People of interest

So John Evander Couey, the “person of interest” in the disappearance of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, has confessed to her murder.

As sad and horrific as that is – can I make a side point? Even yesterday, police were denying Couey was a suspect, opting for the nebulous phrase “person of interest.”

CNN’s Sara Dorsey: “John Couey is not a suspect. Law enforcement agents say he’s just a person they want to talk to…”

Well, of course he was a suspect. Just like Scott Peterson was clearly the Modesto police’s prime and only suspect in his wife’s disappearance, despite what cops were saying at the time. (“Scott Peterson is not a suspect yet,” Police spokesman Detective Doug Ridenour said in April 2003. “But he has not been cleared from this case.” Huh?)

In January I drove up to Highland Falls, N.Y. to report on the murder of a 7-year-old girl. Police said the father wasn’t a suspect, which is what we reported. The next day, of course, police arrested the father. (There’s a back-story to that that I’m not going to get into here…)

In any case – I think there’s one simple reason for law enforcement’s refusal to use the term “suspect”: Richard Jewell.

In fact, I doubt police are ever going to call anyone a suspect again, unless they’re ready to make an arrest and file charges.

I understand why their rationale — but there’s no reason why the press needs to buy into it. Why even bother to report on whether police are calling someone a suspect, if you’re not going to get an honest answer?

My friend Jamie Jones wrote a great piece on the “person of interest” tag for the St. Petersburg Times last year.