“And so I’m hoping, I’m really hoping, for a good outcome. Not everyone is perfect at taking a polygraph test, but I have a glimmer of hope that this will work out in my favour, and people will be like, okay, you know what? She’s just a normal girl that had an unfortunate situation happen.”
Shannon - who had Gary removed from life support after two days in a medically-induced coma following his fall - admitted she was a “little nervous” to hear the results of the “stressful” polygraph test, which was administered by former FBI agent George Olivo.
The examiner explained he evaluated the results, then ran the data through a computer system before getting another analysis from a fellow retired FBI tester.
He said: “All three independent results are the same.”
Shannon was first asked if she had ever struck Gary during their relationship, and though she said no, the findings were inconclusive.
George said: “I’m not going to say that you passed that test, because you didn’t.”
Shannon insisted: “I would never hurt him in that manner or that sense, because his life was so fragile. Daily life was a struggle for him, and I would never want to hurt him.”
She then received another inconclusive result when she denied having intentionally withheld proper aid from her former spouse after his fall.
The examiner said: “That, statistically, raises a little bit of an eyebrow.
“Then again, you’re the same person sitting there who’s still nervous and who’s still a bit distracted. But here’s the way I look at it, this question having to do with you doing everything that you could possibly do for Gary when he fell, when you called 911, is an issue that you’ve had in your mind for 14 years, and it’s still not resolved in your mind.”
Shannon admitted: “As far as rendering aid, I could have helped him a little bit more.
“I will say, the operator could have helped as well a little bit by asking me more specific questions.”
But George said: “Forget the 911 operator, you were there. Little bit of tough love now. You’re not the victim here, he’s the victim.”
Finally, Shannon “failed the exam” when asked directly if she physically caused Gary’s fall, with the lie detector finding “deception indicated” when she said no.
George said: “There’s two things I know for sure, Shannon. One, you were not completely honest with me yesterday during this polygraph section. And two, the other thing I know that’s 100% certain, is that there is more to this story that hasn’t been told. The body never lies. The body always tells the truth. And your body on that lie detector test spoke loud and clear, there’s something that caused you to fail this test...
“You say you have nothing to hide. I say you know exactly why you failed this test.
“Sadly, my professional opinion is the truth is not on your side today.”
Shannon insisted she was “not surprised” by the results because they relied on “a machine”.
She added: “I know where I’m at. I’m at peace. There is a reason I am not in prison. There is a legit reason for that. It’s because they did a thorough investigation.”
