Santaevine

Memories are malleable. We've learned a lot about memory over the last several weeks. We know that memory is not a singular item stored in just one location in the brain.

Memories are made up of several elements and created from your senses, your emotions, and even the cognitive centers of your mind.

And that is the dangerous part. When the logical thinking part of your brain attempts to connect the dots between pieces of memories. As human beings, it's in our nature to make things make sense.

Oftentimes, we unknowingly fill in the gap between what we think are our memories. When you add a traumatic event to the mix, things get even more complicated.

When attempting to recall a traumatic incident, one part of your brain is trying to connect dots while the other is trying to push back the details.

This is precisely the reason that eyewitness testimony is so unreliable. In most cases, an eyewitness to a crime isn't intentionally providing false information.

Usually, as a mechanism of protection, the human brain is trying to keep upsetting details out of your memory. Then, when we reach back to recall the details, our brains simply fill in the gaps.

A lot of times, this phenomenon is caused by outside influence. All it takes is a suggestion or an overheard conversation for our memories to be reconstructed without our knowledge.

And oftentimes, the result of a shifting memory can be devastating.

Texas Ranger James Holland is a legendary interrogator. They call him the serial killer Whisperer.

You can't hide those indications. And that's why yesterday I knew that you did it.

But now, shocking interrogation tapes reveal how the Super Cup really operates.

And that's why they ask me to come in because I'm special.

From something else, the Marshall Project and Sony Music Entertainment, this is Smoke Screen. Just say you're sorry.

Listen and follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcast.

In today's episode, you're going to hear what may seem like old news on the surface.

We're going to be letting you hear an English translation of Maria Melgar's Police statement, given to Deputy Garcia on the night that Jim's body was found and Sandy was found in the closet.

Pay attention to the details of what she says. And then, after the interview, we're going to read you what Maria had to say five years later at the trial.

There was a distinct shift in the narrative, which I believe was due to an unconscious shifting of a memory that resulted in confusing what was otherwise a very straightforward element of the case.

Here's Maria's interview. Maria is being played by listener Kayleigh Bennett and Logan Berger is playing the role of Deputy Garcia.

Tercea Graham was the recording engineer and Jenna Harris directed the production.

...