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Beginning at 1:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon, January 16, 2000, Deputy P.J.
Watson canvassed Devlin Beauchamp's neighborhood on Lamar and Price street,
and interviewed the neighbors to determine who may have seen anything
unusual on the night of January 15, 2000 or the early morning hours of
January 16, 2000. The interviews summarized are some of the most typical
or relevant to the investigation.
- Mrs Edna Oxbow, resident immediately adjacent to the west of the
Beauchamp residence. Mrs. Oxbow is a widow and lives alone. She
is given to bouts of insomnia and is often awake during the early hours
of the morning. She is also a participant in the Neighborhood Watch
program set up in this area and so is accustomed to keeping an eye on
things.
She reported that she did see Mr. Devlin Beauchamp arrive home at approximately
10:15 p.m. on Saturday, January 15, 2000. He pulled his car into his
driveway and went directly into his house. Approximately ten minutes
later, Mrs. Oxbow reports seeing a young woman come to Mr. Beauchamp's
door and knock. Mr. Beauchamp let the young woman in. Mrs. Oxbow stated
that, within a few moments, Mr. Beauchamp and the young woman were arguing
about something. Mrs. Oxbow could not hear what they were arguing about,
but did report they had raised voices and the young woman might have
been crying. Approximately twenty minutes after her arrival, the young
woman exited Mr. Beauchamp's residence and appeared upset. When asked
to describe the young woman, Mrs. Oxbow said she did not get a good
look at her since it was dark and the young woman never turned in her
direction. She believed her to be young because she seemed to be trim
and walked with good posture and moved like a young person does.
She believes she saw the woman get into a small, dark colored, foreign
sedan, possibly a Honda or Toyota. She got a partial license number
I-four-seven. Mrs Oxbow also believes there was some damage to the rear
right fender - a dent of some sort but did not get a close look at it
as it was parked approximately four houses down from her house.The witness
also observed an unusual bumper sticker which appeared to have a picture
of a multi-colored hot air balloon with what she believes to be a foreign
word starting with the letter "p".
On January 16, 2000, Mrs.Oxbow saw Mr. Carl Dixon arrive at approximately
11:00 a.m. Mrs. Oxbow stated she recognized Mr. Dixon because he had
been to Mr. Beauchamp's residence numerous times in the past and Mrs.
Oxbow has met and talked with him on several occasions. Shortly after
letting himself into Mr. Beauchamp's residence, Mrs. Oxbow believes
she saw Mr. Dixon come out the back kitchen door, where he appeared
to vomit in the bushes, and then go back inside. Mrs Oxbow was taking
trash out her own back door at the time she saw Mr. Dixon apparently
vomit in the bushes.
- Mr. Sam Shaw. adjacent resident, Mr. Shaw is a musician and
was returning home from a job at approximately 3 a.m on January 16,
2000. He noticed that Mr. Beauchamp's upstairs light was on. Mr. Shaw
said this was unusual, since he knew Mr. Beauchamp to be an early riser
due to his business. Mr. Shaw saw no other unusual activity at the house
or in the neighborhood.
- Ms. Emma Gower,adjacent resident . Ms. Gower stated she did
not notice any unusual activity on the night of January 15, 2000. However
she did notice on January 16, 2000 that Mr. Beauchamp did not take his
usual early morning run - approximately 6:00 a.m.- which she frequently
joined him in. She knocked on his door at approximately 6:20 a.m. to
see if he was running late, but there was no answer. She said his car
was parked in his drive and so she was sure he was home at that time.
She also noticed that the morning paper was still on the porch and had
not been taken in.When Mr. Beauchamp did not answer his door, she assumed
he had "company" and decided she should not bother him any
further.
Ms. Gower does not recall seeing a dark colored foreign sedan parked
in front of her house on the night of the fifteenth, but says she got
home early (approximately 7:00 p.m.) with several video rentals and
retired to her sofa where she remained until well after midnight, never
looking out the window or going outside once inside.
- Frank Newton, adjacent resident. Mr.Newton also noticed a dark
colored foreign sedan, probably made by a Japanese auto manufacturer,
in the neighborhood the night of January 15, 2000. The sedan was parked
in front of Ms. Gower's residence. Mr. Newton said he did not recognize
the vehicle as belonging to any of his neighbors and assumed Ms. Gower
had had a visitor. He first noticed the sedan at approximately 10 p.m.
At approximately midnight, he noticed that the car was gone.When asked
if he wrote down the license number or any other distinguishing characteristics
of the car, Mr. Newton stated that he didn't think it was threatening
- just that he didn't recognize it. when he saw it parked in front of
his neighbor's house he assumed she had company and left it at that.
- John Jackson, adjacent resident . Mr. Jackson reported he had
borrowed some sports equipment from Mr. Beauchamp for the day. Specifically,
he had borrowed a baseball bat, two baseball mitts and two baseballs.
He returned the equipment at approximately 10:15 p.m. He reported that
Mr. Beauchamp, opened the door only enough to accept the equipment bag
from Mr. Jackson and seemed concerned that Mr. Jackson would see inside
the house. Mr. Jackson believed Mr. Beauchamp had a guest and reported
he thought he heard a woman laugh.
When asked if he saw a dark colored foreign sedan parked on the street,
Mr. Jackson said he had no recollection of seeing any such vehicle.
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