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Examining TV psychic detective Noreen Renier in 2009:

A Mind For Murder or decades of exaggerated charades?

Updated July 2, 2009

This site has been viewed more than a quarter of a million times within the U.S. and global views are skyrocketing.

Is it possible that 99.9% of Renier's police paid and sanctioned cases and hundreds of cases equating to hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees exist only in the mind of Noreen Renier?

Across all 50 states not one State Police headquarters has ever issued a public statement that endorses claims that Noreen Renier has authentic paranormal psychic capabilities which resulted in solving a state police homicide, rape, or missing person investigation.  And the same is true of major law enforcement agencies including the FBI, NYPD and LAPD.

The "testimonials" about her abilities are vague and the few officers which have offered assessments are often tied to small township and county personnel with no training in how psychics and paranormal proponents use exaggeration and "after the fact" targeting.

Her "FBI" link has serious clarity issues as the FBI has repeatedly stated they simply don't use psychics in investigations and almost 30 years ago Renier simply was an invited behavioral commentary guest for a few short hours.  She has never been sanctioned or endorsed by the FBI for use during FBI investigation cases.

And there is extensive evidence that many case claims by Renier are wildly inflated exaggerations --- many examined on this web site.

We also examine why the founder of this critical web site won rulings against Renier in a Washington federal courtroom in 2006 and 2007.

Renier claims she provides "my full attention as well as my best possible efforts in assisting" police agencies, providing "images or impressions that I intuitively perceive" which "can provide and have provided clues, new information, or perhaps a different angle to an unsolved crime."

Yet none of the 50 State Police agencies has ever endorsed her claim of even assisting official state investigations using authentic paranormal powers during major crime investigations or during missing person cases.

And not even one State Police office has ever paid Noreen Renier her $1000 fee for paranormal psychic medium readings with her spiritual entities 'Robert' and 'Sing'.

'Robert' and 'Sing' are her entities which she claims exist outside of our existence and are capable of communicating with the dead on her behalf.  Her estimate that about 70% of her booked "case" clients paying for her services are law enforcement agencies appears to be exaggerated by about 100%.

Instead it is estimated nearly 100% of her clients are typical phone customers asking for psychic medium readings far removed from state and federal agency criminal investigations.  Apparently after 30 years federal and state police agencies have discovered her paranormal investigative "clues and new information" are both troublesome and offer no rational value.

Answers and visions provided over the phone about personal love affairs, missing jewelry, and cosmic vibrations at fees near $10 a minute are the real target for many psychic detectives.

Exaggerated "psychic detective" images tied to police create a facade of credibility for psychics.  And the free media exposure about being a "psychic detective" helps draw in real clients --- and easy profits --- from people simply seeking answers about love, money and life.

Not what you expected?

Keep in mind that Renier widely and openly showcases services and fees for her law enforcement consultations and constantly informs reporters of her hundreds of cases "assisting" both police and family members requesting her help in rape, unsolved homicides and missing person cases.

Yet for more than 20 years she has repeatedly tossed out a "laundry list" of about a dozen vague and disputed paranormal investigative feats --- all lacking proof that she has any psychic paranormal abilities or even regular luck by guessing.

Why the same dozen cases when she has spoken of 400, 450, 500, 600, and "more than" 700 cases?

She has even referred to working on "two or three cases a week"!   This would imply thousands of cases.

On June 29, 2006 Noreen Renier was interviewed by host Christmas Miller on Contact Talk Radio.   Noreen referenced doing “2-3 cases a week" and stated that “Sometimes the police just call me directly.  They’ve heard of my work or if I work for one state usually they know about me, and [for] that state I might get 20-30 cases from one state at a time.”

Though she claims she becomes "drained" enduring troubling psychic sessions, she also claims that just 24 hours later she remembers nothing about these telephone sessions.

Thus ---and perhaps rather conveniently --- she is able to continue doing 2-3 cases per week even as she alternates with a "recovery" day to calm down from the tremendous stress and endurance of being a "super psychic".

Becoming a bit skeptical?

Her published rates for years to law enforcement agencies and families have been $1000 for a typical 60-90 minute session to discuss homicides, rapes and missing persons.

That seems to imply also hundreds of thousands of dollars in paid fees over her 30 years of work.

Two short 30-40 second audio clips confirm these references and can be downloaded here.  They are taken from a June 2006 interview with host Christmas Miller on Contact Talk Radio.  Each will download automatically and the first discussing "20-30 cases" can be heard by clicking here on Segment 1.

The recorded comments about her loss of memory recall can be heard by clicking here on Segment 2.

In the first audio recording Renier refers to receiving 20-30 cases from a single state "at a time" --- but there are no public records or evidence that any State law enforcement agency has paid for such paranormal dumping of such numerous cases to psychics.

And small township agencies wouldn't normally have 20-30 cases "at a time" to toss to Renier much less pay the $20,000 to $30,000 funds to offset her standard and posted fees for law enforcement agencies.

So who is booking Renier --- if indeed there is anyone at all asking her to resolve 20-30 cases at a time from among hundreds or thousands?

And those transcriptions and recordings she refers to in the second segment?

How many really exist?

We suspect far closer to zero than 700.

And she certainly hasn't provided them for review for cases long solved and where law enforcement agencies have publicly released their files.

Noreen Renier has written that during this 2009 time of "recession and the terrible problems with the economy" that she "wants to make herself affordable" since "helping the police find your missing loved one or the suspect in a unsolved homicide" is her "top priority!"

Yet her discounted rate to families and police offered through September 2009 is still about $300 to $600 per hour!

These are levels still well above fees charged by psychics who have fewer documented exaggerated public claims.

The estimated total rape, unsolved homicides, and major criminal cases within state agencies where Renier was actually solicited and paid directly by any state agency appears to be at or near zero over her entire 30-year career!

This total includes payments that would have been recorded even at levels as low as 75% off her current rates.

