"Psychic detective" Jackie Barrett

[sg1985]

I'm writing an article on Jackie Barrett and her "psychic detective" work. I've been looking for all the information that I can about this woman and I wanted to know if anyone has heard of her or is familiar with her "work". She came in second place in America's Psychic Challenge and was recently featured in the WeTV series "Secret Lives of Women: Psychics." Needless to say, she hasn't applied to take the million dollar challenge.

I found a multitude of sources on her and have put together several pages of notes. I can't post links yet, so I won't post everything. Here is a sample of what I have so far. These notes were mostly taken from her website The House that Kay Built (she also published a book with the same title).

If you can find any of the sources that I can't substantiate I'd really appreciate your help.




"First off, she doesn't know how to use spell check on her website and has a very poor command of grammar. Seriously, she constantly uses "there" when she means "their".

She frequently states that she works closely with retired NYPD Captain Sean Crowley. She has said that he worked in the cold case department. The About Me section of his new website doesn't list this. It also doesn't mention Jackie. I e-mailed him and he agreed to answer some questions about her. I sent a bunch of questions, haven't heard anything back yet.

She states that she's constantly being used as a consultant for movies about Voodoo. She has no IMDB page.

She touts the book that she wrote, The House That Kay Built, as a #1 best seller. The book is 88 pages long and is self-published through iUniverse. She doesn't mention where the book was declared a best seller or what category of literature it reached the top spot in.

She says that her mother was a spiritualist and John Lennon, Andy Warhol, Jim Morrison and Johnny Cash would all come over to chill at her house.

She says that she worked on America's Most Wanted. Can't find any info to substantiate it.

Says that her 2008 Superbowl predictions were featured in the New York Post and she was eventually found to be completely right. Can't find any info to substantiate it.

Says that she has been recognized by Yale, NYU and Standford (I think she means Stanford) in their "law crime anylist department." None of the universities have departments with this name and none mention her on their websites. I e-mailed representatives of each school. No response so far, but I have a good guess what they're going to say. She also states that was interviewed by Yale students in order for them to obtain their masters degrees. Can't find any info to substantiate it.

She claims to be the #1 crime solver in the US. Can't find any info to substantiate it."

[kerikiwi]

John Lennon, Andy Warhol, Jim Morrison and Johnny Cash would all come over to chill at her house.


Before they died, after they died or both?

[sg1985]

Before they died, after they died or both?

I'm not sure. She states in a podcast that her mother was a spiritualist and mentions the names of some of the people who hung out in her house.

Her website states "I learned to embrace my inheritance through daily conversations with Padre Pio."

Pio died in 1968, she was born in 1963 (according to her Myspace page she is 45 years old). I assume that these conversations take/took place after he died.

Website continues "Artist & musicians have come to me for some words of wisdom from people like John Lennon and Andy Warhol."

Which can be interpreted as her telling someone "Imagine all the people/Living for today." It can be read that these people personally passed the words of wisdom onto her and she shares it with someone else.

[wollery]

Says that her 2008 Superbowl predictions were featured in the New York Post and she was eventually found to be completely right. Can't find any info to substantiate it.Eventually? Does she herself use that word? She'd have been found to be right or wrong at the exact second the game ended!! :eek:

[desertgal]

Sounds like a "Stop Jackie Barrett" website might be in order.

[sg1985]

Eventually? Does she herself use that word? She'd have been found to be right or wrong at the exact second the game ended!! :eek:

Here is what her website states:

"CHECK OUT JACKIE'S 08' SUPER BOWL PREDICTION IN THE NY POST FEB 1ST


Check out Jackie Barrett's 2008 Super bowl prediction in The New York Post tomorrow Febuary 1st. Jackie has made her prediction check tomorrow's paper to see if your team is on the winning side.

