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Wednesday, January 26, 2005 --
11:15 AM
After receiving notification that DNA test results indicated and
dental records confirmed the head found in Yoknapatawpha County belonged
to Denise Hartigan, Detectives Murphy and Armstrong returned to the
Hartigan residence and notified them of the findings. The Hartigans were
then separated and interviewed individually.
Alicia Hartigan was interviewed at her residence
in Oxford. 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
- AH = Alicia Hartigan
TA: Please state your name, age, and address.
AH: Alicia Hartigan, 51. 1315 Mesquite Drive, Oxford. I am self
supported.
AH: S***!
SM: It's okay, Mrs. Hartigan. It's just a little spilled
coffee.
AH: This is... What a mess!
SM: It's no problem.
AH: I need more. I, I can't do this.
SM: I'll pour you some more. While I do that, could you tell
us about Denise?
AH: I don't know her. She... she became someone different
than the wonderful child I knew. This is all too sudden. I'm still
coming to terms with it, trying to....
SM: Tell us about the Denise Hartigan you know.
AH: The one in my heart?
SM: Yes.
AH: Well, she was a good Denise. She loved her mother. She confided in
me, and that always made me feel good. She looked to me as a friend, and
we respected each other. We talked about what a good grandma I would be
one day. She liked to talk about me being grandma.
TA: When did Denise leave home?
AH: It was in early 1998. Just after the holidays.
TA: Why did she leave?
AH: Our home life was difficult. She missed her sister, and she wanted
to find her. That's Rita, the youngest. She left home at an early age as
well.
SM: When did Rita leave?
AH: It was before then. What? 1997, I think. It was an awful time.
SM: Is Rita's leaving the family tragedy you spoke of when we
talked with you before?
AH: I, uh... yes. Yes, it is.
TA: Why did Rita leave?
AH: Because she thought she was in love with some strange man
we never met. He was older and in the military, and she was still in
high school! It was completely inappropriate for her and for him. We
forbade her to have any contact with him. Her response was to abandon
her family.
TA: Did you talk to Rita about her decision to leave?
AH: That was a decision she made on her own. She didn't confide in me
like Denise. She had a mind of her own, and she was at the age where she
resented me. And she resented her father. She didn't appreciate what she
had, and thought she was better than what she was and where she came
from. She was, quite frankly, wretched in her dealings with us.
SM: Did Denise share her feelings about her sister's disappearance?
AH: Yes, quite often. She felt guilty somehow. They weren't
always the best
of friends, those two. But they were sisters. They shared a great deal.
TA: Such as?
AH: Such as space. Such as parents. As any sisters share things, they
did.
SM: We had heard that Denise and Rita were quite close.
AH: My daughters were raised to believe that family matters
should stay in the family. That included any arguments or petty disputes
between the two of them. Just because they got along well in public
doesn't mean they didn't have disagreements behind closed doors.
SM: So you're saying they weren't close and didn't get along?
AH: No, I'm not saying that at all. I'm simply saying my
daughters weren't perfect. I'm not one of those mothers who thinks her
children can do no wrong. I just want you to know that so you know I'm
giving you an accurate picture of them, of who they were.
SM: I see.
TA: Did Denise talk to you about leaving home?
AH: After Rita left, and after Adam got sick, everyone in our
family became very insular. We were shocked into silence. We didn't
share our feelings like we should have. That house became a big cluster
of pent-up emotions. When Denise decided to go, she told us that she was
leaving immediately, and I tried to talk to her about it. But she didn't
want to talk. She had gotten so wound up, she just wanted to go. And we
let her go. So that she could get well again, and grow past this. We all
had to, if we were ever to become a family again.
TA: Granted one daughter left, but your husband and Denise's father
was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Wouldn't that bring a
family back together?
AH: Maybe on TV it would, but that's not the case in the real
world, as I learned during that time. Regardless, it was our family's
business, and the way we chose to handle ourselves is our own business.
