Witness Interview: Lowell McCaffrey

Lowell McCaffrey is store manager for Yoknapatawpha Farm Supply Co., where Howard Hadley worked for a few months after Bowlan Glove Factory layoffs. This interview was conducted by telephone on June 18, 1998.

N = Detective Terrence Nelson
M = Lowell McCaffrey

N: Hey, Lowell -- how you doin' today?
M: 'Zat you, Detective Nelson?

N: Sure is.
M: I'm doing fine. A little busy around the store today, but I can't complain. How about yourself?

N: Not bad, not bad. They've got me running a lot today, too. As a matter of fact, I'm doing some legwork on this old case we've had in the papers. The Izard case?
M: Ooh, yeah. I've been reading about that. It's real interesting this coming up again after all these years. Do y'all have some new leads?

N: Hard to say at this point, but we're still scratching around, seeing what turns up. Can you do me a favor?
M: I'll sure try.

N: I appreciate that. Can you check your personnel files -- the old ones, I mean -- if you've got them handy? We're trying to tie up some loose ends on all those Bowlan employees who got laid off right before the Izard murders, and I understand one of them worked for your store briefly.
M: Sure. It's before my time, of course, but it should be in the old files. They're right here in our storage room, I think. What's the name?

N: Hadley. Howard Hadley.
M: Hang on.

(Detective's notation: There is a 10-minute pause while McCaffrey apparently rings up a customer's purchase and gets the files.)

M: All right, I'm back. Sorry about the wait.
N: That's all right. Whatcha got?

M: Mmm, looks like he worked here in the back, loading and unloading, sometimes doing a few deliveries. You need the dates?
N: Yep. That'll help me a lot.

M: He was interviewed on April 17, 1958 and looks like he started work on, lessee here, April 21st and he worked until July 2nd.

N: Anything else?
M: Not really. The rest is pretty slim pickings, he wasn't here very long. Wait, hold on a minute, I don't know if this is what you mean, but it looks like he was on light duty that first week, if that's important.

N: Might be. Does it say why?
M: Yeah, it says here that "Hadley applied for job with some previous minor injuries from a roofing accident at his home."

N: Injuries? Does it say anything more specific about that?
M: Let me look on the back there's an employee health record on the flip side. Yeah, it says he had bandages on one hand, doesn't say which one, and a bandaged eye. Something about cracked knuckles and ... it's hard to read the rest, the handwriting is so bad. Corn-something? Hmm. That's got to be "corneal" abrasions. Doesn't that mean eye something-or-other?

N: Yes, it does. Anything else there?
M: That's it. Like I said, he didn't work here long.

N: All right. Thanks, Lowell.
M: You bet, detective.