Edward John Primeau

Last updated
Edward John Primeau
Edward John Primeau infobox image.jpeg
Born1958 (age 6566)
Occupation(s)Audio forensics, Forensic video analysis
Years active1979-present [1]
Board member ofAmerican Board of Recorded Evidence, American College of Forensic Examiners, Audio Engineering Society, International Association for Identification
Website www.primeauforensics.com

Edward John Primeau (born 1958) is an American audio and video forensics expert based in Rochester Hills, Michigan. [2] [3] He became known for working on the audio analysis of cases such as the killing of Trayvon Martin, Air Force One radio transmissions after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [ excessive citations ]

Contents

Early life and education

Edward Primeau was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. From 1979 to 1985, he attended the University of Detroit, majoring in communication studies and minoring in criminal justice. [10]

Career

Primeau started his career as a forensics expert in 1979, helping the FBI in its sting operation carried out against Detroit judges. He also notably investigated the death of Terrance Franklin, disproving the police officers' narrative and resolving the case. [1]

In February 2012, Primeau worked on the Trayvon Martin shooting case. Primeau was asked to determine whether the 911 tape showed that Trayvon Martin or George Zimmerman was screaming. He said he believed it was Martin. [11] [12] [13]

In the same year, Primeau was approached by author and JFK assassination researcher Bill Kelly, who wanted technical help in combining two audiotapes of Air Force One radio transmissions. Primeau concluded that parts of the original tape were missing. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [ excessive citations ]

In October 2013, Primeau was hired by an Orlando Sentinel journalist to analyze the voice of Susan Bennett, an American voice-over artist, known for providing the female American voice of Apple's Siri. After finishing his analysis, and the comparison of the Siri voice and Bennett's, he claimed the voices were a 100% match, thus confirming Bennett provided her voice for Siri. [23] [24] [25]

In 2014, he was working on the case of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Primeau concluded that tape edits were obviously made. [26] [27] [28] Primeau was asked by CNN to analyze tapes made by Trump attorney Michael Cohen. This included a three-minute conversation of Cohen with Trump regarding payments made to a Playboy model. [29]

Primeau has also been quoted as a notable expert on differentiating & authenticating real audios from generative AI which has proliferated every field, including the legal domain. [30] [31]

Bibliography

Primeau is the author of one self-published book on audio forensics:

Documentaries and TV

Primeau made appearances in the following TV shows and documentaries: [32]

Related Research Articles

Voice analysis is the study of speech sounds for purposes other than linguistic content, such as in speech recognition. Such studies include mostly medical analysis of the voice (phoniatrics), but also speaker identification. More controversially, some believe that the truthfulness or emotional state of speakers can be determined using voice stress analysis or layered voice analysis.

Richard Martin Cohen is an American writer best known for his syndicated column in The Washington Post, which he wrote from 1976 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederica Wilson</span> American politician (born 1942)

Frederica Smith Wilson is an American politician who has been a member of the United States House of Representatives since 2011, representing Florida's 24th congressional district. Located in South Florida, Wilson's congressional district, numbered 17th during her first term, covers a large swath of eastern Miami-Dade County and a sliver of southern Broward County. The district contains most of Miami's majority-black precincts, as well as parts of Opa-locka, North Miami, Hollywood, and Miramar. Wilson gained national attention in 2012 for her comments on the death of Trayvon Martin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Corey</span> American attorney

Angela Corey is a former Florida State's Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court, which includes Duval, Nassau and Clay counties—including Jacksonville and the core of its metropolitan area. She was elected in 2008 as the first woman to hold the position, and was defeated on August 30, 2016, by Melissa Nelson, the second woman to hold the position. Corey was catapulted into the national spotlight on March 22, 2012, when Florida Governor Rick Scott announced that she would be the newly assigned State Attorney investigating the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siri</span> Software-based personal assistant from Apple Inc.

Siri is the digital assistant that is part of Apple Inc., including iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, audioOS, and visionOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of Internet services. With continued use, it adapts to users' individual language usages, searches, and preferences, returning individualized results.

Voice stress analysis (VSA) and computer voice stress analysis (CVSA) are collectively a pseudoscientific technology that aims to infer deception from stress measured in the voice. The CVSA records the human voice using a microphone, and the technology is based on the tenet that the non-verbal, low-frequency content of the voice conveys information about the physiological and psychological state of the speaker. Typically utilized in investigative settings, the technology aims to differentiate between stressed and non-stressed outputs in response to stimuli, with high stress seen as an indication of deception.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Trayvon Martin</span> 2012 killing of teenager in Sanford, Florida

On the evening of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American, who was visiting his father.

George Michael Zimmerman is an American man who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American teenager, in Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012. On July 13, 2013, he was acquitted of second-degree murder in Florida v. George Zimmerman. After his acquittal, Zimmerman was the target of a shooting. The perpetrator was convicted of attempted murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanford Police Department</span> Law enforcement agency in Florida, U.S.

