The introduction to the 60 minutes segment indicated, amongst other things, that there are suspicious gaps in Adam's memories, and that there's no surprise the legal investigation has such a problem on their hands in solving this case. As expected however, the sensational introduction was pretty vacant and not backed up by even a second of attention to this apparent 'scoop' that would give us such insight into the truth. Nevertheless ...
I have to admit, the segment was fairly impressively put together. It showed compassion, and an attempt to portray Zahra's life with dignity ... a dignity she wasn't shown in her death. There were gorgeous photographs of Zahra ... absolutely gorgeous. In particular Adam and his mother's favourite image of her dressed in a spectacular red dress, and with white flowers braided in her hair, for her father's marriage to Elisa (who he referred to as Lisa). When Adam was looking at this pic I thought he looked so proud of her. This image, which is from their personal collection was really priceless. And other images from over the years were also shared. This gave a lovely background to the story.
Adam was interviewed, along with his mother separately. There was also a scene with the two looking through and discussing their photographs of Zahra. There was footage of the birthday vigil for Zahra held in the USA, scenes of the main street in Hickory, footage of Adam and Elisa's house, and footage of Elisa following her arrest. There was also footage (probably police footage) taken from a walk-through of parts of the interior of their house - showing Zahra's pink painted bedroom and her cupboard (closet). It appeared to be prior to the forensic dissection of the house. There was also footage of the search in the wood piles in the yard, sniffer dogs on the property and the search for Zahra in the bushland. The memorial erected in the bush with flowers and messages was also shown and an interview with a local representative (sorry I don't know who it was, maybe Lord Mayor?).
I had tears in my eyes the whole way through this, I should add (as I suspected I would
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The thing that caused my heart to ache the most was watching Adam and his mother talking about Zahra, and Adam discussing the tragic mistakes he made. Firstly, I was really impressed with how both of them conducted themselves, and how much they both reminded me of Zahra - in particular her grandmother. Adam seemed filled with sorrow - and I thought regret at a level beyond comprehension. He would answer with his eyes filled with sadness, with tears beginning to well (though never filmed fully crying), and his chin would quiver in a manner that I think indicated how stressed and disturbed he was by contemplating and taking about the horrors that befell Zahra. He struggled being able to discuss some issues as he says he tries not to think about the detail of her death, though at the same time you could see the duality in his desire to know the truth.
His mother was very open, and seemed like a lady with great dignity through this harrowing time. She clearly loved Zahra dearly, and this has taken its toll on her. She was so proud showing off her favourite pics of her granddaughter and telling the stories behind them. She was very clear that she and Adam are both eager to find out the truth, though they are both scared of what it will reveal. She seemed very outgoing and strong, and far moreso than her son, who was quieter and less verbal.
Both mother and son had very similar facial expressions. Awkwardness would come across as a squishing of the mouth, which would look like a squirm/half smile of nervousness. The fact that the mother has exactly the same expression of awkwardness/half smile was very interesting to see, as it explained how Adam has this same expression. She smiled broadly as well, though Adam didn't do this much at all. He was not as animated as his mother and this seems to be their general character throughout. He was quiet and subdued, though showed a fair bit of emotion, while she wears her heart on her sleeve and is very open and lively. Much of this I interpret as Aussie male character, as men here are not so prone to displaying their emotions. It's not considered 'manly'.
The most animated discussion he had was on the issue of how much of a mistake it was to have introduced Elisa into their lives, and how he felt Zahra would definitely be alive and well (without any doubt) if she had not been in their lives. He admitted he has no idea who she is now, not a clue. And this was in sharp contrast to the way he described the persona he had seen of her earlier in the relationship. He said she initially was so kind and family oriented, and he wanted to have more children with her to give Zahra brothers and sisters. You could see he felt a bit foolish with his own naivety as he looks back on that now.
He was asked if he felt Elisa had killed Zahra. He looked sad, and to blame. I think because he feels he was ultimately responsible for bringing Elisa into their lives. He said he believes she must be behind this. When asked about seeing Elisa hurt Zahra he discussed the incident with the black eye (prompted by the interviewer). He said he hadn't ever seen any violence, and that when he saw the black eye he asked both Elisa and Zahra about it, and both explained the same story that Zahra had fallen in the bathroom and hit herself on the vanity (?). He said he felt Zahra must have been told what to say and was scared, so told the story. Again he looked like he felt as if he was a fool for missing the signs.
Asked whether he played any role in the murder/dismemberment he was clearly sad and said he had not done anything untoward to his daughter and that there was no way he could do anything to hurt her. He didn't avoid the hard words "dismemberment" or anything", and appeared quite able to discuss these.
While answering questions Adam would look the interviewer straight in the eye. While hearing the questions he would look at her, then look down remembering things, then would raise his eyes and reply. This is a pretty normal way for people with visual memories to recall things, so I thought it was pretty normal. His eyes didn't flicker around at all.
He discussed how empty he feels without Zahra. And also of how he wishes to return home to Australia with Zahra to try and recover some of his life. He spoke of the things people in Hickory yell at him, and the way they look at him. Also of how the accusations have been made by Elisa of his guilt. He looked helpless in a way like he doesn't know what to do to survive this situation of judgement.
When asked about the possibility that Zahra died from an illness he stated outright "no way". This then led the interviewer to ask about the timeframe of when he last saw Zahra. He stated it was not weeks as has been suggested by Elisa, but when pressed for further comment he looked very awkward. The reporter said that we hear he was away for work for much of the time prior to Zahra becoming missing, and again he seemed awkward. When pushed he stated he was really unable to discuss these details as the investigation and case were pending and he could not say anything that might impede the investigation and justice for Zahra. My feeling is that this information must be critical to the case, so we'll just have to remain patient until it comes out in the court case.
I'll post this now, have dinner, and then come back and re-read. Anything I've missed out I'll add later tonight
Hope this helps!
