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Wednesday, February 9, 2005 -- 11:35 AM
Following up on interviews with Grant Sexton and Nicole Barry, Detectives Murphy and
Armstrong asked Gina Anderson, current roommate of Nicole Barry and
former roommate of Grant Sexton, to come in for an interview. Gina
Anderson was interviewed at 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 witnesses' knowledge and
consent.
- TA = Detective T. Armstrong
- SM = Detective S. Murphy
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- GA = Gina Anderson
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TA: Ma'am, for the record, will you state your name,
age, address and occupation?
GA: Yeah. Gina Anderson, 26. My address is 325 County Road
432 in Yocona. I play music and
work at Wild Wabbit Records.
SM: Ms. Anderson, did you know the victim, Denise Hartigan?
GA: No. I know of her from friends and what they've
told me about her, but no, not personally.
SM: Did you know the victim's sister, Rita Hartigan?
GA: No. I didn't know she had a sister.
TA: What do you know about Nicole's relationship with Denise
Hartigan?
GA: I know they were really into each other at one point,
but...
SM: But what?
GA: I guess it was about a year ago, now. Nicole and Grant
went to New Orleans to see her. After that, it seemed like Nicole didn't
feel the same about her. Or about Grant, for that matter. I don't know
exactly what went down on that trip, but it must've been something big
because everything changed after that.
SM: Changed how?
GA: It's hard to describe. They were both really... I don't
know, tense, I guess, when they came back. They were snapping at each
other and everyone else for a little while. Then it calmed down for a
while. Grant started not to be around as much. Nicole got more into the
band. Everything was cool. Then, Nicole went to Jackson to meet Denise
and she was really pissed off when she came back.
SM: Why was she so upset?
GA: I don't know. She wouldn't talk about it. She might have
talked to Grant about it, since they both knew Denise, but she wouldn't
say anything to me. Probably because I wasn't too positive about the
whole thing.
SM: What do you mean, you weren't positive?
GA: I told her I don't know how many times that, if the chick
was causing her so much trouble and pain, she was better off rid of her
and she shouldn't spend so much time and money on her.
TA: What do you mean, rid of her?
GA: Oh, no. I don't mean I told her to kill her or anything.
That's crazy! I just meant that, if Denise was pulling away from her,
then maybe it was all for the best and she should just let her go. It's
hard when someone you love doesn't want to be with you anymore, but you
can't make someone love you back. Sometimes you have to just let them
go. You know, that old "If you love something, set it free" thing?
SM: And did Ms. Barry let go, as you suggested?
GA: I think so. Not completely maybe, but mostly. In the last
several months, she's been talking about her less and less. Until we
found out Denise was dead, of course. That kind of brought everything
back to the surface, if you know what I mean. But before that, yeah, it
seemed like she was letting go. If Grant had any kind of clue, he would
have done the same thing, but he's an idiot.
SM: What do you mean?
GA: You know they were both in love with her, right? Sometimes
it brought him and Nicole closer, both of them bonding over this poor
girl who had such a good heart but had so tragically lost her way and
trying to figure out how they could help her. But then the jealousy
would kick in and they'd be back to fighting over her. But that was a
long time ago. After that Jackson trip, their fights were more about
Grant wanted to talk about Denise and Nicole didn't want to hear it.
TA: How is it that you know so much about what they were
fighting about?
GA: Look, we all lived in the same house and the house is not
that big. They'd fight; I could hear it. Simple as that.
SM: How long did you live with the two of them?
GA: I don't know exactly. I moved in about a year ago, I
guess. Awhile before they went to New Orleans. Grant was hanging around
a lot back then, staying on our couch most nights, but after they got
back from New Orleans, he just never left.
SM: So even though Ms. Barry and Mr. Sexton were, as you said,
snapping at each other after their trip to New Orleans, he still moved
in with you?
GA: Yeah, but he had practically been living there before
that. We figured we might as well get some rent money out of him since
he was there all the time anyway. But then it got to be too many people and he had to move out.
TA: Any other reason he moved out?
