Evidence: Answering Machine Tape Transcript

YOKNAPATAWPHA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT

Investigating Officer(s): Det. S. Murphy, Det. T. Armstrong
Incident No.: 002917-04J-2008
Case Description: Det. Charles Tatum Homicide

The following was transcribed from the tape recovered from the answering machine (Evidence #002904-22) in the victim's living room. The answering machine provided a day and time stamp for each message, but did not indicate the date each message was received. YCSD investigators believe these messages, all of which were marked as "new," were received between Wednesday, April 2, 2008 and Sunday April 6, 2008.

Day / Time Stamp	Message
Thursday, 3:22 p.m.	Hi. It's Marion. Just wanted to let you know I'm back from Houston. Give me a call when you get in. Bye.
Thursday, 3:34 p.m.	Charlie, what's up, man? Get your lazy ass out of bed and get to work. You're late!
Thursday, 4:01 p.m.	Detective Tatum, this is Dispatch. You are one hour late for your shift. Please contact the Department immediately.
Thursday, 9:50 p.m.	Hey, it's Steve. I don't know what's going on with you, but being absent-no call is not cool. Call in as soon as you get this message, man. No kidding.
Friday, 1:44 p.m.	Hi. It's Marion. I was hoping to catch you before you left for work. Anyway, give me a call when you can. I'll be at home tonight. Bye.
Friday, 2:25 p.m.	Hey, it's Steve. I'm outside your door, man. I just came by to see if you were okay since you didn't make it in to work yesterday. If you're there, come let me in, okay? If you're sick or something, let me help. Charlie? Are you there? All right, man. I guess I'll see you at work in a little while.
Friday, 3:58 p.m.	Detective Tatum, this is Sergeant Spearman. You are absent-no call for two days in a row now. You need to get in touch with the Department right away.
Friday, 4:12 p.m.	Detective Tatum, this is Lieutenant Montoya. You have been absent-no call for two consecutive days. Your actions are unacceptable. You must contact me immediately.
Friday, 8:49 p.m.	Charlie, it's Steve. What's going on? If this is supposed to be a joke or something, it's not funny. Call me. If you don't want to call me at work for some reason, then call me at home or on my cell. Just get in touch, man. Soon.
Friday, 11:52 p.m.	Hi. It's Marion. Still haven't heard from you. Are you avoiding me? I know maybe there are some things we need to talk about but we can't do that if you don't call me back. So call me back, okay?
Saturday, 10:15 a.m.	Charlie? This is Edith. I'm sorry to bother you, but I haven't seen you for a few days and I wanted to make sure you're all right. Maybe you went out of town or are working somewhere and just forgot to mention it. Or maybe you're sick and can't get out of bed. If you wouldn't mind calling me and letting me know you're all right, you would really ease an old lady's mind. Thank you, Charlie.
Saturday, 12:50 p.m.	Charles, this is ridiculous. If you don't want to see me anymore, the least you can do is have the backbone to tell me so. Just refusing to talk to me at all is silly and childish. Let's be adult about this. Quit avoiding me and just call me back.
Saturday, 4:00 p.m.	Detective Tatum, this is Lieutenant Montoya. This is the third consecutive day you are absent-no call for your shift. Because of your failure to report to work or to call in, you are risking disciplinary action including suspension and/or termination. If you wish to retain your position with the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department, you must contact me within 24 hours.
Saturday, 4:07 p.m.	Charlie, you have got to call in and right now, man. The lieutenant is pissed! I don't care if you're on your deathbed, man. Get your **** together and call in. Do whatever you have to do, but call in. You've got to. It could mean your job if you don't.
Saturday, 11:33 p.m.	You know what, Charles? I'm not calling you again. Not until you call me back. This is just stupid and I'm not playing this game with you anymore. If you decide you want to behave like an adult, you know what to do. If you want to behave like a child, leave me out of it.
Sunday, 9:28 a.m.	Charlie, this is Edith. I'm getting really worried. You haven't called me back and I still haven't seen you. And now there's this... smell. Charlie, if you don't call me back in the next half an hour, I'm going to call the police and tell them I'm worried something has happened to you. Please call me back, Charlie. Please.