Friday July 20, 2001 - 3:03 p.m.

At the request of the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department, a follow up interview was conducted at the offices of Det. Sam Murphy and Det. Ted Armstrong. The interview was recorded on a portable tape recorder with the witness's knowledge and consent. Mr. Swinney was advised of his rights and deemed to have counsel, public defender, Theodore Thibedeaux, present.

SM = Detective S. Murphy
TA = Detective T. Armstrong
CS = Cal Swinney
TT = Theodore Thibedeaux

SM: For the record, your name and address is?

CS: Calvin Samuel Swinney, and I live at 1614 Garfield Avenue, Oxford..

TA: Let the record reflect Mr. Swinney has been advised of his rights and has consented to this interview. And that he has representation, public defender, Theodore Thibideaux, present.

CS: Let the record reflect you ain't pinning none of this on me, neither.

TT: Cal, let them put questions to you before offering anything.

CS: Offering? Who's offering?

SM: We were hoping you would cooperate Mr. Swinney. There is an awful lot of evidence... It would go easier on you if you just confessed.

CS: Confess to what? She run out on me, can I help it if you can't find her?

SM: Who says we didn't find her? And by the by who mentioned her at all?

CS: Well, you been wanting to know about Donna every time you talked to me. You saying you don't want to know about her now?

SM: Look, you think we're the enemy, but we understand. Probably better than anyone. Sometimes, things happen, right? She made you angry, you couldn't control your temper. The affairs she had...

CS: Affairs? Affairs? She run off to meet that RV dealer is all.

SM: So you admit you were aware of her plan to meet Lyle Weathersby?

TT: I'd advise you don't answer that, Cal.

CS: I seen the email, if that's what you mean. Yeah, I knew where she was going.

SM: And you confronted her. You were mad as hell and you told her you weren't going to stand for it. Right? She was leaving you and your little boy. She wasn't going to get away with it...

CS: By the time I saw it, it was time to get Matty off to school. No time to tell that lying bitch off. What is it with you women anyways? Never satisfied, never satisfied... And you keep my boy out of this. He's got nothing to do with any of it. You had no right to go and question him like that and scare him and all. That was really wrong.

SM: But you lucked out because she came to you. See, we know that because she drove her car to the grounds. Witnesses saw it, you admitted to finding it and driving it home.

We know you were in the garden because you were seen going over there. Working away, getting those hedges clipped out, probably pretending it was Donna's head you were chopping at? It was hot that day, right? So you stripped down to your shorts and tee shirt, so you wouldn't get your jumper dirty and sweaty. Which is why we found no blood on you or in the truck..

CS: You sure got some fertile imagination Detective Murphy.

TT: Cal, let them ask you a question. Detective, I caution you if you don't phrase these as questions the interview is over. This approach is totally unprofessional...

TA: That's the trouble with lawyers, Cal, they won't let you clear your conscience. They don't give a damn about you and how you feel and that you need to get stuff off your chest. Think about your boy. Doesn't he deserve to know where his mama is?

CS: Don't get my boy into this. She hurt him enough. He's glad she's gone. She didn't give a rat's ass about him. Just left him without a word.

SM: Not true. Your son misses his mama. He asked us to find her for him. He wants desperately to know where she is. Didn't he tell you that? Hasn't he told you that he wants his mama?

CS: No, not ever. Matty is glad she's gone. She run off without a word to him..

TA: But she told you, huh? She showed up when you were working. Still steaming from her little love note to that other guy. She told you she was leaving and you decided she wasn't going anywhere. Isn't that right?

CS: Nope.

SM: She told you she was going and that she was through with you and you saw that pick axe a few feet away. You thought if you grabbed it and waved it at her, she'd get scared and back off. She'd told you many times she was leaving, but she didn't. So, why now, right?

CS: You got it all wrong here. I'm the one who was victimized. I worked my butt til I want to die from exhaustion...She done it to me...that woman was just no good. Not for me or any man...

SM: Yeah, we get it. She deserved it. She needed to get some of what she dished out, huh? You'd had enough. How much more could she expect you to take. It was time for her to learn her lesson? Yes?

CS: She needed a lesson all right....

TT: Cal, as your attorney, I'd advice you to stop talking. Right now..

