Interview: Ronny Brandt

Saturday, March 17, 2012 - 9:00 a.m.

Ronald "Ronny" Brandt, Sr. is the father of the boy who brought the skull to school. The interview was conducted at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department and was recorded with the witness's knowledge and consent.

Participants:

• Detective T. Armstrong
• Detective S. Murphy
• Ronny Brandt

Detective Murphy: For the record, could you please state your name and address?

Ronny Brandt: Danny Brandt. 205 Brittany Drive. Is this going to take long?

Detective Armstrong: You in a rush?

Ronny Brandt: My boss doesn't pay me to sit here and chat.

Detective Armstrong: Answer our questions, and we'll all get out of here sooner.

Ronny Brandt: Ask away.

Detective Armstrong: RJ brought a skull to school yesterday. You have any idea where he found it?

Ronny Brandt: He said he dug it up from the backyard.

Detective Armstrong: Any reason he was digging up the backyard?

Ronny Brandt: I told him to. The boy does what I say. My wife told me he gave you a little lip yesterday. I had a talk with him last night about his attitude. You won't have any trouble with him next time.

Detective Armstrong: What do you say?

Ronny Brandt: I told him to show some respect.

Detective Armstrong: I'll take all the respect I can get. Now, did you see where he dug?

Ronny Brandt: He showed me. I told him to continue his dinosaur excavation.

Detective Armstrong: Did he find anything else of interest?

Ronny Brandt: Rocks.

Detective Murphy: What do you do for a living, Mr. Brandt?

Ronny Brandt: I'm a cable installer.

Detective Murphy: Is that good work?

Ronny Brandt: It beats digging up rocks.

Detective Murphy: Did you have the same type of job in Biloxi?

Ronny Brandt: Yeah. What do you care?

Detective Murphy: I'm a detective. We're nosy. It's part of the job. Humor me.

Detective Armstrong: You ever been arrested Mr. Brandt?

Ronny Brandt: Here it comes. Yes, I've been arrested.

Detective Armstrong: For what?

Ronny Brandt: I'm sure you already know. Having a good time.

Detective Armstrong: The court prefers different language to describe the behavior.

Ronny Brandt: I never hurt nobody that didn't need hurting.

Detective Armstrong: Did RJ need hurting last night?

Ronny Brandt: RJ is a good boy.

Detective Murphy: Mr. Brandt, do you have any idea whose skull your son brought to school?

Ronny Brandt: How would I know? It's probably been there a hundred years. Why don't you ask everybody that's rented before us?

Detective Murphy: We just may. So you said you asked RJ to continue digging.

Ronny Brandt: Sure. Could have been valuable artifacts down there. 'Course, with my luck, there weren't.

Detective Murphy: It's just as well. They probably would have belonged to the property owner.

Ronny Brandt: What? Not if I dug them up, they don't.

Detective Armstrong: Just between us. Did you find anything?

Ronny Brandt: No. Like I said before.

Detective Murphy: The people in the lab are doing a full analysis of that skull, running a whole slew of tests. Are we going to have to ask you back for another talk when we get the results?

Ronny Brandt: Are you asking if it's going to turn out that I know the person? No. I don't know any little kids in the area. I can't remember hearing word one about anybody being missing.

Detective Murphy: It will look bad if we discover later you're lying.

Ronny Brandt: I'm not lying. I have no clue whose skull that is.

Detective Armstrong: OK. That's it for today. Thanks for coming in. We'll be in touch.

Ronny Brandt: Right.

Interview ends: 9:22 a.m.