. I'm glad someone has taken interest in this case because I feel very strong that I've been wrong and I'm glad someone has helped me out. I want to clear my name. I want to try to get my charges reversed, get the felony off my record. Steve Drizzan, who directs Northwestern University Center on wrongful convictions, is working

with the Michigan Innocence Clinic to clear Ray McCann's name. We spoke with David Moran, who co-founded the Michigan Innocence Clinic about his work on this case. I'm David Moran. I'm the director of the Michigan Innocence Clinic and I'm a clinical professor at the University of Michigan Law School. While working as an appellate public defender, David realized that there was a need for a new kind of innocence clinic. Well, I spent eight years in the 1990s as an appellate public defender in michigan so i got cases from all over michigan and of the roughly two hundred cases that were assigned to me five of those resulted in non-dna exoneration to know which is more or less

random felony cases from across michigan and these were cases where there was no dna to test but we were able to find new evidence of innocence that resulted in the convictions being overturned and the clients being released. And so I knew that there was a very significant problem with raffle convictions in Michigan and that the DNA projects were not going to catch the vast majority of these cases because there isn't DNA and the vast majority of these cases.

Organizations such as the Innocence Project focus on DNA-based exonerations, but false conviction still occurs in cases where there isn't any dna to test so the the first wave of innocence projects on the country were just exclusively dna based so they they would only take cases in which there was dn a test and the great majority of those cases are rate cases because that's the crime for which the perpetrator is likely to leave behind biological evidence

but that means what we learned from the dna cases all the ways in which wrongful convictions happen uh... and those same causes happen whether or not they're happens to be dna in case and so there's a much larger universe of cases out there in which there is no dn a test but perhaps there's other new evidence we can find that will help exonerate the person.

David Moran founded the Michigan Innocence Clinic in 2009 to address this need for non-DNA wrongful convictions. Well we're a student clinic so we have typically during the school year we have in the low 20s a number of students who work on cases. We do massive amounts of screening. Most of our work is screening cases trying to find the ones that we take. Our current screening ratio is about one in a hundred. So we take about one out of every 100 cases that we review for possible representation.

And we've taken since the clinic opened in 2009. We've taken about 35 cases, I think, something like that. And we have one now, 16 of them. We have one final victories in 16 of them. And the others are all ongoing in some form or another. So the way our cases work is that somebody writes us, typically from prison, we only take cases in Michigan. And they say, I'm innocent.

Can you help me? And we have them fill out a lengthy questionnaire where we learn as much about the cases we can and we do a little bit of online research. And we make an initial assessment as to whether there's a likely claim of innocence here that could possibly be proven by new evidence. And we reject the great majority of the cases at that point. And then if the case passes that first round of screening, it's assigned to a team of two students who work it up. So they'll read the transcripts, they'll talk to the prior lawyers,

they may visit the crime scene, they may speak to experts, they'll do whatever it takes for us to get to the point where we can decide whether this is a person we firmly believe is completely innocent and we can prove it. And if we get to that point, then we take the case. One of those cases is that of ray mccan who was put in prison for making false statements about a murder he had no involvement in he became a

suspect for a reason that is just crazy when you think about it so there were several meetings with between the officers and discussions between the two officers and then with jody's mother and at one of these meetings, Ray suggested somebody should go look in the cemetery. And it turns out that that's where the body was found. So the girl's mother goes to the cemetery and finds her daughter's murdered body there.

And just because Ray was the guy who suggested that they should go look in the cemetery, he becomes the suspect. You know, it's a small town. There's only so many places you can look and most of the other places had been searched and ray mentioned to me yet the one that uh... you know he'd actually been the cemetery a day or two before visiting a grave and so you know it was on his mind but in the minds of the police instantly became a suspect because he's the one who correctly gassed where the body might be found

and that was it that was the whole that was a whole reason that they were suspicious as it turns out ray wasn't the only person who suggested that searchers check the cemetery no other people suggested it to better that i guess race problem was he was the one who suggested to the girls mother that she go look there and the girls mother's one finds one who finds it. So, you know, he's the last one to suggest it and therefore he becomes a suspect. Imagine being imprisoned for the rest of your life

