I'll admit that I did and when I told him, he didn't bat an eye, in fact he was glad that I did because it only confirmed the things he had told me :)

Did any of you do a background check or some sort of investigating to find out if your loved one was telling you the truth??

I knew mine before he went in but we hadn't seen each other in 12 years. I feel I did my "due diligence" when we strated getting serious. Obviously, I looked for his charges and his sentence, then I ran a credit report on him, and did the whole googling for pen pal ads....I pretty much told him what I was doing and he said he wouldn't expect any less. He said he didn't have anything to hide so I could feel free to dig away! There's even been something that came up recently and he said, if I were you, do what you can to verify that ..... he said, I would if I were you. He knows I stand to lose a lot if he were to be a player so he wants me to be absolutely sure that I trust him.

Because of the nature of our situation (me being reporting on him) I investigated the whole thing to the nth degree, talked to all kinds of people about him.

Although I knew my honey before he went in, his original charges are from BEFORE we met. I did check out his story though.....it's just human nature

thats a very good question.... i sure did... i went on this website that i had used for other things and pulled up every last thing on him... didn't want it to look like i didn't believe him, but i want to make sure what i am looking at as well... i don't want something poppin up later and me like... OMG !!! i already told my huney about it and he was cool with it....

I checked out his charges but that's about it. The more he trusts me, the more he's let me in on his past. Once my man gets going it's hard to shut him up so I just let him explain things in his own way.

I did a google search on him, but thats it. Found the state's side of his case,and that was brutal to read. He's told me everything about the case, and I believe him

To be honest, I told Sebastian I had no interest in his charge(s) past or present. I wasn't viewing this as a precursor to a relationship at the time I was just supporting and finding friendship with a human being who happened to be incarcerated. He was adamant that I should know everything and he told me about his life...

Soon after, he asked a favor of me. He wanted me to see if I could find a file about a case he had caught with a friend, the favor was actually for his friend but the "file" a public court document actually laid everything out in black and white, EXACTLY as he had told me. While I did not go in search of the info on my own it was there and no surprises as we'd discussed it before hand.

Patty

The only thing I did was soon after we met I looked him on the DOC websit to see his crimes...that is it, everything else I learned from him. I didn't have the desire to read up on the "case", it i guess it really didn't matter to me one way or the other.

Staci

After I sent him the first letter I checked out the DOC site. But that was out of pure boredom of waiting for the first letter to arrive. And yes, I told him that I looked him up out of curiousity. He took it really well.

I DID AND I TOLD HIM AFTERWARDS. HE WASN'T MAD AT ME BECAUSE HE UNDERSTOOD AND EVERYTHING I FOUND WAS JUST AS HE SAID.

Yes, a family friend had a friend that worked for the board and I asked her how much time he had left, what he was in for, etc. What he told me lined up w/ what the person at the board said. This let me know that at least, he did not appear to be a liar. :-)

My uncle's 2nd wife's daughter was/is a probation officer and I asked her advice about whether or not I should be in contact w/ someone that I did not know prior to prison. she infomred me that you have to make that decision and get to know the person for who he is and just that he's in prison, doesn't mean that he's a bad person and all free people aren't the best/greatest. I trusted her judgement, since she worked in this field for years and truly understands the minds of those that had been incarcerated. I think she feels this way b/c she sees the bull crap, unfairness and real deal of the penal/legal system.

I didnt care about what he was in there for, so no, i didnt check him out. He had told me what he was in there for and his mum had confirmed everything that he had said.
A couple of years ago, he asked me to look his case up here on the net for him... court transcripts. Everything it said was exactly how he had said it went... There werent any surprises.

I did went to the court house and all. :) He knew and didnt have a problem. Everything I found out I already knew so nothing was a surprise.

I knew about everything before I met him and he was also very open and honest about why he was there from day one. He has been consistent every since and when we got married I was shown his record, why he was there. I also have all of his court papers and personal documents here in my house. He also told me to check DOCS to see exactly if he was telling me the truth, LOL.

