Tuesday, September 12, 2023 – 9:20 a.m.

Weldon Foyle, who was one of Kristi Waterson's students, was taken into custody on September 11, 2023.

Detectives Armstrong and Murphy re-interviewed him at the Yoknapatawpha County Detention Center.

Participants:

• Detective T. Armstrong
• Detective S. Murphy
• Weldon Foyle

Detective Murphy: So what do you have to say for yourself, Weldon?

Weldon Foyle: Say for myself? I'm not quite sure yet.

Detective Murphy: For the record, please state your name and address.

Weldon Foyle: I am Weldon Foyle, and I live at 604 North 14th Street, #B.

Detective Murphy: Also, for the record, you have been advised of your rights?

Weldon Foyle: Yes.

Detective Murphy: And you have chosen to talk with us today?

Weldon Foyle: Yes.

Detective Murphy: And you have opted not to have an attorney present?

Weldon Foyle: Yeah.

Detective Armstrong: Okay, here's the deal. I had to get up early this morning for a dentist appointment. I'm tired, and I'm in a bad mood, so let's get this over with quickly.

Weldon Foyle: Sorry to hear that.

Detective Armstrong: Just tell us why you killed Kristi Waterson, and we can all go home. Well, not you.

Weldon Foyle: I have nothing to confess. I've done nothing wrong.

Detective Murphy: Murdering an innocent woman isn't wrong?

Detective Armstrong: What kind of monster are you? Do you really think killing an innocent victim isn't wrong?

Weldon Foyle: Well, I'm not sure that Kristi Waterson was anyone's definition of innocent, if you understand what I mean.

Detective Murphy: So you killed her?

Weldon Foyle: I didn't say I killed her. I just disagreed with your statement of her being innocent.

Detective Murphy: Where did you go on the night of Kristi Waterson's murder?

Weldon Foyle: I told you. I was working at Myra Olander's house.

Detective Armstrong: That's not what Myra told us.

Detective Murphy: You're lying, Weldon.

Detective Armstrong: Tell us where you really went.

Weldon Foyle: I was working—

Detective Armstrong: Myra told us about your cover-up, so don't give us that crap about working. Where were you?

Detective Murphy: You were at Kristi's, weren't you?

Detective Armstrong: You better help us, Weldon. You better tell us the truth.

Weldon Foyle: Okay, I know this looks bad. I know you caught me lying. I wasn't at Myra's house. I was scared. I thought I would get in trouble. I was walking home late, and I walked by Neilson's, and there were these guys—

Detective Armstrong: Spare us that nonsense. We know that story is all a big lie. We checked with Nielson's. They don't have any record of any trouble on the night you killed Kristi Waterson.

Weldon Foyle: Who said I killed her?

Detective Murphy: We said it. Come on, Weldon. Just be honest. Tell us why you did it, and we can help you. We can tell the DA you cooperated.

Detective Armstrong: I don't want to waste any more time on this thing, kid. We've got evidence. You want the list? One, we know you lied about your whereabouts on the night of the murder. Two, we've got hair samples linking you to the crime. Your hair samples. In fact, your pubic hair sample. We also have witnesses who saw you in a restaurant parking lot near Kristi Waterson's apartment—

Detective Murphy: Where you parked so you could walk over to her place.

Detective Armstrong: We've got a bag that was recovered from your home that has the victim's bodily fluids in it. And it just happens to match a bag that witnesses saw a man carrying towards the victim's apartment. Should I go on?

Weldon Foyle: You've got all that, huh? I'm impressed. After that debacle with Hunter Nelson, I just figured you guys were really hurting on this investigation.

Detective Armstrong: We weren't doing quite as poorly as you thought. We've got more than enough to send you to death row. Sentencing won't be a problem. Sadistic murder. Sexual deviance. Cold-blooded, methodical planning.

Detective Murphy: That's true. Very methodical. I have to hand it to you. You did good work here. Most of the crime in this town is hot-blooded stuff. Someone gets liquored up, or someone gets done wrong, their temper flares up, and next thing you know, there's a body on the ground. We don't often see people like you.

Weldon Foyle: Like me?

Detective Murphy: Intelligent. Diligent. Calculating. I'd even say you were hard-working. I mean, it takes brains and sweat both to pull off something like this.

Weldon Foyle: You're definitely right on that account. It wouldn't be easy.

Detective Armstrong: But it was easy for you, right? Because you're smarter than everyone else.

Weldon Foyle: I'm not smarter than everyone, but I do work hard. It's only right that people who work hard should get what they deserve, and those who don't work hard should get what they deserve, too.

Detective Armstrong: And Kristi Waterson deserved what she got because she wasn't fair to you? Hell, you got an A in her class.

