A man ended up confessing to a murder he didn't commit - of someone who wasn't even dead - after facing such intense interrogation by the police.
Thomas Perez Jr., then aged 30, had reported his father missing to the Fontana Police Department on August 7, 2018, after his dad failed to return home from walking the family dog.
After his report, Perez was taken in for questioning by the Fontana Police Department, where he endured a grueling 17-hour interrogation by multiple detectives.
The disturbing ordeal resulted in a false murder confession and nearly a full day of "psychological torture" during interrogation, The Telegraph reports.
According to court records cited by The Orange County Register, detectives informed Perez that his father was dead and presented him with false evidence suggesting he was responsible for the supposed murder.
Officers told Perez that police had found bloodstains throughout the house and said a police canine had smelled the presence of a dead body, court records show, per The Orange County Register.
They even brought in Perez's pet dog and threatened to euthanize her, claiming she was traumatized and "depressed" after witnessing the alleged crime.
One investigator reportedly told Perez: "How can you sit there and say you don’t know what happened, and your dog is sitting there looking at you, knowing that you killed your dad?
"Look at your dog. She knows, because she was walking through all the blood."
The pressure Perez was allegedly put under was so intense that it led to him confessing to a crime he hadn't committed - a crime which hadn't even happened - and describing a scene where he allegedly stabbed his father multiple times with scissors.
While under questioning, Perez started ripping his hair out, tore at his clothes, and started hitting himself.
When he pleaded with officers to provide him medical attention, Perez was reportedly told that he did not need his psychiatric medication.
Disturbingly, Perez attempted suicide by hanging himself with the drawstring from his shorts while left alone in the interrogation room.
U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee stated that Perez's confession was based on falsehoods after he was left “sleep deprived, mentally ill, and, significantly, undergoing symptoms of withdrawal from his psychiatric medications”.
Perez's dad was not dead, and his daughter had informed authorities that he had been with a "lady friend" on the night of Perez's confession and attempted suicide.
However, despite finding out that Perez's father was alive and well. police did not tell Perez, and he was instead kept isolated in an involuntary psychiatric hold for three days.
Perez's attorney, Jerry Steering, said he spent the time believing both his father and dog were dead.
In response to the ordeal, Perez filed a civil suit against the city of Fontana, which culminated in a settlement of $898,000. Perez agreed to the settlement out of concern that a potential jury award could be overturned on appeal due to qualified immunity for police officers.
"This case shows that if the police are skilled enough, and they grill you hard enough, they can get anybody to confess to anything," Steering said.
Judge Gee criticized the tactics employed by detectives, noting that their actions led to Perez's false confession and suicide attempt. However, despite the settlement, the Fontana Police Department has yet to comment on the matter.
One of the police officers involved in Perez's interrogation has since retired. The other three are still employed with the Fontana Police Department.
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