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Witness Interview: Dorothy Rebine, Friend of Mickie Webster
 

Sunday, March 5, 2000 - 10:43 a.m.

Detective Tim Armstrong re-interviewed Ms. Rebine in her home, located at 505 N 14th, Oxford.

DR = Dorothy Rebine
TA = Det. Tim Armstrong

 

TA: Could you please state your full name and address for the record?

DR: Dorothy Marie Rebine, 505 N 14th, Oxford, Mississippi.

TA: Ms. Rebine, I want to thank you for letting me come by on Sunday morning to ask you a few more questions. I'll try to make it quick, okay?

DR: That's fine, Detective. I don't mind cooperating at all.

TA: As I explained earlier on the phone, we need a bit more clarification regarding your earlier testimony. I'm afraid we never did establish why you called Ms. Webster that evening, on January 15th.

DR: Well, I'm sure I said that I called her about a movie I saw that we wanted to see.

TA: Oh, that's right. I wonder though, why did you call so late? According to my notes it was about 11:30.

DR: Well, I tried her earlier but kept getting the answering machine. Even on her cell, I got the voice mail.

TA: Sorry? The phone records don't show any calls from you other than the one at 11:26 p.m.

DR: Well, I didn't leave a message on either. I never do, hate those darn things. Anyway, you can tell if you're going to get the voice mail, because the ring sounds different. Whenever I get that, I just hang up. And then the answering machine, it picks up after 4 rings. So if she didn't answer by the third, I just hung up. Anyway, I was trying most of the day and not getting her, so that's why I called so late.

TA: And which number was it that you finally reached her?

DR: Number?

TA: Yes, you said you were trying both the cell phone and the residence phone, which one did you finally reach her on?

DR: Oh... I think it was the home phone. Yeah, it must've been since it was so late and all. I doubt she would have been out and about.

TA: Are you sure?

DR: Reasonably sure. If there is any doubt, I am sure we can check with the phone company.

TA: Okay. Well, when you talked to her, did you notice any background noise?

DR: Background noise? No, not that I recall. Just the sound of her smoking.

TA: That's all?

DR: Yes, that's all. All I can remember anyway... I did have the my television on in the background.

TA: You spoke for 27 minutes. What did you talk about, exactly?

DR: Well, I called her to see if she wanted to see that movie. But I heard her smoking, so I asked her, was she smoking and she said she was stressing...

TA: Did she say what she was "stressing" about?

DR: She said that she had to make a decision about what she was going to do about her life. That she knew it was over, really over with her and Dev...

TA: Did she ask you if you thought she should leave town, start over?

DR: She talked about starting over, yes. But that's Mickie. Whenever she gets worked up, she starts talking about going away and finding a new town. So that night when she started talking about doing that, I knew she didn't mean it. I know she never got over her insecurities over being left and alone.

TA: The break up with Mr. Beauchamp renew those insecurities for her?

DR: I would say so. You know, she leaned on him a lot. I think she really felt she could trust him and then... well, the break up I think shocked her. She didn't see it coming.

TA: Really? I thought the break up was mutual - that Ms. Webster and Mr. Beauchamp both believed it to be the best thing.

DR: Well, that's what she told people. But truth be told, she did not want it to happen and was trying to find a way for them to reconcile. They had been having a lot of "discussions" about it - but they weren't going anywhere.

TA: Do you know why? Did she ever say what the problem was?

DR: She never said exactly - just something about her having disappointed Dev and he just couldn't forgive her. I guessed it was about another man, but I never did find out. Was there another man?

TA: Sorry ma'am, I don't have any idea about that. Did she mention to you that she had swapped vehicles with Jessica Durham that weekend?

DR: No, she didn't

TA: Do you find that odd? Wouldn't you have expected her to tell you about that?

DR: No, not really. There wouldn't be any reason to mention it to me, except as maybe small talk. Mickie lent her truck out a lot. It was just something she did. Carl Dixon was always borrowing it to pick up stuff for the restaurant... no big deal if you ask me.

TA: Anything else you talked about that night?

DR: Just stuff... clothes and new shoes and things like that. There was a half off sale at JC Penny, but I guess she already knew about it and wasn't interested.

TA: And y'all never did see that movie?

DR: No, we never did. I finally saw it with another friend. She just hasn't been interested in socializing since this thing happened to Dev.

TA: Have you tried to get her to socialize since Mr. Beauchamp's death?

DR: Of course, I have.

TA: And she's refused? Can you give me a "for instance?"

DR: Well, about a week after Dev was killed, I dropped by her place... you know, just to check on her. And she wouldn't answer the door. I knew she was home. I saw her truck and I could hear her inside... but she just wouldn't come to the door. Then a few days later I saw her in the Bottletree and I asked her to sit down with me. But she said she was too busy and took off.

TA: Have you see her since then?

DR: Well, I finally got her to talk to me on the phone, but she just can't concentrate on anything... she is stuck in her depression. Sounds like she is barely functioning.

TA: Okay, I see what you mean. The call on the 15th, who ended it?

DR: She did. She finally said she had to go. Her head was still bothering her. So I said fine and hung up.

TA: Was that sudden, her ending the conversation?

DR: No, she was really kind of distracted for the whole conversation, so I guess it didn't seem that way.

TA: Okay, anything else you think may be important?

DR: Well, actually I have a question of my own, if you don't mind. Have y'all figured out which baseball bat it was that was used to kill Dev?

TA: Excuse me? What makes you think that a baseball bat was the murder weapon?

DR: You're kidding, right? The whole town knows it. People been talking about that for weeks. Don't you watch the news? In the first week, it was out about all the baseball bats you were taking into evidence. It is awful ironic, don't you think, what with the way Dev loved baseball, that he would be killed with a piece of the game, so to speak...

TA: Hmm, well I guess we'd better check with the local news to see if they know where we can find Mr. Beauchamp's killer. You understand I can't discuss evidence with you, ma'am?

DR: I understand. But like I said, not like it's any kind of secret. A town this size, there's always going to be things that get out.

TA: Well, thanks for the heads up, I'll bear that in mind.

DR: Any time.

TA: Thanks for talking to me. If we have any further questions, we'll give you a call.

DR: You're welcome, Detective. Good luck.

TA: Yes, ma'am. Goodbye.

 

End interview: 11:12 a.m.

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