WOW! Just as Jackie said in the February 1st NY Post paper the Giants would win & Patriots score was exactly as Jackie said 14. Best Of Louisiana Magazine quoted Jackie Barrett as " One Of The Most Impressive Psychic's Of Our Time". "

Her website is done in reverse chronological order, so the info about her making her predictions should be on the bottom, with the predictions being proven correct at the top.

It should also be noted that "Best of Louisiana" magazine does not pop up under any search engines. This could be because she got the name wrong (she also got the name wrong of the podcast that she was on so it took me a while to find it) or the magazine is so small that it doesn't have a website.

But this is what she seems to constantly do. She has no proof, no photos of the articles, no press portfolio with any substance.

Btw, I just started listening to the first podcast and she stated that she was in the presence of Padre Pio when she was a young teenager. As I stated, if she's not lying about her age, she was 5 years old when he died. This isn't in an article, this isn't on her website, these are the words that are coming out of her mouth. There is no way for her to refute this.

[sg1985]

Sounds like a "Stop Jackie Barrett" website might be in order.

Exactly what I thought. I figured that she's so low profile that no one has really bothered with her so if this article gets published I can imagine that the people who read it are going to know who she is and not in a good way.

So far, no response from the e-mails that I've sent. Will update as I go.

[stonequarry]

[QUOTE=sg1985;4052175]Here is what her website states:

"CHECK OUT JACKIE'S 08' SUPER BOWL PREDICTION IN THE NY POST FEB 1ST


Check out Jackie Barrett's 2008 Super bowl prediction in The New York Post tomorrow Febuary 1st. Jackie has made her prediction check tomorrow's paper to see if your team is on the winning side.

WOW! Just as Jackie said in the February 1st NY Post paper the Giants would win & Patriots score was exactly as Jackie said 14.
QUOTE]


WOW - a 50/50 shot on the winner and a general (2 TD) score on one team. NOBODY can do that! :rolleyes:

[Brendy]

[QUOTE=sg1985;4052175]Here is what her website states:

"CHECK OUT JACKIE'S 08' SUPER BOWL PREDICTION IN THE NY POST FEB 1ST


Check out Jackie Barrett's 2008 Super bowl prediction in The New York Post tomorrow Febuary 1st. Jackie has made her prediction check tomorrow's paper to see if your team is on the winning side.

WOW! Just as Jackie said in the February 1st NY Post paper the Giants would win & Patriots score was exactly as Jackie said 14.
QUOTE]


WOW - a 50/50 shot on the winner and a general (2 TD) score on one team. NOBODY can do that! :rolleyes:



And because they say nothing about the Giants score, that means she must have got it wrong. I love how they dont mention that.

[desertgal]

Exactly what I thought. I figured that she's so low profile that no one has really bothered with her so if this article gets published I can imagine that the people who read it are going to know who she is and not in a good way.

So far, no response from the e-mails that I've sent. Will update as I go.

I'll certainly be interested in reading what you come up with.

[sg1985]

I'll certainly be interested in reading what you come up with.

I'll let you know when I get it posted. Although I think I might have to cut some info out. I could probably write this woman's biography at this point. :boxedin:



Also, here's another little gem from her secondary website:

"Jackie Barrett is the only psychic medium who's work & assistance has been recognized by Federal Agents, Jackie Barrett is the official psychic consultant to the Federal Government."

I don't even need to say anything.

[Senex]

I'm writing an article on Jackie Barrett and her "psychic detective" work. I've been looking for all the information that I can about this woman and I wanted to know if anyone has heard of her or is familiar with her "work". She came in second place in America's Psychic Challenge and was recently featured in the WeTV series "Secret Lives of Women: Psychics." Needless to say, she hasn't applied to take the million dollar challenge.



I don't know anything about Jackie Barrett but I'm curious why you are writing about (to paraphrase you) a second rate hack psychic. What was/is your motivation?

[sg1985]

I don't know anything about Jackie Barrett but I'm curious why you are writing about (to paraphrase you) a second rate hack psychic. What was/is your motivation?

