Read an Excerpt
Introduction
WELCOME TO MY WORLD
"Where do you turn when you've got a murder and you haven't got a clue? Enter Noreen Renier, psychic."
• 48 Hours
I have had my throat slit. I have been shot, knifed, stabbed, raped, drowned, and strangled. I have been inside the last moments of many murder victims. I feel their pain, I speak their words, I live their deaths. I see the faces of their murderers, and sometimes I become them. I don't like to get killed more than two or three times a weekit's just too exhausting.
During my career as a psychic detective I have held the bloody earrings, watches, shirts, and shoes of murder victims. I have received the images and feelings that somehow reside in a piece of skull, a vial of blood, a few hairs, the murder weapon. Just as a dog picks up a scent trail that we humans can't detect, my mind taps into the turbulent energy left behind by a moment of explosive violence and I relive the brutal event.
Call it a hunch, a gut feeling, intuition. How do I do it? You tell me. You've been using your logical, rational mind for many years. Explain it to me: How do you use your memory? How did you learn math? How does your memory work? You can't explain it, and neither can I. But you can use your mind, and I can use mine.
I've had quite a ride. Almost twenty-five years ago, on a sunny morning in the midst of an ordinary life as a working single mom, an unconventional career chose me. Since then, I've never looked back. Establishing my credibility in a field that fights for credibility has been daunting, but I have been rewarded in countless ways. In 1981, when I first lectured at the FBI Academy inQuantico, Virginia, my work with the police was considered controversial. Now, I'm a well-known psychic detective who has worked on over 400 unsolved homicides, missing persons and rape cases with city, county and state law enforcement agencies in thirty-eight states and six foreign countries. My work has been featured in the newspapers, on television, and even in a textbook for homicide detectives.
Like everyone else, I once thought that anyone who had psychic abilities was either a charlatan or a fraud. And just like you, I know that not everyone who calls themselves a psychic really is one. But even though there's no way I can prove to you I'm a psychic, I don't mind being challenged. In 1986, I even took a skeptic to court for calling me a fraudand won.
I enjoy my work, but it's certainly not the life I would have consciously chosen. Most of all, I want you to understand that psychic abilities are another part of a normal life. They involve no fear, no evil. This abilitythe opening of our own minds is a gift that we can develop for good and use as a wonderful and amazing tool.
Over the years I have encountered a great deal of fear and ignorance concerning my ability and psychics in general. However, I have discovered one very important thing: If you believe in yourself and in your own efforts, nothing can stand in your way.
THE PSYCHIC CONNECTION
Let me state early that I do not solve crimes . . . the police do. I am merely an aid or an investigative tool for the police. By picking up images and feelings that the untrained mind cannot, I can provide clues, information, and perhaps a new angle to an unsolved crime.
The first time a law enforcement officer or agency uses my psychic ability as an investigative tool, it is important to understand a few simple techniques. The following information will help you enhance my psychic abilities during our session and, I hope, bring an unsolved crime to a successful conclusion.
1. A psychic should be called into an investigation as a last resort, when traditional methods for solving a crime have been exhausted.
2. I prefer not to know any details or personal background of the victim or the crime other than the first name of the victim and the type of crime. The less you tell me, the more I will be able to tell you.
3. I use psychometry, which involves touching an object that the victim wore or the suspect left behind.
4. It is important to start slowly. Initially, I try to see psychically what the victim looked like, or to re-create the scene of the crime. I do this for two reasons: to make sure I am "tuning" into the case, and to give the Officer/Agent confidence in me as a psychic. If this is successful we can continue with the case.
5. Questions. How you question me will determine the quality of information I receive psychically. BE PREPARED. Know in advance what your objectives are. Think of a profile you want me to fill in; information that will help you to identify and/or locate a suspect or body.
6. The way the questions are phrased is extremely important. An incorrect way to question is: "Where does he (suspect) live?" "Did he (suspect) do it?" A productive way to question is: "Stand in front of the house (body) and walk toward it. What do you see? Look to the right, to the left Fly above it, what do you see?"
7. Leading questions are not productive. Such questions include: "Is his hair black?" "Was he driving a blue Ford?" Instead, let me describe him/her to you, as well as any other pertinent information. Questions should have direction, and not merely need a "yes" or "no" answer. It is very helpful to give me feedback when you know I have accurately described something or someone. The logical mind can analyze, but the psychic mind just receives information. The feedback keeps my confidence up and the images flowing. "Yes, we understand," is sufficient.
8. Try not to analyze the data that I give you immediately. Think of this part of the session as "fact gathering." Get as much information as you can. Later, you can analyze the information you have received and separate the wheat from the chaff.
9. During the session, I will use all five of my senses to some degree. Ask questions that will make use of these senses. Example: Is there a special sound near his house (body), a different odor?
10. My psychic memory is very short. Therefore, it is important that our session be taped. My answers can then be replayed repeatedly or transcribed in order to detect any information that didn't seem important or pertinent earlier.
I do not claim to be 100% accurate in my interpretations. Nor do I claim to be able to work on all cases with an equal degree of effectiveness.
I do not mind skepticism. However, continued skepticism and negativism hamper my work and concentration. Retired New York Detective Sergeant Vernon Gerberth, writing about my psychic abilities in his textbook Practical Homicide Investigations, states: "Practically speaking, if an officer feels that he or she cannot accept or work with the psychic, then this officer should not get involved in this segment of the investigation. Instead, someone who may be skeptical, but is able to put aside this personal prejudice, should be assigned to work with the psychics."