Sword and Scale Host

Regina stabbing John and Tom stabbing Regina in self-defense.

But there was one part he never changed.

He swore he didn't kill John Mann.

You know how you've heard that polygraphs are unreliable?

Well, police departments across the country insist they yield a success rate of 86 to 100 percent.

And Brunswick police were counting on its reliability.

And the polygraph had confirmation.

Detectives kept giving Tom an out.

They told him maybe it was an accident, an act of mercy, self-defense, and maybe things got out of control.

Any of those versions could have given him a softer landing, even a shot at claiming self-defense.

But Tom wouldn't take it.

He stuck to his one line over and over.

I didn't kill John.

It was the only time they'd seen Tom get this emotional, other than when he was talking about his son.

They had tapped into his past to find a trigger.

John was abusing Regina, and Tom was going to stop him.

But Regina was used to the chaos and abuse, so she tried to stop Tom.

You know what I mean?

Your son is going to watch this news conference.

If Tom had accepted their version of what happened, would he have gotten away with it?