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Saturday, January 15, 2005 -- 1:10 PM
The witness, the 37-year-old farmer who reported the vandalism
on his property, was interviewed at his residence at 424 Old Taylor
Road, CR 323. The interview was conducted by Detectives Armstrong
and Murphy and was recorded on a portable tape recorder with the
witness' knowledge and consent.
- TA = Detective T. Armstrong
- SM = Detective S. Murphy
- DW = David Whitehead
TA: Dave, just for the record, would you state your name,
age, address and occupation?
DW: Yessir. My name is David Whitehead. I'm 37 years old.
I live at 424 Old Taylor Road, that's where my farm is located.
I'm a farmer.
SM: Mr. Whitehead, tell us when you came upon the vandalized
spot in the woods.
DW: Well, it was about mid-morning today, and I was putting
away the tractor and fiddling around in the barn there when my
boy, Kyle, come running up the path. He was with his friend, Megan
Ferris, and they'd been walking around in the woods on the edge
of my pasture there. It's a little strip on the border of my property.
The creek runs through there, it kinda divides up my property with
old Hank Moreland's. Anyhow, Kyle and Megan came running up, telling
me they found something. Kyle was yelling, "Daddy, Daddy!
We found the witching grounds!" Lord only knows where he got
that from. But that's it. That's when I walked out there with them.
They led me right to it, and sure enough, there was a big piece
of ground, about 20 feet square, cleared off. It sure did look
like a witching ground.
TA: When was the last time you had been to that area on
your property?
DW: Hmm, let's see. I don't get over there much, not lately
anyways. Lord, it was probably back in September or October when
I went over there. One of my cows got loose and I walked by the
creek over near there when I was hunting for it. Like I said, that
must've been September or early October.
SM: And there was nothing unusual about the property at
that time?
DW: No, ma'am. Not that I can recall. Something like that
would have jumped out at me, I reckon.
TA: The chicken that was found at the site, did that belong
to you?
DW: Very well could have. I remember a couple of weeks
back, this must've been three or four weeks ago, I noticed one
of my chickens missing. I just assumed it was the damn coyotes.
We killed them off mostly, but it looks like they're back this
year. Kyle heard me cussing them, and he asked could he sit out
by the coop with the rifle and wait for them. So he sat out there
about two or three nights but didn't never see one. Like I said,
when the coyotes are back, missing chickens ain't no big deal.
TA: And the bucket of chlorine. Would that have come from
your house?
DW: No, we don't use chlorine. No need for it. Julie's
always hollering for a swimming pool, though. We got a pond, but....
TA: The wooden crate that was found. Could that have been
taken from around your house?
DW: Well... the only wooden crate that I can imagine is
one in my closet. It's where I keep hunting supplies, like shells
and gloves and socks and what have you. And, near as I can recall,
it's still there. I can't specify for sure, but I reckon I would've
noticed if that big box had gone missing.... Yep, as a matter of
fact, I stubbed my toe on it just the other morning. Yes, it's
still there. That's the only crate I can think of.
SM: Do you recall any unusual activity near your place
in the past month or two? Anyone suspicious, or any neighbors complained
about strangers hanging around?
DW: Well, I'm all the time seeing people stop on the edge
of my pasture, on the backside of my property. There's a road runs
back there. Along the side, up next to my fenced-in pasture, there's
a ditch just full of worms. Now I'm forever seeing folks stop their
car and dig up worms from the side of my pasture, and I've never
bothered folks about it. One, 'cause it ain't my property to worry
with. And two, well, it just wouldn't be right to stop a man from
gathering his fishing worms. Now, I'll tell you, I do sometimes
catch kids from the school out in my pasture looking for mushrooms.
The last one I caught was back in May, and he tried to tell me
he was from the biology department. I've heard every excuse in
the book. Now y'all know about this, I reckon, but there were those
other boys who came out cow tipping one night last spring and ended
up spray painting some of my cows. Lord knows how they got it in
their heads to do that. But that's just to say there are always
some strange characters around. I tell you, Ms. Mackie's store
was vandalized a couple of weeks back. You might talk to her about
that.
SM: Have you noticed any strange behavior from your neighbors?
DW: Ha ha. It's a peculiar lot that lives around me. I
guess anybody might say the same thing about their neighbors anywhere.
But let's see... out of the ordinary? I rent a house to a guy over
on the south side of my property, not far from that creek. His
name is Mark Lynch, and he drives the mail truck from Memphis to
Taylor. He's pretty out of the ordinary. But I can't never rouse
him, so I haven't talked to him in about a month. If you see him,
tell him he owes me two months rent. He has some rowdy parties
over there every now and then, but I can't say he's had one lately.
Maybe in late summer was the last one I recall. But I was out of
town a couple of weeks in October, so I don't know.
SM: Why were you out of town?
DW: My brother lives in Texas, and he was dying of esophageal
cancer. He didn't make it.
TA: We're sorry to hear that.
DW: Yeah, it was a long summer. Can't get away from death
lately, it seems like.
TA: That should be all we'll need for right now, Dave.
Do you mind if we talk to Kyle?
DW: No sir, not at all. Just be aware, he's got an active
imagination.
Interview ends -- 1:27 PM
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