I suggest that any woman should find out about the man's past before getting deeply involved, WITH ANYONE, not just a man in prison ;)

Yes I did, I worked there so I was able to get into inmate records and look for myself at everything. Also I look all through his medical records. Then I told him what i had done. expecting that he would be somewhat upset. He didn't care at all. He just said so now you know I am clean and have told you the truth.

Oh, I forgot I did that to. It was coincidental, I didn't go looking for his packet, it kind of just fell in my lap. Not to say I wouldn't have eventually though..when I told him I had done it he didn't trip, all he said was I knew you would, and I had nothing to hide...which was true.

Staci

Not to any degree. I did check out the DOC site which confirmed what he had told me about his charges both here and in the other state.

He also that first letter gave me his parents address and phone number and told me I could contact them and ask them anything, that they would not cover up a thing for him.

Then as time went on, he sent me paperwork confirming what all he had told me. I never doubted him for an instant.

After I sent my first letter I checked out the DOC site. That's it. He told me everything about the case. He knows that I can get every casefile and transcript through his family, but I don't need to know the case in detail. It's been almost 23 years since his dumb moment. I do not want to rub it in some more with going behind his back for info on him.
But I know, sometimes it's better to check.

I did look on the Illinois DOC website. They don't tell you too much, just the basics that I already knew. I tried to do a search, to no avail.

As embarressing as it is to say, I did do my little "check up" on him.His charges were exactly as he said they were.

Yes, I did and found out he was telling me the truth.....The rest is History!

I'm all for having faith and trust, but I don't believe in being stupid. I checked up on mine, did the research and even got court records. Not hoping to catch him in a lie, but if the relationship starts out with dishonesty its going to end the same way.

I told him I checked up on him, and he didn't have a problem with it.

I did the same thing with google:) I knew mine before he went in but we hadn't seen each other in 12 years. I feel I did my "due diligence" when we strated getting serious. Obviously, I looked for his charges and his sentence, then I ran a credit report on him, and did the whole googling for pen pal ads....I pretty much told him what I was doing and he said he wouldn't expect any less. He said he didn't have anything to hide so I could feel free to dig away! There's even been something that came up recently and he said, if I were you, do what you can to verify that ..... he said, I would if I were you. He knows I stand to lose a lot if he were to be a player so he wants me to be absolutely sure that I trust him.

To be honest, I told Sebastian I had no interest in his charge(s) past or present. I wasn't viewing this as a precursor to a relationship at the time I was just supporting and finding friendship with a human being who happened to be incarcerated. He was adamant that I should know everything and he told me about his life...

Soon after, he asked a favor of me. He wanted me to see if I could find a file about a case he had caught with a friend, the favor was actually for his friend but the "file" a public court document actually laid everything out in black and white, EXACTLY as he had told me. While I did not go in search of the info on my own it was there and no surprises as we'd discussed it before hand.

Patty


I forgot to mention that it was while doing this favor for him that I stumbled upon PTO!!!

To be honest, I told Sebastian I had no interest in his charge(s) past or present. I wasn't viewing this as a precursor to a relationship at the time I was just supporting and finding friendship with a human being who happened to be incarcerated. He was adamant that I should know everything and he told me about his life...

Soon after, he asked a favor of me. He wanted me to see if I could find a file about a case he had caught with a friend, the favor was actually for his friend but the "file" a public court document actually laid everything out in black and white, EXACTLY as he had told me. While I did not go in search of the info on my own it was there and no surprises as we'd discussed it before hand.

Patty
I am with patty i did not care what charges he had and he is very honest and open with what he did if i want to know something the guards where he is will tell me. I really do not care what he did he is still a person reguardless.

No, I haven't. Not really. I have checked the TDCJ inmate locator because he could be transferred any day, but that is it.

I didn't care about his charges before I wrote him. Before long, he sent me copies of a lot of his legal papers. I was confused about some things as his ex has told me lies about it. Turns out she didn't know a thing about it, just wanted to hurt us. I have talked to others who knew about his case and everything checked out as he said.

