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Sunday, August 15, 2004 -- 11:30 AM
The witness, who had the female lead role in the victim's
film, was interviewed at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Office. The
interview was conducted by Detectives Armstrong and Murphy and was
recorded on a portable tape recorder with the witness' knowledge and
consent.
- TA = Detective T. Armstrong
- SM = Detective S. Murphy
- KB = Katrina Brook
SM: For the record, please state your name, age, address and
occupation.
KB: Katrina Brook; 20. I live at 211 Anderson Way, and I'm a student.
SM: Ms. Brook, who discovered the body?
KB: I did.
SM: It wasn't Alsace Montenado, as we were first let to
believe?
KB: No, it was me.
SM: Was Mr. Montenado with you when you discovered the body?
KB: No, he was not.
TA: You were alone?
KB: Yes. But Alsace was close behind me. As soon as I heard the
gunshots, I went running to the room. And as for everyone else-- I don’t
know if they heard them, or if they chose to ignore them. But I was the
first one in the room.
SM: Did you immediately go inside the room?
KB: The door was locked. I started beating on it and then I kicked it
in. And when I got in the room, he was dead, and there was a machete
sticking up out of the desk. That’s the first thing I noticed.
SM: What else did you notice?
KB: Actually, that wasn’t the first thing I noticed. I remember now... the tree outside was shaking. The limbs were moving as if a heavy
wind was blowing. The limbs rattled; I remember the sound. And the
water was running in the bathroom. And the CD player was going. I was in
the room by then, and I screamed. That’s when everyone came running.
TA: Who arrived first?
KB: Alsace.
TA: And then? Do you recall who came next?
KB: Dave and Billy were right behind Alsace, but he was in the room freakin' out and he
wouldn't let me out of the room and he wouldn't let
them into the room - -and nobody knew what was going on. It was like all
our worst nightmares had come to life.
SM: When did the others come?
KB: I don’t remember seeing any of them upstairs. No, I take
that back. Macy stuck her head in several minutes later, but Alsace was
trying to keep everybody back. He wouldn’t let anyone come in, and
wouldn’t let me leave. I finally screamed at him to let me by.
SM: Why wouldn’t he let you by?
KB: He just kept yelling for everyone to calm down. He would say,
"Everybody freeze! Everybody just chill for a minute! What’s happened?"
TA: What about Brett. Did you see him?
KB: I think he was in Corwin's room at some point, but I was
so freaked out I don't really know exactly what happened for a little
while. I don’t remember actually seeing Brett until we came downstairs. He was acting really
strange, and Johnny and Dave were trying to subdue him.
TA: What was the matter?
KB: I don’t know. All I remember is going into my room and falling on
the bed. I felt sick.
TA: What was Brett saying?
KB: He was laughing. He was insane with laughter, I.... I only vaguely
remember.
TA: Did he go upstairs?
KB: He was running all over.
SM: Did anyone disturb the body?
KB: Not to my knowledge.
SM: Did you touch anything when you went into the bedroom?
KB: No. I just started crying. Alsace turned the water off. I don’t
know if he touched anything else.
TA: What was on the CD player?
KB: I don’t know, let’s see.... I think it was that Uncle Tupelo song
"Give Back the Key to My Heart." I really like that song. It makes me
feel happy for some reason. But I don’t think it will ever again.
SM: Did you look outside the window?
KB: Yeah, but I didn’t see anyone. By the time I finally went to look
though, whoever it was would have gotten away. And I know that’s what it
was -- the killer getting away. Because it wasn’t windy enough to rattle
those limbs, and I arrived right after I heard the three gunshots. At
first when I heard the shots, I had just assumed Corwin had shot
himself. But how could he shoot three times? I realized that and was
afraid that whoever shot him was still in the room. Like in the closet
or under the bed. That’s why I was so frantic to get out.
SM: Where were you when you heard the shots?
KB: I was in the upstairs bathroom.
TA: What were you doing up there? Wasn’t your bedroom downstairs?
KB: Yes.
TA: Then why were you using the bathroom upstairs?
KB: I wasn’t.
TA: What were you doing?
KB: Crying.
TA: Why were you crying?
KB: Because... I had gone upstairs to see Corwin, and I went to his
door and heard the music playing. Then I heard his voice, and it sounded
like he was talking to someone.
SM: Did you hear the other person’s voice?
KB: No. Just Corwin’s, and that song.
TA: Why would that make you cry?
KB: I thought it was Macy... or somebody else. You see, Corwin and I
had been seeing each other throughout the shoot. And I guess I was just
upset because I thought he was sleeping with somebody.
TA: Who else would it have been?
KB: Who knows? I just didn’t know.
SM: Would he have been sleeping with Macy?
KB: Maybe. They had been together at one time. Actually, when we
arrived on set, that’s why she was there. She was with him. But then
he and I
became close, and soon he had chosen me over her.
SM: Was there a rivalry between you and Macy?
KB: It was kind of unspoken, kind of not.
TA: What does that mean?
KB: Yes, I guess there was a rivalry.
TA: Did she threaten you?
KB: No. She was just very hateful. And rightly so, I guess.
Suppose I did make off with her man. I didn’t realize...