GA: He wasn't paying rent. He did at first, but then he
started getting further and further behind. And he was developing a real
problem with alcohol and drugs, which was probably where all his money
was going. It seemed like he was messed up on something most of the
time, and sometimes he'd get violent. Living with someone who gets drunk
and breaks things gets old real fast. He was just causing problems, so
Nicole asked him to move out.
SM: To your knowledge, did Mr. Sexton ever go back to New
Orleans after his trip there with Ms. Barry?
GA: I think he did go back there a few times by himself. He
was hell-bent on saving Denise from whatever she was involved in down
there, whether she wanted to be saved or not. Typical.
SM: Do you know what happened on those trips? Did he see Ms.
Hartigan? Did he help her?
GA: I don't think so. Either she wouldn't see him or he
couldn't find her. I don't think he ever saw her down there after the
first trip with Nicole.
SM: Did he mention anyone else he saw or talked with in New
Orleans?
GA: I don't think so. I think he just roamed around looking
for her, asking people if they'd seen her, stuff like that. There was
some priest or something he was looking for, Father... something, but I
don't know if he ever found him. He was always really quiet when he came
back. He was probably depressed because Denise blew him off. Again. He
never learns.
TA: Did you ever see Grant practice voodoo?
GA: He had all sorts of books about it. And he was in some
voodoo chat network online or something. I don't know. But I never saw
him making voodoo dolls or dancing naked in the moonlight or casting
spells or anything like that. Is that what you mean?
TA: Did he ever assault you?
GA: Ha! Shut up.
TA: I'm serious.
GA: No! Geez.
SM: How long have you played in Kitten Sack?
GA: Around two years. I think...
SM: All of you live together?
GA: Yeah, except Lola. She lives in town with her girlfriend. And there's always people coming over,
crashing on the couch. Like Grant, the eternal couch crasher.
TA: Does he still sleep there?
GA: Sometimes.
SM: When was the last time Mr. Sexton stayed there?
GA: Um, he stayed with us a little while at the end of December, I think... Yeah,
December.
TA: Why?
GA: Either it was because he didn't have a place to
crash, or he was too drunk to go home.
SM: Wasn't that after Ms. Barry had asked him to move out?
GA: Yeah.
SM: But he was still living there anyway?
GA: No, he moved out. But the thing about Grant is, no matter
how much of a pain in the *** he is, you can't help feeling sorry for
him. He's not a bad guy; he's just an idiot. So we still let him crash
with us when he needs to.
TA: You keep calling him an idiot. What do you mean by that?
GA: He's an idiot because he refuses to let go of the past. He
had this picture of how his life was going to be and, when it all fell
apart, so did he. He still wants that life and he can't understand why
it didn't happen, so he keeps trying to make it happen. But it never
will -- even when Denise was alive, no one but Grant believed it could
-- and he can't face that, so he drinks or does drugs or both to try to
make the pain go away. It's sad. Stupid, but sad.
TA: You seem to know a lot about his background for not having
known him very long.
GA: Yeah, well, that's Grant. He gets drunk and tells his life
story to anyone who's around, whether they want to hear it or not. I
lived with him, so I heard it a lot.
SM: So, if Mr. Sexton still stays with you occasionally, does
that mean he and Ms. Barry are getting along now?
GA: They're doing okay. Or they were, until they found out
about Denise. Now... I think it's hard for them to be around each other
now because it makes them think of Denise. I don't think Grant has come
over at all since... well, since the news about Denise.
TA: We understand that Denise called Nicole at your house
around the middle of December. Were you there when that happened?
GA: Yeah. I could only hear Nicole's side, but it sounded like
a typical Denise phone call where she was freaking out about something
that only made sense to her. And, of course, Grant started wigging out
too, asking Nicole what was wrong and did Denise want him to help and on
and on, all while Nicole was still on the phone. She kept telling him to
shut up, and he would for a minute, but then he'd start up again. It was
ridiculous.
TA: So Grant was there when Denise called?
GA: Yeah.
TA: This was before or after y'all kicked him out?
GA: Before. Actually, I think Nicole asked him to leave the
next day.
TA: Really? Hmm. So there was another call from Denise a
couple of days later?
GA: Yeah. She left a crazy message on the machine -- really
****** too -- basically saying the complete opposite of what she'd just
said a few days before. I don't know. She sounded nuts to me, but then,
I didn't know her.