His detailed charges on the state site so I seen them and read over them, he told me about why he is there and what he did and why he did the things he did. He has been really open with me, he has given me more than enough information on all of it. It hasn't swayed the way I feel for him at all. I truly believe after knowing all about it all his charges make him sound worse than it really was. From what I see he has changed a lot since being there and becoming a man.

I did check too. We discussed my concerns and I'm fine with the outcome. He sent me copies of all his legal issues to confirm what he told me.

I never did. I had read all of his court documents and that was more than enough for me. I did not want to read how the media portrayed him.

i keep thinking about this question if i have to investigate someone then i do not need them if they can not tell me the truth from there own mouth then i do not need them. i have been thinking about thise question for a few days.

i worked there so i look up his card to find out what he had done and l look up to see who was on his visitation list and alll, check into anything i could, i told him and he just asked does that matter. And then he told me everything and what had happened.

yep sure did, even did a backgorund check on his family,

Yes I did I went downtown to the courthouse got the trial records it wasn't a pretty site but had to find out he told me the truth but when I seen it omg I try not to think about it......

Yes I googled him and read all the newspaper articles about him. I also looked up his priors in the clerks office online.

Yes I did and found out exactly what he had already told me and I advised him that I did and he was not mad at all..I actually brought up all of the charges from NC and he was like..I forgot about those things ( haha) ..they were driving infractions..but I am glad that everything he ever told me was the truth..I never thought he was lying anyway..I love this man :)

Yes, I did...

To be honest, I told Sebastian I had no interest in his charge(s) past or present. I wasn't viewing this as a precursor to a relationship at the time I was just supporting and finding friendship with a human being who happened to be incarcerated.
That's it right there.

When the counselor showed me the black and white (his record), I didn't even read it, just flipped through the pages. That's because my interest didn't lay in whats in black and white but instead in what's inside of him. Can't no report show me that -- only getting to know him up close and personal on a one on one basis can show me that, because once I learned about what was going on inside of him, THAT would help me to understand WHY ALL THE BLACK AND WHITE ANYWAY?!?!?! From the point of learning about him, we could begin to fix some of that black and white. Can't make it go away, but we sure could work toward STOPPING the pages from accumulatiing.

After his first letter to me (he wrote me first) I looked up his conviction. I told him I did but that didn't really matter to me. He told me his side of the story and I trust him. Thought about doing a background check but I don't need to know all the mistakes he's made in his life. When he's ready he will tell me.

Yes, but not to see if he was telling the truth. He has always been honest about such things.

It wasn't easy because it was murder, but I knew all about it a long time before we ever became friends.

I was working on a project related to his case... He had his lawyer share everything with me, all the police interview tapes, everything.

I think I know more about the crime than he does!

But it makes me feel better knowing it all and going into our friendship with my eyes wide open. He prefers it that way too.

My "looking into" Deon had nothing to do with his charges, I knew all about those because I worked at the jail.

My concern was with him as a person. I found out as much as could from his family, friends, even the ex-girlfriends. Everyone spoke so highly of him. He's the type to give you the shirt off of his back. The ex's think so highly of him if he would have them back, they would come running arms wide opened................NOT!

Yes, I did, I pulled his criminal record and he knew from the get-go. He was fine with it...and he hides nothing from me

i looked up everything i could, from his prison record to his medical record all the way to his cooking habits. and i talked to everyone that knew him about him, and i'm happy with the results lol :)

I've tried googling my imnotsurewhatheis and I can't find anything. I looked him up on his home county's website but other than the actual charges, there was no information given. He mentioned in passing that it was a rather well publicized trial so I'm surprised that his name doesn't bring anything up.

He told me in his first letter everything he was charged with. I never doubted he was telling me the truth. Then when we applied to get married I had to see the social worker at the prison and she showed me all of his charges and they were exactly what he told me.