What then are her 400, 450, 500, 600, 650 or "more than" 700 cases?

Perplexed?  How about the fact that during her most documented testing at an accredited college Renier's actual "psychic" performance was significantly worse than random chance!

Noreen Renier claims to be a "super psychic" and her attorney (former TV producer Shelley Hall of the law firm Stokes Lawrence) sought to shut down this web site.

But instead within months a Washington federal judge ordered a major federal judgment against Noreen Renier following a lawsuit brought by the founder of this web site.

That disastrous loss against Renier occurred in late 2006 and was followed by a second federal court loss launched by the same investigative critic in 2007.

Both came just months after Renier had predicted she would be win.   But her erroneous visions weren't over yet.

The same federal judge ordered Noreen Renier to pay the founder of this site $39,558 which with interest and new filings by the Plaintiff stands at nearly $60,000 in June 2009.

Renier's web site doesn't disclose these multiple losses but only refers to "winning" against a skeptic in Oregon.  But that sole courtroom "win" was more than two decades ago inside a small county courtroom where she was awarded a far smaller sum.

And in 2006 and 2008 new found eye-witnesses to an airplane crash questioned Renier's portrayal of events before the Oregon jury noting Renier fantasized and exaggerated what actually occurred.  We examine many of those instances on this web site.

In 2007 a family member of a person who tragically died noted Renier verbalized a series of events about the death scene on national television that represent "a monstrous lie." Additional witnesses now support that conclusion and also question statements made by a former FBI agent friendly with Renier.

Not surprisingly Noreen Renier hasn't informed her followers and book readers that during the past 23 years she has been sued in multiple state courts and after the recent federal court rulings against her she turned to bankruptcy in August 2007.

Her current Virginia bankruptcy filing --- still active in 2009 under a court appointed Trustee --- follows an earlier Florida bankruptcy by Renier ten years ago.

These revelations aren't exactly the kind of track record you would expect of someone who claims "super psychic" foresight and psychic business talents.   But that's only the beginning of what you wouldn't expect.

This web site outlines why the demand for the revised 2007 edition of her book titled A Mind For Murder nose-dived by more than 90% as questions were posed here along with new eye-witness reports questioning her credibility.

Our investigative team also has updated a critical overview of another psychic detective with questionable claims at Oregon Psychic Detective Laurie McQuary: Intuition or Obfuscation? (click here)

You're about to discover why cleverly staged psychic detective re-enactments on TV are not what they appear. 

Recently several eye-witnesses have showcased the "most unusual case" by Noreen Renier as one riddled with errors and deception.

Among these additional eye-witnesses are two who actually found the crashed airplane that Renier --- without their knowledge --- had claimed in a courtroom that she was "instrumental" in having located!

Noreen Renier has stated that she is a "super psychic" --- but there is a problem.

Repeatedly Renier has issued psychic investigator claims that under scrutiny don't add up.  Exaggerations are abundant.  Case in point?  Take a look at this segment in white u

Months after examining new data many law enforcement personnel are now rapidly retracting their previous support of psychics.

The Office of Human Resources at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida confirmed in late 2008 that Renier has never been a "adjunct faculty member" as she lists herself on her web site.  

But Noreen Renier's web site goes far beyond raising her status at small community colleges.

For years she has also claimed to be an "adjunct faculty member" with "teaching appointments" from major colleges and universities including the University of Florida, the University of Delaware, and the University of Virginia.

Yet calls made to these major academic centers reveal she was never an accredited faculty member, faculty associate or even faculty assistant.   Among the official adjunct faculty member listings throughout all of the accredited departments across these universities there are no listings for Noreen Renier.   None.   Ever.

And not surprisingly Renier herself also has no four year degree --- much less any college teaching degree --- from any accredited college or university.

During a legal deposition Renier could not even recall the name of her high school.

Did she attend and graduate?   Why does she exaggerate on her web site about her faculty status and "teaching appointments" at leading colleges and universities?

Of course one might question who really needs the guidance in relationships when Renier herself has apparently failed long term romance and relationships during multiple marriages.   And does one really want psychic business advice from a woman presently in her second bankruptcy in ten years?

Many of our readers are law enforcement agencies who have ceased enlisting psychics after decades of failures and now concede using psychics was becoming a major liability and lawsuit concern.

Potential defendant accusations of improper interference by self-described but untested psychics in investigations and/or the improper handling of evidence are now slamming police doors to psychics across the country.

Except of course for the fictitious babble by actresses who portray psychics from the 1980's on evening TV.

Among more than 600 yet unsolved cases Noreen Renier claims to have re-examined while never furnishing any evidence that they actually exist --- how many did she solve using paranormal psychic powers?

Apparently none.  

Even a TV producer who helped create a psychic detective show quickly realized that Renier liked to talk about hundreds of cases but apparently wasn't eager to describe what those cases were or to provide complete logs.

Renier's "cases" may relate to everything from ants on a picnic table to half-eaten pecan pies in a bakery.  If these more than 600 cases even exist!

t Please look closely at the photo on the left.  What is it about this photo that screams informants saw the crime?

We'll explain in eight more paragraphs how Renier has claimed remarkable paranormal powers that might simplify resolving such a crime scene.   In fact Renier wants to organize psychic crime investigative units across the country that would be trained by her and others to develop more acute psychic sensing.

Go ahead.  Take another look at the photo.  If you truly believe that police psychics might have the means to resolve crime scenes this untouched photo remarkably documents one such location.

What signs of informants seeing the crime are shown in the photo?

Okay --- just eight more sentences and we're sure you'll slap yourself on the head and say "now why didn't I think of that!"

Noreen Renier claims to be regularly booked directly by police to examine "dead file" cases up to 40 years old.    Though she claims she becomes "drained" enduring her psychic sessions, she still referenced in 2006 she continued to do 2-3 cases per week by telephone.  

