Charges in balloon case not expected this week

updated 9:21 p.m. ET Oct. 19, 2009

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Investigators pored over e-mails, phone records and financial documents from the home of Richard Heene on Monday as they weighed felony charges and sought to determine who else might have helped the alleged balloon-boy hoax get off the ground.

The sheriff's office said its findings will be forwarded to prosecutors next week to decide if Richard and Mayumi Heene should be charged with falsely reporting that their 6-year-old child had drifted away in a large home-built helium balloon to drum up publicity for a reality TV show.

But the investigation could reach beyond the Heenes, possibly into the world of reality-show promotions.

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said documents show that a media outlet had agreed to pay the Heenes. Alderden did not name the organization but said it was in an industry that blurs "the line between entertainment and news."

It was not clear whether the deal was signed before or after the alleged hoax, or whether the media outlet was a possible conspirator. If so, the organization could face charges as well.

Recreating Roswell
The Heenes are amateur storm chasers who apparently wanted to star in a reality show that focused on a range of absurd experiments, such as attracting UFOs with a weather balloon, launching a model rocket into space and conducting an electromagnetic analysis of a terminally ill patient's spirit before death.

Robert Thomas, a collaborator who worked with Richard Heene on the idea, provided an e-mail to the Web site Gawker.com outlining his plan for the show. The sheriff's department questioned Thomas on Sunday night after he revealed that Heene was planning a media stunt to promote the show, according to the researcher's lawyer, Linda Lee.

Thomas' notes include Heene discussing a hoax — which Thomas opposed — that involved a hot air balloon, Lee said.

"Pretty much he wanted to recreate this Roswell effect making it seem like there's a UFO," Lee said. In 1947, the U.S. military said a weather balloon crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, in the desert, but legends persist that it was a UFO.

David Zalubowski / AP Richard Heene leads his sons Falcon, center, and Ryo out of their home in Fort Collins, Colo., on Sunday.

"Heene believes the world is going to end in 2012," she said. "Because of that, he wanted to make money quickly, become rich enough to build a bunker or something underground, where he can be safe from the sun exploding."

Lee said her client worked with Heene from March until May.

Thomas told investigators what he observed about the couple and "intimate details about their home life," Lee said. "He noticed things that were definitely not right. ... Some of the things are kind of shocking that Mr. Heene did, but we're not going to discuss specifics," Lee said.

Lee said investigators told her Thomas does not face charges and is not a person of interest in the case. However, she said she is seeking immunity for him before he turns over documents and e-mails with Heene, "just to be safe." Thomas has said he had no idea that a possible hoax would involve the Heene children.

Public spectacle
With television cameras and reporters set up outside the Heene home, defense lawyer David Lane stressed that the Heenes are willing to turn themselves in to avoid the spectacle of a public arrest.

Lane declined to say directly whether he believes the incident was a hoax but said the Heenes are innocent unless convicted. The Heenes remained holed up in their home until midafternoon, when they left in a pickup truck without commenting.

If prosecutors "can prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, that's one thing. If they can't prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, that's another," Lane told The Associated Press.

Mayumi Heene retained her own lawyer, signaling the family is gearing up for a legal fight. The lawyer, Lee Christian, declined to comment on whether the couple still maintains they thought their son was in the balloon.

"I've got to see what the charges are before I can comment on the facts of the case," he said.

Alderden said the children were still with the parents and that child protective services had been contacted to investigate their well-being. Christian said neither he nor his client has been contacted by authorities about whether the couple's children might be taken from them.

Christian said it's routine for a couple to have separate lawyers if each might face criminal charges.

Lee said based on what Thomas has said about the couple, she hoped Mayumi Heene would not be charged.

"I think if Mr. Heene had it in his mind to do something, I just don't think she would have enough strength to stand up against him," Lee said.

MORE FROM LIFE

Life Section Front

Iraqi refugees move to Mich. despite economy U.S.: Three Mile Island radiation not significant Jackson’s doctor returning to work Monday Doubts about earrings tied to Mrs. Lincoln Car strikes crowd outside Ala. school; 1 killed 4 injured in San Francisco cable car accident Life Section Front   Add Life headlines to your news reader: