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Friday, January 28, 2005 --
2:30 PM
After interviewing Adam and Alicia Hartigan and learning that the
victim, Denise Hartigan, has once been engaged to Grant Sexton,
Detectives Murphy and Armstrong located Mr. Sexton and asked him to come
in for an interview. Grant Sexton 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
- GS = Grant Sexton
SM: Would you please state your name, age, address and occupation for
the record?
GS: My name is Grant Sexton, and I'm 25. Currently, I'm
staying with a friend in Yocona, and I don't even know the address. I
can tell you that you go south at the stop sign outside Yocona towards
Delay. Then you go a little ways and turn right on 432 and it's the
first house on the left.
TA: Occupation?
GS: Oh, I don't have one at the moment. That's kind of why I'm staying
with this friend.
SM: Who's your friend?
GS: Do I have to say?
TA: Yes.
GS: Len Shannon.
SM: Why are you staying with him?
GS: Because I don't have money, and I recently was asked to leave the
last place I lived.
SM: Where was that?
GS: That was with Nicole Barry, and actually, she's still a neighbor
pretty much. That house is just down the road.
TA: So you moved into Shannon's place after Barry asked you to leave?
GS: Right. Well, no. Before Shannon's I rented this place at Coles
Point from this guy, this record producer in Nashville. It didn't work
out either. He decided he didn't want a tenant.
TA: It sounds like you're having a hard time finding a place to rest
your head.
GS: Heh. Yes, I guess you could say that. I don't know.
I'm just having a string of bad luck, I suppose.
TA: How long have you been at Shannon's place?
GS: I don't know. A couple, three weeks, maybe?
SM: Okay, Mr. Sexton. Would you tell us about your relationship with Denise Hartigan?
GS: I'll give it a shot. Let's see... Denise and I go way back. I
must've met her when I was in the fourth grade. We came up through
school together, and I guess in about the ninth grade we started dating.
And we dated right on through high school, always arm in arm. I guess
you could say we were a very recognizable couple in town. I mean, we did
everything together. Our families even hung out. We would always have
Fourth of July picnics together, and during the spring we'd all hook up
at Sardis and go boating. We'd always talked about getting married, me
and Denise, and
then during our senior year, I popped the question. We decided to do it
after graduation and just bear down when we went to college. We had it
all planned out. We were both gonna go to Ole Miss and then move to the
city after we got our degrees. It was gonna be so perfect.
SM: When did things start going wrong?
GS: Around the time that Rita disappeared, which was, I think, 1997.
Thinking back on it, I see that things weren't right a little while
before she left. And definitely not afterwards. Denise slowly
became lost to me. You know, we didn't go out as much. She went to
school at Northwest instead of Ole Miss, so that was her first physical
step away from me. And this was all around the time that her dad got
sick too. So she was involved in all of that. At the hospital a lot,
taking care of chores at home. It was a brutal time. And then, you know,
she postponed our marriage. I had to take over the wedding plans for a
while, and I saw she wasn't in it, so I wasn't into it as much. And then
she finally said, "Hey, this might not be such a good idea right now."
TA: You said that things weren't going well between you and Denise
before Rita disappeared. How do you mean?
GS: Well, we argued a good bit, and we'd never done that much before.
And she just grew very distant. Most of our fights were about that. I'd
call her on the phone and she'd be real bland, and I would say, "What's
up?" And she'd be all melancholy and downplay everything until we just
blew up at each other. We threatened to break up and stuff like that.
TA: How was her family life at this time?
GS: Not good, I think. I'd never really noticed any problems at home.
You know, nothing out of the ordinary. She was always miffed at her mom,
but so is most every daughter at that age. And her dad started giving
her trouble. There was a time there when he wouldn't let her go out as
much, and even when I went over there, it wasn't the same cozy
atmosphere. They seemed like they were more suspicious of me or
something. And to this day, really, they don't regard me with much love.
