Lisker said he made his way to the backyard, where he looked through a window into the living room. He thought he could see his mother's feet on the floor in the entry hall.
His heart pounding, he ran to the dining room window to get a better view. From there, he could see her head lying motionless on the floor, he said.
Panicked, he ran to the kitchen's louvered window, an entry point he had used more than once to sneak into the house after curfew. He said he removed the panes of glass and climbed into the kitchen.
He ran to the entry hall and found his mother on the floor, unconscious but alive. Trying to help, he pulled the knives from her back. Then he grabbed two kitchen knives and searched the house for the intruder. Then he called for an ambulance.
Monsue, who listened quietly, thought Lisker was lying. If he had seen his mother's body through the living room window, why hadn't he just smashed his way in? Why would he disassemble the kitchen window instead, squandering precious seconds?
For that matter, Monsue doubted that Lisker could have seen Dorka's body from outside the house. Based on his own observations, he thought that the sun's glare would have made it impossible to see through the living room window, and that furniture and an interior stone planter would have blocked the view through the dining room window.
Monsue had dealt with Bruce before and didn't like him. He considered him "a loudmouth -- an in-your-face little punk," he later recalled.
He read Lisker his rights.
"Let me tell you what I think happened," Monsue said, according to a transcript of the interview. "You went in the house through the kitchen window.... She surprises you there. You guys get into a big fight. You pick up the trophy off your desk that's sitting there. You smack her in the head."
"No, I wouldn't do that," Bruce protested.
"She stumbles down the hallway," Monsue continued. "There's a workout bar.... You pick that up. You smack her and break her arm. She starts running.... You get scared. You pick her up. You drag her in there, right [by] the front door. And then you stab her."
"You better stop, man," Bruce said.
"How does that sound to you?" Monsue asked.
"That sounds like a lie," Bruce replied. "That sounds more gruesome than I would even think of doing."
Monsue placed Lisker under arrest.