TA: Tell me, did you regularly visit Corwin at this hour of the night?
KB: Sometimes. It was innocent enough. I knew Corwin was up at that
hour. He always woke up at 4:00 a.m. to work on the script or watch the
dailies. I just wanted to be with him and listen to him talk about the
movie. I loved to listen to him talk about it. It made me remember why I
wanted to make it.
SM: Were you discouraged otherwise?
KB: Yes. It wasn’t coming together like I’d hoped, like he hoped
either. It was a really frustrating time during the shoot because
everyone was growing impatient. They didn’t really want to be there.
TA: Then why did everybody stay?
KB: Because Corwin had sway over them.
TA: How’s that?
KB: I don’t know. People just listened to him.
TA: Any idea who might have wanted him to stop talking, who might have
wanted him dead?
KB: I don’t know. I mean, what does it take to kill somebody? I don’t
even understand that! What does someone have to do to you to make you
want to kill them?
TA: Sometimes, a person kills another person because they’ve been hurt.
Did Fitz hurt anyone? Did he hurt you?
KB: I don’t know. He....
TA: What about Macy? Did he hurt Macy?
KB: She was pretty upset with him. He wasn’t the most patient person
with her, or with anyone who interrupted his progress.
TA: Did he physically hurt her?
KB: Sometimes, I think. Yes.
TA: Did he physically hurt you?
KB: I can't...
SM: Katrina, we understand this whole thing is upsetting, but it’s very important for you to level with
us. We need to
find out what happened here.
KB: Corwin was a perfectionist, and if he thought someone
wasn’t giving it their all, he saw it as them trying to hurt him. So in
a sense, he used violence as self defense. He got into it with Billy one
day. But to tell you the truth, Billy was asking for it. They were all
asking for it. He just... Corwin had a problem with collaboration. He
wanted to get you into his mind, and when people were reluctant, he
forced himself on them.
SM: Did he force himself on you, Katrina?
KB: He did, in a sense. In another sense, I was a willing participant.
He was right, you know. We’re all just unwilling participants in
everything we do. We have no right to complain about the things that are
against us. He thought we deserved no mercy.
TA: And he showed none?
KB: No, that’s just it. One on one, he was a compassionate man. He was... a frustrated man. He could only express himself in the present, and
this film was proving it. He’d let it get away from him.
TA: This still doesn’t make any sense. Why were you still there, even
after he forced you to stay. Am I right, he forced you to stay?
KB: He didn’t have to because I’d fallen in love with him.
TA: And the others?
KB: I don’t know about the others. I didn’t care.
SM: Was there anyone else besides y’all in the crew? Did anyone else
ever visit the lodge?
KB: Yeah, a couple of people. There was a girl, an actress who wanted
to be in the movie. She just barged in and kind of crashed the scene,
you know. Corwin got real mad. He yelled at her and chased her away. He
was very resentful of people who didn’t take the job seriously. He
thought it was a way of life, and you had to respect it with your whole
self. He hated those theatrical people like this girl. But not as bad as
he hated the money men. He had a really bad time with the executive
producer, Chuckie King. There was a bad argument on the front lawn that
I missed, but I heard about it. Something that had to do with the fact
that Chuckie wanted to be on the set and watch the filming. He thought
he had every right to because he’d put a lot of money into the film, but
Corwin said he had no rights whatsoever. Of course, after that Chuckie
wanted his money back, but Corwin wouldn’t give it to him. It was an
investment, and he couldn’t back out that easy.
TA: You never spoke to King?
KB: No.
TA: And what about the girl?
KB: No.
SM: What was the girl's name?
KB: Helen Troy. At least, I think that was it. Corwin got real
mad if he heard anyone even mention her, so we never really talked about
her after that day.
TA: Did Fitz have something against women? I get the impression that
he was violent toward you women.
KB: He was just passionate, and that’s sometimes mistaken for
violence.
TA: And violence can often be mistaken for passion. If you’re
passionate about something, you love it. You don’t want to harm it.
Right?
KB: I don’t know. But I do know that whatever he did to Macy, she
deserved it.
SM: But you and Macy didn’t get along, so that's not
exactly an unbiased opinion, is it?
KB: No, we didn’t get along. She was a b****, if you’ll pardon me. She wanted to
sabotage Corwin’s movie.
TA: Tell us about the role you played in the film.
KB: She’s a tease, but she’s smart and kind of dangerous. She’s a good
foil for the lead character, Raldler. She likes to play mind games with
him. She has a very lethal sexuality. It was somewhat of a stretch for
me. I’ve never been overtly sexual, and in this role, I had to experiment
with that side of myself.
TA: And did Fitz help you experiment with that side of yourself?
KB: Is that relevant?
TA: I think so.
KB: I don’t have to answer that. What are you asking?
TA: I’m asking you, did Fitz seduce you?
KB: Sexually?
TA: Sure.
KB: I don’t have to say. Detective, this is public record, isn’t it?
I’d like to speak to a lawyer before continuing.
SM: Okay, listen, Ms. Brook. That will do for now. If we have anything
more, we be in touch.
KB: Fine then. That’s that.
SM: Thank you for your cooperation.
Interview ends -- 12:27 PM |