Thus Renier's additional income from this 2006 telephone casework should have exceeded $130,000 in 2006 based on her 2006 posted fees.  But instead she referenced income of just $6400 for an entire year in 2006 to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.  And just $241.83 in "current monthly income" and $484 in "average income" on Schedule I, Line 16 she reported to the same court in August 2007.

Her income equates to less than 3 cases per year --- and perhaps none of those from "law enforcement" agencies!

Again, is it possible that hundreds --- perhaps even 99.9% --- of Renier's police sanctioned cases and the possible hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees for being a "super psychic" exist only in her mind?

This seems quite plausible when one examines even a short list of Noreen Renier's informants.

Renier recently revealed that she had a lengthy conversation where she "chattered long and interestingly" and was able to get her informant to reveal previously unknown events, including where a river once flowed and how and where a fight had taken place.   And who was this psychic informant?   Renier claims this vast and informative conversation took place with an oak tree!

Remember the trees in the crime scene photo?  They could be informants to the crime!   Did you think about talking to trees as witnesses?  Noreen Renier certainly has.

Renier describes the results of her talks with a mighty oak in her book A Mind For Murder and writes that at one point "suddenly I was told by the ancient oak, 'We have one fear and that is fire. Would you mind not smoking while touching me?'"

Renier doesn't offer any proof that this particular tree --- or other trees she notes --- actually respond but compounds her claim by insisting that a group of "archaeologists had their tape recorders whirring and were taking fast and furious notes" as she described this tree event.

Renier seems to claim that her psychic communication with trees can also help archaeologists reveal past histories using oak trees as witnesses.

Trees are in her mind credible witnesses that "see" events around them and have memories.  

Would spruce trees or willows be better informants?

Did police who previously sought Renier's help on rapes and murders know beforehand about her talks with trees?

Have you begun to gag at the sheer audacity and nerve of claiming to be a "provider of clues" and investigator on rapes, murders and missing person cases?

Oak tree informants would certainly be enough for most skilled and rational law enforcement agencies to decide against using America's psychics.

It would seem that police agencies desperate enough to call Noreen Renier --- many small agencies often lacking forensic labs and properly trained investigators ---- have been equally naive in examining and verifying her credibility as a psychic.

But small township police staff and rural sheriff offices may often discover --- too late --- that talking to trees isn't the only problem in conferring with psychics.  After a TV news video has been broadcast showing police amazed that a psychic provided an apparent non-random clue something else happens.

Often months or years later a rotting and rancid smell continues to bubble up from the psychic depths and the police damn themselves for being so foolish.  It is only then that they realize what appeared to be a non-random clue was in fact just random after all.

Fortunately the number of law enforcement agencies turning to psychics is now approaching zero.  The drop comes with better trained police and forensic capabilities and a collective history that shows psychic detective accuracy rates often beneath random levels of chance!

Noreen Renier is now 72 years old and her other key informants are multi-dimensional entities who she claims help make contact with the dead.   They spiritually crawl among the dead and convey messages from the souls of the decaying bodies.

Noreen Renier claims she can communicate among the 57 million people who die each year and reach out to specific spirits.  Renier even claims she can even speak from her mouth the sensations of the dead and has been filmed undulating as she portrays mystical babble.  In a courtroom and under oath she described one of her spiritual entities by the name Robert and another mystic guide she refers to as "an Oriental" called Sing.

From age 22 to 36 Noreen Renier may have watched Victor Sen Yung play Hop Sing as the Cartwright family's cook on the television series Bonanza.   The western show ran for 14 years on NBC-TV.  Is her mystic Sing just another fantasy created from a TV show rather than a real multi-dimensional investigative source?

Just how far does Renier go in mixing exaggerated fantasy with reality?

Renier's claims surrounding an airplane crash near Gardner Massachusetts seem to read like passages from a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys mystery story.  Did book reading memories play a part in creating psychic visions?

In a court room in 1986 Renier said she helped resolve a case that was bothering a "ghost" and after helping the ghost both whirlpools and toilets stopped overflowing.   Renier made that claim on the stand and under oath.

Are we ready to pay her to re-train America's current crime investigators?

Exaggeration by psychic intuitive's isn't just whimsical or quirky, it may be dangerous.

Time wasted by professional law enforcement personnel is time taken from professionally solving cases.

And descriptions of rapists and other criminals furnished by psychics have repeatedly been shown as more likely to visualize a completely innocent victim.   And when false credentials are used by psychics the result is public confusion that misrepresents the actual policies of authentic professional investigators.

And of course it's very convenient that Renier after contact with an informant often "has no recall" of specifics the next day.   Is the receiving and cashing of $1000 fees and other payments from her clients also lost within 24-hours?   Does she only have dreams and visions of hundreds of cases and clients while collecting thousands in fees or are they real?

Which if either is true --- her inability to pay as filed before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court or the portrayal of a successful psychic with hundreds of cases and having collected some of the highest hourly psychic fees on the planet from 2005 to the present?

In December 2008 an article in a leading international journal noted that Renier "has handed the world a sword. . .   . . . her credibility has now been unequivocally and forevermore impeached."  The Skeptical Inquirer has some 50,000 subscribers and the Washington Post called it "A devastating exercise in debunking. . ." Click here for the article.

And Berkley Publishing (Penguin Group, U.S.A. Inc.) in a state court in 2006 agreed to cease all distribution and further publication of Renier's 2005 book A Mind For Murder.  Two entire chapters covering her critics were eliminated before a smaller publisher re-issued a revised version in 2008.

And that revised version of her book has floundered with sales of less than 8% of the original edition.  A year after publication fewer than 3500 copies had been sold.

What has happened to the former sizzle of America's psychic detectives?

Within the paranormal community some call Noreen Renier "the best missing person psychic detective" and believe her psychic murder solving capabilities as a police psychic investigator are among "the top 3" of the past 100 years.  Renier claims that one cable TV network called her "the most credible" and she describes herself as having "a track record that no one can beat."

