A 12-year-old reclusive bookworm with a speech impediment was no match for seasoned police investigators who pressured him to confess to strangling his younger sister, reports the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Did police pry the truth from a cunning killer, or bully a boy into giving a false confession while the real killer got away with murder?
A growing number of states are requiring police to record the entire interrogation in homicide cases to help prevent such uncertainty. In Tennessee, it has become a polarizing issue as lawmakers continue to debate a similar mandate here. Thomas Cogdell, 12, savored one of his last days of summer by staying up all night playing video games, munching on M&Ms, and reading a spooky children’s book. When his mother woke him up at 11 a.m., they made a discovery that would change their lives forever. His 11-year-old sister, Kaylee, was dead.