Posted on 08/22/2008 6:42:03 AM PDT by Mr. Brightside
The two Georgia men who found a Bigfoot carcass said it was a joke. Matt Whitton and Rick Dyer said the prank got out of hand.
Matt Whitton was immediately fired from his job as a police officer in Georgia. The firing was over his role in the Bigfoot hoax. Rick Dyer said the whole episode was just a big joke.
By: Sara Smith Aug 21, 2008 18:53 PM GMT
The Bigfoot carcass that was found by two Georgia men raised a lot of excitement. However, we now find out that it was one cruel joke.
Matt Whitton was immediately fired from his job as a police officer in Georgia. The firing was over his role in the Bigfoot hoax.
Clayton County Police Chief Jeff Turner kicked Whitton off the police force.
"He lied on national TV," Turner says of Whitton, "so a defense attorney now could say, 'How do we know you're not lying now?'"
Rick Dyer, a car salesman, said the whole joke got out of hand due to the world coverage of the Bigfoot finding.
"It's just a big hoax, a big joke," Rick Dyer told WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. "Bigfoot doesn't exist," Dyer added.
The two men made the announcement of their discovery last week in California. They claimed to have a Sasquatch corpse in a freezer. They insisted that DNA research would prove its existence.
Unfortunately, the DNA outcome was negative. The only finding was a match to a possum. Still, they continued to make their claims that a complete autopsy would be performed on the corpse.
Not everyone is laughing from this joke. Much of the news media felt it was a hoax from the start. Other people said it was a sick way for two men to gain 15 minutes of fame, if you call it that.
Whitton and Dyer said the hairy Bigfoot was nothing more than a costume stuffed with possum road kill.
Fired police officer Whitton said, "We're all about having fun."
Dyer and Whitton now face both civil and possible criminal prosecution. The two men received an undisclosed amount of money from Bigfoot detective, Steve Kulls, who thought the discovery was real.
After the two men collected the money, they staged the Bigfoot photographs.
The men have hired an attorney to represent them.
Ouch...MSM doesn’t take to well to being made to look like fools.
The joke was over when they took the money.....
"He lied on national TV," Turner says of Whitton
Rick Dyer, a car salesman, said the whole joke got out of hand due to the world coverage of the Bigfoot finding.
Dyer was immediately promoted to head of sales by Mike McDaniels of Crazy Mike's Honda-Toyota-Nissan in Cumberland.
"He lied on national TV," McDaniels says of Dyer.
“However, we now find out that it was one cruel joke.”
The author of this article obviously needs to get a life if she took this prank that seriously.
Will we now see lawsuits for causing ‘cruel joke syndrome”?
That costume was made from possum?
susie
Hehehehehe, I knew it was fake all along. lol
Well we finally know what it takes to get a cop fired.
L
FYI...
Reckless infliction of inappropriate humor causing grievous embarrassment.
Exactly. A practical joke is fine but once these guys took something of value through this deception, fraud statutes become applicable. Generally, five things have to be proven for a fraud conviction: 1) there was a perpetrator who caused the situation, 2) perpetrator acted with intent, 3) someone lost something of value to which he or she was entitled, 4) the victim did not realize at the time, he or she was suffering a loss, and 5) the perpetrator benefited from the deception. All five of these appear to have been violated in this situation.
For the police officer the joke was over when he tried to fool more than a few friends.
A police officer has to be able to testify in court. If they do something to seriously damage their credibility, they can't be police officers.
Taking the money took what was stupid and devastating to his career and made it criminal.
That's not a real human. It's a rubber human suite!
hmmm,i see a life-long nickel and dime operation,,,after awhile,it will be,,”we had the real thing,but the government took it,,told us what to say or else” and they will live out a nice little life on mag articles,books,late nite radio,etc.
Yes, but if it was just about lying he could get his job back. Every officer who had testified knows the defense trick of asking if you have ever tolled a lie. If you answer no, you are going to be toasted. The only correct answer is “Never under oath.”
But since they accepted the money they are toast anyway.
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I wonder what his business card looks like?
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