Not like before.
TA: Before?
GS: Before Rita left home. And after that, things changed quite a bit
in their house, I think. That's when I didn't go over hardly at all.
Because it just didn't feel... I don't know how to say it, other than
it just didn't feel right.
SM: Characterize the family life you shared with them after Rita
disappeared.
GS: Well, there wasn't much. What I learned came from Denise. She went
out on the edge for a while, particularly at the end of that year. I
remember it was near the holidays, and we had always been so happy at
the holidays. But that year, it wasn't very cheerful anymore. I didn't
go to Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve dinner. Things like that. And her
parents -- her dad especially -- spoke very coldly over the phone when I
called. She was living at home then, and her dad had just found out
about his cancer. That's when I knew she had slipped away from me. And
when she told me she was leaving in January, it didn't come as a great
shock to me because I had felt this pulling away. And believe me, it
tore me up plenty.
TA: What did she say to you before she left?
GS: She pretty much told me that her dad had mistreated both her and
Rita, and that's why Rita had run away. Even more than being pregnant.
It was because their dad had been, I guess, like psychologically abusing
them for some time. She never out-and-out said that he had harmed them
physically, but definitely there was some emotional trauma going down.
Of course, I couldn't see that happening, even though her dad had been
very cold toward me. I just didn't put the two together. I was still
living in this perfect dream world. So I told her that I had a hard time
believing that, and I told her she needed to see a psychiatrist. I think
the last straw for Denise was when I didn't fully believe her about her
father, and that's what made her finally leave. Also, she felt that her
sister was out there somewhere and she wanted to find her. Of course, first and foremost I think
she left because of her dad. She was really scared of him.
SM: Back up. You say someone was pregnant around that time?
GS: Yeah, Rita. Didn't you know that?
SM: How do you know she was pregnant?
GS: Denise told me.
SM: Did you believe her?
GS: Sure. Why would she lie about something like that?
SM: And who was the father of Rita's baby?
GS: Some Marine, she said. I didn't know him, but I guess he
was only in town a few days. Long enough to do the deed though.
SM: Did Denise know this Marine?
GS: I don't think so. She didn't tell me if she did.
TA: So what did you do when Denise left?
GS: I did what most stupid kids would do. I started drinking and
taking drugs to escape the pain. I fell in with a bad crowd and just
wasted away. Dropped out of school. Felt sorry for myself and drank a
helluva lot of booze. I've never really gotten past it, I don't think.
That's what you get for planning out your life. It just don't work like
that.
TA: When did you first hear from Denise after she left?
GS: I never heard from her. Can you believe that? Never. But I guess
it was about three or four years after she split that I met Nicole at a
party, and it turned out she was friends with Denise and had been with
her. Turned out they met in Colorado somewhere, I think. They had all been following
Widespread Panic and doing a lot of acid. And I couldn't believe that
was the lifestyle my Denise had picked up. Totally blew my mind. But in
a way, it brought me back to her because we had a connection in a weird
way. Suddenly,
it occurred to me that we both sought the same methods to deal with our
grief. And it made me love her that much more. I had pretty much become
numb up to that point, and just hearing about her was enough to bring me
back to reality. It was great, but in a way it was terrible because it
still hurt.
SM: This is Nicole Barry that you used to live with?
GS: Yeah.
SM: She knew Denise too?
GS: Yeah.
TA: Did you find out anything specific about Denise's years on the road?
GS: I always tried to get specifics out of Nicole, but you have to
know Nicole. She's not the type who will sit here and pour her heart
out. I don't know, it took a little more prodding. But everything I
found out about Denise was something I didn't want to know. Nicole would
tell me things like, "I talked to Denise. She got her
****
pierced." Or, "Oh, Denise and her many boyfriends..." I just couldn't
take it, so I didn't ask about her. But I kept trying to get Nicole to take me
to see her. And we did, finally. After Denise moved to New Orleans,
Nicole and I went down to see her.
