Interviewing the pathological subject

As I mentioned in an earlier column, you're invited to e-mail me questions on interviewing to dwrabon@msn.com. Here's the selected question for this issue: "I interviewed a pathological liar on several occasions who had bribed a government official. He exhibited no anxiety and actually seemed to enjoy the interviews. What techniques can you suggest using in this situation? By the way, he never admitted guilt, even when confronted with documentary and testamentary evidence at his trial. He was convicted and served seven years in a federal prison for his crime."

I am all too familiar with interviewing the pathological subject. Years ago, I was a law enforcement officer in Salisbury, N.C., the home of a veterans' administration hospital. The hospital serves veterans with physical, mental, and emotional needs. Many times the local bank would call the police station because a hospital patient would want to draw large sums of money out of his nonexistent savings account. I would then talk to the patient at the bank. He wouldn't be lying to me or the bank; he would honestly believe that he had money and it was in the bank waiting for him.