In November 2012, there was a large explosion in a home in asubdivision on the southeast side of Indianapolis that killed twopeople and injured seven others in Richmond Hill, Ind. Theexplosion leveled the house and severely damaged at least 32 homesin the subdivision. Two people in one house were killed in theexplosion.

It didn't take investigators long to examine the evidence anddetermine the explosion and fire were not an accident. Afterthe investigation and collection of evidence, three people werearrested. The authorities used knowledge gained from theevidence to find holes in the statements of the people arrested.This is where statement analysis becomes useful indetermining deception.

We know that physical evidence can be detected, preserved,evaluated, and explained. It does not have an opinion and physicalevidence does not lie.

In fire origin and cause investigations, evidence may not matchthe story provided by the insured. Then the investigation mustdetermine if we are misreading the fire patterns and evidence, orif the story the insured provided is truthful.

One tool available is statement analysis, which involves: theparts of speech, extraneous information, lack of conviction and thebalance of the statement.

There are other components to statement analysis, butinvestigators should be able to use these basic techniques to gaininsight into an insured's information prior to conducting aninterview or recorded statement.

Statement analysis follows a two-step process. The fireinvestigator must determine what is typical of a truthfulstatement, referred to as the norm, and then look for any deviationfrom this norm in the statement. The truthful statements can differfrom fabricated ones in content and quality because the person istrying to make the story up and tie the events together.

The investigators inexperienced in statement analysis will findit easier to begin by examining written statements. If it is arecorded statement, investigators can make transcripts of oralstatements. Statement analysis is most effective if the personhandwrites a statement detailing what he did from several hoursprior to the event until one or two hours after the event occurred.The account provides a version of the day's events and increasesthe validity of the analysis. What we want to do is let the personlock himself into his own account of the day. In addition,statement analysis is an aid that can be used to obtain informationthat can later be used in a recorded statement, so the investigatorshould analyze the statement before interviewing the person. Spokenwords can be analyzed, but it is easier to begin with the writtenstatements or transcriptions.

It's all in the words

The parts of speech form the foundation of statement analysisand the investigator will need to examine the individual parts ofspeech. We are particularly interested in pronouns, nouns andverbs, and how they are used to establish the norm for each. If adeviation from the norm appears, the investigator should ask, “Whyis there a deviation?”

A pronoun is a part of speech that takes the place of nouns. InStatement Analysis, particular attention should be given to thepersonal pronouns “I” and “we” and all possessive pronouns, such asmy, our, your, his, her, etc. As you are reading the statement,circle all of the pronouns.

When giving statements, most truthful people use the firstperson, singular pronoun “I.” If there is any deviation from thisnorm, it deserves a closer examination, as it could indicate thatthe person is not completely committed to the facts he or she hasplaced in the statement and could indicate deception.

We must look for a clear commitment in the statement, and thendetermine if that commitment remains throughout the story. Theperson should be providing the narrative in first person singularby using the pronoun “I”. By circling the pronouns, we lookfor any change in the use of pronouns. In many cases of deception,the person will ultimately begin leaving himself out of the storyat some point where he does not want to be involved.

Using the first person, singular pronoun is the norm fortruthful statements, so the investigator should look for a lack ofthe pronoun “I” and overuse of the pronoun “we,” which is firstperson, plural. The changing pronouns are an indication ofdeception.

In studies of speech and the written word, we have learned thatthe shortest way to say or write something is the easiest andclearest way to communicate. The pronoun “we” is a short, clear wayto describe one's self and others. The pronoun “we” denotestogetherness; it indicates a relationship between persons. Theomission of the pronoun “we” is significant, particularly when theindividuals are spouses or close friends.

In many cases, the guilty person who denies complicity may findit difficult to keep the pronoun “we” out of a statement. Theinvestigator needs to search the written statement for “we.” Duringthe interview, focus on the transaction described with “we,” sincethis pronoun indicates that the writer and another individual wereinvolved.

