Keith Morrison

But then Paris brought up that polygraph, the one Jennings had submitted to before his cognitive interview.

And so it went on for hours, Paris probing, deconstructing, trying to unravel Jennings' story.

The lawyer might have advised Jennings not to rise to the bait, not to say the things he said.

But, of course, he didn't have a lawyer.

Jennings seemed brash, even cocky.

And that's precisely what the investigator hired by Paris for the O'Keeffe's was trying his level best to make happen.

It's hardly uncommon to encounter tension in law office conference rooms.

Anxiety, suppressed rage.

But surely few such encounters could rival the barely contained fury in the air at the office of R. Rex Paris.

Parris thought Jennings was on the edge, about to crack.

One gentle push and he might confess.

Did it work?

It seemed to.

Once Jennings calmed down, they resumed a more civil conversation.

And that's when Paris got, well, not a confession.

But as that reporter listened and took notes, Paris got something he could use.

Then, as the deposition drew toward a close, Jennings told Parris that his former National Guard sergeant had been in touch with him.

And the sergeant didn't like what he was hearing.

Well, sure enough...

All that became a lead story in the Antelope Valley Press the very next day, written by that reporter, the one Paris invited to the deposition.