It's part train wreck fascination and what a train wreck she is. But "psychic detectives" piss me off in general, then to see this woman on national TV "reenacting" a murder scene in front of the dead girl's parents then saying that she's solved over 200 cold cases is just too much.

It's bad enough when a "psychic" takes advantage of vulnerable people, especially those who have lost someone close, it's much worse when they go on TV and lie to an even larger audience about their "abilities". Also, I am a firm believer in the idea that if you say something you need to be able to back it up.

I just read that her seances have been compared to Harry Houdini's. Seriously, she's doing my work for me.

[Gravy]

Wow, what a piece of work she is. If these people could do what they say – even occasionally – they'd never have to lie. Such blatant lies that are checkable may be a sign of someone who's truly delusional though.

[Senex]

It's part train wreck fascination and what a train wreck she is. But "psychic detectives" piss me off in general, then to see this woman on national TV "reenacting" a murder scene in front of the dead girl's parents then saying that she's solved over 200 cold cases is just too much.

It's bad enough when a "psychic" takes advantage of vulnerable people, especially those who have lost someone close, it's much worse when they go on TV and lie to an even larger audience about their "abilities". Also, I am a firm believer in the idea that if you say something you need to be able to back it up.

I just read that her seances have been compared to Harry Houdini's. Seriously, she's doing my work for me.

I was pleased to read what you just wrote. Psychic detectives piss me off in general and I don't cotton to articles being written about them that aren't negative. I suspect you are a student writing a paper. May I suggest you add "a case study in psychic detective woo." Deprive her of your paper being about her. Make your paper about psychic woo with her being the example.

[sg1985]

I was pleased to read what you just wrote. Psychic detectives piss me off in general and I don't cotton to articles being written about them that aren't negative. I suspect you are a student writing a paper. May I suggest you add "a case study in psychic detective woo." Deprive her of your paper being about her. Make your paper about psychic woo with her being the example.

I'm not a student, I just got hired by a crime writing website (I'm not starting until next year, but I want to get ahead of the game) and I want this to be my first article.

I did my outline last night and it goes a little something like this:

Intro-

*What are psychic detectives?
*What do they claim to be able to accomplish?
High profile "psychic detectives" (Sylvia Browne (reference Shawn Hornbeck case) and Noreen Rainer (reference FBI claims))

Jackie Barrett-

*Destroy credibility
*Services she offers (seances - drug interventions)
Other claims that she makes (Padre Pio, Houdini, everything else she says)
*Psychic detective work (100% track record, 200 cold cases solved, awards given for her work)
*Misc

Law enforcement & psychics-

*FBI disavowing any and all claims made by psychic detectives
*How they can waste valuable police time and side track investigations
*Supporting articles (Klass Kids foundation, John Edward Douglas' site, Skeptic's Dictionary, Crime Library, Project Jason, etc)

Conclusion-

*Psychic detective shows are entertainment, nothing more
*Wasting time, money, and effort
*Taking financial advantage of families, causing emotional harm
*It's a romantic idea, but it's not a reality (Santa Claus)

Additional -- The million dollar challenge!!!! Don't know how I could forget about that.




That's all I have for now. Still no e-mail responses. I can't imagine why....

[Senex]

Good for you. I wish I had the nerve to try and make my living through writing (I'm close, I'm thinking about making very little money and become a local newspaper reporter.)

I'm uncertain what a crime writing website is. It seems you have deconstructed the evil of psychic detectives. I wish you the best on your article and your career -- oh what the hell it isn't costing me anything -- I wish you a wonderful life ;)

[CptColumbo]

[QUOTE=sg1985;4052175]Here is what her website states:

"CHECK OUT JACKIE'S 08' SUPER BOWL PREDICTION IN THE NY POST FEB 1ST


Check out Jackie Barrett's 2008 Super bowl prediction in The New York Post tomorrow Febuary 1st. Jackie has made her prediction check tomorrow's paper to see if your team is on the winning side.

