Posner to Krolak 3/30/04:
I think you would like to see my posted critique of last
week's "Psychic Detectives" show involving you and Noreen Renier.
Your comments would be appreciated and would be posted in their entirety.
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Krolak to Posner 3/30/04:
Interesting....Your comments on your new show idea "Under Oath" implies that you would like to see me, Noreen or the daughter
take a polygraph. What purpose would that serve?
I really don't want to rehash this whole thing again, but you have to understand the totality of that investigation. I am sure
you heard on the Court TV show that I made a statement that "although Noreen was beneficial she did not solve this case. It
took a lot of hard work by dedicated detectives to put this together." I'll try and sum up some things.
Prior to Noreen I had no interest in using psychics in criminal cases and of course everything they say is not admissible in
court, at least not in New York. She came to my attention from the daughter of the deceased. I did some research on some
references she provided and found that she was accurate in what she told other police agencies that she had helped. Being a
police officer requires an open mind to whatever is available to use. I had nothing to lose in agreeing to this.
The first encounter with her, she was able to describe the crime scene with extreme accuracy. Agreed there was film coverage of the
crime scene that she could have obtained but it was only of the outside of the victims' house. There were elements of the crime
scene that the news media did not know about in which Noreen described with amazing accuracy. This got my attention.
Marge the daughter was not completely wrong in saying that Noreen did not implicate her son. What Noreen said that there was a member
of the family who set this up. The description Noreen gave of the killer as being a person who was at the victims home, ate
there and was going to do some work on the floor was proved to be true during the investigation. Marge did not know this
information until after the session with Noreen was over. The ten photographs.......The scene that Court TV did showing myself
and Noreen looking at photographs on a glass top table was not accurate. These photographs were shown at Noreen's home on a
solid wood table. Noreen did pick out the three suspects out of the ten photographs which were face down. As far as the
grandson's photograph, when she turned over the grandson's picture she remarked that he was a member of the family. And yes
Noreen did confirm our suspicions about these three individuals. But that does not mean she solved this case. The key thing
I got from Noreen was the fact that she emphasized that something was wrong with the killer's alibi. The alibi of the killer
(Robert Skinner) was never corroborated by the detective I assigned to this task. (My fault for overlooking that.) So upon
return from Florida, this alibi was immediately reviewed and Skinner's alibi was interviewed and his story did not hold up.
Bingo.....It was two more years after the meeting with Noreen that this whole investigation came together.
I could go on forever with this but I'm out of time.
P.S. Do you write books? This four year investigation would make excellent reading.
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Posner to Krolak 3/30/04:
Thank you very much for your reply. I have now linked to it from the end of my critique, which I "tweaked" slightly again this
afternoon, so you may wish to read it again. If you reply to this note, I would like to post it as well.
In response to your questions:
My tongue-in-cheek "Under Oath" program would help determine which of the principals in cases involving the supernatural might
be deceptive under close questioning.
I believe you to be as sincere as, for example, the Williston, Florida, detective and police chief who have praised Noreen for
her clues. But if you read my write-up about that case, I think you will see that there are other
possible logical explanations besides "psychic" power to account for the information she imparted.
Similarly, I believe that the FBI agent, and his ex-wife, were sincere in their testimony about Renier's clues in the
crashed-airplane case involving his ex-brother-in-law. That case, along with your own, is one of Renier's crown jewels.
But if you read this portion of my chapter in "Psychic Sleuths," once again I think
you will find other explanations to account for what really happened and how the missing airplane was really found.
I have had quite a few articles published, and two book chapters (both about Noreen), but not yet a book. Your idea is
intriguing, though I fear that I wouldn't have the time to devote to such an enterprise. But I would certainly like to gather
as much information as possible about your case and begin to fill in all the details.
If I were to obtain the investigative
files, including the actual recordings of Renier's readings (which I suspect would reveal leading questions and other clues from
you to her), as well as all the local newspaper articles about the murder investigation (which I suspect would include
speculation about suspects, and perhaps even their photographs, etc.), I suspect that I could find alternative explanations to
account for what transpired, just as in the other two above-mentioned cases. But who knows for certain?
Would you be willing to release that sort of information to me?
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Krolak to Posner 3/31/04:
Myself and the two main lead detectives have discussed the idea of a book. The psychic part of the book would only be a
miniscule portion. This case contained so many twists and turns that it would take a long time to put it together. The
case files consist of about seven boxes of investigation reports. These are in possession of the Police Department.
I, like you, would not have the time to undertake this task. Also I don't know much about you.
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Posner to Krolak 3/31/04:
I hope that you will read the two items I suggested in my last e-mail. I think you will then agree that, given sufficient
information, I have been able to find logical alternative explanations for Noreen's "psychic" claims, even in cases
involving a police department and an FBI agent.
For more about how and why I came to be so skeptical of paranormal claims, I refer you to
another book chapter (I had forgotten that I have written three, not two).
If you are not prepared to release the entire Cohn case file to me, what about just the recordings of Noreen's readings?
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Krolak to Posner 3/31/04:
I don't know if you know this or not, I have since retired from the Police Department and have no control over the case
files or recordings. The last time I saw the files they were in the custody of the District Attorney's Office.
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