Couple sue over psychic police tips hoax

Posted on Friday, 7 December, 2012 | Comment icon

16 comments | News tip by: Render

Image credit: stockxpert

A couple are suing over psychic information that suggested a massacre took pace on their property.

In June 2011, a psychic contacted the police because they believed that a horrific series of killings had taken place at a ranch outside of Houston in Texas. The caller described a scene of immense carnage including the killing of adults and children alike. In response the police conducted an intense investigation of the property which involved bringing in the FBI, sniffer dogs and even helicopters. Before long however it became all too obvious that there was nothing there at all - the tip-off had been a hoax.

Now the couple who own the ranch are suing the Sheriff's office and various news agencies for acting with reckless disregard for their property and privacy as well as for publishing false information claiming that bodies had been found there.

A Texas couple who own a ranch that police searched following false information that was provided by a psychic are suing the police and several major news organizations for defamation.

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Source: Discovery News

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Recent comments on this story

#7 Posted by dharma warrior on 7 December, 2012, 18:17

Has the crime rate in Texas dropped dramatically? The Sheriff's dept and the FBI seem to have a lot of time on their hands. Why else would they launch a full scale investigation on the word of a "psychic". They discovered later that is was a hoax? As soon as this con artist indentified himself as a psychic they should have know it was a hoax.

#8 Posted by OldN8Dogg on 7 December, 2012, 18:40

From the article: [indent=1]Despite popular belief and claims to the contrary, there is not a single documented case of a missing person being found or recovered due to psychic information. Psychics have consistently failed to find missing persons[/indent] We should stop this nonsense.

#9 Posted by JGirl on 7 December, 2012, 18:48

i'm wondering how they got a warrant to raid the place based on a couple phone calls from a psychic??

#10 Posted by Taun on 7 December, 2012, 19:51

I would guess that they needed to check it out in case the caller had actual evidence of a real crime and was covering up their part in it by claiming to be a psychic... I could see an apolgy by the cops for disturbing the people... but I think a law suit against them is a bit much... However with the way I generally feel about the media - suing them is fair game....

#11 Posted by JGirl on 7 December, 2012, 21:04

a raid isn't the same as just going in and checking a few things out. a raid implies they had some pretty good evidence of a crime. in any case, i'm wondering why they weren't interested in knowing more about the psychic before jumping into such an incredulous story

#12 Posted by Simbi Laveau on 8 December, 2012, 0:13

I A bunch of police departments would beg to differ ,and the nyc cops don't use them for missing persons cases . . http://brainz.org/10-greatest-psychic-sleuths-history/

#13 Posted by girlgodx on 8 December, 2012, 6:02

im sure it doesnt matter who you are, if they get calls that there is a murder, they are obligated to check it out. and thankfully so. who knows what this psychic saw, perhaps it was an old vision and it was actually indians that were slaughtered? or perhaps this is something that was yet to come? or perhaps they were not a legit psychic at all.

#14 Posted by Render on 10 December, 2012, 11:03

i think this is the more logic conclusion of all your other options

#15 Posted by Render on 10 December, 2012, 11:04

Yup. I think these psychics cause real problems because they tend to make criminal cases about THEM and THEIR supposed powers. Instead of the severity of the case itself. It's attention seeking and it's not healthy for the criminal justice system.

#16 Posted by OldN8Dogg on 10 December, 2012, 21:38

Simbi, with complete respect, if it were proveable, or even consistently reliable, every police force on the planet would have a psychic division working on every single crime. However, they do not. Maybe a few people have gotten lucky, maybe a few others were actually involved in the crime, maybe, maybe, maybe... That's the problem with this, it's all a bunch of maybe's. Even the article you quoted says things like "appers to have" and "was reported to", and gets excited about "up to a 75% success rate". There is nothing concrete about this. ... [More]

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