Her appearances include the Larry King show, Psychic Detectives, Good Morning America, the Nancy Grace show, CBS Inside Edition, Unsolved Mysteries, Sightings, Geraldo, Hour Magazine with Gary Collins, America's Most Wanted, FOX News with Greta Van Susteren, Psychic Investigators, the Joan Rivers Show and the Catherine Crier program.

Renier's book A Mind For Murder states on the back cover that "Noreen Renier has assisted law-enforcement officials all over the world, working on more than 400 criminal cases."

Yet since late 2005 Noreen Renier has claimed that she has worked "on over 600 unsolved cases with city, county, and state Law Enforcement Agencies in 38 states and 6 foreign countries."  Since this latest claim replaces "criminal cases" with "unsolved cases" which is right?

What do the words "psychic assistance" by a psychic mean?   If after thinking about a case --- even one where the police never requested help --- what happens when a psychic pops a postcard in the mail with scribbled psychic visions?

Should that count as psychic assistance and working for police?  And would popping a postcard in the mail to city police somewhere in Italy, Grenada, Tonga, Peru, Mauritius, or Djibouti count as assisting in 6 foreign countries?  

Noreen Renier at 72-years old has never --- throughout her 35 year career --- publicly disclosed more than a few names of law enforcement agencies she claims sought her assistance directly and paid her directly on their behalf.  She hasn't even been willing to list those agencies within the 38 states of the United States of America she claims to have worked with.

Yet she claims somewhere near 70% of her cases were directly booked from supportive police agencies.  Yet when asked about working with Noreen Renier who lives just a few miles outside of Charlottesville Virginia, Lieutenant J.W. Gibson of the Charlottesville Police Department stated concerning the usefulness of psychics: "I would recommend police departments depend on investigations and scientific investigations—I'll leave it at that."

Indeed facts show that Noreen Renier is apparently far less successful at getting sanctioned police work than what she claims.  Whether that is with police just miles from her home or with State Police across the United States.  Things don't even balance when her own case numbers and fee rates are used.

While her published rates for police work were $1000 per session --- which would have exceeded $200,000 in collected fees for her 200 most recent cases --- she initially reported income to a U.S. Bankruptcy Court covering the the entire year of 2006 at less than $6400.  That's a heck of a short fall.

Renier has repeatedly defended her practice of charging for her work and not providing it for free so we must assume she charges at least 90% of the time.

But if she is so successful and has so many cases with police as she claims --- and actually gets paid for her "super psychic" abilities --- where is the money? 

She reported to a U.S. Bankruptcy Court upon filing that she wished to even dismiss a $377 car repair bill and her assets were extremely limited --- listing her "cash on hand" on her filed Bankruptcy schedule B form for personal property at $1, and her 2007 money market account and checking account also both at just $1.

Any client who paid fees on behalf of Renier's work from January 2005 to the present and paid Renier directly or paid another party on Renier's behalf should strongly consider providing that information in 2009.

One can do so very briefly in just a single sentence or two and identify the amount they paid and whether they paid by check, cash, money order or credit card.   They can request confidential handling and send their report to:

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Att: Case Number 07-61602

210 Church Ave

Room 200

Roanoke, VA. 24011

Among the law enforcement agencies and criminal justice institutions where she claims she has "lectured and given classes" and listed on her 2009 web site is the Virginia Bureau of Forensic Science.  Though she showcases this work she doesn't reference when or for how long these "law enforcement lectures and classes" occurred.

After requesting public disclosures from the Virginia Bureau of Forensic Science an officer found no multiple lectures, classes or seminars which involved Renier.   Renier apparently made only a single very brief appearance before this forensic group during a retraining seminar more than 26 years ago on September 24, 1982.  

Charades?   Unfortunately many of Renier's claims are both deceptive and blatant fantasies.

Noreen Renier wrote on her web site "I gladly subjected myself to five years of laboratory testing at PRF and at Duke University.  They tested me for psychometry by sealing personal objects like combs and watches in envelopes; I touched them and described their owners.  They tested for telepathy by having me identify symbols on cards in another room.  In the test for psychokinesis (the ability to influence physical matter), I was put in front of a computerized light system and asked to alter the light pattern by using my mind.   I was told I scored quite high in everything."

But the truth is far different.   When Renier actually testified under oath she said she couldn't remember where this testing occurred, or the names of the research testing personnel.

Neither could she later recall the names of any laboratory personnel who offered the testing, reviewed the testing, or conducted the testing during her claimed five years!   Incredibly in her court statements she could not even recall when any of this testing had ever taken place!     And under further court questioning Renier even admitted that any results of tests that found her as highly psychic was actually just "one of the exaggerations" her publicist wrote up about her.

Why then does she repeat these false claims on her posted blog?

A link examining that deception is at Noreen Renier Biography 2008: Examining a psychic charade.  

Noreen Renier has even claimed to psychically see through the clothing of the living to examine body parts!   But as with her talks with the trees, she offers no proof.  Why for example can't she get the last known address from a person who recently just died when provided with the name of this person for the first time?

Marlene Lantz Chief Deputy Coroner for McHenry County, Illinois indicated that "I asked Noreen if she would come and address the Illinois Coroner's and Medical Examiner's Association at their Spring meeting. We had worked with Noreen on a homicide case in our county and she was a great help to us. I felt it was important to let members of the Association know what a valuable tool a Psychic may be in working those troubling cases. She was both informative and entertaining."

Yet in its Fall 2008 issue, the twenty-year-old Tampa Bay Skeptics Report published a critical article by Gary Posner which states Noreen Renier performed "Watergate-worthy doctoring" within the 2008 edition of her book titled A Mind For Murder.

The November/December 2008 international CSI journal Skeptical Inquirer published a nearly identical version of Posner's article posted at A Mind for Murdergate. 

Research and investigations done by the supporters of this web site led to this and other media exposés of Noreen Renier.  

