Wednesday, February 13, 2002, 3:52p.m.
The witness was identified as a occasional participant in Oxtales. He
was interviewed at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriffs Department.
The interview was recorded on a portable audio tape recorder with the
witnesss knowledge and consent.
SM= Det. Sam Murphy
TA= Det. Ted Armstrong
TM= Tate Moore
SM: Thanks for coming in. Good to see you again.
TM: Yeah, I reckon. I mean, you guys have done right by me, but
Im tired of coming in here talkning about dead people.
SM: Im sure. But you really were helpful in solving the
Michaelis murder at Rowan Oak. Maybe you can help us out again.
TM: Ill be glad to do what I can.
SM: Okay, just for the record, can you please state your name
and address?
TM: My name is Tate Moore and I live on 603 Tyler and that's
right here in Oxford.
SM: And where are you employed?
TM: I pick up work wherever I can get it. Mainly though, I work
with the University as a groundskeeper and I work with my band, the Kudzu
Kings.
SM: Have you ever worked with the theater group Oxtales?
TM: Sure.
TA: How have you been involved with them?
TM: Just small parts here and there. Nothing major.
SM: How did you hook up with the group?
TM: Oxfords a small town, you know? Specially the
arts scene. So I met Andrea Stover somewheres along the line and she asked
me to help out.
TA: What was the nature of your relationship with Andrea?
TM: Oh we were just buddies. She could match any man drink for
drink.
SM: Do you know if Andrea was seeing anyone in the group?
TM: Well, she used to go out with Frank Tuttle, back before she
went in. I dont know if there was anybody else.
SM: Did that relationship cause any problems in the group?
TM: Not really. Least not that I could see, I wasnt around
them that much. But I know Sheila Love had the hots for Frank and she
kind of pined away for him while he was seeing Andrea. They got together
while Andrea was away.
SM: How did Andrea get along with the different members of Oxtales?
TM: Well, I mean, I guess she got along alright. She's pretty
demanding. She'd butt heads a couple times with Dale King and sometimes
she'd want us to rewrite stuff. Ethan would get mad at her. Other than
that, everyone pretty much got along with her I guess.
SM: How was your relationship with Andrea?
TM: In the group or outside?
SM: When you were working with Oxtales.
TM: Oh, okay. Well we got along all right. As I said, she
could be pretty demanding. Sometimes it would start to get on my nerves,
but I would remind myself that I was just sort of a visitor. Just temporary
help. Its a whole lot easier to put up with somebody when you dont
have to deal with them all the time.
TA: What about outside Oxtales? Your personal relationship with
Andrea.
TM: We got along pretty good. She was a lot of fun. When we were
just hanging out, her opinions were fun. The group would get in some kinds
of arguments. Always fun arguments. If you had to work for her, the opinions
were a bit much, but if you were hanging out, they were a lot of fun.
SM: Were you involved in the Snopes production?
TM: Yeah. I just had a small part though, I mean, it wasn't anything.
I did a little stagework.
TA: You werent prosecuted for Snopes. What
did you think of Andreas refusal to plea bargain or to improve her
case in anyway.
TM: I thought it was a little extreme. But I cant say I
was surprised. Those opinions remember? She wasnt about to bow down
to the establishment.
SM: What did you think about all the controversy over that play?
All the press coverage and the community uproar.
TM: Well, I personally thought it was stupid. all the sexy stuff
was notit wasn't that bad. It was just a play and you could just
as well attack the cable company for stuff they do that was way worse
than what was going on in there. But thats kind of the way it is
here.
TA: What do you mean?
TM: Oxfords a weird place. It seems really artsy and really
liberal and all. But every once in a while, it will snap back and get
real conservative real quick. As an artist, its sometimes hard to
know what the boundaries are here. Theres a real good painter works
at Ole Miss and his paintings all sell for thousands of dollars. Hes
had several exhibitions at Southside. Most of his work is of nude women.
And everyone just loves em. A buddy of mine, hes a photographer.
His work is just as good, but he cant sell a one. He tried to get
a booth at the Double Decker arts festival and Claire Windham just flat
told him he couldnt participate. Said his work was disgusting. Its
no worse than that painter, but they wouldnt let him do nothing.
Oxford can be that way.
SM: Have you participated in any other productions since that
one?
TM: Not too much. Ive been really busy with my band and
stuff. I did some of the lighting for Black Boy in the Closet
but I havent done any acting with them.
SM: Do you know anything about the current production?
TM: Nah. I was going to drop by and watch rehearsal sometime
but I just never got around to it.
SM: Do you think the group supports Dale King as director?
TM: I think so. Hes an all right guy, not as harsh as Andrea.
Ive heard that they did really good work while she was away.
TA: Who do you think was the better director?
TM: I cant really say for sure. I never did too much work
with them when Dale was leading the show.
SM: Did you know that Andrea had a fear of heights?
TM: Yeah, we discussed it a actually couple different times.
I remember one time we were at my drummers house and we were talking
about St. Louis for some reason. And we got to talking about the Arch.
She said she'd gone and visited it with her family but she wouldn't go
up.
TA: Do you have any idea why she would have gone up on the skywalks
at Oxford Centre?
TM: Not really. Some people around town have said that she was
thinking of staging a piece there. But I dont know for myself.
SM: Do you know how Andrea was handling her probation? Was it
going well for her?
TM: Im not real sure. I hadnt really talked to her
since she got back. I been really busy and all so I hadnt sat down
and had a real conversation with her. Id seen her a few times at
Proud Larrys and stuff but it was always in a crowd.
SM: Do you have any theories about who might have wanted to kill
Andrea?
TM: None at all. Ive thought a lot about it and I guess
all those COP people and stuff might be good suspects. But other than
that, I dont really have any specifics.
SM: Okay, Tate, you know weve gotta ask this. Where were
you on the night of Sunday, January 13th?
TM: Probably rehearsal and then bed. We had a gig in Arkansas
on the 17th and left on the 16th. So Im sure we were working on
some tunes. Its kind of like cramming before exams, you know.
SM: Okay, thanks for your time.
Interview ends 4:26p.m.