TA: You didn't mean to kill her. The axe was in your hands before you knew what you were doing. A couple swings and she was dead.

CS: Get off of me! Just leave me be, I ...you're putting words in my mouth.

TA: And there she was lying on the ground, dead. You panicked. Saw the truck. You had to get rid of the body...

SM: Yep, the truck. We know you took the truck Cal, cuz everybody else they were accounted for, only you weren't seen during that period, not by anybody. And we just got the forensics back, there evidence showing a body was in that truck and biological evidence from the Lake. You took her to the Lake and got rid of her...

CS: I been to the Lake, to fish, with my boy.

SM: You got the tarp to wrap her up, but when you came back, there was Mike...he was standing over the body...now you're really in trouble...

CS: Who was that guy, anyways? They don't allow people on the grounds on Monday and there he was...

SM: And you had to kill him too. So, next thing you know you got them both lying there. You wrap up Donna and throw her body into Lorrie's truck. It's just sitting there, nobody's around. You know from the walkie talkies that she and the other groundskeepers are working on the door. If you hurry you can take her to the Lake and get rid of her body...

CS: You can't prove any of this. You're just making this up as you go along. Where'd you get these ideas?

TT: I think we should stop right here. I need to consult with my client...

SM: Cal, confession is good for the soul. You don't have to listen to him. Remember, he doesn't care about how you feel. He doesn't know what hell you've been through, hiding from your boy that you murdered her mother.

TA: Are you sleeping much, these days, Cal?

CS: No sir, not much.

TA: How did it feel, Cal? To take Donna's body and dump it in the lake? Did it feel good? Did you feel the exhilaration of vengeance? Payback? Don't forget, we found her earring in that truck bed too. We know the body was in there. We'll drag the Lake and we'll find her. And if we do that and you haven't confessed by then, well, my friend, it's going to go hard on you.

SM: And your boy will have to live through the trial and all the people pointing at him and whispering as he walks by. How he is the one whose daddy killed his mama. How pitiful it all is and how sorry they feel for him. He'll never have a normal life again. And you probably won't get any visits from him either, when you're finally put in jail and believe me, you will be. No, he won't want to see the man who killed his mama and then tried to hide it, took no responsibility for it. A coward...

CS: My boy will believe me, not you. He don't know you.

TT: This is absurd. What evidence do you have to back this up? I want to see what you're talking about...

SM: He doesn't have to know us, Cal. He'll come to know our theory of the case when he's older and he'll know we had it pegged. He's a smart one, that boy of yours. Too bad, he's headed for a life of tragedy. With a murdered mama and a coward for a father. It's a shame.

CS: I told you to keep my boy outta this! You stay away from him!

SM: Oh no, we can't do that. He needs to know the truth. If you won't tell him, then we'll have to. You killed his mama in a fit of jealous rage and covered it up, hid her body in the Lake. But you also killed an innocent bystander. A tourist. Someone in the wrong place at the wrong time. A body too big to move and hide, you had to take your chances with that. And that was your big mistake.

CS: My big mistake was marrying Donna.

TA: Yeah, the wrong woman can ruin a man's life. Is that what happened, Cal? She just ruined you?

CS: You ever meet a woman who just drives you insane, Detective? I mean you're in love with her one minute and just madder than a rattlesnake the next minute.

TA: Yeah, I been there, Cal. She really enraged you. You weren't planning it. You didn't mean to do it. She was your son's mama, you wouldn't have done it on purpose...

CS: I didn't want to hurt his mama, but she gave me no choice. I just couldn't help myself. I didn't mean to do it.

TT: Okay, yes, that's more than enough. I'm going to file a motion to suppress this interview...

TA: Cal, do you want to confess? Do you want to get all this off your chest?

CS: Yes sir, I need to tell it. I done it, like you said. Swung the axe and then she was just dead. I panicked, had to hide her, the truck was there...

SM: And Achim Michaelis, what happened with him?

CS: When I come back he was standing over her, taking a picture...I don't know why it just enraged me, like he was violating her...

TA: Write it all down for us, will you Cal?

TT: I want it on the record that he cooperated, gave you all you needed. I want a recommendation of leniency in sentencing...

TA: If he give us all of it, we'll do what we can. Okay, Cal, write it all down.

End interview 4:32 p.m.