TA: When was this?
GS: Last year. February, March. Something like that.
TA: Tell us about the trip to New Orleans.
GS: Okay. I rode with Nicole. We both wanted to visit Denise, and
Nicole had gotten a postcard or something from her. She knew where
Denise was staying; it was somewhere on Canal Street, which is supposed
to be a big voodoo area. Now, we didn't know anything about the
voodoo before we got there. It was a total surprise. We got there and
met Denise in this alley behind a dry cleaners. That's where she told
Nicole to be at this certain time. Very peculiar, but we agreed to it.
Anyway, Denise showed up on time, and she was surprised to see me, to
say the least. Then she took us to this guy's apartment. It was a guy she was
living with at the time, and he was beyond weird. He called himself Papa
Bokor. Now, to get to this guy's apartment, we went in one building
and climbed the stairs to the roof, then walked across some boards to
another building -- we're talking 10 ten stories up. We took all these
crazy detours and eventually ended up in this guy's loft, and it was
crowded with the most insane stuff you'll ever see. I'm talking animal
carcasses, masks, bones, insane photographs of people having sex and
butchering animals. God, it was the worst. This guy was some kind of
witch doctor, come to find out. That's when we started getting
suspicious of Denise.
TA: Did you see any rituals or bizarre behavior from Denise or
this Papa Bokor?
GS: Plenty of strange behavior, but no rituals. I think Nicole saw
that. I couldn't stay there. I wandered off into the Quarter and ended
up sneaking into a hotel and sleeping in a closet somewhere. It just
felt too evil and weird to stay there. But like I said, there was some
strangeness. Denise was totally different than when I knew her. It
almost seemed like she'd been given a lobotomy. Probably too many drugs.
We got there and she introduced us to Papa Bokor, who was dressed in
this flowing blue robe. He didn't say anything to us, and she kept
calling him "master." Really odd. Then, two other girls came over and
Papa Bokor took them to the back while Denise stayed in the main room there
and talked to us... well, to Nicole mostly. Pretty soon we start
hearing these godawful noises coming from the back room. I can't
describe it. It's almost like Papa Bokor was raping these women, and
they were getting some sort of pleasure from it. I don't know. They were
chanting. And Denise paid no attention. She kept talking like it was the
most ordinary thing in the world. Then, after about 20 minutes, Papa
Bokor comes out buck naked and says in this booming voice, "Bath time!" So
Denise proceeds to go over and give this guy a sponge bath, with us
sitting right there. I had to leave. That was the last straw for me. I
wasn't accustomed to that sort of behavior. It must be a big city thing.
TA: How did Papa Bokor respond to Denise?
GS: It was almost with contempt and sometimes pity. I knew he was
bound to hurt her sooner or later, but what could I do? Anytime I tried
to talk with her about it, she'd start chanting and swinging voodoo
charms in my face. I tell you, it was like that Bokor guy had cast a
spell on her.
SM: While you were there, did you get any opportunities to speak with
her one on one?
GS: Yes, briefly. The next day I came back to Bokor's, and I talked
to her then. I just broke down and told her how much I missed her and
how crappy my life had become. And I begged her to come back, so that we
could pick up where we left off. But she said that her life had changed
way too drastically to come back to that. She said the high school
memories were too painful, and that she'd spent too many years trying to
chase those thoughts away. I said, "What? Was it me? Was I that
terrible?" And she said, "No! It was them! It was him!" Talkin'
about her dad, I guess. And that was it. We left New Orleans pretty
quick.
SM: Did you hear from Denise after that?
GS: No, ma'am. I know Nicole did, but I didn't. I was so bothered by that
trip that I tried to straighten up when I got back to Oxford. You know,
let go of the booze and dope and all that. I actually went to some
programs too, but then I ran out of money and got kicked out over at
Nicole's. So now I'm just trying to save up some cash to move down to
Gulfport. I've got some buddies who want to split a house with me. My
car's broken, though. I really have no way to do anything. Can't make
cash, can't go south.
