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Thursday, August 26, 2004 --
1:30 PM
The witness, who provided funding and was the executive producer of the victim's film, was interviewed at
his medical office at 1311 Medical Park Drive in Oxford. 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
- CK = Chuckie King
SM: For the record, please state your name, age, address and
occupation.
CK: Why, certainly. My name is Charles King, but everyone has
always called me Chuckie. I am
47 years of age. I live at 140 North Lamar, and I am a
plastic surgeon here in town.
SM: How long have you lived in Oxford?
CK: All my life. Was born and raised here.
SM: How'd you come to know Mr. Fitz?
CK: Met him at Downtown Grill, having a cocktail at
happy hour one day. He was actually sitting on my stool,
drinking my drink.
TA: What was that?
CK: Maker's and Coke. So what?
TA: Then what?
CK: Somebody made a joke, "Hey, Chuckie, this kid's
tryin' to be you." We all had a good laugh. I told him my
name and my game, and he told me what he did. I said,
"Hey, we both sound like a couple of happenin', ambitious
guys. We should work together." And that's when he laid
it on me, the whole executive producer bit.
TA: Which was?
CK: Well, he said he was making a movie and was
looking for investors. I told him how I'd been a lifelong
fan of the movies and wanted to help out. I told him I'd
spent ten years in Hollywood, and I knew the business
backwards, forwards and doggy style. I had the money too.
And that was all he was interested in. He said a $20,000
investment was all it would take to get me an executive
producer credit. I had some greenbacks stashed in the
mattress, if you know what I'm sayin', so I figured,
what the hell. Hollywood would look good on me again.
SM: When was this?
CK: Back in the Spring. April, I believe.
SM: And when did you give him the money?
CK: Let's see, this happened on a Friday, and I wrote
him a check on the following Monday. I mean business. No
pussyfooting around when it comes to a business deal, and
he was the same way. That's why I liked him. And plus I
liked his script. I could tell by readin' it it was gonna
knock the socks off the kids. It was loud and mean and
sexy. That's what's hot now. I just knew this deal was
no-fail.
TA: You gave him all $20,000 in a lump sum?
CK: That's right. And to be honest, he got a helluva
lot more than $20,000. He sent me one bill after the
next, expecting me to shell out on top of all that I'd
paid him.
SM: What kind of bills?
CK: Let's see, he had me hire a farmer or some damn
body for one of his actor's chicken farm. There were a
couple of rent checks I had to sign for Pratt, the guy
who owned the lodge. He had me buy some general supplies
at stores around town, nothing fancy. And I had to keep
him in fireworks and liquor.
TA: Did you buy guns for him?
CK: What do you mean?
TA: Exactly what I asked. Did you pay for guns? Did
you find guns for him?
CK: Ha, ha, please... Detective.
TA: Level with me.
CK: Okay, I let the guy borrow some guns! What can I
say? He's a man after my own heart. He likes to hear that
crack... that BOOM!... you know, that report. He walks
taller with it holstered around his shoulders.
TA: And I take it you do too?
CK: They're my guns! Sure, sure I do! But I do it in
the safety of my own home, and I sure as hell don't go
around blowin' off caps in people's faces! C'mon!
TA: Relax, Chuckie. We're not trying to put
you away for having guns.
CK: Any man with sense would carry a gun.
TA: I've often thought that myself. But then,
sometimes you walk into a room and see a man shredded to
bits, in the most unnatural state a man can be in,
and you suddenly feel like cursing the name of the
jerk who first made and put spark to gunpowder.
CK: Detective, I've got a breast job at three, and I've
really been looking forward to it. Will we be done?
SM: So you're throwing money at this Fitz kid
like he's the next Tarantino, and then what? When did you
sense a problem with the deal?
CK: Well, I was out of town when the movie started filming. A
friend and I have a little place in the Caymans. I've had John Grisham
stay with me several times. So when I got back to Oxford, I couldn't get
anybody to take my calls, and I just drove out to the lodge to see how
things were going. Wanted to check out my investment, you understand.
And it appeared pretty clear to me that Corwin didn't want me near his
precious movie set. He said money and art mixed about as
well as blood and oil. I said, "Hell, I wouldn't know I've never mixed
the two."
SM: What did he say?
CK: He said, "Yeah you have. You're a
f****** doctor."
SM: Did you two have a conversation when you went in the house?
