Friday, February 6, 2004 -- 1:02 PM

The witness, who discovered the victim's body, was interviewed a second time by the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department. The interview was conducted by Detectives Armstrong and Murphy and was recorded on a portable tape recorder with the witness' knowledge and consent.

SM:  Thank you for talking to us again, Mr. Lamar. We really appreciate it.

BL:  Sure. I don't know how else I can help, I mean, I told you everything the first time we spoke. So I don't know why you would need me again. But yeah, I'll do what I can.

SM:  Please state your name and address.

BL:  I'm Bill Lamar. I'm staying with my mom at 638 North Lamar, here in Oxford, Mississippi.

SM:  And your occupation?

BL:  I'm a student and I also work for Lamar Cosmetics.

TA:  You know, Bill, after we talked last time, I got to thinking about Europe. I've always wanted to go to England. What should I see there?

BL:  I'd start in London and just work my way out. It depends on the amount of time you have for your visit. Some things that I'd recommend require a bit of travel. Like Stonehenge. It's great and I love it, but it really takes an entire day to get out there. So start in London, do the things there like Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London. Then, as your time and budget allows, just expand out from there.

SM:  Mr. Lamar, why do you think we wanted to talk to you again?

BL:  I'm really clueless about that. I mean, I know you're investigating Barbara's murder. You took those samples and everything, so I don't know what more you want from me. We've already talked once.

TA:  Do you think that there is anything connected to you that we might have uncovered during our investigation? 

BL:  What is that supposed to mean?  I don't know what you might have found. Am I under arrest or something here?

SM:  No, you're not under arrest. We just wanted to talk to you again about some more information we've received.

BL:  Well, let's get on with it then.

SM:  Could you describe your relationship with Barbara Dubois?

BL:  I told you before. I didn't really have a relationship with her. We dated in high school, but that was it. We hadn't spoken in years. It was just kid stuff.

TA:  Are you sure about that?  Just kid stuff?

BL:  Yes, I'm sure.

SM:  We've had some witnesses make it sound like there might be more than just kids dating between you and Barbara. Some people have described it as true love. That people could see it in your eyes.

BL:  I'm not really interested in sitting here listening to small town gossip. I mean, I want to help you guys, I really do. But this is starting to feel like you suspect me or something--

SM:  We are still investigating this case. We don't have an official suspect yet.

BL:  Either way. This is uncomfortable for me. And if the best you have done is come up with small town rumors, then I'm worried if this case will be solved.

TA:  Can you just answer the question?  What was the true nature of your relationship with Barbara Dubois?  I certainly dated girls in high school -- that was just kid stuff. But no one later said that it was true love and that people could sense our attraction when we gazed into each other's eyes.

BL:  That's really all there was. I mean, yeah, we had some serious chemistry. And to a degree, I don't guess that type of chemistry is found often in life. But that doesn't mean we had a relationship.

SM:  Had you talked to Barbara any in the recent past?

BL:  No. I hadn't. That's what's so infuriating about this whole thing. Now I remember exactly why I left this damn town. I live on another freaking continent!  There's 5,000 miles between us and we had not spoken in years, and yet people around here still have to run their mouths. That's all there is to it. You're wasting time investigating small town, nosy, big mouths.

TA:  How did you and Barbara end your relationship?

BL:  Barbara ended it. Mom had talked to some people -- including Barbara's mother -- and found out that Barbara didn't want to see me anymore. She said Barbara was going away to school. My mom offered to send me to Europe. I took her up on it. I was hurt, but I understood. We weren't silly enough to try the long-distance thing. We were both practical people.

SM: Did Barbara -- or anyone else -- ever tell you why she ended it?

BL: No, but I assumed she just wanted to move on.

TA: So you never got closure.

BL: No, but big deal. So we broke up. Did I cry a lot over that girl?  Absolutely. Is that what you want to hear?  It was hard. But it was the only way. Besides, how much of this was really some relationship defined by fate and how much was just us making things up?

SM:  I'm not sure I understand what you mean.

BL:  Look, I'll agree that there are some relationships that seem to have been pre-defined by fate or God or whatever. There are couples you see that are just meant to be together. I'll grant you that. But at the same time, isn't it a natural part of growing up that you think all of your relationships are like that?  Isn't that just part of being a teenager?  Every girl you've ever seen becomes Juliet and you're Romeo in some cosmic struggle. All the songs on the radio were written for you and all the movies give you ideas on how to get the love of your life back. But as you grow up, don't you begin to look back and realize that it was just kid stuff. Does that make sense?

