Balloon dad continues to speak out, maintains innocence
January 9, 2010 by m.coonce · Leave a Comment
Richard Heene accused Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden of lying and manipulating evidence.
Specifically, he says his wife Mayumi Heene, who he says speaks poor English, never intended to call the incident a hoax to investigators.
“She was asked a question - a yes-or-no format - and the officer asked her, ‘Was this a hoax?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ Well, when we got home, she was bulking up in tears and she has the English-Japanese dictionary in front of her and she said, ‘I thought hoax meant exhibition.’ She gave me a hug, it was an awkward thing for her and she feels really guilty for stating the wrong set of words she wanted to use,” Heene said.
Alderden told NBC’s The Today Show Mayumi Heene’s comments were detailed.
“She took a polygraph, she failed it, she was confronted with the fact that she failed it and she immediately cooperated and gave up all of the facts,” Alderden said.
In November, Heene pleaded guilty to attempting to influence a public servant, which is a Class 3 felony. Last month, a judge sentenced Heene to 90 days in jail, 30 of which would be straight jail time. That sentence begins Monday.
During that sentencing hearing, Heene apologized to the rescue crews and community members who searched for his 6-year-old son Falcon for the Oct. 15 incident. The Heene family had told authorities their son was in a helium balloon. The sheriff’s office said later that it was all a hoax to get media attention.
Friday, Heene said his apology in court was not an admission.
“I’m not going to apologize for a hoax,” he said. “But I’m honest to God sorry that people got involved.”