SM: So you never saw Denise Hartigan again, after that trip to
New Orleans with Nicole Barry?
GS: Right.
SM: Are you sure about that?
GS: Yeah.
TA: Do you mind telling us why Nicole Barry asked you to leave?
GS: I ran out of money and couldn't pay the rent. And we really
weren't getting along so well. I don't blame her for tossing me out.
I've been a real jerk, what with my drinking and all. I just want to
regain control of my life. I had almost gotten to the point where I
realized I couldn't get Denise back, and now... well, I guess it's
certain. I just need to get on with it.
SM: Well, we hope you can. But we'll have to ask you to stick around for
a while. Don't leave town while the investigation is underway.
GS: I'm stuck. Don't worry.
SM: By the way, did you ever contact Mr. or Mrs. Hartigan when you
returned from New Orleans?
GS: I did. I went and talked to them and told them I had seen her. I
told them everything too. I told them she was losing her mind and that
we had to get her and put her in therapy. But I think I just did more
harm than good.
SM: Why's that?
GS: Because they didn't believe me. And they just got more upset. They
seemed to think I was to blame. I really hated them after that. I was so
miserable about that trip, and then to go to them like that for
consolation... They're awful and selfish. But my heart is with them during
this time.
SM: Would you say the Hartigans were a religious family?
GS: What do you mean?
SM: Did they go to church regularly? Quote the Bible?
Things like that?
GS: They didn't used to. I think since Mr. Hartigan got
sick again, he's been into that kind of thing a lot, but I don't know if
they go to church all the time or anything.
SM: So when you were engaged to Denise, he wasn't religious?
GS: No, not really.
SM: You're sure?
GS: Yes, I'm sure. Why do you keep asking me that? You think
I'm dumb or what?
TA: All right, one final question. Is there anyone you know who may have
wanted some sort of revenge on Denise? Anybody she fought with?
GS: Well, I can't say I really knew her at the time of her death. That's
sad, isn't it? But I've talked to a bunch of people about the murder. I
tell you, a lot of people have mentioned the name Mark Lynch. He's the
guy who lives right next to where y'all found the, uh, bucket.
TA: Yes, we know.
GS: He's a psycho hillbilly. I remember he used to stalk Rita years
ago, when she was still young. I mean, like 16 or so. And he's been
stalking Nicole. He came over one night all raging drunk, and she
threatened to call the cops. It got pretty bad. Anyway, he's a nut. And
he's actually from New Orleans.
TA: So you know Mark Lynch?
GS: Well, yeah. We're not buds or anything, but I know who he
is.
TA: You seen him lately?
GS: Nah.
SM: When was the last time you saw him?
GS: Three, four weeks ago maybe? I don't know.
SM: Where?
GS: Some party somewhere. I don't remember.
SM: Do you know where he is now?
GS: Did you check his house in Taylor?
TA: Yes, Grant, we did. Can you think of anywhere else he
might be?
GS: I don't know. I don't really know the guy that well. Your
guess is as good as mine.
TA: Okay, then. Maybe you can help us another way.
GS: Yeah, whatever I can do.
TA: Would you give us a DNA sample?
GS: Uh, why?
TA: Just so we can cover all the bases. Make sure that none of
the DNA we find on the evidence belongs to you.
GS: I don't know...
SM: C'mon, Mr. Sexton. You told us you haven't even seen
Denise for a year. What harm could there be?
GS: Well, that's true...
SM: So you'll do it?
GS: Yeah, I guess... Now?
SM: Yes. Now.
GS: Well, all right.
SM: Great. Thanks for your help. We'll get your sample and
then we'll be in touch. And
you stay in town for now, you understand?
GS: No problem, ma'am.
Interview ends --3:39 PM |