for trying to help in the disappearance of a little girl. But if Ray is indeed an innocent man, then why did he lie about the events of that night? Now, you know, Ray's memory of the event that night was always a little foggy because he was on sick leave with vertigo into the taking vertigo medication which uh... makes one foggy in fact when the other officer in town came and saw him that night he told him that he shouldn't have his firearm because you

know he wasn't he wasn't fully fit to be carrying a firearm but history has always been very consistent about where he went the places he looked at people he spoke to while he was looking for the girl and what they did was they spoke to other people

that he spoke with on the way and because there are very minor differences about exactly what was said or in what order he visited what place exactly what was said or in what order he visited what place or what time he was in what place they're trying to convince him that he was hiding something and it was lying in the need to come forward and tell the truth and it was it's just crazy i mean it's these are incredibly minor discrepancies between two people trying to remember

events years before like what what what did he say to a clerk at a convenience store what exactly did he say did he just talk about the dog chain up behind the store did he also mention that you was looking for a missing girl or not and based on discrepancies like that they ended up charging him with five counts of perjury despite the fact that ray mccan was fully cooperative with authorities he was interviewed twenty times and dragged out in front of the media to be portrayed as a child murderer to me he's in a small town at this is the most heinous crime you

can imagine in a little town millenoware of a girl is disappear presumed raped and body found dumped in the cemetery and the police made no secret that he was their person of interest and so they run to life they run to his career he couldn't work they turned his own family against him we have hours and hours of these videos of of the interviewing other people in the town where they're saying just terrible fault things about ray to his teenage son they they talk about his father's sexuality, they talk about his father's porn use of his life, by the way. They suggested his father may

be a drug dealer. The officer comes right out and an interview with his ex-wife, or his wife at the time, tells the wife that Ray was having an affair. So it was a concerted effort to turn the people closest to him against him and the in an effort to try and make him fold and make him admit that he killed the little girl which of course he didn't do it's frankly disgusting if you watch some of these videos it's it's it's shocking to the conscience that these were considered acceptable police tactics and ray who would go to jail for slight inconsistencies in his responses, was repeatedly

lied to by investigators during the interrogations. So they all went over again, told him that his DNA was found on Jody Perreot's body, which was a complete lie. We know scientifically that you touched your body dead, and we know, without a doubt, that you put her in that cemetery. Oh, God. I didn't know I did not. No, I did not. It doesn't make you the killer, right? I know, but you know what? I did not put her there.

If I touched her at all, it was one, I was pulling the mother away. And if I happen to touch her, and then that's how it happened. Listen to me. I need you to hear me clear. I happen to touch her and then that's how it happened. Listen to me. I need you to hear me clear. I don't bullshit anybody. You know how far up seven meters is? It's probably a distance of this room. That is the exact point that I can put you that day within a seven meter radius. That's not very big rate.

It's the most greatest one of that of where her body was. You're true, right? And then they ask him how he explains that, and all Ray can come up with is that, well, you know, I've got the cemetery after the body was found and i might have hug the girls mom well the girls mom ends up saying uh... ray didn't hug me now she she's also clear that she doesn't only remember is obviously she was in a fog

after discovering her daughter's body to the maternity was a fog is to you know who she interacted with but based on that discrepancy as to whether or not ray hugged her which is manufactured entirely by the police who are lying to Ray about seeing Amy on the body, that was one of the perjury counts as to whether or not he hugged the girl's mom at the cemetery. And it just doesn't occur to Ray because he raised law enforcement. Ray trusts the law enforcement.

It doesn't occur to him that they're lying to him. It just doesn't cross his mind. So if he sits through all these interviews and they lie to him over and over again and he's trying to come up with explanations about the seemingly incriminating evidence that he knows can't be right because he knows he didn't do it. Throughout roughly seven hours of taped confessions, Ray denies involvement in Jody's death I am not going to do something I didn't do to make everybody happy. I had not been doing it right here because I didn't put it there. No, I leave here. I don't want to try and get some answers. But this is bullshit, right?