SM:  Yes, I see what you mean.

BL:  I mean, at the time?  Hell yeah, I thought our relationship was a matter of life and death. I probably acted all tormented and tortured and all that artistic stuff. But looking back, I realize it was just high school.

TA: Even though your business associates in Europe said you still carried her picture?

SM: And even though your artist friends in Paris said you painted her picture?

BL:  How did they know? They never saw those! 

SM: But you did do those things, didn't you?

BL:  How did--

SM: We're good guessers. It's our job.

TA: And the fact that the uniformed officers found you cradling Ms. Dubois body and crying just convinces us even more. Your scream woke people at the other end of the floor, you know that, Bill? So let's quit lying, shall we? 

SM:  Let's go back to the night of the murder.

TA:  Do you have any problem talking about that night?

BL:  No. Look, I hope you don't take what I said earlier the wrong way. I'm not worried about anything. I want to help you guys. Let's find out whoever did this. I mean, grill me all you want. I've got nothing to hide and, if I have to go through some discomfort to help you find the killer, then so be it.

SM:  Let's just discuss some of the people that were around the hotel on the night of the murder. We'll throw out some names and you tell us what you think, or what interactions you had with them. How about Ingrid Freeman?

BL:  I bumped into her a couple of times. I was trying to avoid her, quite frankly. She's been pestering me to help her with some stupid business she's trying to get going. She's been after me for some time--

TA:  After you in what way?

BL:  She likes me. We were friends for a bit, and a couple of times we sort of went out back in high school. But I never really liked her that much. I mean, she was okay to hang out with on occasion and she's certainly a good-looking girl, but I could never date her seriously. She used to send me all kinds of letters and stuff in Europe, but I never answered her.

SM:  Keep in mind that we're examining everyone right now so you shouldn't take any of this to mean that any one person is a suspect. But hypothetically speaking, could Ingrid have had anything to do with Barbara's death?

BL:  That's awfully hard to answer. I can't imagine that she would. But she is often competitive to the point of obsession. And she really detested Barbara's success. I always thought that was one of the reasons she was so interested in me, just to try to beat Barbara somehow. Lord, I can't imagine her actually hurting Barbara, but you never know. The venom that came through her voice whenever she talked about Barbara...  I just don't know.

SM:  What about Scarlett Webb?

BL:  Scarlett wants out. Plain and simple. She wants away from here. This is a small town and most people remain around here. It's rare for someone to go so far away to school. So I think in a way, she looked up to me. She almost admired what I did by leaving. It would be hard for me to imagine her hurting Barbara simply because that would jeopardize her escape. I mean, on one hand, she desperately wanted to win the pageant and work her way up to Miss America. That was her ticket out. Listening to her was like listening to these kids who want to escape the projects by playing basketball. Winning the pageant was all she could think of because it was the only method of escaping Oxford and her mother. But hurting Barbara would certainly be a huge risk in that plan.

TA:  You mentioned her mom. What about Erma Webb?

BL:  I don't really know that much about her except the fact that everyone hates her. She's just a bitch. She would reach over right now and straighten your tie. She would tell a judge how to count up their scores. She thinks she rules the world. But I haven't really had that many personal encounters with her.

SM:  Do you know Denny Buchanan?

BL:  Now there's a jerk you guys should talk to!  He'd be at the top of my list. Punk.

TA:  Did you see him the night of the murder?

BL:  Yeah.

SM:  I don't believe you mentioned that to us the first time we spoke.

BL:  Well, I'm sorry. I guess I was embarrassed by some things. Maybe threatened and scared to be talking to cops and all. But I don't care now.

TA:  So tell us what happened?

BL:  We ran into each other in the hotel around 11:30 that night. He had been eyeing me all night and I didn't like it. I had never liked that jerk and so I was already on edge from his hard looks. So when I saw him, it didn't take much to set me off. We tussled in the hallway--

SM:  You guys were fighting?

BL:  Honest?  I'd love to be all tough and cool and Clint Eastwood, but you know how it is in real life. There aren't any roundhouse punches to the jaw. Just goofy guys wrestling and rolling around. Nothing heroic about it. I guess you could say I won. I did get in a couple of decent punches when we were on the ground. And Buchanan fights like a girl. We finally broke it off, but he kept talking about how he and Barbara had plans. He just kept saying, "You'll see. You just wait. Me and Barbara are going to give you something to cry about."  He's always been a loudmouth so I just laughed it off. I mean, he was pathetic. Standing there ranting in the hallway. I had burned off all my energy so I just turned around and left. I walked away.