WOW! Just as Jackie said in the February 1st NY Post paper the Giants would win & Patriots score was exactly as Jackie said 14.
QUOTE]


WOW - a 50/50 shot on the winner and a general (2 TD) score on one team. NOBODY can do that! :rolleyes:I tried a search of the NYP's archives and find no mention of her name.

At work I predicted the score to be 21-17 Pats. I didn't want them to win, but I wanted them to score that last touchdown so I could brag to my co-workers the next day.

Here's an article by former FBI agent Clint Van Zandt
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7320305/

[sg1985]

Much to my chagrin I'm still plugging away at this article. I've started typing up transcripts of the podcasts that Jackie was a part of. She said that I could do a phone interview with her (that's right, she actually responded to me and I'm actually going to interview her) and I figure I can't say "Uh, you said, somewhere, that you uh, did this. I don't remember where it was or exactly what you said, but uh, you said it!"

Here's a little excerpt with my comments inserted:


Jackie: Exactly. I was in, I had the honor of being in the presence of Padre Pio. Uh, before, before you know he had passed on. And, and I was just, uh, young teenager


Padre Pio died when she was 5.

and I found him amazing, just amazing, and every time I was around him I had this very, um, sleepy, uh, like relaxed feeling, like I used to say "Oh my goodness, I am so relaxed around him."
Cat: Uh huh.
Jackie: You know and-
Cat: So he-
Jackie: Yeah and as I got older I studied different things and now he's a saint. They made him a saint immediately.

Pio died in 1968, he was made a saint in 1997. Not exactly what I would call immediately.

And I, I said wow, I said could it be so. You know, um, I knew, I knew about his stigmatas, um, and of course, the public had doubted that.

Ya know, she can't really claim that she's talking about some other Padre Pio.


I got a suspicious e-mail the other day about this case. Hmmmm....

Btw, when writing a transcript do you really need to write out "uh" "um" "ah"? Cause there are a lot of them.

[George152]

Btw, when writing a transcript do you really need to write out "uh" "um" "ah"? Cause there are a lot of them.

You -could- use an icon that's brown in colour and has a wavy feature above for each "uh" "um" "ah"

[sg1985]

I finally found the New York Times Super Bowl predictions:

Jackie Barrett, psychic/medium
PREDICTION
Giants: 21 Patriots: 14

New York, NY

Psychics don't need to read the sports pages to know who will win, Barrett told the Post.

"The Giants are going to win, but it is not going to be easy," she said. "It will not look good at the half, but they will come through big in the final quarters. I keep seeing the number 2, but I'm not sure what it means."

Barrett did offer one caveat: "The Giants will win as long as New England doesn't cheat again."

The Giants won with 17, not 21. Also, can anyone verify the half, quarter finals... stuff. I know nothing about football so I have no idea how to follow the game.

[sg1985]

Additional: In the article they asked four sources who would win the Superbowl, including a magic 8 ball and a camel. 4 out of 5 predicted that the Giants would win. This includes the magic 8 ball and the camel.

[galla]

When you transcribe an interview you can take out the ums and ahs and the natural repetitions that people make. Read some interviews and you'll see that this is usually done, unless the writer is trying to make the interviewee look dull or stupid (which is how those speech mannerisms come across on paper).

Regarding interviewing technique: I wouldn't ask her about anything that could annoy her during the actual interview, and I wouldn't accuse her of getting her facts wrong regarding, for example, when Pio died. If you really want to ask those things, ask them at the end when you have the interview in the bag.

At the end of the interview, ask her if you can email her with follow-up questions "to clarify anything I forgot to ask you, when I'm writing up my notes." This is pretty standard for journalists. In that email, ask for the specific references that you can't seem to find. If she doesn't give satisfactory answers (or gets pissed off and doesn't reply at all), you can write in your article that you could not find evidence of her involvement with America's Most Wanted or her recognition by Yale, etc. and that she did not provide the evidence when asked for it.

