Myers 'nonchalant' in police interview

MARTINSVILLE -- An Indiana State Police detective testified Tuesday afternoon that John R. Myers II's answers seemed "rehearsed" when police questioned him in May 2005 about the murder of IU student Jill Behrman.\nTom Arvin, who began work on the case about three years ago, said Myers seemed "nonchalant" and "cavalier" when questioned and did not become upset.\n"He never appeared nervous, upset or distraught," Arvin said. "It was almost as if he had been rehearsing his part for several years, and when it came time, he was ready."\nAs an interviewing technique, Arvin said he drew a "murder pie" and asked Myers how much he wanted to take responsibility for.\n"His response was that he did not like pie -- he liked cheesecake," Arvin said.\nDefense attorney Hugh Baker questioned the interviewing techniques Arvin and Indiana State Police Detective Rick Lang used. Arvin told the jury he lied to Myers in the interview in an attempt to elicit information from him. \nArvin said in Myers' interrogation, he held up an envelope, suggesting it had a letter in it, and told Myers that "possibly his father had not taken the secret to the grave with him."\nMyers' grandmother, Betty Swaffard, testified Saturday that Myers once told her: "Grandma, if you just knew the things on my mind ... if the authorities knew, I'd spend the rest of my life in prison. My dad knew, and he took it to the grave with him."\nArvin said he used the same interviewing techniques on Brian Hollars, a Bloomington firefighter whom the defense suggested could have had something to do with Behrman's murder. Arvin also testified that Hollars had originally become a person of interest because of a tip from a psychic in Michigan. He said he investigated the psychic and did not find her to be credible.\nLater, a former Monroe County corrections officer, John M. Kinser, said in March 2002 that Myers, who was an inmate at the time, pulled him aside and gave him a list of places he thought law enforcement officials should look for Behrman's body. He said he had found some letters written by suspects who were being detained for the murder at the time and had some ideas.\n"He said he felt bad that this happened to that young lady, and he said he'd like to help them find her," Kinser told the jury.\nBaker confirmed that Myers wrote the list, which was submitted into evidence. State police Detective James D. Miton said he searched all the sites on the list. Most of the sites were in southern Morgan County, but one was only a few miles away from where Behrman's remains were eventually found, in northern Morgan County.\nJohn Roell, a man who shared a cell with Myers when he was being held for questioning for the murder, testified that Myers spoke to him about the case, saying angrily that "if nothing would have been said, this probably wouldn't have happened." Roell said he was certain Myers was referring to Behrman at the time.\nMichelle Lang, who lived next door to Myers at the time he was arrested, said Myers acted "paranoid" around the time leading up to his arrest and once told her that "the police would never find her killer because there's no evidence"