Chris Gugas Sr.; Administered Over 40,000 Lie-Detector Tests

Chris Gugas Sr. created the National Board of Polygraph Examiners and wrote two books. (Family Photo)

Chris Gugas Sr., 86, whose career as a leading polygraph expert uncovered whether the famous and the anonymous were telling the truth, died Oct. 20 of congestive heart failure at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital. He had lived in Fairfax County since 1997.

Mr. Gugas founded three polygraph organizations, administered more than 40,000 tests around the world and testified in hundreds of court cases. He examined or investigated cases involving fugitive financier Robert Vesco, reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes and the former owners of the house that became the focus of the film "The Amityville Horror."

He also conducted polygraph exams for the syndicated pilot program "The Truth With Jack Anderson," including two of James Earl Ray, who was convicted of killing the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He had first confessed and then recanted, claiming his innocence.

Mr. Gugas was living in Los Angeles in 1977 when Anderson, then a Washington investigative columnist, asked him to examine Ray for his television show.

Ray's declaration of innocence was a lie, Mr. Gugas told the Omaha World-Herald in 1998 soon after Ray's death. Ray had failed an earlier test given by another expert, and his new attorney hoped the new exams would clear Ray. But during the 1977 sessions at Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex in Tennessee, Ray botched the two polygraph tests administrated by Mr. Gugas, the expert said.

"He was the most nervous guy I ever had," Mr. Gugas said. "He was shaking in the chair. His hands were very sweaty. Every time he shook his head, it was slimy wet. I had to give him something to eat and give him an hour's bed rest before I could polygraph him."

Mr. Gugas told the newspaper that there was no doubt in his mind that Ray killed King.

"When I asked Ray if he had killed Martin Luther King Jr., he said 'No,' " Mr. Gugas recalled in the newspaper interview. "His blood pressure went up, his heart rate went up and his breathing was shallow, all of which are indicative of lying."

During the polygraph exams, Mr. Gugas recalled, Ray asked him, "How am I doing?" He said he replied, "Not so good."

He recalled that Ray's response was, "You win some, you lose some." Mr. Gugas said he then remarked, "Well, you lost a big one."

Mr. Gugas, a native of Omaha, became interested in criminology and security in 1940 and soon began making polygraphs his area of expertise. In the 1950s, he demonstrated a rudimentary machine on one of Groucho Marx's television shows.

During World War II, Mr. Gugas fought in combat in the Pacific and rose to the rank of major.