Author: Javier Leiva

Posted in: News

Doug Gene Williams, polygraph critic, dead at 75

Doug Williams polygraph critic
Polygraph critic Doug Williams. Photo courtesy of Jacob McCleland/KGOU

 

Doug Gene Williams, the former Oklahoma City police officer who is best known for his crusade against the polygraph industry, died on March 19. He was 75. 

 

After years of administering polygraph tests, Williams quit law enforcement and dedicated his life to abolishing the lie detector test in both the public and private sector. 

 

In 1985, he testified before the U.S. House of Representatives. Those hearings eventually led to the passage of the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988.

 

Williams created polygraph.com, a website offering a manual with instructions on how to beat the polygraph along with one-on-one training. This caught the attention of federal law enforcement. In 2012, he was arrested in an undercover operation conducted by the US Customs Border Patrol called Operation Lie Busters. He was convicted on multiple counts of mail fraud and witness tampering and sentenced to two years in prison.

 

The cause of death has not been made public. However, in his last interview for this podcast, Doug Williams told me he suffered from COPD from a lifetime of smoking. 

 

Listen to The Lie Detector part 1. 

 

 

 

 

Posted in: News
Criminal Conduct Podcast Logo

Introducing Criminal Conduct

On September 2nd, 2010, 24-year-old Michelle O’Connell broke up with her boyfriend, St. Johns County Sheriff’s Deputy, Jeremy Banks. Minutes later, she was dead.

The St. Johns Sheriff’s Office quickly ruled the case a suicide, without examining crucial forensic evidence or interviewing any key witnesses. A medical examiner ruled her death a homicide, yet other investigations failed to gain traction.

Her boyfriend, Deputy Jeremy Banks was never charged and is still working as a St. Johns County Sheriff Deputy.

Years later, an amateur sleuth named Eli Washtock winds up murdered after investigating Michelle O’Connell’s death. What did he find out?

‘Criminal Conduct’ is an investigative true-crime podcast series hosted by John Taylor and Javier Leiva. The hosts retrace the footsteps of Eli Washtock, the slain sleuth; picking up the investigation where he left off.

Criminal Conduct is an investigative true-crime podcast series hosted by John Taylor and Javier Leiva. In season 1, the hosts look into the death of Michelle O’Connell, picking up the investigation where murdered sleuth, Eli Washtock, left off.