[TheClaw]

Wikipedia has an article on SuperBowl XLII between the New York Giants and New England Patriots. On the right side of the article it shows the score by quarter. Consistent with the prediction, the Giants were down 7-3 at halftime.

[Questioninggeller]

Here's some sources:

According to the BBC in 2006 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp/news/news/2006/10/19/37032.shtml):


Seriously. They were being interviewed by Blender magazine, and decided that the New York club Mr Black was probably haunted, and then got Jackie Barrett - who appears to have 'psychic voodoo queen' written on her business card - to try and talk to all the ghosts.

The title from the New York Post in 2007 says it all:


TITLE: TELLING 'REAL' PSYCHICS FROM FAKES IS 'CHALLENGE'
PUBLICATION: New York Post
DATE: Nov 23, 2007
...
That being said, "America's Psychic Challenge" is still more fun than half the junk that passes for entertainment on TV these days, and it's especially tremendous fun tonight, which is of course, everybody's favorite night to kick back, lay on the couch and eat leftovers.

Tonight there are four semi-finalists: Jeff Baker, the psychic gay cabellero from Texas; Michelle Whitedove, the psychic with big hair and a lovely way about her; Lynn Miller, also a very talented psychic who could pass for the bright, perky woman at every cocktail party you've ever gone to; and Jackie Barrett, the dark soul who you've probably never seen at any cocktail party. Ever. A coven, maybe, but a party? The fact that Jackie plays for the other team - the one that plays with black magic - doesn't mean she's not talented. She is. Unpleasant, nasty and seemingly ready to implode and explode at the same time, sure, but also talented.

Tonight the semi-finalists are given several challenges, each more interesting than the next. Look, this show could have turned into dopey parlor tricks and card guessing games, but it didn't. And that gives it legitimacy both as entertainment and as a look into the brains of people who are able to use more than the standard 7.5 percent brainpower we're usually allotted.

First, they must nail where a crew member of the Queen Mary is standing via "remote viewing."

The second challenge, which they all fail, should be the simplest of all: Guessing which guy of four on a ranch is a cowboy. Even Texas Jeff can't shoe that horse.

Finally, they are brought to a bar where a horrific murder occurred. You will be amazed at which psychics blow it and which one is, er, so dead-on that it's a killer.


Source (http://www.nypost.com/seven/11232007/tv/mind_games_65953.htm)

Somewhere I have "America's Psychic Challenge" on tape and all of them, including Jackie, are really bad. Even at the simplest psychic test, they fail.


I'd like Barrett to provide some documentation on her claim here:


Jackie Barrett is the only psychic medium who's work & assistance has been recognized by Federal Agents, Jackie Barrett is the official psychic consultant to the Federal Government.


http://www.jackiebarrett.com/5.html

[sg1985]

Thanks for the links.

I was able to watch America's Psychic Challenge on the net. The show was just pathetic. It saddens me to think that people don't recognize this as an entertainment show and it doesn't prove any of the contestants have any actual psychic powers.

Jackie was particularly annoying in this one. She was so smug. Also, in one of the podcasts that she did she alludes to the winner, Melissa Whitedove (if that's not a woo name then I don't know what is), having help from some of the staff. Nothing like a sore loser.

Anyway, I'm going to conduct an interview with her (hopefully) soon. Not sure how that's going to go down. It can either go two ways; she lets me record the interview and we see what happens or she refuses to let me record, I don't conduct the interview, then she loses her chance to defend herself.

Not that she's going to be able to explain the whole FBI's official psychic nonsense or any of the other ridiculous things that she claims.

[Questioninggeller]

Thanks for the links.

I was able to watch America's Psychic Challenge on the net. The show was just pathetic. It saddens me to think that people don't recognize this as an entertainment show and it doesn't prove any of the contestants have any actual psychic powers.

Jackie was particularly annoying in this one. She was so smug. Also, in one of the podcasts that she did she alludes to the winner, Melissa Whitedove (if that's not a woo name then I don't know what is), having help from some of the staff. Nothing like a sore loser.

