Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - 10:01 AM

The witness, Tony Jacobson, is a college student who crashed the Marshall family reunion. The interview was conducted at the Yoknapatawpha Sheriff's Department and recorded on a portable tape recorder with the witness's knowledge and consent.

Detective Samantha Murphy
Detective Ted Armstrong
Fred Wallace

Detective Murphy: Good morning. Can you tell why you came to see us today?

Tony Jacobson: Thank you. Cindy and I read that news paper article about the finger found in Oscar Knight's room at the Days Inn so we felt we should tell you what we saw that day at the reunion.

Detective Murphy: We'll get to that later. First off, will you please state your name and address for the record?

Tony Jacobson: My name is Anthony Jacobson but everyone calls me Tony. My home address is 5414 Dinglebay Court, in Dublin, Ohio. But I live on campus for now.

Detective Murphy:  Who's Cindy?

Tony Jacobson: Cindy is my friend, and we went to the reunion together. Actually we crashed the reunion and that's where we saw Oscar Knight.

Detective Armstrong: Do you make it a habit of crashing reunions?

Tony Jacobson: Yeah we've been doing it for a while.  We started on a dare and then it became a challenge to see how long we could stay before we were kicked out.

Detective Armstrong: Tony, how did you and Cindy find out about the Marshall family reunion?

Tony Jacobson: Cindy and I were at the coffee shop and we overheard these two old ladies talking about a big reunion at Wall Doxey State Park. Cindy and I decided to go to see how long it would take someone to ask us to leave.

Detective Murphy:  How long did it take?

Tony Jacobson:  We got there around noon and didn't leave until nine pm. They had lots of food and no one seemed to notice us. It was cool so we stuck around.

Detective Armstrong: Tony why did you come in today to talk with us?

Tony Jacobson: Cindy and I thought it was the right thing to do.  We read in the newspaper that Oscar was the person staying in that room where the finger was found. Do you think he killed someone in that room?

Detective Armstrong: We have no evidence or proof of that happening. How did you know who Oscar Knight was?

Tony Jacobson:  Cindy and I met him shortly after we arrived at the reunion and we asked if we could sit with him. He didn't tell us no, so we sat down. He was a loud, obnoxious, old coot but he lightened up after a few drinks. He was sneaking drinks out of a flask he had in his pocket and hitting on the ladies like he was some kind of Casanova. 

Detective Armstrong: Was Oscar drunk?

Tony Jacobson: I wouldn't say he was drunk but I don't think he was feeling any pain. He certainly wasn't making any friends. Everyone he talked to seemed to dislike him. Cindy and I saw a lady slap him across the face. He just laughed and walked away. I think her name was Pauline or something like that. Cindy could tell you.

Detective Armstrong: What did Oscar say to this Pauline before she slapped him?

Tony Jacobson: I didn't hear what she said but Cindy said she said something like, "How dare you." I figure he must have said something out of the way so she let him have it. There was another woman named Liz that we met later on, she was arguing with Oscar. She said something like, "I can't believe you would do something like this" and something about him being the same as he always was.

Detective Armstrong: Tony did you hear Oscar arguing with anyone else that night?

Tony Jacobson: Yeah!  I saw him arguing with a man earlier on before that Pauline woman slapped him but I couldn't understand what they were saying. They were scuffling around.

Detective Armstrong: Did you know who this man was?

Tony Jacobson: At the time I thought he looked familiar but I couldn't place him. Then I remembered seeing him at the hardware store.  He's Albert Plum and he owns the place.

Detective Armstrong: Tony we want to thank you for coming forward with this information. It will help us with our investigation.

Tony Jacobson:  No problem Detective. I hope I’ve been of some help to you.

Interview end:  10:37 AM