Body language offers insights on McCray

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - There's a lot more to the surrender of suspected City Grill shooter Riccardo McCray than just what you heard him say.

UB's Dr. Mark Frank looks beyond the words to see if a person is telling the truth. While he will not go on the record about his analysis of News 4's interview with Riccardo McCray, he did offer a general view of how a case like this might be approached.

No one knows what Riccardo McCray was thinking when he was brought to News 4 to surrender himself to Buffalo Police. But UB behavioral scientist Dr. Mark Frank, who spends his life researching non-verbal communication, or body language, made this observation.

"One of the things I will say about this: he looks like someone who is afraid," said Dr. Frank.

Dr. Frank, who has consulted in international cases involving alleged serial killers, said the circumstances of McCray's surrender were unique.

>>>Learn more about the tools Dr. Frank uses to tell the difference between someone telling the truth and someone lying here

Dr. Frank explained, "This sort of situation I don't think I've really ever seen before, where [he] is being brought in, his attorney is coming, the police are coming, everything sort of coming at once."

In a tense yet safe environment, McCray gave his version of what happened that awful Saturday morning outside of the City Grill.

"When the shots occurred, once I heard shots, I got low to the ground. After I heard the shots, I got up," said McCray.

McCray went on to talk about where he said he was during the manhunt for him, his relationship with one of the murder victims, his fear of the police, his 1-year-old baby, and a denial of being in a gang. The low-key approach to questioning, which is now the approach being taught to interrogators in law enforcement, may have helped McCray open up as opposed to brow beating.

"This idea that you've got to get in their face, "Listen punk, I'm going to beat you purple unless you tell me what I need to know," really works with only timid people. Otherwise, what it normally does is shut people down," explained Dr. Frank.

Dr. Frank believes McCray's body language during the interview, like in so many cases he has reviewed, holds clues to his guilt or innocence, although he will not publicly comment on this case because the defendant has yet to go to trial. And while he says fear is written all over McCray, his fear, like so many others who are placed under arrest, could be motivated by many factors.

"Are they afraid of being caught? Afraid of being disbelieved? Afraid of being hurt? Don't know," said Dr. Frank.