You didn't do anything wrong. They just were hoping to catch him in a lie. And so this goes on for years. You know, and to me, one of the big takeaways from the story is that they were focused on the wrong suspect and we are all incredibly lucky that while they were devoted all the resource the wrong suspect the real killer Daniel furlong

didn't kill other little girl he tried we know did you kill other little girls in the area but they were hoping that they could catch him in a lie and and finally get into crack and admit he was involved in the murder of jody parake which he wasn't and so finally the one that is the lead detective ryan fuller from the michigan state police

decides to ratchet up the pressure he actually tells raise wife in one of these interviews that to well are going to have to get them locked up in order to put me even more pressure on them and so he comes up with the prosecutor with the scheme to put right under oath and make right testify to the prosecutor and then have him repeat the stories and then charge him with perjury based on these little trivial discrepancies between raise recollection and the recollection of the other people and they do that and they rest in and lock him up and and they think that will get him to talk and so

that's how he's up getting convicted of perjury because you know that the possible life sentence and his lawyer committed him that he should take twenty months in prison instead of serving life if you please to one of these counts in the count that the plea to is the count is the weather not he went to this particular trailhead that's called the Tumble Dam in Constantine. That's when he told me to be down at a place called Tumble Dam, there's a path that leads back there. That's when he had told me to go down there.

But she wasn't there. There is this trailhead that leads to the river where kids sometimes hang out and raise the count was always that he drove to the trailhead, was going to go down the trail, looked to the river where kids sometimes hang out and raise the count was always that he drove to the trailhead was going to go down the trail looked to see if jody parake was down there but then he ended up meeting up with the other officer and going to the station instead and one of the perjury counts was that they had video from a nearby factory called

the creamery showing that rain never went there so this was a lie so this was the only one of the five counts that was supported by supposedly objective evidence, not just somebody else's slightly different recollection. And Ray was convinced to plead to it after detective Fuller from the state police testified at the preliminary exam that they had this video and he watched the video and the video showed Ray never went to the trailhead. Well, what we discovered was we got a hold of the video and that was a complete line.

The video, first of all, you couldn't tell anything on the video anyway because it's pitch black, it's dark, you can see headlights coming through but you can hit, there's no possible way anybody could say whether Ray's truck was in the video. But then one of our inner prising students stared at the video long and after realized that the video didn't even show the direction of the tumble dam trailhead anyway. The camera was facing perpendicular to the street on which the tumble dam was. And so the tumble dam trailhead wasn't even in the field of view anyway. So not only could you not tell whether Ray's truck was in that video, but it was a complete lie to say that that video showed the

tumble down trail it didn't it showed a different street from a different side of the factory essentially the police were convinced he was the killer couldn't prove it and fabricated this elaborate plot to convict an innocent man anyway that was it and that was the whole point they wanted they wanted to get him locked up because they figured once he was in custody, then he would fold. So he gets sent to prison. He's assaulted by another inmate while he's in prison because, of course, being a cop

in prison is very dangerous. And then while he's in prison, Daniel Furlong, the real killer of Jody Parrot, tries to abduct another little girl off the street in a neighboring town. That little girl manages to get away, and she scratched him and led the police back to him, and then when the police did the DNA testing, they discovered that Jody Parrick was actually murdered by Daniel Furlong eight years earlier. Now, at that point, decent human beings would have said oh my god we made a terrible mistake and we put it in the center we've run to life of an innocent police officer and put him in prison

instead they double down first they interrogated annual for long and tried to get him to uh... admit to some sort of relationship with rey mccanon and for long was recanted he's like i am what i am he admitted that he murdered joe parakey admittedly was going to do the same thing to this other little girl but he didn't know rey mccanon he actually told the police they were barking of the wrong tree all this time

and he thought he was in the clear because they were following the wrong guy you think at that point decent human beings with the okay uh... we've now confirmed that this guy has nothing to do with Ray McCann, and we're going to go and make it right with Ray McCann and get him out of prison. Instead, they went to the prison and they lied to Ray McCann again. They told him that we've caught your accomplice and he's implicated you. At that point, Ray finally had had enough and told them,