During our 3 year investigation there has been a sudden nose-dive in police and private families asking for psychic help or in locating missing persons.

And in late 2008 police agency fall off for psychic assistance came to a virtual stand still across the United States.

No psychic discoveries --- or even coincidental lucky guesses --- have now occurred for over 10 years under this improved scrutiny of psychic claims by major police departments.   

Does any rational person want a psychic describing to a police artist what a criminal looked like --- particularly a psychic who just moments before walked by an innocent victim after talking with a tree?

What might first seem of little consequence could potentially place an innocent victim behind bars.

Critics who claim otherwise amazingly cite for their key support many of the dramatic psychic cases exposed here as either documented media errors or complete psychic shams!

It's not a coincidence that the TV psychic shows must now turn to the smallest police agencies who lack budgets for credible forensic labs and have poorly trained professional detectives or paranormal inclined coroners.  Are they the easiest for psychics to impress or to fool?

To best illustrate the concerns encountered with crime psychics "the most credible" TV psychic detective and her 30-years of claims were carefully examined from mid 2005 through November 2008.   Among these publicly reported claims:

Renier's awareness of being burned alive and stabbed in the head but suffering no physical scars.

Her ability to block billiard balls in a game of pool using her psychic powers.

Causing lights to flash on and off using only her mind.

Watching pendulums swing over maps as a means to locate missing persons

Psychically seeing through human clothing as referenced on a national TV show.

Being a host provider and mystic medium for two entities Noreen Renier calls Sing and Robert.

Describing the death scene of four people accurately and exactly as they were found.

Subjecting herself to five years of laboratory testing and being told she scored quite high in everything

Levitating her own children.

Being an adjunct faculty member with teaching appointments at major universities and colleges.

Successful psychic healing which avoided a woman from needing a medical operation.

Changing physical matter and room temperatures with her mind.

Presenting herself as an amazing psychic criminologist.

Assisting global law enforcement agencies on more than 400 criminal cases.  And working on more than 600 unsolved cases while in communication with ghosts and spiritual entities at times.

Finding a crashed plane which had mysteriously vanished from the sky.

You may have found this web site after viewing a TV psychic show or watching reenactments of psychics solving murders, police and crime psychic detectives, Noreen Renier, or FBI missing person cases.

This web site took its name from the 2005 book titled A Mind for Murder by Noreen Renier and co-author Naomi Lucks which is shown on the left.

The new solo 2008 edition now credited only to Renier is on the right. 

In comparing the 2005 edition with the May 2008 revised edition of A Mind for Murder the names of police departments, descriptions of characters, geographic locations as seen in her visions, and even the names of key characters change.

The Burrville Police department Renier notes in the first 2005 edition becomes the Hampton Police department in 2008.

A woman she recalled in her visions as Sally and described in 2005 became a Cindy when she recalled the same vision in her 2008 edition.

Her 2005 description of a man she claims she visioned years ago as big and strong with longish black hair with a white stripe radically changed to a thinned faced man with a scar and brown hair when she recalled the same vision in her 2008 second edition.  

When discussing murder victims killed by John W. Gacy she claims she first visioned a "Rob" in her 2005 edition though police verified three victims named Robert were among those killed.

But rather than indicating to readers which of the three Roberts she visioned she changes her story once again in 2008.

Her claim to having visioned any "Rob" most recently is now a "Jim" that she visioned instead.

Yet the victim "James" was already reported and established by the police years before!  

In the latest edition of A Mind For Murder author Renier also has changed major claims about how she located passengers and bodies amid a crashed plane.

Writing on her current blog Renier notes "I can fly above the body anywhere from 20 to 100 feet, giving them landmarks so they know where I am.  Or I can go on the ground and lead them from the last place where that person was seen for the last time to where the body is.  I'm like a radar machine that picks up the energy from objects and people."

Yet the facts examined and documented here show a "radar machine" badly out of sync with realities as Renier falsely portrayed a plane crash scene and the locations of four real people that she never knew or met.  

Even a witness to the actual plane crash stated "There is no way she had anything to do with finding the plane. . . there is no way she could have."

Indeed it was during an examination of Renier's own statements about the plane crash events and being "instrumental" in locating the plane that her exaggerations became a "psychic charade bombshell" as extensively outlined at Psychic Renier claims to find a crashed plane: A fantasy a runway long .

That investigation includes interviews with the real witnesses who found the plane and had never heard of Renier!

Yet even this charade was actually further compounded by Renier when in the 2005 edition of her book A Mind For Murder she claimed her visions of the plane crash site intersected at three towns beginning with the initials H, D and A.

Because in the 2008 edition of her book she substituted the letters H, D, and A and replaced them with three new letters and changed their meaning!   This "Watergate-worthy doctoring" by missing person psychic Noreen Renier came only after one critic showed in 2006 that Renier's first set of initials matched the wrong plane crash.

Noreen Renier has stated "Skepticism is healthy - everyone should have it.  What annoys me is when people try to debunk me without listening to the facts."

But a true failure is when a person only further compounds their mistakes.  And on this web site you can actually listen and hear Renier change her plane crash story for even a third time!

Noreen Renier has also failed on her web site and in her latest book to mention why she needed to edit out more than 50 of her previous references to critic John Merrell including her false statements that he lied in a court room.

"Psychic detective Noreen Renier has showcased astonishing exaggerations in materials she provided to newspaper journalists.  According to her own court testimony some exaggerations were created by her publicist for promotional materials.   Other fabrications are those Renier passed along to media with errors that Renier admitted she never corrected.   But most disturbing are the falsehoods Renier conveys as true in her own books, before TV viewers, and even before a jury.   Police psychic Noreen Renier has invented bogus fantasies and then portrayed herself as capable of incredible paranormal and criminology feats.   She name drops law personnel and crime agencies even as she rapid-fires streams of pseudo psychic claims.  The public should know her exaggerations are so convincing and elaborately detailed that even after they are discovered people remain astounded by her boldness."

