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At 6:30 A.M., January 21, 1998, seventh grader Stephanie Crowe was found stabbed to death in her bedroom doorway. When police arrived, they told the family not to speak to one another. At the station, the family was required gradually to undress while being videotaped. The children were separated from their parents and taken to a facility for abused and neglected children.
Crime scene investigation revealed no likely means of entry. Shortly before the murder, a strange homeless man interacted with neighbors, going to various houses looking for a supposed girlfriend.
Police attention focused on fourteen-year-old Michael Crowe, Stephanie's brother. He seemed to them to respond abnormally to his sister's death. Michael, infatuated with fantasy games like “Dungeons and Dragons,” had violent pictures on the walls of his room. Awakening at 4:30 A.M., after the time the police determined his sister was killed, he passed her doorway without noticing her body.
Most of Michael's long interrogation was videotaped, except for thirteen minutes in which he was arrested and decided to confess. Police told Michael they wanted to use a Computer Voice Stress Analyzer, a device its manufacturer claims can detect lying. (There is no systematic evidence for the claim.) Michael agreed to the test but his interrogator, claiming to notice some reluctance, asked, “What's the problem, Mike?” The boy replied, “I spent all day away from my family. I couldn't see them. I feel like I'm being treated like I killed my sister, but I didn't. It feels horrible. I'm being blamed for it.” The detective responded, “Mike, you need to trust me on this. This is going