Anyway, I'm going to conduct an interview with her (hopefully) soon. Not sure how that's going to go down. It can either go two ways; she lets me record the interview and we see what happens or she refuses to let me record, I don't conduct the interview, then she loses her chance to defend herself.

Not that she's going to be able to explain the whole FBI's official psychic nonsense or any of the other ridiculous things that she claims.

Her claim to have worked for America's Most Wanted is garbage too. They do not use psychics for a variety of reasons.


Moreover, the FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children maintain that to their knowledge, psychic detectives have never helped solve a single missing-person case.

http://skepdic.com/psychdet.html

I'd ask her, specifically, what are the names of those missing persons she claimed to have found? What episode of America's Most Wanted does she claim to appear on?

[sg1985]

I'm certainly going to be asking about specifics lol. All of her claims are that vague. But if they were specific then people could check on it and that would put an end to that very quickly.

I've sent e-mails to every organization that I had enough info about to ask them questions. For some reason I didn't get a lot of responses. I sent a message to the Red Cross, since Jackie has helped raise 1 million dollars for them and received a special award for her tireless efforts, they basically said "We don't know and we're not going to waste our time looking it up." Can't blame them though.

One thing I looked up was her IMDB page. She doesn't have one. How can someone who claims to have been a consultant on every single Voodoo movie ever made not have an IMDB page?

Seriously, when it comes down to it all you need to ask is why haven't you taken the million dollar challenge. Especially with Jackie. She keeps bragging about how much money she's raised to help Hurricane Katrina victims and the like, why not add another million?

[sg1985]

I hadn't been bothering with this article until recently, because quite frankly, I was sick of reading about this woman. But now I have done better than write one article, I have written an entire entry on the SkepticsWiki!

SkepticsWiki: Jackie Barrett (http://skepticwiki.org/index.php/Jackie_barrett)

It's still a work in progress so please let me know if you see typos or anything of that nature. And yeah, it sounds like an opinion piece. I'm working on that but at this point it's pretty hard to be objective.

It feels so good to finally have written all of this down. :D Especially since I did some much research and one article would simply not contain it.

[shayes666]

I'm with you on this one sg1985! Looking forward to seeing the finished and complete report.

I'm part of a research group out here in Colorado, Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society, and we are doing something similar with a local "character" by the name of Chris Moon.

This person claims to work on cold cases with local law enforcement, and he does this via his "Telephone to the Dead". A device (broken am/fm radio) to speak with "spirit technicians" and other departed souls. You can view some of his nonsense here:

http://www.thetelephonetothedead.com/

He also does "readings" with this "telephone". Here's what he charges when he's offering a "deal".

Telephone to the Dead (Frank’s Box) private sessions discounted for a limited time!
Category: Dreams and the Supernatural

For those who haven't seen the Telephone to the Dead (Frank's Box) in action and how I use it please check out this episode of Paranormal State that I had a guest spot on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp00GgB0F-w



I am doing a limited number of private sessions over the phone this week for those who are interested. The prices are as follows:

* 15 minute reading: $90

* 30 minute reading: $180

* 45 minute reading: $260

* 1 hour reading: $300

***optional recording: $50


That's directly from his MySpace blog.

Yeah, I get pretty worked up over these charlatans claiming to work with the police, or any other law enforcement agency when it comes to cold cases. We touch on that a little at this side project site of ours called "Parastupid" http://www.parastupid.com

[sg1985]

Omg, check out the comments that I got on the blog.

Jackie Barrett: Psychic Detective? (http://incoldblogger.blogspot.com/2009/02/jackie-barrett-psychic-detective.html)

Also, I've updated SkepticsWiki: Jackie Barrett (http://skepticwiki.org/index.php/Jackie_barrett) page.

[Skeptic Ginger]

Related but didn't want to start a new thread (someone else can if they want to): "The Closer" (http://www.tnt.tv/series/closer/) episode last night had a psychic detective and they did a great job of debunking the group.