SM:  Did you see him again the rest of the night?

BL:  No. But I don't remember too much of the rest of that night anyway. Like I told you, I adjourned to the bar and proceeded to get good and numb.

SM: Over the loss of a girl you didn't love any more?

BL: Point taken, Detective. Maybe partly that, but there were a lot of things. My mother can drive anyone to drink when she's wound up.

SM: And she was wound up that night?

BL: You could say that.

TA: And what had her so wound up?

BL: Anything. Everything. She was stressed out about the pageant, stressed out about business, just pretty much stressed out in general.

SM: You talked to her that night. You can't say more specifically than that?

BL: To be honest, I've learned to pretty much tune her out when she gets like that. It's the only way to get through it without slugging her.

SM: You'd slug your own mother?

BL: Metaphorically speaking, Detective.  Of course, I'd never hit my mother. I might want to, but I would never do it.

TA: What else have you conveniently forgotten to tell us?

BL: Just wait a minute, I'm telling you the truth.

TA: How about the whole truth? Did you find Barbara later that night?

BL: I told you, no.

TA: But you didn't tell us you tried to get her room number. The manager thought you would tear him apart if he said no. Was that because Barbara had no effect on you?

BL:  I don't know what I was thinking. I just wanted to talk to her. I wanted some answers.

SM: As to why she was staring at you at the banquet? We talk to a lot of people, Mr. Lamar. They notice things.

BL: I wanted to talk to her. I tried to get her number--

TA: Over the phone.

BL: Yeah. Then I went to the desk and got it. Then I went to her room, but she didn't answer. That's when I ran into Buchanan and we had our little altercation.

TA: Gotta say, Bill, this doesn't look good. Just too many lies and omissions.

BL: I know. But I could never have hurt Barbara.

TA: Even for dumping you, with no notice, for trashing your dream love?

BL: Even for that.

SM:  Let's move on. Please don't take this wrong way, but we have to ask this question--

BL:  I told you. I want to help. Ask anything.

SM:  What about your mother?

BL:  Surely you can't think she would want Barbara dead. That's ridiculous.

TA:  Can you tell us again about when you saw your mother on the night of the murder?

BL:  Yeah, but I think that's a waste of your time. I'd spend more time researching other avenues. But anyway, as I told you the first time, Mom grabbed me after the photo shoot. Around 10:30 or so. We did some work until about 11:00 when I got a call from Paris. I went back to my room for the call. I ran into Mom around midnight or so. We chatted for a bit about my call and what time we were going to meet for breakfast. Then she went back to her room.

SM:  Did you walk her to her room?

BL:  Yes. I walked with her back to her room and then I headed to the lounge. I think she was probably in her room around ten after 12:00.

TA:  Did you see your mother the rest of the night?

BL:  No. I'm sure she went straight to sleep. She works a lot and has a lot of energy. But when she gets tired, you'd better stay out of the way. She's going to sleep and she's going to sleep this minute. So I'm sure she crashed.

SM:  Your mother was a bit vague on why you came back for the pageant. What brought you back into town?

BL:  Well, I didn't say anything the first time we spoke. But the fact is that I got this letter. It was postmarked from Memphis and it didn't have any signature or return address. It just said that there was something important for me at the pageant. That it was imperative that I be there. It was really weird. So I came home--

SM:  Do you still have this letter?

BL:  Of course. Not on me. But I can get it for you.

TA:  Why didn't you tell us this before?

BL:  I don't know. Like I said, I was nervous. I was confused. You guys do this all the time, but it's not like I make it a habit to be interviewed by detectives in a homicide investigation--

TA:  Still seems a little strange that you're admitting to a lot of stuff this late in the game, kid.

BL:  Look, you can try to intimidate me if you want. And I'll admit that you're doing a pretty good job. But I don't care!  I want this murderer found!

SM:  You have to understand. We appreciate what you're telling us, but it doesn't look good when we find out that you've been withholding information all along.

BL:  I know. But I'm telling you the truth now!

SM:  I certainly hope so. We're going to want that letter. Can we send a squad car back home with you to retrieve it?

BL:  Absolutely. 

SM:  Okay. We'll be talking again soon, Mr. Lamar.

Interview ends -- 1:59 PM