White Marlin winner failed polygraph test
Officials claim there was a possible violation of the rules and are withholding the multi-million dollar purse until this is all sorted out.
47 ABC spoke with Jim Motsko, the president of the White Marlin Open and he said there is so much speculation surrounding their decision to pursue litigation. He admits some people are saying the tournament is just trying to hold onto the prize money. But he tells us, that’s the furthest from the truth.
So far, 1.6 million dollars has been paid out in prize money for the White Marlin Open. But they’re currently still holding onto the 2.8 million that was supposed to go to the winner. The tournament president is calling it a cheating scandal.
It was on August 9th, that Micheal Heasly and his crew brought in a 76-pound White Marlin for weigh in. Heasley was the only person in this year’s billfish tournament to catch a white marlin which carries the largest purse of the competition. In order to confirm that no rules were broken, polygraph tests were administered.
And it appears deception was also detected during testing of the crew. Motsko tells 47 ABC they have reason to believe the White Marlin was caught outside of competition boundaries and that Heasley had the help of his shipmates during the catch; both are disqualifying violations
So, we spoke with Global Polygraph network, who has worked with the White Marlin Open in the past. They agree that polygraph testing is the most reliable way to test if a person is being honest.
“Usually there’s a room set aside where the tournament is held and the winners come in and their tested, it’s all done in private – so there’s no distractions or interference,” said Micheal Martin of Global Polygraph. “The examiner explains why they are there and interviews them about the catch. They also tell them what the questions are going to be and attaches them to the polygraph.”
While Heasley’s boat remains docked at the Ocean City Marina, we checked and it doesn’t appear that he or his crew were there even though we were told they might still be in town. 47 ABC also reached out to them via e-mail and we put in a call to Heasley’s lawyer and as of tonight still no response.
In terms of the civil suit, I’m told it is now up to Heasley to respond to the lawsuit and it’s allegations or the judge in this case will have to rule with the evidence he has at hand namely the polygraph test results. Motsko says they haven’t dealt with anything like this since 2007.
47 ABC will be following the story.