It has nothing to do with why my daughter's head was found in a bucket
for God's sake. Oh my god...
TA: Mrs. Hartigan, do you want to take a few minutes to
collect yourself?
AH: No, I-- Ooh. No. I'm all right. I'm sorry. Please go on. I
want to help.
TA: Ma'am, in order to find out who killed your daughter, we
have to go back as far as we can. We need to follow her trail and find out
who along the way might have harmed her.
AH: She was harmful to herself. Rather than going on her journey and
becoming strong, like her father and I hoped, she left home and became
irresponsible. Living a vagabond's life and abusing drugs and alcohol.
And Satanic nonsense. I shudder at the thought, you understand.
TA: Had you had any contact with Denise recently?
AH: I took a call... it must have been nearly six weeks ago
now. It was
Denise. She... she was in Cleveland, Ohio, of all places, and was raising money to come
home. She practically demanded, but... I was distraught. And, oh, when
she talked to me. She had ice in her voice, and she said the strangest
things. I, I could barely understand her. It was like a vicious stranger
had taken over. I began to cry and she grew upset with me. She said, she... oh, I can't do this.
TA: Take your time.
AH: She said she'd see me in hell before she asked another
favor from me.... Can you imagine?
TA: No.
AH: If I sound hateful toward my daughters, well, I'm not. Not at all.
I'm just angry and suffering from immeasurable grief.
SM: Why are you angry?
AH: Because I don't deserve this! I don't deserve any of this! I don't
deserve to lose one daughter to a transient stranger! I don't deserve to
have the police come here and interview me about my other daughter
without telling me why. I don't deserve to have those same police come
back a week later to tell me that the head found in a
bucket that everyone in town has been talking about is my daughter's.
And I don't deserve to then have to be put through the agony of
discussing the details of both of my daughters' disappearances from my
life! It's all
too much! Too much for one person to endure! And then there's Adam,
bless him. He's dying, and I'll be the only one left.
TA: Did you know Denise had come back to Oxford?
AH: No. But how do you know she was even here? I mean
before... before... before you found her? How do you know that... what
happened didn't happen somewhere else and then... How do you know?
TA: Well, ma'am, it's a likely scenario that we need to
investigate. Is there some reason you think we should look for someone
out of town?
AH: No. I don't know. I just can't believe she'd... that she'd come
home and not tell us. I just...
SM: Mrs. Hartigan, do you have any information about what
Denise had been doing since she left here?
AH: All I know is what Grant Sexton told me. He went to visit her in
New Orleans, probably a year ago. He came back and told me terrible
things. I don't believe him. He's just as bad. If you could see this
boy. He used to be sweet. He used to be an angel, just like Denise. They
were perfect. But now he has those same eyes -- raccoon eyes, I call
them. He's blitzed on drugs and booze too. They all are -- the children
of the world today, Detective. The world is sinking into filth. I'm
scared to be here. I haven't slept for the fear....
TA: What exactly did Sexton tell you?
AH: He... they seemed to think she was a witch or voodoo priestess or
something of the sort. She was carrying on with an older man. Some sort
of witch hunter, or witch doctor. Grant can tell you more, and by all
means, you should question that young man. You should put him in jail,
is what you should do. He's a sex-starved maniac.
TA: Did Sexton ever make sexual advances on you?
AH: He'd never do that to me. But he has that look in his eye.
Oh God, what have we become? How could they saw up my poor baby girl
like that? Oh God...
SM: You said "they seemed to think" Denise was a witch. Who is
they?
AH: Grant and the girl he went to New Orleans with. I don't
know her.
SM: Do you know her name?
AH: No, I'm sorry. I don't know anything. I don't know my
daughter. I don't know what kind of life she was leading. I don't know
the people she was close to. I don't know anything.
TA: Okay, Mrs. Hartigan, that's enough for today. We'll be in
touch. And if you think of anything that might help us, I hope you'll
call us right away.
AH: Of course. Thank you.
Interview ends --
11:57 AM |
