Robert Lee Woody polygraph interview shown in court
Robert Lee Woody testified that he lied to authorities numerous times when answering questions about the disappearance and death of Korey Kauffman, but he said he’s telling the truth now on the witness stand, telling a judge he knows how Kauffman was killed and he helped hide his body.
Defense attorneys are challenging Woody’s credibility after his April 2014 polygraph exam surfaced earlier this month. The polygraph has been the focus of arguments for the past week in a 10-month preliminary hearing for Modesto attorney Frank Carson and five others charged in Kauffman’s slaying.
A video recording of Woody’s polygraph interview, which took about two hours, was shown in court last week. Woody told the polygraph operator that he requested the lie-detector test to show authorities he’s telling the truth.
“They say the truth will set you free,” Woody told the polygrapher. “That’s what it says in the Bible, right?”
During the test, Woody said he was not involved in Kauffman’s death or in moving the young man’s body, and he said he didn’t know for sure who was involved.
Woody has since testified that he lied during the polygraph exam. He has also testified that he was on Carson’s property when Kauffman was shot to death and that he helped hide the body.
They’re trying to say that the guys at the store and the lawyer did it, and they helped him do it. And they’re trying to say that I was involved in it. Because if I knew, do you know what I mean, that would help them break the case.
Robert Lee Woody
In the polygraph, Woody said he had been smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol in the hours before his arrest in March 2014. Then he seemed to suggest he lied while being questioned by investigators. “I made some false things that I was there, you know? I wasn’t there, do you know what I mean? You know? And then, I don’t know, to me they were wanting to make a case,” Woody told the polygrapher.
He said he wanted the lie detector to show that he lied to investigators. “This is why I’m doing this. They don’t want to believe me, do you know what I mean?” Woody told the polygrapher.
Woody had testified that brothers Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal were fighting with Kauffman on Carson’s property when Kauffman was shot to death. The brothers own the Pop-N-Cork liquor store in Turlock, and Woody worked at the store.
During the polygraph, Woody said he only knows what the investigators have told him about the Kauffman murder case.
“They’re trying to say that the guys at the store and the lawyer did it and they helped him do it. And they’re trying to say that I was involved in it,” Woody told the polygrapher. “Because if I knew, do you know what I mean, that would help them break the case.”
Rosalio Ahumada: 209-578-2394, @ModBeeCourts
This story was originally published August 30, 2016 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Robert Lee Woody polygraph interview shown in court."