Megyn Kelly

The time of reckoning had arrived.

Only as the tape from Ernstis' body cam revealed...

The ensuing confrontation was all denouement, more farce than tragedy.

The conversation between the Kohlbergers and the deputy moved forward with its own abstruse logic, a litany of non sequiturs that seemed as if it had been inspired by a madcap Abbott and Costello routine.

When the deputy officiously demands where they are heading, Brian's response suggests nothing more than a casual drive.

We're going to get some Thai food right now.

That's when the father decides it's his turn to play the straight man.

Well, we're coming from WSU.

Here's some of that incredible encounter captured on body cam.

To the Indiana deputy, the initials have no meaning.

It's all beyond him.

So both the father and son, eager to please, attempt to remedy the confusion and in the process only add to the officer's puzzlement.

He can't decide whether both of them work at the university or who, in fact, is the student.

Or if they've headed out from Washington State on a cross-country road trip to get Thai food in Pennsylvania.

In the end, perhaps eager to escape from this madness, he warns them not to tailgate and lets them go without a ticket.

As the body cam footage ends, it is difficult to discern who's happier to be driving off, the Kohlbergers or the deputy.

Yet a quick nine minutes after they're back on the interstate, Brian once again sees flashing lights in his rearview mirror.

The Kohlbergers are stopped again.

This time, it's a state trooper who pulls them over.

And here again, we can watch some of the body cam of that remarkable interaction.