Noreen Renier labeled critic Merrell who made that comment "a fraud" and her web site until mid January 2008 called him both "vicious" and "vindictive."   While that commentary disappeared Renier now has posted statements about winning an Oregon county lawsuit against Merrell more than 22 years ago.  But a complete summary of Renier's most recent federal lawsuit loss can be examined by clicking here.

Remember we're reviewing here "the most credible" crime psychic.   This is the psychic that leading members within the psychic community (and many media journalists) have "documented" as the one with the most amazing "proven" psychic abilities.

Noreen Renier's 1985 Oregon lawyer Lee Werdell has now provided psychic Noreen Renier with a 21 page 11,974 word wandering discourse riddled with errors on the events more than two decades ago.

Apparently however attorney Lee Werdell is not too concerned about accuracy in his writings as he even misspells the name of the only Defendant more than 50 times.

Attorney Lee Werdell even states that "Noreen’s testimony was clear and to the point. She answered questions without equivocating or being evasive."

But newer police reports and on-site witnesses show Renier portrayed deceptively false visions in describing events during her testimony.   And equally revealing are witnesses who can show that in 2008 Noreen Renier continues to repeat deceptions and errors from her earlier 2005 edition of A Mind For Murder --- even after knowing her statements are false. 

Renier's use of being "instrumental" in her psychic abilities has come up before, including a case in Staunton Virginia where she claimed to news reporters that she had foreseen a direct link to a rape suspect.

She claimed her psychic foresight had allowed her to see even prior to his arrest that the rapist would be the driver of a cement truck.

In her revised 2008 edition of A Mind For Murder she claims she described to police that "the rapist is driving a truck with something on it that goes round and round."

When the rapist was arrested it turned out he had indeed driven a cement truck.   This amazing psychic link has been widely credited to Renier and obviously even in her latest book she continues to use it.

But is it true?  What did Renier specifically say prior to his arrest about a cement truck?

Asked about the case by an attorney in 1985 senior officials acknowledged Renier's claim was not true.  Prior to the arrest there was no mention by Renier of a truck or something on a truck going round and round.   Nothing.

Instead an investigation revealed she actually created the link after the use of a cement truck was established and her only "pre-vision" was a paper filled with circles she had drawn.

These circles she insisted were not a dozen zeros, or the letter "O" repeated, or even what they appeared to be by someone who saw them as simply scribbles made by a woman who had consumed too much red wine.  Instead Renier insisted her circles showcased her visions of a truck "going round and round."

Even now on her current web site blog she claims "Everything I'd said turned out to be right; the thing 'that went round and round' was a cement truck."

Thousands of readers and dozens of newspapers and TV reporters were never told this claim is fantasized fiction documented only from scribbled circles.

Critics also raise concerns about her psychic abilities --- if any --- in fingering a guilty suspect from one who is innocent.   And many of Renier's TV viewers find these issues troubling indeed.

While other psychics such as Carla Baron (click here) have garnished media attention, major psychics Sylvia Brown, Zak Martin and John Edward (unlike Noreen Renier) have not testified to such an extensive array of claims under oath.  Recently Oregon psychic consultant and police crime psychic Laurie McQuary has received TV media attention as referenced at Psychic Laurie McQuary.

72 years old on January 16, 2009 it was common from 1985 until 1998 for Noreen Renier to mention the work of law enforcement personnel in solving cases and bringing criminals to justice.   However over the past few years Renier has begun taking credit for some knock-out punches herself.

During a July 22, 2004 Court TV on-line interview Noreen Renier referenced her work for a woman on a double homicide in Albany, New York.   Renier claimed “I put her son in jail.” 

She further emphasized that "I've worked on over 450 cases. . . when the police hire me, that's usually 70 percent of the time. . . I've put people in jail." 

Noreen Renier has also begun offering comments to the media about suspects such as her statement following psychic visions in the Laci Peterson case when she stated ". . . all my instincts, my intuition, give me no doubt that he did it."

Has she fairly portrayed herself as a participant in putting people in jail?   And how is she motivated?

Renier has long stated she charges for her work --- even to police working on rape cases and murder --- and her fees have climbed from $45 for a 45-minute phone conversation to far higher as her TV fame has spread.   Renier told the Lynchburg News & Advance in 2005 that "I've got more work than I can handle."   Indeed she bumped her fees to $250, then $450, then $600, and then to $1000.

"I actually raised the price to discourage people" stated Renier previously.

How long might you get with Renier on the telephone discussing a unsolved crime or missing person?

As posted in December 2007 on Renier's own blog, she stated "I'm older now, so I can't last more than an hour per session."

According to her 2007 bankruptcy filing (she previously declared a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Florida in 1999), Renier paid attorney and former TV producer Shelley Hall with the Seattle law firm Stokes Lawrence just $1000 leaving unpaid bills of $26,214.  That equates to a payment rate near $8.20 per hour for her Seattle attorney while Renier's own psychic charges to clients are $8.33 to $16.66 per minute or approximately 60 to 120 times more.  

Noreen Renier said she proved "I was a real psychic and had done the things I claimed I did."

Noreen Renier's most notable claim to fame is that she is the only psychic to have briefly lecture at the FBI.   And Renier became involved in the plane crash after an FBI agent recommended Renier to the ex-wife of an FBI agent who had a brother aboard the lost plane.

During the air search for the missing plane a third FBI agent was involved.

Why did a FBI Special Agent recommend the use of Noreen Renier's psychic powers to help locate the plane?

What was the track record of Boston area FBI investigations during this period?

In late July 2007 a federal judge in near-by Boston highlighted a cozy relationship that Boston mobsters enjoyed with FBI agents.   Judge Nancy Gertner noted that FBI agents were trying to protect informants when they encouraged a witness to lie, and thereafter withheld evidence proving four men were innocent.   That kept four men in prison for decades for a murder they did not commit.