you know, go to hell, but they didn't make it right. So now we're trying to make it right. And our goal is to undo the conviction and our our primary argument through that first of all the new evidence of Daniel furlong to go should undo the plea because it shows that raised unquestionably innocent of perjury perjury requires it knowingly making a fault statement and there's no way that ray would have knowingly made a fault statement about his movement that night

because he had no reason to and you know the whole supply made a fault statement about his movement that night because he had no reason to and you know the whole opposition of the was lying about his movement that night because he was covering up his involvement in the murder of joliet parick and now we know that that's fault and so uh... there's no way you would have entered a plea to this if deniel for long had been apprehended earlier so that's so it's new evidence of

of raise innocence that should overturn the plea and secondly that the prosecution and police knowingly presented faults in perjured testimonies themselves in order to induce the plea. Namely, at raise preliminary examination, they presented the fault of testimony about what the video showed. And also, we have a claim of ineffective assistance of raise counsel because raise attorney never watched the video before advising his client to accept the plea. A heavy thing in the video he would have known it was all packed alive. And so these are the claims that we're making and arguing that therefore the police should

be taken back and raised should be exonerated. Our justice system relies on a presumption of innocence. When law enforcement officials wear blinders, innocent people end up in prison. Because stories like those of Ray McCann are so harrowing, we asked David just how often cases like this occur. His answer was not exactly reassuring. All the time, many of the cases that we've litigated and the DNA projects have litigated, you see that. And so it's a real problem. And the criminal justice system is the police often don't keep an open mind.

They settle on a suspect, and they relentlessly drive after that suspect. And they shut out. Other information is not consistent with the theory that they've already got. And as a result, they miss the real perpetrator in these cases. So, if there's one thing that the police should be trained to do is to keep an open mind,

not settle on a suspect right away, and even after you do settle on a suspect, be open to new information that says, you know, maybe we got the wrong guy, maybe we should look at this other guy instead. All of these cases, DNA and non-DNA, these now thousands of these generations that have been cataloged on the National Industry Exoneration speak a lot about the accuracy of the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system could be more accurate. And one of the good things that's come out of this movement

is that we're getting reforms adopted in state after state that make the criminal justice system more accurate. So we're getting, I wait for identification reforms, for example, better ways to do i do it i wouldn't have to be patient so for example the police officer doing the identification doesn't know who the suspect is so he or she can't even inadvertently tip off the witnesses to who the suspect is

but what these cases show is that we've got a way to go the criminal justice system is not invalable it's got an error rate and that our rate is a lot higher than people thought it was before the DNA exoneration started coming down. A judge has ordered the prosecution to respond to the Michigan Innocence Clinic's motion for relief from judgment in the case of Raymond McCann. And a hearing is set for October 5th, 2017.

I had nothing to do with it. I don't know why they started pointing the fingers at me, but I tried to help just like everybody else that night try to find a missing child. And somehow it went from there, but I just still don't understand it. And maybe someday I will. I will. Special thanks to Owen Benjamin for his narration of the Constantine PD's interrogation transcripts.

Check out his website at hugepnist.com. If you enjoyed the show, please head on over to our social media, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Please leave us a nice review on iTunes if you could. And if you want more Sword and Scale, check out Sword and Scale Plus. There are now about 18 episodes available and they're only available to supporters on our Patreon. You'll find it at patreon.com slash sword and scale. For just five bucks a month, you get early commercial free access to all of our shows and you get Sword and Scale Plus, a completely separate show with all sorts of

new stories of crime and murder. With the holiday is knocking at the door, we also have all kinds of goodies in our store. You can find them at store dot sword and scale dot com. And make sure to visit our website where we have all sorts of articles posted daily about the weirdest, craziest things you've ever heard. And that is of course at Sword and Scale.com. Thanks once again for joining us, and until next time, get a good lawyer and stay safe. I'm going to go to the next one. 1.5% dextr. 1.5% dextr. 1.5% dextr. 1.5% dextr.

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1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1. Draw the line on the back of the head. 1. Draw the line on the back of the head. 1. Draw the line on the back of the head. 1. Draw the line on the back of the head. 1. Draw the line on the back of the head. …punit … 1.0-1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. I'm sorry.