CK: Yeah, I'll tell you. There was a terrible noise coming from the house. It
sounded like this primitive chattering. I banged on the
door and no one could hear, I guess. So I walked right
in, and it was like a zoo in there. That's what it
sounded like. The house is built very open, so all the
bedrooms were facing the center of the house, and these
people were in their rooms just bitching... really
yelling up a storm, and their conversations faded into
one. I walked around and eventually bumped into Corwin,
and begged him to make these people shut up. He kept
yelling at me, "What are you doing here?" I just couldn't
stand the noise. I made him cut the racket out.
SM: What did he say?
CK: He was asking me to leave, but I said, "Okay, I'll
go. Just show me part of the set. I deserve to see what's
going since it's my money that's funding it." And he told
me why they were screaming -- something about getting
them into character. And he said he was recording it for
the soundtrack. And then he just started going berserk,
and chased me out by popping off that gun of his. Lucky
for him and me both I didn't have mine on that day.
TA: You'd have used it?
CK: Hell yeah, I think so. I had no idea he was
shooting blanks at me. You ever been shot at?
TA: Yeah. Plenty more times than you, I'd venture to
say.
CK: Then you know what I mean. It's kill or be killed,
baby.
TA: All right then. Did you go back to the house after
that day?
CK: No, I did not. I called Corwin several times. I
tried to get him on the phone, but it was only his
answering machine. And I know he checked his messages. I
sent him e-mails too. Sent him faxes.
TA: We have a fax here that I believe you sent. Do you
recognize it?
CK: Yeah, sure.
TA: So tell us, King, what's all this about?
CK: I was just mouthing off, I swear it, Detective. I
was just trying to play his game. I should have known
better because it just egged him on to think that some
guys were gonna come after him and chop his head off. It
was a bad joke. But did you hear what the guy did to me?
He had the nerve to call me up a few weeks later, after
throwing me out and shooting a gun at me, then never
returning my phone calls and e-mails. He called me and
demanded an additional $10,000, or else he was going to
fire me as executive producer.
SM: And what did you say?
CK: I said, "You're going to court, you little son
of a b****."
TA: Sounds to me like you were desperate to get after
his talent.
CK: What do you mean?
TA: What about that contract you wanted him to
sign.
CK: What about it?
TA: You practically wanted him to sign his life away.
Did you think he'd be dumb enough to sign it?
CK: Maybe I did. It was just for protection. It's
standard Hollywood business. I had a friend of mine -- an
entertainment lawyer in L.A. -- draft it up for me. It's
standard. I wouldn't have exploited him. I just didn't
want him screwing things up for everybody. Sometimes
those kids get famous and go off the deep end.
SM: How far were you prepared to go to get your
money?
CK: I had my brother, Barron, who's a lawyer, looking
into the case for me, but he was right -- the kid had
nothing. The only thing I would have gotten out of it is
the satisfaction of imagining his 300-pound cellmate making real good
friends with him in prison. But he already got his, and it
doesn't satisfy me. It stinks.
TA: Are you acquainted with Katrina Brook?
CK: I know who she is. I've admired her from afar.
Corwin said she was a good girl. But I never went out
with her or met up with her.
TA: What about Macy Lamar?
CK: Yeah, she used to come over to the house with
Corwin before the movie was shooting.
TA: She said you had encouraged everyone to have group
sex once while they were over. It made her quite
uncomfortable.
CK: Ha! I think she was the one talking
that up! Not me. I'm too possessive for all of that. You
know what I mean?
TA: What about Helen Troy?
CK: No, don't believe I ever met her. She another one of those
hot girls Corwin had workin' on the film?
SM: You don't have a lot of respect for women, do you, Dr.
King?
CK: What? Are you crazy? I love women! Don't know
what I'd do without them -- professionally or personally.
SM: Your criminal history seems to tell a different story.
CK: You mean that statutory rape thing? That was all a big
misunderstanding, like I said all along. If it had been anything
substantive, don't you think I would have done some time or something?
It was nothing but a couple of overprotective parents who overreacted to
a standard medical examination and that's how it was treated -- like
nothing. It's not even worth talking about. Now, Detectives, I've
enjoyed our conversation today, but I hope that will suffice. I really need
to do some prep work for the procedure. You know where to find me, I
trust?
SM: We do. And we trust you'll stick close, in case we need to
speak with you again.
CK: Absolutely.
Interview ends -- 2:22 PM |