Judge Nancy Gertner ordered the government to pay nearly $102 million in part due to the severe misconduct by FBI agents Dennis Condon and H. Paul Rico, including the withholding of evidence in the murder of Edward "Teddy" Deegan.  

At the same time the FBI was funneling false information to the Massachusetts governor’s office and withholding evidence, an FBI agent was tossing out Noreen Renier as a means to locate a missing plane in Massachusetts with drugs aboard.

Two years later in 1986 a six-member jury thousands of miles away in Oregon apparently bought the fantasy that psychic Noreen Renier found the Massachusetts plane as authentic particularly after hearing about significant FBI personnel support of Renier.

Adding support for Renier during three days of testimony was FBI Special Agent Robert Ressler and also Jessica Herbert's ex-husband FBI agent Mark Babyak.   Ressler is the former director of the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program --- the man who coined the phrase 'serial killer.'

The same age as Renier, Robert Ressler's involvement with Renier is extensive.   According to Renier the man describes her as "the best" and Ressler sanctioned her use in locating the crashed plane.   But even before testifying on behalf of Renier it was Ressler who misled Merrell by telling him the plane had crashed in Maryland when in fact it had crashed in Massachusetts.

Robert Ressler during his work at the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit may well have propelled paranormal psychic involvement on missing person cases more than anyone else in the last 25 years --- including the airplane crash were Renier's claims have now been labeled as "lies" by witnesses.

Throughout this web site we examine Robert Ressler's support in using the paranormal and psychic powers of Noreen Renier.  We also highlight key differences between Renier's claims and the actual realities --- such as in these samples:

1. In the Charlottesville Daily Progress on April 25, 2004 Noreen Renier stated, "I can find an airplane thousands of miles away, but I can get lost in my own house."

FACT: While her quote sounds good about getting lost in her own house --- a quote she has used repeatedly with media --- for the last six years her home has been a 1680 square foot cabin with approximately half of that area being a single room basement.

The remaining small main floor is laid out so that the front doorway or kitchen/living room are immediately visible from any doorway. 

While the quote reflects her ability for comic spin it is not accurate.   More importantly, the crashed plane was less than 470 miles away from her Charlottesville area home and it was found by two people entirely independent of Noreen Renier who remain troubled that Renier claims to have located the same plane.

These same witnesses point to a string of false claims by Renier surrounding the crash which she portrayed as true.   Events Renier spoke about simply didn't happen.   And entire environments and incidents she writes about are fiction.  

2.  Noreen Renier noted "When they found the plane the two people in the front --- their necks were broken and [Massachusetts passenger Arthur Herbert] had carried a headless woman and sat this headless woman against a tree and walked several yards away."   Arthur's sister Jessica Herbert of Salem Massachusetts testified Renier told her that her brother "had left the plane and set the girl in a hard place with trees above her and she was laying on the rocks underneath the trees. . . and he went down this hill to look for help [and] had to sitdown because the pain in his leg was bad."

But oddly Jessica Herbert further testified that according to Renier's vision the young woman was alive --- not headless. 

FACT: Amazingly it doesn't matter whether the young woman carried by Arthur Herbert was headless or alive when she was carried out of the plane.

The reality is that the medical examiner found that none of the passengers could have carried the female passenger anywhere, as everyone died on impact.

In her 2005 edition of A Mind For Murder Renier described telling Jessica Herbert that her brother Arthur Herbert was in Renier's vision a young man with "blond, straight hair to his shoulders."   In the 2008 edition of the same book she claims she told Jessica in her visions she saw Arthur with "medium length hair, light brown."

But beyond the length and hair color change, why did Renier describe before millions of TV viewers that Arthur Herbert was alive after the crash?

Remember upon examining the crash site the medical examiner concluded 29-year old Arthur Herbert died instantly, and also found the young woman's body still within the aircraft.

What's stunning is that the medical examiner released these findings --- facts in direct conflict with Arthur Herbert being alive and carrying the young woman from the plane --- two years before the conflicting court testimony made under oath by both Renier and Jessica Herbert.   And even more incredible is that Renier actually further enhanced this charade before a national TV audience six years later!

In February 2005 Noreen Renier described herself as a "super psychic" and Renier's web site claims that "Court TV online recently called her the most credible psychic out there."   Yet this quote was never taken from officials at Court TV which in early 2008 changed its name to truTV.   Instead the quote comes from an on-line web site moderator who was somewhat confused and reflected that "Ms. Renier seemed like the most credible psychic out there."

Renier's web site states that she "considers herself a born skeptic.  But the sudden onset of her psychic abilities changed not only her beliefs but the course of her life and career."

Critic John Merrell calls that "Rubbish!  Many indications point to Renier as a 'psychic-want-to-be' even from her very first media interviews.   Some her earliest claims included contacting the dead and encouraging her clients to make contact with deceased relatives, friends or famous people.   Indeed under oath she admitted she acts as a dual entity host for two helpful contactees named Robert and Sing." 

In 1985 Renier personally handed out promotional materials which included the statement that ". . .questions may be posed to 'Sing' and 'Robert,' Noreen's two main spiritual entities."  Critic Merrell admits no one except Renier knows whether she actually communicates with famous dead people and how long that list might be.   Perhaps in Renier's mind the contact is made by her entities who apparently are dead themselves before they then speak to others.

Merrell commented "Exactly how far these bizarre claims go depends on whether or not you believe famous people would converse with a woman like Renier who charges for their contact.   I can't disprove that Renier actually communicates with the dead and/or has entities that communicate with the dead.   However I personally believe famous people even if they could communicate back to the living would reach out for anyone other than Noreen Renier given her exaggeration record."

Merrell stated that "One lady told me that she and her husband were asked for two hundred dollars by Renier in order to converse with a Marion Morrison several years after his death.

The skeptical husband made his wife agree beforehand to offer up only the name the person was born under.   Renier apparently stumbled about not quite sure whether Marion was a woman or a man until the husband decided to at least assist by indicating the person was a man who also had gone by the name Duke and provided his place of birth and death."

