November 6, 2002

PHI Case reference - AM1102-769

Background note:

Arlene Melton approached the offices of PHI following her interview with Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's department about the death of Wenzel Hitzig. She wants Phi to help clear her name.

PHI Investigators asked Arlene to put together as many details as she could remember about Wenzel's time in Oxford from his arrival on November 2 to his death on November 4.

By Arlene Melton:
November 6, 2002

Wenzel Hitzig in Oxford

Okay, here's all I can remember from the last weekend I spent with Wenzel.

Wenzel said he caught a Delta airlines flight at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 2nd from Atlanta to Memphis.

He rented a car at the airport. I don't know what rental car company he used, but it was a red Dodge Neon.

He checked into the Ole Miss Motel between 1 and 2 p.m. He phoned me just after, so that can be checked from the phone records. He told me he was going to have a shower, then he would come pick me up, so we could chat and maybe go out for a drink or a meal. I told him I was looking forward to seeing him.

Wenzel picked me up about 4:30 p.m., I think.

We went to Two Stick where I work to have coffee and a snack, and talk. (Wenzel had a donut) He came there last month when he visited me in September and he thought it was a neat place. Plus guys like JP don't frequent it. Me and JP get along okay, but I didn't want to run into him with Wenzel cuz of the business over the loan.

We probably left Two Stick around 6:30 p.m. It was a couple of hours minimum. We talked about everything. He was asking about my life, he told me a few funny stories, I asked him how TINAG was coming along and he said fine. He said that Achim was too clever for his own good, and that he'd been trying to piece together everything Achim had put into the game and it had been really interesting, but frustrating.

He asked me where I'd like to go for dinner. I said somewhere out of Oxford, so we took a drive out towards Tupelo and stopped at a diner along the way. I don't remember what it was.

We got back to the motel after 10 p.m. Wenzel had booked a double room anyway, so I stayed with him overnight. I don't have to write those details down, do I?

On Sunday November 3rd, we got up and went and had breakfast on the Square. I only had a coffee. It was after 11 a.m. when we left.

Wenzel asked if I minded going to the Ole Miss museum. I said I was happy enough to hang out and do whatever. I love how he gets when he wants to do something. He's so focused on it but still kinda polite as well. We drove over to the museum on campus. I wish I could remember exactly what Wenzel wanted to see, but I think it was a Robertson collection or something. I know he talked to this girl from the university for a while and he was asking about coins, like really old ones. Roman, Greek, whatever. You said to include everything, so I remember him asking about someone who used to work at the museum as he was a friend of a friend. I'm sorry, but I switch off a bit when I'm not that interested. We took a look around. It all looked the same to me. You see one old vase or coin you seen them all, but Wenzel was great. "Look at this Arlene," he'd say. All these items made thousands of years ago. I was just thinking, "Yeah great, I'd rather go look at those boots I've had my eye on at Neilson's!"

He reminded me of Achim when he was talking and excited. It's weird the way memories come back when you write things down.

We left there at about 1 p.m. -- maybe as late as 1:30? I said I wanted to get home for a while to pick up some more clothes and get some other stuff done. Wenzel said he had some things to do as well. The girl had given him an address for the friend he was trying to get in touch with. So we arranged that he would come pick me up later and we'd go out to dinner again. He called me about 6:00 in the evening just as I was doing my nails to say he couldn't make it after all, but that he'd pick me up in the morning around 10-10:30. I asked him what was he going to do for the rest of the day, but he said it was just some business stuff, not to worry about it. So I didn't.