The Sanford Police Department is a police agency in Sanford, the county seat of Seminole County, Florida. It employs 140 sworn police officers alongside 24 other employees, and Police Chief Smith. Prior to Chief Smith, Richard Myers was the Interim Police Chief. Myers is the former Chief of Police in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Appleton, Wisconsin. In March 2012, Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee took a temporary leave of absence during the department's investigation of the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin, and Captain Darren Scott was named acting chief of police. Myers took over from Scott in May 2012. In April 2013, Former Elgin, Illinois Deputy Police Chief Cecil Smith took over as the department's chief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trayvon Martin</span> American teenager killed in a shooting (1995–2012)

Trayvon Benjamin Martin was a 17-year-old African-American from Miami Gardens, Florida, who was fatally shot in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Hispanic American. Martin had accompanied his father to visit his father's fiancée at her townhouse at The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford. On the evening of February 26, Martin was walking back to the fiancée's house from a nearby convenience store. Zimmerman, a member of the community watch, saw Martin and reported him to the Sanford Police as suspicious. Several minutes later, an altercation happened and Zimmerman fatally shot Martin in the chest.

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References

  1. 1 2 Karl Vick; Josiah Bates (June 25, 2021). "Minneapolis Police Were Cleared in the 2013 Killing of Terrance Franklin. A Video Complicates the Story—and Now the Case May Be Reopened". TIME.
  2. "Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey on November 11, 2013 · Page A7". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  3. "The 8 Best Dash Cams Keep Everyone Honest After an Accident". Popular Mechanics. October 11, 2023.
  4. Peitzman, Louis. "Forensic Experts Say Screams on 911 Call Are Not George Zimmerman's". Gawker.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  5. "Trayvon Martin: Expert Says Screams On 911 Call Were Not George Zimmerman's - Inquisitr". Inquisitr.com. 16 June 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  6. Memmott, Mark (2 April 2012). "Trayvon Martin Case: Voice Calling For Help Isn't Zimmerman's, Experts Say". Npr.org. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  7. "Film uses virtual reality to reenact Trayvon's murder". Sfltimes.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  8. Ram, Alessandra. "Sandra Bland's Arrest Footage Shows How Fallible Video Can Be". Wired. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  9. "How can the death of an IS hostage be verified?". Bbc.com. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  10. "Ed Primeau - Biography". IMDb.
  11. Caulfield, Philip. "Trayvon Martin case: Screams on 911 tape aren't George Zimmerman's: experts". Nydailynews.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  12. "Voice experts say 911 tape supports Trayvon Martin". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  13. "Prosecutor: Account that he, police chief opted not to arrest Martin's shooter a 'lie'". Cnn.com. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  14. "Audio expert weighs in on new tapes that are said to be Warren Mayor Fouts". YouTube . Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  15. Rubin, Neal. "Rubin: Expert says poisoned tongue is likely Fouts". The Detroit News . Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  16. Terry, Nicquel. "Fouts denies making crude comments on new recordings". The Detroit News . Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  17. Rubin, Neal. "Rubin: Fouts' explanation is more absurd than the tapes". The Detroit News . Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  18. Hutchinson, Rod Meloni, Derick (18 January 2017). "Warren Mayor Jim Fouts faces heat for audio scandal, methods for raising campaign money". Clickondetroit.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. "Fouts' Offensive Recording Was Not Doctored As He Claims, Voice Experts Says". Deadlinedetroit.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  20. "Listen to newly found Air Force One tapes of day JFK was assassinated". Thelead.blogs.cnn.com. Archived from the original on November 15, 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  21. Hinds, Julie. "Echoes of history heard in JFK Air Force One tapes". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  22. "Echoes of history: Tapes tell story of JFK assassination". Thegazette.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  23. Jessica Ravitz (4 October 2013). "'I'm the original voice of Siri'". Cnn.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  24. Scolforo, Mark (27 March 2015). "Recording video grows in use as feature of police stun guns". Mcall.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  25. Kevin Roderick. "LA Times still says Ted Rall got facts wrong, he still disagrees". Laobserved.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  26. "Missing Jet Recordings May Have Been 'Edited': Experts". Nbcnews.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  27. Melin, Mark (2 May 2014). "Missing Malaysian Airplane's Tapes Were Edited: NBC". Valuewalk.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  28. Kelley, Michael B. "Audio Experts Think The Missing Malaysia Jet Recordings Were Edited". Businessinsider.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  29. Cohen, Marshall. "Audio expert analyzes secret Trump-Cohen tape". Cnn.com. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  30. "Court reporters are fighting back against generative AI".
  31. "Detroit Free Press". www.freep.com.
  32. "Ed Primeau | Actor". IMDb.