|
Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - 4:20 p.m.
Eddie Dooley, who was identified as being in Duffy's establishment the night the victim disappeared, 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 witness's knowledge and consent.
- TA = Detective T. Armstrong
- SM = Detective S. Murphy
- ED = Eddie Dooley
SM: What's up, Eddie?
ED: Not too much.
TA: I'm sure you know the drill, Dooley. For the record, can you state your name?
ED: Edward Dooley.
TA: And where do you live?
ED: 156 Peyton Circle, in Oxford..
SM: Do you know why we brought you in, Eddie?
ED: No, I don't reckon that I do.
SM: Were you at Duffy's the night of July 3rd?
ED: I don't really recall. I guess I might have been. I spend some time there right regular.
TA: It was the night before the 4th of July holiday! You don't remember that?
ED: Well, yeah, I know what I did the night before the 4th. Yeah, I was at Duffy's.
SM: And what did you do while you were there?
ED: I drank some beer. What do you think people do in a bar?
SM: What else?
ED: I played a little pool. They got a jukebox, so I guess I listened
to a little music. I ain't too much of a dancer though, so I don't reckon I
danced none.
TA: Did you talk to Andy Fine during that evening?
ED: Oh, is that what this is about? Y'all working on Fine's case or something?
SM: Yes, Eddie.
ED: Okay, I gotcha.
TA: So did you talk to Andy Fine?
ED: Yeah, sure. We hung out, played some pool, drank some beer.
TA: Do you remember anything different about Andy that evening?
ED: Shoot, Detective, I don't remember much of nothing from that night. I was pretty liquored up.
TA: Just try.
ED: It was a pretty normal night. Andy showed up, flashing cash and all happy, buying drinks for everyone. Then as the night went on, he got mean and wanted to fight everyone. Hell, that was pretty much any night out with them.
SM: Did he say where he got the money?
ED: Just kept babbling about making some run or something. But that was well after he was drunk, so I never could tell if the money was from making some run or if he just had to run go take a leak.
TA: You said he wanted to fight everyone... who?
ED: Just everyone. He got in a argument with his wife. I don't know what about. Then he turned on everyone around him. After I left, I heard he even wanted to go at me.
SM: Why would he have wanted to go after you?
ED: Don't know. Just mean, I suppose.
TA: Could it have anything to do with his watch?
ED: What watch?
SM: As I'm sure you're well aware, Andy Fine had a nice watch his father had given him. It was a very important possession to Andy.
ED: Oh yeah, I know that watch. It weren't nothing special.
SM: Did you ever see it up close?
ED: Nah, but you could tell it weren't all that. Andy acted like it was one of them Rolexes or something. But it was all tarnished and corroded in between the links and stuff. Clicked real loud too. Annoyed me.
SM: You could hear the watch clicking in a bar?
ED: Well, no, not exactly. I mean, there had been times when I had been around Andy when it weren't so noisy. You could hear it then.
TA: Like when?
ED: Huh?
TA: When were you around Andy that you could hear the watch?
ED: Lots of times. You know.
SM: Like what?
ED: Well, after closing time, when the bar was quiet. And we rode
out to Yocona one night a couple of years ago, I could hear it then. You know.
TA: Did you take that watch, Eddie?
ED: Nah, I didn't take nothing.
SM: You're sure of that?
ED: Yeah, I'm sure.
SM: Even if I told you we've got witnesses who say the watch was there when you were there, and then it was gone when you were gone?
ED: I don't know why people'd tell you something like that. All I can say is I didn't take no watch or nothing else.
SM: Somehow, Eddie, you're just not convincing me.
ED: What am I supposed to do about that?
TA: Why don't you tell us about the night that John Reagle brought the package to Duffy's?
ED: I don't reckon I recall that.
SM: Come on! Eddie, you're trying to tell me that a man walked into a bar in Oxford, Mississippi, with a human hand in a plastic container and you don't remember it?
ED: Oh, that. Well, you gotta be more specific. I mean, a package could mean anything.
TA: Okay, the hand! The freaking hand!
ED: He just brung in this hand. Said it was his ol' lady's. No one really believed him. He passed it around and it sure smelled. But that's it. I was really drunk that night, so I don't remember much.
TA: You don't remember much of anything, do you, Eddie?
ED: I'm afraid I dropped out of school. Never was no good at learning.
TA: Get out of here! This is ridiculous.
ED: Whatever, man.
SM: Before you go, Eddie, we have a warrant here, authorizing us to collect samples of your blood and hair. We have a technician waiting outside to --
ED: What the hell? You're not taking my blood! Or my hair! Are you crazy?
SM: Now, Eddie. You know how a warrant works. You give us a hard time and this is going to get unpleasant for everyone. We don't want that. I don't think you want that. So why don't you just cooperate and we can all get on with our lives.
ED: Is it gonna hurt?
TA: You afraid of a little pain, Dooley?
ED: What? No, I --
SM: Gentlemen, please. Eddie, it may hurt a little, but I feel sure a man like you can handle it. Now, just sit tight for a minute and the technician will be right in.
ED: Yeah, whatever. This sucks.
End interview - 4:53 p.m.
| 
