Monday, April 7, 2008 - 12:16 p.m.
The witness was identified as the girlfriend of the victim. On Monday morning, April 7, 2008 surveillance officers observed the witness approaching the victim's residence at 107-B Combs Street. She was detained at the scene pending the arrival of the assigned detectives. Detectives Armstrong and Murphy accompanied the witness from the victim's residence to the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Office, where she was interviewed. The interview was recorded on a portable audio tape recorder with the witness's knowledge and consent.
- TA = Detective T. Armstrong
- SM = Detective S. Murphy
- MS = Marion Sanders
Detective Murphy: Thank you for talking to us. I'm sure this is very difficult for you.
Marion Sanders: Yes, I just can't believe all this has happened. I can't get over the fact that he's gone.
Detective Murphy: We'll have a box of tissues brought in for you. I know this will be tough, but please take your time and tell us as much as you can.
Marion Sanders: Okay.
Detective Murphy: For the record, can you please state your name and address?
Marion Sanders: Marion Sanders. I live at 716 Shady Oaks Circle. Its out by the Walmart.
Detective Murphy: And your occupation?
Marion Sanders: I'm a loan officer at the Bank of Mississippi. My office is in the main branch at Four Corners.
Detective Murphy: And how did you know the victim, Charles Tatum?
Marion Sanders: We had, oh God, we had been dating.
Detective Armstrong: For how long?
Marion Sanders: About six months?
Detective Murphy: Tell us about it?
Marion Sanders: About our relationship?
Detective Murphy: Yes.
Marion Sanders: We had a good time. He was nice to me, treated me well.
Detective Armstrong: Any complaints?
Marion Sanders: Just the usual things. You know, you always have little things that irritate you in relationships. Silly things that bug you and then something like this happens... I can't believe we argued about that stuff.
Detective Murphy: Like what?
Marion Sanders: He would put five or six bags of Sweet n' Low in a glass of tea. I thought it was silly. I guess the silly thing was that I made such a big deal out of it.
Detective Armstrong: Were there any more substantial issues to the relationship?
Marion Sanders: I got tired of the cop life. It's hard when you never know when you're going to see your partner. Sometimes he would get tied up and he would have to call and cancel a date or something. I got tired of that. Or the way his mind would always be somewhere else instead of me. That kind of stuff.
Detective Murphy: Was the relationship serious?
Marion Sanders: Oh, I wanted it to be! I really did. But, I guess I have to admit that I think Charles was going to break up with me.
Detective Armstrong: Why do you say that?
Marion Sanders: Some people around town had heard that.
Detective Murphy: Surely you're not saying Charles went around town running his mouth?
Marion Sanders: No, Detective. Please don't get angry. I didn't mean it that way. Charles wouldn't just tell anyone his private business. But he also didn't want to just hurt people. He talked to a couple of his good friends about us. He just wanted advice.
Detective Armstrong: Why did he want to break up with you?
Marion Sanders: I think it was over the conflict about his lifestyle. He said it was difficult to concentrate on work when he knew that I would get mad if he stayed late. But I never meant to keep him from doing well at work! I just wanted to spend time with him...
Detective Armstrong: How did you feel about him breaking up with you?
Marion Sanders: I was upset. I really cared about Charles. I didn't want him out of my life. So of course I didn't like the idea. I tried being more understanding about his life and to be more flexible.
Detective Murphy: Where were you when he, uh, where were you Sunday?
Marion Sanders: I was out of town all weekend. I was visiting relatives in Houston.
Detective Murphy: Houston, Texas?
Marion Sanders: Yes.
Detective Murphy: Can you show us anything to verify you were out of town?
Marion Sanders: I think I still have my airline ticket. I could give you that?
Detective Murphy: That would be great. In the meantime, can you tell us, what did Charles like to do in his spare time?
Marion Sanders: He fished, hunted. He liked to read a little. He would meet some friends at Murff's and hang out.
Detective Murphy: Did you ever go to Murff's with him?
Marion Sanders: No, not usually. It wasn't my kind of place. I like the Downtown Grill. Murff's is just a meat market. But maybe I should have... I mean, maybe I should have shared more in the things he liked to do. Oh, I don't know!
Detective Murphy: What did you think...
Marion Sanders: Yes, Detective?
Detective Murphy: Forget it. Look, Marion, this is tough for you and it's tough for us. It's not supposed to be tough for us, but we're human and it is. Why don't we just end this for now and give you a break?
Marion Sanders: I think I'd like that.
Detective Murphy: Okay. Just one more thing... I want to be very clear about this, Marion. We are not saying that you're a suspect. Do you understand that?
Marion Sanders: Uh, yeah. I guess.
Detective Murphy: But we need some hair samples from you. And fingerprints. We're collecting evidence from Charles's apartment and we want to be able to separate out your prints and that kind of thing.
Marion Sanders: Well, I guess that okay.
Detective Murphy: There's an officer in the outer office who can help you with that. It won't take but five minutes and then you can be on your way.
Marion Sanders: All right.
Detective Murphy: Thanks, Marion.
Interview ends 12:51 p.m.
Detective Murphy: Should we have told her?
Detective Armstrong: Told her what?
Detective Murphy: About the way Charles was found. About him being nude and the signs he'd had sex not long before he died?
Detective Armstrong: And what in the hell do you think that would accomplish?
Detective Murphy: See what her reaction is.
Detective Armstrong: Screw that. No way. We all know about her around town. We all know she can be a pain in the neck. But she really cared about Charlie. And I'm not going to hurt her like that.
Detective Murphy: I don't want to hurt her either, but if it would help--
Detective Armstrong: The only thing it would do is hurt her and then get out into the press. Do you think she would keep quiet about that? We would hurt her and also hurt Charlie and his reputation.
Detective Murphy: I guess you're right. We'll leave it alone for now. We check out her alibi and it holds up, we don't tell her. But, Ted, I'm telling you right now, if we find out she lied to us, I'm going after her with both barrels. I don't care how much she cared about Charles. We're after a cop killer here, and I'm not wasting a lot of energy trying to spare people's feelings. Okay?
Detective Armstrong: Yeah. Good. Now grab that tape and let's get out of here. We got work to do.
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