The possessive pronouns we look for are my, our, your, his, her,and theirs, as they show an attachment the person acknowledgestoward a person or object. If the person changes the pronoun, ordrops the pronoun completely, it may be to show no possession, oradmit association with a particular object or person.

Although we use nouns to denote persons, places and things,nouns take on different meanings, depending on the individual. Whenwe examine the words used by a person, the investigator should noteany changes. A “change of language often reflects a change inreality.” When you examine a statementwritten by a person, if he refers to someone using a pronoun andthen suddenly switches to using the person's name, you should lookto see if this occurred at a significant point in the narrative andwhy.

Verbs express action, either in the past, present, or future. Instatement analysis, the tense of the verb is of utmost importance.When analyzing statements, the investigator should concentrate onthe tense of the verbs used. A person providing a truthfulstatement will use the past tense as the norm because by the time aperson relates the event, it has already occurred.

If the investigator notes a shift in the statement from pasttense to present tense, this can be significant because eventsrecalled from memory should be stated in the past tense. The changeto present tense may indicate deception.

If the person provides extraneous information in a statement, itcan provide clues to possible deception, since a person who isbeing truthful will have nothing to hide when asked the questions.The truthful person can recount the events as they occurred becausethe truth is easy to recall. In many cases, a deceptive personmight provide information that does not answer the question, thisis extraneous information and they may feel the need to justifytheir actions. The information they provide may not follow alogical timeline or will provide false information as to whatactually happened. They may include more information than isnecessary to tell the story. In an extended sentence, people mayinclude qualifying words or statements which may provide importantinformation.

Selective memory

Conviction is very important in a truthful statement, and assuch, a lack of conviction in the person's statement is a sign ofdeception. During a verbal statement, the investigator should noteif the person suddenly has a lack of memory, “I don't remember” or“I cannot recall.” In a deceptive statement, they may fakethis loss of memory to avoid being associated with the events thatoccurred. Keep the questions open ended and back the person up intheir story. If the person uses phrases like “I think,” “Ibelieve,” “to the best of my knowledge,” these phrases, serve tolessen the activity about to be described, and serve to discountthe message before it is provided, thereby, avoidingcommitment.

Every story has a before, during and after the incident. Whenanalyzing the statement look for the overall balance of thestory. The first part should detail what was going on beforethe incident occurred, since it places the event in context andshould be 25% of the entire story. The second part of the statementand should provide the details of the incident and is the majority,representing about 50% of the entire story. The last part, or afterincident segment of the statement includes the actions and emotionsof the person, and should be at least as long as the first part.The greater the balance in the statement, the more probability thatthe statement is true.

There can always be some degree of variation from a perfectbalance to be expected, but if any part of a statement isincomplete or missing altogether, then the statement is mostprobably false.

Statement analysis is a tool used to get to the truth. The moreit is practiced, the more it is able to be implemented into dailyinvestigative practices. The analysis of someone's words involvesexamining structural and linguistic features to discover insightand identify areas of possible deception. It is a tool to helpinvestigators conduct thorough interviews as they work towardobtaining the truth. The person's statement can often contain awealth of information beyond what the person intends to communicateand investigators can use this information to their benefit.

This article is based on class material from Mark McClish,“Statement Analysis” at Advanced InterviewingConcepts. www.StatementAnalysis.com.

T. David Harlow had a 31-year fire service career in Ohio,and after retirement, he moved to south Florida to serve as a FireChief until entering the private sector. He has an Associateof Applied Science Degree in Fire ScienceEngineering, Bachelor of Science in FireAdministration; Master of Science in UrbanAdministration. He is a Certified ForensicConsultant and has attained DiplomatStatus with the American College of Forensic ExaminersInstitute (ACFEI), and has completed the IAAI-ATF Complex ArsonInvestigation for the Insurance Industry class. He owns andoperates TDH Investigation, Inc. www.tdhinvestigation.com.