Chat


   
      
         
      
                  
         
         Wednesday, November 12, 1997 
 
Guest:  Acting Sheriff, Taylor Sheldon 
 
Opening Remarks: 
 
Hello everybody.  Hello EJ.  How are you all tonight? 
 
Fine, sir, it was quite a somber funeral today, wasn't it? 
 
Yes, EJ, it was. We lost a fine man when we lost Lamar.  I  
can tell you all that we are going to be starting an in depth  
investigation of Lamar's death.  We will be trying to  
reconstruct all the events that led to the accident.  And we  
should have the results back from our specialists sometime  
next week. 
 
I'm essentially here tonight to answer any questions or  
concerns you all may have about Sheriff Lamar's death, but I  
would like to introduce myself to you all.  My name is Taylor  
Sheldon, I've been working with the department  
for...<smiles> oh...I guess I'm coming up on 15 years with the  
force. I was disheartened by Chuck's death, we knew each  
other pretty well after working together for all these years.  I  
was in complete support of his election, and shocked by the  
accident. 
 
Question and Answer Session: 
 
Q:  Did Aimee attend the funeral? 
A:  Yes, she was there. 
 
Q:  When will you perform the autopsy or did you already do  
it? 
A:  We have already performed the autopsy, but we will be  
trying to reconstruct the accident in order to determine if this  
was indeed a suicide. 
 
Q:  How come we haven't heard anything about you before?   
Where were you night Macy disappeared? 
A:  <smiles> I was just a Deputy working on my cases, I don't  
really do much in the way of politics, I'm afraid.  Never really  
been my cup of tea.  As for where I was when Macy  
disappeared, I was out at Sardis for the weekend fishing  
because I was off duty that weekend.  My family and I had a  
great time 'til we came back and heard about Chuck's �lil  
girl. 
 
Q:  Would you have retained your position if Mazza were  
elected? 
A:  As a Deputy?  Certainly!  I love working on the force, I  
really don't do politics.  The Board appointed me to Sheriff,  
which is probably the only way I would've ended up becoming  
Sheriff.  I was in total support of Chuck, he was a good guy. 
 
Q:  Have the note and desk been checked for fingerprints? 
A:  Yes, we dusted for prints.  Our men are working on them  
now at the crime lab. 
 
Q:  Did you notice anything different about the Sheriff's state  
of mind in the days preceding the accident? 
A:  Yes, Chuck seemed really stressed out, but I didn't think  
much of it because who wouldn't be when your �lil girl's  
missin? 
 
Q:  What were your results of the autopsy? 
A:  Well, it was determined that the cause of death was third  
degree burns from the wreckage on 90% of his body, smoke  
inhalation, and head and neck injuries. 
 
Q:  What were you scheduled for, the night Macy  
disappeared?  Before you called in or anything, that is... 
A:  I was off duty that weekend, my family and I had decided  
to take a trip out to Sardis to fish.  I wasn't called in because I  
was off duty and out of town. 
 
Q:  Sheriff, do you feel alot of heat from this audience? 
A:  No, sir, should I? 
 
Q:  Isn't that an unlikely method for a man to commit  
suicide?  Statistics wise? 
A:  Well, I knew Chuck personally, and I realize he was  
stressed, but he wasn't the type to commit suicide, I would've  
thought...which is part of the reason we plan on investigating  
the accident so thoroughly.  We don't really think it was  
suicide at this point, or at least the accident part of it. 
 
Q:  What do the phone records for Lamar show for the time  
around his death? 
A:  We are running traces on those, but we don't have the  
results back yet. 
 
Q:  What, and where, is Sardis? 
A:  Sardis is  town about 25 miles from Oxford, it's right on a  
lake...great fishing and camping spot around here.  My family  
and I love to go there. 
 
Q:  Was valium administered to the Sheriff by the  
department? 
A:  No, the Department doesn't administer meds, we just  
provide counseling if needed. 
 
Q:  Who had prescriptions for the valium: the Sheriff,  
Caroline, Aimee? Other? 
A:  Just the Sheriff as far as we know. 
 
Q:  Did Sheriff Lamar receive counseling through the  
Department? 
A:  Yes, he did, in conjunction to Macy's disappearance, but  
it wasn't mandatory.  He requested it. 
 
Q:  If you didn't administer the valium, then who did? 
A:  His private physician prescribed it. 
 
Q:  Have any nearby rivers been dragged to check for bodies? 
A:  No but that is an excellent question...Can I ask you what  
you have in mind? 
A:  Any lakes or rivers may have (hope not) been used to hide  
Macy's body. 
 
Q:  Will you be investigating the  
Chambeau/Gilbert/Mazza/Sheriff/Aimee connections? 
A:  Yes, we most certainly will. 
 
Q:  Has Aimee been allowed to leave town? 
A:  We can't detain her, if she wants to move, which I have  
an understanding that she does.  The only way we could make  
her stay in Oxford is if she were under arrest.  There are no  
charges against, Ms. Harberson. 
 
Q:  If you are not into politics, why do you think the board  
appointed you over someone else? 
A:  I suppose they appointed me because of all my years on  
the force.  I guess experience really counted in all of this...I  
know the law that had me appointed in the first place was to  
guarantee that someone with experience would take the place  
of the elected Sheriff under the circumstances of death. 
 
Q:  Have you been in contact with the FBI about the case? 
A:  Yes, I have...via the crime lab of course.  There isn't any  
official involvement of the FBI n the case. 
 
Q:  Were you appointed at an open meeting or a backroom  
meeting? 
A:  It was an open board meeting. 
 
Q:  Has anyone....approached you yet implying that they  
want, um...favorable treatment? 
A:  No, but I really haven't even settled into the job yet.  So I  
can't see why anyone would want any favors from me. 
 
Q:  Did you have anything to do with the missing daughter? 
A:  I'm sorry do you mean did I know her or was I involved  
with her disappearance?  I did know Macy, watched her grow  
up quite a bit over the years...but as far as involvement...the  
only involvement I had was in the investigation to get Macy  
back to her family.
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