Some of the easiest people on the planet to fool are those who have a real high opinion of their own brains based on very little evidence. A classic con-artist trick is to make the mark think they’re the one in charge, they’re the one making the decisions. They don’t realize they’ve been taken until their bank balance is empty and they’ve signed away the deed to granddaddy’s farm. Sometimes they won’t even see it then, because that would mean facing up to some unpleasant realities about themselves. In this week’s story, the consequences of gullibility and manipulation are a lot heavier than financial ruin—three generations of a family have their lives torn to pieces over greed and a web of the darkest lies imaginable.
Sources:
Daddy’s Girl by Clifford Irving
Court papers: https://casetext.com/case/ray-v-state-51
The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/02/26/true-confessions/718e2739-0997-4ac0-a551-d860a9f51b7f/
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