Weldon Foyle: So did a bunch of people who didn't earn it. You just don't get it, do you, detective?

Detective Murphy: You know, if you tell us why you did this, we can understand better. It's simple to figure out why some Bubba killed his wife after he caught her cheating, but this is difficult. This is challenging. You weren't jealous of her, were you?

Weldon Foyle: Why in the world would someone be jealous of a slut? You don't get possessive of the town pump.

Detective Armstrong: So then why? Man, I can't sleep at night when something gets to bothering me, and I'll never figure this one out.

Weldon Foyle: You probably won't.

Detective Murphy: I think I have, Weldon, and you know, you're right.

Weldon Foyle: Of course I am, but what do you mean?

Detective Murphy: You know how much cops make, Weldon?

Weldon Foyle: No, I never even thought about it.

Detective Murphy: Sure you didn't. Nobody does. You know how long we work on homicide cases? A lot of times, we go 24, 48, 72 hours straight until we get it solved. We do the grunt work, and we get paid dirt. Then, the rich boys who can afford to go to law school and buy their way into office get to be prosecutors and take all the credit.

Weldon Foyle: Yeah?

Detective Murphy: Yeah. Doesn't sound fair, does it?

Weldon Foyle: Nope, not at all.

Detective Murphy: And just like your situation, they get away with it every day, and they're right in your face about it. You know how that feels?

Weldon Foyle: Yeah, I do.

Detective Murphy: I'm so tired of it.

Weldon Foyle: Me too. I'm tired of the rich getting to do whatever they want. I'm tired of walking home at night after work and being so exhausted that I can't find my way. Just standing there on a big street in a small town and simply being so mentally drained that I can't figure out which way is home. And just at that moment, as I struggle to get out of the fog enough, a car full of sorority girls goes cruising by, the top down, ponytails trailing in the breeze, music cranked up. And those are the very same girls who are going to be absent during roll call tomorrow morning in class. It's just not fair.

Detective Murphy: And the worst part is not being able to do a damn thing about it, and all the while, they're so smug.

Weldon Foyle: Yeah, really. But you can do something.

Detective Murphy: No, you can't. They'll find out.

Weldon Foyle: Not necessarily. You just have to be careful and thorough.

Detective Armstrong: So you killed Kristi Waterson because she was rich?

Weldon Foyle: He still doesn't get it.

Detective Murphy: No, he doesn't, but go ahead and try to explain it to him.

Weldon Foyle: That wasn't just a killing. It was class warfare. It was an assassination. It was striking a blow.

Detective Murphy: You know this is going to make you a hero to a bunch of hard-working students, right?

Weldon Foyle: I don't think—

Detective Murphy: Except…

Weldon Foyle: Except what?

Detective Murphy: The story the public is hearing is already changing. At first, it was all about what a bad teacher she was, but now people are starting to talk about Kristi's heroic struggle against her attacker, the fight she put up to save her honor—

Weldon Foyle: That's such a bunch of crap! She wanted it—

Detective Murphy: They're talking about Kristi the victim, the brave girl who stood for independence and for giving the students a break. How her vicious killer murdered her and then took it even further by looping that belt around her lifeless neck, tying that square knot in the other end around the closet rod, and stringing up her dead body in her own closet—

Weldon Foyle: Half-hitch.

Detective Murphy: Pardon me?

Weldon Foyle: Not a square knot. A half-hitch.

Detective Murphy: Is that right?

Weldon Foyle: I can't believe I just said that.

Detective Murphy: It's okay, Weldon. Really. I think we all know the score here. Don't we?

Weldon Foyle: I guess so.

Detective Armstrong: So… how did you pick out Kristi?

Weldon Foyle: Can you think of anyone better? Rich, spoiled, irresponsible. The sex thing was just a cover, but an easy one. Kristi Waterson represented everything that's wrong with privilege, so she was the perfect choice. You remember our last conversation? Well, Kristi Waterson needed killing.

Detective Murphy: And so you methodically planned her murder, uh, execution as you put it, and coolly tried to frame Hunter Nelson for it?

Weldon Foyle: If you say so.

Detective Armstrong: Why would you do that to him?

Weldon Foyle: You've talked to him. What do you think?

Detective Murphy: Sounds like a lot of work to frame somebody like that.

Weldon Foyle: Hard work, detective, very hard work. Some of us have to work hard for a living. We can't just coast on Daddy's money.

Detective Armstrong: This is disgusting. You'll be working hard, all right, Foyle. When you get to Parchman, you'll be working plenty hard. I can't listen to any more of this.

Interview ended – 10:03 a.m.