helped run. experts say covering up their own crimes is sometimes a powerful motive for people who stage attacks on themselves. >> i think when somebody is guilty of a crime, they stop thinking in rational ways. guilty, shame, these are powerful emotions. emotion and rational thought oppose each other. >> reporter: a psychiatrist says coverups are among several motives why people stage attacks on themselves or make false claims of attacks. >> when we're confronted with a victim of attack, we reach out to them. we want to help them. that's a wonderful thing. i think that people appreciate that and sometimes they will stage an attack in order to get that when they can't get attention or sympathy in other ways. >> reporter: he says that dynamic may have been at play in 2014 when a woman identified only as jackie claimed she had been raped and beated ebeaten.