Sensing Bollocks

New Zealand television have revived an old show from the past, entitled: 'Sensing Murder'. As the name suggests, the thrust of the programme involves a wandering troupe of 'psychics' who are on hand to unravel unsolved murders. As if New Zealand tele is not dire enough without this sort of televisual monstrosity.

The show is an edited mix of event reconstruction intertwined with shots of so-called psychics pontificating and channelling information from the dead. Sadly, the programme has proved popular in New Zealand although the format failed miserably in Australia and Scandinavia where the show was first aired. To date, the show is in its 5th incarnation on NZ tele from its inception in 2007. Not surprisingly the programme has attracted its fair share of criticism from sceptics (no shit).The programme is viewed as a paltry and exploitative drama with emphasis on tawdry speculation. Evidence supplied by the so-called psychic detectives is simply a rehash of known facts, cleverly edited, with a heavy smearing of unsubstantiated mutterings and vague generalisations; nothing specific that is verifiable is ever given. Instead, we are subjected to the usual fair of psychic verbiage: "I sense her body is close to water" or "I believe her murderer is now in prison after committing a similar crime."

How accurate have the psychics been? How many successful leads have they supplied and more importantly how many murders have been subsequently solved due to their god given gift of communing with the dead? Well, here is the news:

Total arrests as a result of leads provided by psychics = 0.

Total bodies located by psychics = 0.

Total amount of new information provided by psychics = 0.

I think we can see a valuable and consistent pattern emerging. Unlike the ‘information’ provided by the scryers, the above statistics and information are verifiable.

What is the harm you say? Surely this is a bit of harmless television hype and fiction and should be seen as pure entertainment. The viewing figures show that ‘Sensing Murder’ is indeed popular with the viewing public. After all, this is why production has continued through five series. For all the drama, clever camera angles and 'real life' reconstruction, the crimes are very real and the families of the victims are left aghast at the fiction and story telling regarding the last days of their loved one's lives. This is particularly distressing when the prediction concerning a victim is subsequently found to be wrong. Consider the case of missing Auckland prostitute, Jayne Furlong. On the show aired in October 2007, the resident psychic confidently proclaimed that the body was within Auckland city and likely to be interred on a building site. When Jayne’s body was eventually discovered in June 2012 it was found buried in sand dunes 90 km south of Auckland city. The case remains unsolved.

In some cases, the bodies of the victims have never been recovered. Apart from opening old wounds, the families are subjected to a stream of proclamations and 'leads' from the psychic gang, often stated with compelling conviction. Whether a family member believes these to be legitimate pronouncements will be based on that individual's degree of sophistication and also their desperation to find out what really happened to their loved ones. Ordeal by television is a real phenomenon.

- saying it has generated new leads in several old cases."

The Police Response

A national New Zealand newspaper, ‘The New Zealand Herald’ back in 2008 had this to say about the series: "New Zealand police have praised Sensing Murder- now in its second series- saying it has: generated new leads in several old cases". Furthermore, it stated that a senior detective, had "endorsed the programme and Tauranga police have praised it." Quite a commendation from the boys in blue. The detective in question is, George Staunton, a senior detective at Rotorua police. Detective Staunton headed one of the unsolved investigations aired on Sensing Murder during the second thrilling instalment. But in fact, detective Staunton, when questioned about the alleged quote, expressed surprise and stated: ''I think the Herald comment may be a little misleading.'' What he did say was that the publicity from the programme generated a lot of phone calls about the case. Fair enough, television programmes reach a wide audience and, on some occasions, have provided solid leads which have resulted in prosecution. The New Zealand show, ''Crimewatch'' comes to mind. Crimewatch features a lot of low-level crime with some serious crimes thrown into the mix. There is a mug shot section and not surprisingly the public has helped enormously in catching these miscreants who happen to have been previously processed through the police system. ''The offender is described as male Maori of fat build...." Tis prudent not to take reporters at face value. After all, they are not interested in absolute truth. The job of the reporter is to induce the public to buy the newspaper. Catchy headlines and stories sell copy. ''Man bites ferret'' does better than, ''Ferret bites man''. A little twisting of the truth is always going to be present in the greatest of stories. Just another form of entertainment, I suppose.

"Let it be known, the New Zealand police do not actively approach or employ psychics in investigations."

So there you have it. Do psychics have an uncanny talent for tapping into the spirits of the dead? And are they guided by these spirits, spirits who from their unique vantage point are able to supply information hidden from mere mortal minds? Well if they do, the spirits with which they commune are shockingly uninformed. Is it not more likely that the psychics are charlatans fleecing the gullible? Or, in certain cases, I am willing to concede that the psychic is a poor deluded soul with a genuine belief in their 'supernatural abilities'. In the final analysis, it is all about results. And throughout the whole series of 'Sensing Murder' not a single piece of useful evidence has been unearthed by 'psychic abilities' which has materially helped in any of the cases aired on television. No particular surprise then. And let's be totally candid here: If psychic supernatural abilities existed, wouldn't practitioners of the noble/ignoble art be filthy rich from predicting lottery wins? I rest my case. 

So Zealand police have praised Sensing Murder - now in its