MovieChat Forums > Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2001) Discussion > Mark Byers polygraph

Mark Byers polygraph

posted 13 years ago by thenix
22 replies | jump to latest

I watched this documentary when it was first presented by HBO in 2000. I just watched it again as the are rerunning it, no doubt because of the new developments in the case and the upcoming 3rd installment. I noticed something I didn't catch the first time. I wanted to know if anyone else noticed during the polygraph scene
Byars says he got a DWI after his "wife was murdered" (this happens around 1:11 mark). This seems like a huge Freudian slip. This guy was totally shady.

2 things. 1.) That is your opinion. 2.) You are wrong.

[–] dom_montiglio 13 years ago

I just watched both these documentaries and came over to this board to post the same thing ... I can't believe it wasn't revisited by the filmmakers before the conclusion.

"Blockbuster. First stop on the Sh^tbird Express."

[–] cathyanne1 13 years ago

I noticed that, too, and I figured he might have had a first wife that was murdered or something because that would have been too glaring to miss on the parts of everybody involved. Plus he totally lied about having other troubles with the law according to what they had said earlier about them having been caught stealing thousands of dollars from their neighbors.

Byers seems to be such a sociopath I find him hard to watch (which could also explain him passing a polygrah). I really would love to know the story behind the missing teeth. The fact that he lied and told three different stories with three different time frames seems so suspicious. And, didn't it seem that in the footage with his wife, she was always leaning away from him and he was always trying to hug her and pull her in to show how "happy" they were?

Plus, what about all the deviant behavior his stepson was exhibiting that was consistent with physical/sexual abuse? I wonder what ever happened to their other son who was mentioned a few times. This whole story is so disturbing on so very many levels.

[–] JaneSchmo 11 years ago

Polygraphs are far, far from the magical lie detecting solve-alls that people and law enforcement believe that they are. They are highly, highly inaccurate. They measure whether a person sweats and whether their heart rate/breathing/pulse and blood pressure goes up.

It determines whether a person is nervous, granted. Also, if they are angry, are sick and a variety of other states of mind

Does it determine whether they are lying or not? Absolutely not. It has incriminated the innocent and let the guilty go free.

That it is still used is a disgrace.

So Byers passing it means nothing to me. Neither would his NOT passing it.

[–] BePatient 11 years ago

Watch the Mythbusters episode dealing with the polygraph -- it shows how well a polygraph can work, when used correctly.

The machine itself certainly doesn't do the job by itself -- it needs a highly skilled and trained pro conducting the interview in order for it to work. Your complete dismissal of the polygraph is unfounded. You're really exaggerating about its inability.

[–] makesemsplash 13 years ago

I just watched it for the first time and I noticed that and it disturbed me. Mark Byers is insane and there is nothing real about that guy. He celebrated passing the polygraph test like he wasn't sure of the outcome. He screams "I knew I was innocent" as if he was waiting to find out himself.

[–] haewatein 12 years ago

AND he's on a truckload of drugs permanently when not being dead drunk lalling and babbeling his crazy **it to the camera.

I mean, Jesus Christ in heaven, that guy was like a Troll 2 character.

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[–] teh_liz 12 years ago

He is super shady. I'm sure he would say that the boys "murdered" his wife like they murdered the three boys (or "murdered" the three boys, whatever you want), but that slip was super fishy, along with the three different times for when he got dentures -- I mean, they said RIGHT IN THE DOCUMENTARY that the medical records show he had them removed in 1997. And he gave three different times and reasons for their removal in the film, too.

He just acts shifty. As far as I know he is the only parent to return to the scene of the crime (or the site of discovery) time and time again, and he always seems to be hysterical for the camera. I don't want to be the grief police, but none of it read as natural.

Guilty or not, Byers is super shady.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] winky420 12 years ago

Yeah I caught that as well and thought it strange. I guess you could say as his son was murdered and he believed his wife died of a broken heart, he felt she was murdered as well. Still strange though.

Another odd thing he said that I caught on a later viewing is when he's returned to the woods to light the fire he refers to the murders as happening to his babies. it's odd that he would refer to all three of the boys as his babies instead of just his own son. I mean he was on a fair rant so guess he could of been just saying anything that popped into his head but still.

[–] savagehenryuk 12 years ago

yeah i thought he was refering to her being murdered in the sense that the act of her son being murdered is what led to her death, i don't think he meant it in a literal sense. that guy is nuts tho.

"this is not nam dude, this is bowling, there are rules."

[–] cookiela2001 12 years ago

<< yeah i thought he was refering to her being murdered in the sense that the act of her son being murdered is what led to her death, i don't think he meant it in a literal sense. that guy is nuts tho. >>

That's how I rationalized it, too...though if he were on trial, a LOT would have been made of that statement.

I don't even know why they give polygraph tests. Their results are so often wrong.

[–] oxdinaxo-652-328330 11 years ago

he only passed that polygraph cause he was high as a kite on Zoloft, Seraquil, Xanax and more....If Charles Manson took a polygraph under those circumstances he would have passed too... Mark Beyers in my opinion is the 4th killer along with the 3 convicted.

[–] fede_4488 8 years ago

Exactly! He couldn't have gotten nervous even if he wanted to

[–] jdnamando 11 years ago

Just watched it last night and the second he said it, me and my boyfriend noticed it immediately! Like WHY did the filmmakers not go back and review that??? That was a monumental *beep* up on Byers behalf and I can't believe no one picked up on it.

[–] BePatient 11 years ago

As we had heard previously, he felt the boys were guilty of her death because in his mind they were guilty of murdering the children.

It's just a question of semantics -- if your definition of "murder" is only literal murder, then what he said is fishy. If your definition includes indirectly murdering someone by putting them in a state of misery and self-destructive behaviour, and you watch the part of the film where he explicitly says he feels as tho the boys are guilty because they put her in such a state by murdering the boys, it's not fishy or strange in the least bit.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] buffyMove 10 years ago

I noticed it right away, and if that guy was a good polygrapher he would have used that moment to trip him up. And maybe even saved it till he was hooked up to see if that made the needle move.