TA: Was Grant there when you heard this message?
GA: No, he had moved out by then.
SM: Did you see Mr. Sexton on Wednesday, December 22?
Any time around that date?
GA: I saw him one day right before Christmas, but I couldn't tell you the
date. It was me and Greta, we were going out to Sardis,
but first we went out to the Marshall County line to get
some cold beer and barbecue from Betty Davis Grocery.
You know it? Great barbeque. Anyway, Grant came in to get a pack of cigarettes.
SM: Ms. Barry wasn't with you when you saw him?
GA: No.
SM: Do you remember where she was?
GA: Home, I guess.
TA: Did Grant say where he was going or where he had been?
GA: No, he didn't say much. I remember we were like,
'Hey, Grant, what's up? What the hell are you doin'
out here?' He's normally the chatty type, but he didn't
say anything. He might've been upset about being kicked
out of the house, though.
TA: Do you remember which way he went when he left Ms
Betty's?
GA: I think he might have pulled out in the direction of
Holly Springs, but I couldn't
be sure.
SM: And you're certain you don't remember the date?
GA: It could've been a Wednesday.
SM: Did you see him after that?
GA: Like I said, he crashed on the couch some at the end of
December. One time, right after he
got kicked out of Joey Grimes's place.
TA: Who is Joey Grimes?
GA: That record producer. When we heard Grant had moved into
his place, we were hoping he'd hook us up with Grimes, help us get some
attention for the band, but now I guess it's good he didn't since he got
kicked out.
TA: Do you
know why Grimes kicked him out?
GA: Somebody said Grant tore a bunch of stuff up. I
wouldn't doubt that, if he was totally out of his mind
drunk and trippin' out.
TA: Have you seen him that way?
GA: Hell, yeah. We have a big hole in the kitchen
wall from when he threw a chair up against it. And we
had a party out at the house one night. The band was
playing and we had about seven kegs out there. A lot of
people. Well, after one of our sets, we found Grant
out on the road yelling at the top of his lungs. He was
screaming, out in the middle of the highway, and luckily
no cars were coming. But it was just a matter of time
before one came along and creamed him. One of our
friends, Dave, went out to pull him out of the road, and
Grant just, like, grabbed him by the arms and flung him
into the ditch like a baby doll or something. And Dave's
a big dude.
TA: Did you ever get him to calm down?
GA: Yeah. Finally we chased him inside and tucked
him in his cot. He passed out pretty quick.
TA: What was up? Any idea why he was behaving that way?
GA: When he binged, he was a maniac.
TA: Did he do it often?
GA: Mostly when things didn't go his way.
SM: Do you know Mark Lynch?
GA: Ugh. That guy.
SM: So you do know him?
GA: Unfortunately. He's a pig. He thinks the only reason there
are lesbians in the world is because those women haven't slept with him
yet. It's probably more accurate to say that numerous women have been
turned off men completely as a result of even superficial contact with
him. He's a pig.
TA: Has he ever harassed you?
GA: No. He was hassling Nicole for a while, but she didn't put
up with any crap from him. He still talks big, from what I hear, but he
doesn't really come around us anymore.
TA: When was the last time you saw him?
GA: I don't know. I try to stay away from him.
TA: Days? Months? Years?
GA: Months, probably. Can we talk about something else?
Just thinking about him gives me the creeps.
SM: Okay. In regards to your phone bill, there
are several calls in December to Birmingham. Do you know anything about
those?
GA: Yeah. I was interested in a girl there, but it's
over now.
SM: Okay. What's her name?
GA: Do we really need to bring her into this?
TA: You know we can get her name using the phone records. Is
there a reason you don't want us to talk to her?
GA: Just... you know, the relationship didn't work out. I'd
rather just leave it lay and not stir it up again. You know?
SM: We understand your position. Is there anything else you
think we should know?
GA: About what?
SM: Mr. Sexton. Ms. Barry. Anything you saw or heard related
to Denise Hartigan.
GA: No, I don't think so.
SM: Thanks for your cooperation. We'd like you to stay
available in case we want to talk with you again.
GA: Sure.
Interview ends --
12:41 PM |
