That's what I thought too... so deadpan as if he'd realised his plan had been rumbled and was accepting his fate. And like you, if I definitely had nothing to do with my father's death, I'd be protesting such in no uncertain terms to that officer... fuming and probably banging on the table as well!
This is extraordinary on many levels. Mark was subjected to 11 interviews, totaling 716 minutes. His first interview was conducted after midnight, from 00:35 until 02:04, without a solicitor. Indeed, 25% of the interviews had taken place before a solicitor was finally instructed. The excerpt extracted for you is but a few seconds long, and taken completely out of context of the interview itself. Who do you think released all of these legally privileged recordings to the press? What motive do you think they had for doing so? Why do you think they selected such short snippets? Could it be that they wanted to portray Mark in a particular way? The fact that you, and no doubt most viewers, assume that Mark said nothing else on the matter demonstrates the effectiveness of their strategy.
Why do you think the 'dismemberment' narrative was being put out there, when even the prosecution's own experts were telling them that no such thing had taken place? It's interesting to note the similarity here to Stephen Avery's case, where the state held that highly staged press conference to reveal the traumatic and horrifying details of Teresa Halbach's apparent death. These details of course, turned out to be complete nonsense, based entirely upon Brendan's false confession. The effect however, was the same. It galvanised public opinion against Steven, and it played on the jury's emotions, colouring their whole view of the case. The 'dismemberment' issue in Mark's case served precisely the same purpose against him, which is why it is so troubling.
Mark spent about 100 hours in solitary confinement, huddled in a ball in the corner of his cell. There are numerous points in interview when he is crying, shaking, and clearly suffering from the effects of shock and distress. The police took full advantage of Mark's vulnerability to press him for answers on points he could not be sure about or could not remember clearly in the state he was in.
http://www.freemarkalexander.org/diary/#top8Even when the police told Mark that they had found his father's remains, he refused to believe the worst had happened, holding on to every last hope that the body was someone else other than his dad.
"It’s not my dad, it can’t be my dad. I’ve told you before that I’ve seen him, like, I know it’s not."
"Who is it?"
"I don’t know, I’m shocked, I’m really, really shocked, and I don’t know what’s going on at all".
"No, it can’t be, no, it can’t be my dad"
"Well I know you say it can’t be because your dad was alive when, it can’t be your dad"
"Yeah, I know"
To us, Mark just sounds completely exhausted and despondent in these clips. He is usually very talkative, buoyant and bubbly, but here he sounds completely broken.
Mark was examined by a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist and a Consultant Clinical Psychologist following his arrest, who assessed him and analysed his responses in interview:
"Mr Alexander does not appear to clearly register that he is being interviewed on suspicion of murder. The interviewing officer notes at the outset that Mark is shaking and asks if he is cold. The shaking may be a sign of considerable psychological distress… I understand from his solicitors that after the initial unrecorded interview with the police, Mr Alexander was very tearful and this may indicate a degree of psychological shock. From the transcripts he appears to be treating his interview entirely as if he is helping the police investigate the whereabouts of his father".
"On a measure of traumatic symptoms Mr Alexander showed abnormally high levels of dissociation and anxious arousal together with borderline abnormal levels of depression over the 6 months following his arrest... understandably he did appear to be suffering considerable distress and anxiety at the situation he finds himself in"
"Throughout both sets of interviews he consistently refers to his father in the present tense, as if still alive, and at no stage does he talk about his father as if he may be dead".