in the world. he wouldn t hurt a flea. if you d interview them, they d say he was a great neighbor, kept to himself, never bothered anybody. but persitz and michael were more than just friends. michael was persitz s financial adviser. their relationship was rocky at best. investigators discovered persitz gave michael $150,000 to invest but there were more losses than profits. at some point, persitz discovered his stock portfolio was worth less than $30,000. for the most part, they weren t investments that were suitable for a guy that invested every nickel he had with michael. when questioned by police, persitz denied any involvement in michael s murder and he willingly took a lie detector test arranged by his lawyer. i called a polygrapher and had zachary tell them that he hadn t done it and he passed.
their relationship was rocky at best. investigators discovered persitz gave michael $150,000 to invest but there were more losses than profits. at some point, persitz discovered his stock portfolio was worth less than $30,000. for the most part, they weren t investments that were suitable for a guy that invested every nickel he had with michael. when questioned by police, persitz denied any involvement in michael s murder and he willingly took a lie detector test arranged by his lawyer. i called on a polygrapher and had zachary tell them that he hadn t done it and he passed. and forensic testing could not determine the origin of the blood in persitz s trunk. at the time, dna testing wasn t as sophisticated as it is today.
more than just friends. michael was persitz s financial adviser. their relationship was rocky at best. investigators discovered persitz gave michael $150,000 to invest but there were more losses than profits. at some point persitz discovered his stock portfolio was worth less than $30,000. for the most part they weren t investments that were suitable for a guy that invested every nickel he had with michael. when questioned by police, persitz denied any involvement in michael s murder and he willingly took a lie detector test arranged by his lawyer. i called on a polygrapher and had zachary tell them that he hadn t done it and he passed. and forensic testing could not determine the origin of the blood in persitz s trunk. at the time, dna testing wasn t
he had gone in there, a brother looking for justice for his sister. as a man who d gone to the media to criticize the police, who d written a script and made a movie in an effort to restart an investigation. he had left, he says, feeling like a suspect but not knowing why. i said some not so flattering things in the past in the media about the case. nothing that wasn t true but i brought up several times that this file s been lost. so had the state police decided to teach him a lesson? how would you describe the way they re treating you? from where i grew up, you would call it being slapped around. bullied? yeah. what motivation would they have to bully you except to find the truth? maybe this is where the rubber meets the road and they think, you know what, now he sees he s got something to lose and now he ll leave us alone. but it turns out tom morgan was wrong. it wasn t his harping about the police that had him in a polygrapher s clutches.
another one of those moments. the air seemed different. right then and there the complexion of tom s world changed. the detective asked one simple question. do you have any problem taking a polygraph? no, no problem. hooked me all up. that day? right then. what does that feel like? i felt, okay, good, check me off the list. i got nothing to hide. but there it was. it was all different now. he waited for the polygrapher and an awful feeling washed over him. what were the questions? were you there when your sister s when jennifer morgan s trailer caught fire? did you kill jennifer morgan? jarring questions, said tom, but ridiculous. and when they were finished, he sat waiting somewhat impatiently to be dismissed. i m sitting there checking my voicemail messages thinking i got to get out of here and the guy walks back in and says, you failed the test. failed.