Next morning he picked me up about 10:30, as agreed. Actually, he might have been running a few minutes late. Yes, he was. He mentioned getting a phone call on his way out. We drove first to the Square to get a coffee and a donut (he loved donuts). We just were talking about stuff, like 9/11 and everything, Wenzel mentioned the sniper story and how lucky the police were. He thought they wouldn't have caught those guys, if they hadn't given themselves away so much. I told him I thought they were freaks and was glad they had been stopped. He seemed a little down. I asked him if anything was wrong. We were standing by the car in the Square. He looked at me really weird and asked if I believe in the presence of evil. I can't remember his exact words, but it was something about not just badness, but evil as in the Bible, like the devil. I dunno I said. I believe in God, but I don't know too much about it. He said he wanted to travel and see history for himself. He mentioned he was planning to go to Greece to talk to some guy that Achim knew. I asked him if this was for TINAG. He said it is, Arlene, and it isn't. It's TINAG, but so much more than that. Have you seen the Matrix, he asked me. Yeah I said, didn't really understand it but Keanu Reeves looked hot in the outfit. This Greek guy could be the one he said. And then he laughed. Sounds weird I told him, but Wenzel just said it wasn't really weird, just a treasure hunt with a bizarre but true story.

When we finished the coffee and donuts, we got in the car and drove to Avent Park. It was one of those clear November mornings that feels really great, you know. Like, not as good as summer, but still crisp and promising somehow. Wenzel seemed in a much better mood after our chat and I told him he looked happier now. I get too serious, Arlene, he told me. I need someone like you to bring me back to reality once in a while. He said he was thinking, did he even want to find what he was looking for. We got to the park and I teased him about taking me into the woods to take his pictures and whatever else. I don't remember anyone else being around when we drove in. We got out, ours was the only car parked in the lot. Wenzel checked the battery for his laptop, and then he checked his camera. He said he wanted to make sure he had plenty of room on the memory card, so he deleted all the old stuff and then he took a picture of me by the car blowing him a kiss. He put the camera around his neck and he carried the notebook computer and we walked up the trail that leads from the parking lot into the wooded area. Some guy was doing stretches by the exercise area and he jogged off just after we passed him.

We walked for about 5 minutes in all and then Wenzel put the computer down and got his camera out. He took a few shots of me, asking me to smile or look scared or whatever it was. It just felt like we were goofing around a little. I don't know how many photos Wenzel took because I couldn't hear a shutter click or anything. After a while of taking some shots, he said he would download them on to his computer because he couldn't tell from the small screen on the back of his camera if he had everything he needed. He said something about things looking okay in a small size but when you examined the bigger picture some of the details didn't look so good.

He connected the camera to the computer and I left him to it for a moment while I was just daydreaming. I wandered off a little. About a minute or so later, maybe 2 or 3, I heard a sound. I didn't know what it was, but it must have been a shot. It wasn't really loud or anything. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't see Wenzel from where I was anyway, and I waited for a moment and then I was scared and I was trying to see Wenzel through the trees and bushes. I couldn't see him. I was moving pretty carefully, cuz I didn't know what had happened. Then I could see Wenzel lying face down and this person was kneeling down next to him. I don't know why I wasn't more suspicious right off, but I couldn't see he had that creepy mask on then, so I thought maybe he was trying to help Wenzel, like there was an accident. I don't know what I was thinking, but I just stepped out and asked if Wenzel was okay. He looked around and I saw that horrible Scream face and then he raised the gun and shot me. When he pointed the gun at me, I tried to knock it away, and that's the only reason I'm here now talking to you instead of dead like Wenzel. That must be how I got the residue gunshot whatever on my hand too. Anyway, he shot me and I fell over. I thought I was going to die. The next thing I remember is Tate telling me I was going to be okay. He hugged me and he was saying, "It's okay, Arlene, it's going to be okay" and I didn't know where I was or anything. I think I might have fainted.

I woke up and the police were there. They were asking me so many questions and I couldn't take it all in. I was taken to hospital and treated.

I don't know what else to add. You will have to ask me questions. All I remember is that Wenzel was a fantastic guy who didn't deserve to die like this. I'm really sorry he is gone. I know he has been working hard on trying to get the TINAG game going and I am sorry I gave him such a hard time about it. Maybe some of his old friends know more about what he has been involved in? I know he went to Spain to get something for TINAG. I know he called someone in Greece that Achim knew because he told me on the phone about it. It's a long story he said. But he never told me. He probably thought I wouldn't understand. He might have been right.