The feedback they received through Renier from a dead Marion Morrison didn't match the Marion Morrison the couple were after even after more help to Renier.   The couple was attempting to connect to actor John Wayne originally born as Marion Robert Morrison.   Even with his birthplace, death location, age and birth name Renier completely missed the mark.

According to Merrell another woman claimed she called Renier hoping that as a psychic Renier would visualize the location of a lost bracelet.

"However when Renier was unable to visualize where it might be found Renier according to the woman suggested making contact with deceased actor Cary Grant who had played a jewel thief in the movie To Catch A Thief.   The woman who was already dissatisfied declined the additional offer, but others have also said Renier has referenced Cary Grant among her contacts."

A complete list of famous dead people that Renier claims to have contacted or chain-contacted through one or more of her entities is known only within the mind of Noreen Renier.

More than 25 years ago Renier was also claiming she had the ability to block billiard table shots with her mind and newspaper interviews indicate she was attempting to find missing persons using swaying pendulums hung over maps.

Not surprisingly Renier has even claimed to levitate her own children.

In fact Renier's relationship with her critics leaves little doubt about her openness to scrutiny.   She previously included commentary on her web site which portrayed her principal critic as "vicious", "vindictive" and "vexing".

Did Renier carefully select a man to deliver this string of comments for her web site?  Are his comments credible?

Not likely.   The man whom Renier sanctioned for commentary operates from his home an effort he calls the Washington DC Citizens Against UFO Secrecy and has voiced numerous sensational CIA, UFO and paranormal comments for years.  

 What other evidence explored on this web site indicates a psychic charade?  

In 1985 a letter concerning Noreen Renier arrived in the mail to investigator John Merrell.   It includes the comment "I'm confused about her abilities and need to know if she's real or not.  She's planning a workshop in July and I need to make a decision."  The letter was signed by Nancy Uzdavinis --- a woman who showed an Oregon address.

That letter arrived to Merrell's home months before Renier filed a county lawsuit in Oregon against Merrell for libel.   But years after Renier won her county lawsuit in 1986 against Merrell an amazing discovery was made.  Multiple letters including the first one sent to Merrell were found.

Each letter was signed in Nancy Uzdavinis' name but each one was discovered to have been written by Noreen Renier herself!

It was only after being challenged in a Tennessee federal court years later that Renier admitted to writing the letters herself --- and filed an affidavit which indicated permission to do so came from the real Nancy Uzdavinis who was her sister-in-law.  Merrell notes that "I've always suspected that affidavit was itself a bogus fantasy since when I spoke to the real Nancy Uzdavinis by phone she acted very nervous about being confronted with why she had provided permission and wasn't willing to actually vocalize that she had in fact given it."

Unfortunately the deceptive letters that triggered examinations of Renier by Merrell were revealed years after the six member jury in the Oregon county court had ruled against Merrell in 1986.

And even then they were only discovered because Merrell began to sense he had been "set up" years earlier by Nancy Uzdavinis and wondered why she had first sought him out so urgently only to "disappear" once the lawsuit by Renier had begun.   It was 1991 before he realized the Nancy Uzdavinis letters in his hands were actually written, mailed and responded to by Noreen Renier herself.

The original six member jury in 1986 Oregon jury years before never knew this truth.   Amazingly one of the questions posed by Noreen Renier about herself --- in another letter Renier signed as Nancy Uzdavinis --- is the question "Is she a phony?"

Merrell notes, "It's not just the fact Renier pretended to be someone else.   Over many years she repeatedly has told the paranormal community that I started this 22-year battle.   But her deception had already begun when I first opened my mail from Renier posing as Nancy Uzdavinis and asking for my help.   Why did Renier need to pretend to be her sister-in-law and send letters to skeptics asking for help in determining whether she is authentic?   Does the word entrapment months before filing a libel suit seem reasonable?   And why didn't Renier ever let the 1986 jury in on this secret little game she played?"

Amazingly in 1986 Noreen Renier claimed truth was her ally in winning her case.

Merrell's 1987-1992 attorney Philip Lomonaco noted "Noreen Renier lied under oath when she stated she was not aware of any investigation of herself by John Merrell . . . In actuality, Noreen Renier deceived John Merrell by sending him letters under the disguise of Nancy Uzdavinis. . . .In other words, Ms. Renier, through her deceitful letters, under the name of Nancy Uzdavinis, began the whole process, which culminated in Ms. Renier perjuring herself in an attempt to conceal the fact that she knew of John Merrell's investigation. . . .Mr. Merrell was unaware that Noreen Renier had led him to investigating herself.  One truism rings clear in this whole situation; these parties would not be together had it not been for Ms. Renier's deceitful beginnings."    And a statement provided to a federal court judge from a handwriting expert indicates Renier wrote letters to at least two skeptic writers using the name Nancy Uzdavinis.

On February 11, 2008 a United States Bankruptcy Trustee conducted an examination of Ms. Renier, under oath.   She was questioned about her sources of income, including police and private readings, television appearances, and her book royalties.  After initially filing statements which showed her personal income over 30 months beginning in January 2005 was near $40,544 Renier suddenly revised the number upward by more than $100,000.

How does one --- particularly someone claiming psychic abilities --- misplace amounts greater than $100,000?

A general reading of this web site typically takes an additional 10 minutes to 4 hours depending on the dose of amazement you seek.   If you want a good 10-15 minute overview on her claims take a look at her biography coverage segment below or if you have 30-90 minutes segments 4 -7 take you through the amazing plane crash charade as it unfolded over the past 20 years.  If you have any lingering doubts that Renier is real and truthful in her psychic claims these 4 segments will be disturbing indeed.  We appreciate your time and always enjoy your comments --- positive or negative --- which are kept confidential (unless you indicate otherwise) at amindformurder@gmail.com.