Young man with glasses, dark hair, and a scruffy beard

Axyl Floyd interview #2

Thursday, March 11, 2021 – 11:30 a.m.

Axyl Floyd is a former Yoknapatawpha High School classmate of Daniel Collier.

Detectives Beckwith and Magee re-interviewed him at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department.

Participants:

Detective Beckwith: Mr. Floyd, good to see you again. Have a seat.

Axyl Floyd: Yeah, yeah. Could we get this over? I got a gig tonight.

Detective Beckwith: We'll be done long before night.

Axyl Floyd: I got soundcheck this afternoon, man. 

Detective Beckwith: Just start with your full name and address.

Axyl Floyd: It hasn't changed since a few days ago.

Detective Magee: Axyl, I thought you were in a hurry? If you want us to slow down, we could—

Axyl Floyd: All right. Alex "Axyl" Floyd. 620 Huntington Place, Oxford.

Detective Magee: Okay, Axyl, a simple question for you to start. Do you own a motorcycle?

Axyl Floyd: Yeah, I have a Honda Shadow. 

Detective Magee: I want you to think back to December of last year. Did you get your motorcycle painted at Laughlin Auto Body?

Axyl Floyd: Yeah, and I'll save you time—your missing boy Danny did the work.

Detective Beckwith: Were you satisfied with the work?

Axyl Floyd: Can't complain. The guy sure knows how to paint.

Detective Beckwith: Did you pay Daniel for the job in cash or on credit?

Axyl Floyd: I had the money in cash.

Detective Magee: Do you always carry that much cash?

Axyl Floyd: Yeah, I do. A lot of the small shows we play, we get paid in cash at the end of the night. I don't do banks and checkbooks. 

Detective Beckwith: Did Daniel invite you to the New Year's Party at John Kyle when he was painting your bike?

Axyl Floyd: Yeah, he did … well, sort of.

Detective Magee: What do you mean, ‘sort of?'

Axyl Floyd: He told me he was going to Keanu's party, and if I came, he was pretty sure I could score more than a few dub sacks of premium weed.

Detective Magee: In English?

Axyl Floyd: Dan said that Keanu had $500 worth of his old man's best marijuana. Everyone knows that Keanu's old man is the King of Sling. He uses his resources at Ole Miss to ramp the high of his product, or so people say, but I wouldn't know because Keanu wouldn't sell any to me. I thought I told you all this before.

Detective Beckwith: Not quite. Are you sure that Keanu actually had any marijuana that night?

Axyl Floyd: Why wouldn't he have?

Detective Magee: Because Dan only said Keanu had weed to get you to bring cash to the party?

Axyl Floyd: Why would he do that? That son of a bitch!

Detective Beckwith: Has Daniel tried to contact you?

Axyl Floyd: No.

Detective Beckwith: Have you tried to contact him on the computer or any other way?

Axyl Floyd: Not since we talked last.

Detective Magee: Has Brandon Ebner talked to you since we last spoke?

Axyl Floyd: No. 

Detective Beckwith: Axyl, can you account for your whereabouts between January 1st and January 6?

Axyl Floyd: C'mon, why would I hurt the guy? I wouldn't get my money back.

Detective Beckwith: Do you remember where you were during that week?

Axyl Floyd: Uh, yeah, I was in Memphis.

Detective Magee: In Memphis? Why were you in Memphis?

Axyl Floyd: Why are you so surprised? I'm in a death metal band, detective. There isn't a whole lot of venues here in Oxford for our sound. We aren't all that welcome at the local open mic nights.

Detective Beckwith: You didn't answer the question.

Axyl Floyd: We were special guests for the metal bands No Quarter for the Dying and Intervals of Sanity as they were passing through the South on tour.

Detective Magee: Where did you play?

Axyl Floyd: Both nights at the New Daisy. We supported No Quarter on Sunday the 3th and Intervals on Tuesday the 5th.

Detective Beckwith: Was your girlfriend, Lexi Arant, with you?

Axyl Floyd: Sure was. She and a couple thousand others would have saw me on stage those nights. 

Detective Magee: What about the 1st?

Axyl Floyd: We opened at Proud Larry's. Busy week, made fistfuls of cash.

Detective Magee: How did you get to Memphis?

Axyl Floyd: I drove up in my Silverado with some of our gear in the back on the 2nd. Stayed at the Crowne Plaza. Came back home on the 6th.

Detective Beckwith: Alone?

Axyl Floyd: Nope, the whole band came up with more gear in their vehicles. We're not a big enough band for a bus. Lexi came up too. We were all at the Crowne Plaza eventually.

Detective Magee: Were you ever at the Memphis airport on these dates?

Axyl Floyd: Nope.

Detective Magee: All right, Axyl, we're going to let you get to your soundcheck now. We'll be in contact if we need anything more from you.

Axyl Floyd: When you find Dan, make sure you let him know I'll be around for my $1,000.

Interview ended – 11:57 a.m.