Dateline: The Ruse - How Thomas Perez Jr.'s 17 hour long interrogation led to a false confession

Dateline starts by revealing a hard-to-believe fact: Thomas Perez Jr. admitted to the murder of his dad even when the latter was alive! This and the question of how the impossible came to pass are the first two things that come to mind. They then explain the false confession, which was a result of a grueling 17-hour interrogation that destroyed Perez completely.

The audience sees a man who is not guilty at all being crushed by the continuous pressure, and the main question is: how could someone confess to a murder that has never taken place? This is answered straight away: by means of incessant questioning, manipulative tactics, and fear-based actions.

Dateline's standpoint is that the matter is not a crime but a question of how soon and easily the truth could vanish in an interrogation room. It is more of a psychological thriller at the beginning, but real life is behind every detail! Dateline presents the picture of Perez in a state of despair: he is crying, trembling, sorry, and his mind is blown trying to comprehend what the cops were saying he had done.

He even cries for his dog, who is being threatened with removal as the cause of his fear. The interrogation is a slow but certain destruction of Perez’s soul, and in the end, he even starts repeating the phrases that the police were feeding him. Dateline doesn't just report the events unfolding but actually captures the unwrapping in its entirety: a defenseless man, a ruthless technique, and an outcome that should not have happened.

It all began with a call to report a missing person in August 2018

As per the timeline shared by Dateline and the coverage by People Magazine, the incident was initiated on August 7-8, 2018, when Thomas Perez Jr. called the police department of Fontana to inform them about his father, Thomas Perez Sr.'s, mysterious disappearance.

The couple of family pets Margo had come back alone from the walk, and this made Perez uneasy. The police came to what was supposed to be a routine welfare check, but things turned very soon. As per Dateline, the officers developed mistrust toward Perez right from the beginning, thinking his being confused and panicky were indications of guilt and not a cry for help.

The detectives started with direct queries. They reversed the roles, and instead of regarding Perez as the support-seeking caller, they began to see him as a probable perpetrator. Dateline lays bare the quickness with which the mood of the investigation shifted, and how that paved the way for the next events.

The interrogation went on for 17 hours and quickly became more intense

According to Dateline, the officers spent around 17 hours questioning Perez. This took place during the night of August 8 and continued into the next morning of August 9. Throughout this period, the detectives unceasingly pressed the idea that Perez had murdered his father, even though they had no tangible proof.

They informed him that they had evidence, even leading him to think that he had blacked out and narrating bloody scenarios of how he must have done it. As per the inquiry made by People Magazine, the police secured a search warrant, searched the residence, and then brought in a cadaver dog, which was said to have indicated the existence of human remains.

The presence of just one alert was, according to the officers, evidence of the occurrence of a death. Dateline reveals that officers told Perez his father was dead, and the dog's reaction was the reason it was so, when in fact, this claim was not supported by any other evidence.

Perez's emotional state gradually got the better of him. The Dateline team had him in tears, very dramatic, beating his head, and saying over and over that he had no recollection of hurting anybody. In spite of that, the detectives kept on imposing their story on him.

The threat involving his dog, Margo

Margo, the dog owned by Perez, was the most shocking element that Dateline brought out about the whole affair. To intimidate Perez, the detectives used Margo. The police officers threatened to take Margo away or even put her down if Perez refused to cooperate.

Dateline reveals that Perez was crying out for his dog, shivering at the thought of her being injured. This horror was very clear to see, and it was the cause of his being more and more broken down.

Threats involving loved ones, especially pets, are widely recognized as coercive. Dateline emphasizes that this tactic played a major role in dismantling Perez’s emotional stability during the interrogation.

Police applied several methods of pressure

Dateline is in agreement that the detectives during the questioning:

Took pictures and rummaged through the house
Took a DNA sample from Perez at around 5 a.m.
Drove him to the places where supposedly “he buried the victim.”
Claimed evidence that did not exist

These measures, together with the lack of sleep and extreme psychological pressure, made Perez doubt his own memory.

The confession was formed under extreme psychological pressure

Nevertheless, the Dateline investigation unambiguously reveals that the admission to the crime was not an outcome of the accused's recollection but rather a product of the police's narrative feeding. He was repeating their words, corroborating their points, and, in the end, begging pardon for a crime he had not committed.

The confession had no backing from reality whatsoever, yet Perez had suffered almost a full night without sleep, had undergone an emotional breakdown, and had been through the detectives' manipulation to the point of thinking he was a murderer.

The truth emerged: His father was alive the entire time

The most stunning surprise, which was reported by all major sources, was the moment when the police officers found out that Thomas Perez Sr. was alive and waiting for a flight at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Nothing illegal happened, there were no fights, no one disappeared, just bad communication and misinterpretation. After the police returned to the office, Perez was placed on a psychiatric hold because he was in shock to be led to believe that he had killed someone who was still alive.

Dateline reports that he had been so emotionally drained that the revelation was too much for him to absorb.

Legal aftermath: A federal lawsuit and a settlement

The incident aftermath saw Perez suing the city of Fontana in a federal court, claiming that the police used coercive interrogation and caused him emotional distress. The city was reported to have agreed in 2024 to the settlement of the lawsuit for an amount close to $900,000.

Dateline not only reports the case’s legal developments but also the potential impacts and criticisms of questioning methods that it renewed.

Dateline: The Ruse exposes how a 17-hour interrogation led Thomas Perez Jr. to falsely confess to killing his father, who was alive at LAX the entire time. Through exhaustive questioning, emotional pressure involving his dog Margo, misleading claims about evidence, and psychological manipulation, investigators produced a confession to a crime that never occurred.