Witness Interview: Lee Perez

 

Q: Thank you for coming by. We're trying to find out more about the phone calls.
A: I already told you I don't know that much. She never talked about it, and when I answered he just breathed heavy.

Q: How often did you receive these calls?
A: I don't know. About two or three times a night, maybe. Sometimes days would go by without a call. Purity started to take the phone off the hook. And then I got my own line cause this bugged me.

Q: Was there any correlation between the times when there were no calls and Purity's absences from home?
A: I didn't keep track. She was kinda sneaky with her comings and goings. I didn't always know if she had even been home or not.

Q: Did she ever leave the house after getting a call?
A: Sometimes maybe, I guess She left in the middle of the night a lot. He stays up later than me.

Q: Did she ever talk to the caller?
A: Maybe a couple of times. Once he threatened to commit suicide if she didn't talk to him, so she talked a little bit.

Q: Did you hear the conversation?
A: They talked about what to take if you got a cold--vitamin C, garlic, zinc. I was kinda curious cause I was getting a cold too, but I just take Alka-Seltzer Cold.

Q: That's all?
A: That's all I heard. I didn't know it was him. I asked who she had been talking to because she never got many phone calls. I thought she might have a boyfriend.

Q: When was that?
A: Late February I think.

Q: Did she have any ideas about who the caller might be?
A: She just said it was some weirdo from class. I already told you. I don't know which class.

Q: Were you receiving more calls than usual prior to her disappearance?
A: The phone was usually off the hook, and like I said, I have my own line now, so I quit answering hers.

Q: Is there anything else you can remember about the calls?
A: Well, sometimes there would be this weird, kinda eerie sythesized music on the machine--like that PRM space music stuff. She liked that music. Sometimes she and Ed would listen to it on Sunday nights.

Q: Have you gotten any calls since Ms. Knight's disappearance?
A: A couple of hang-ups on the machine, but they could be just the wrong number . I don't ever bother with that phone any more since I got my own number. I'm probably gonna get it disconnected.

Q: Who's this Ed you mentioned? Ms. Knight's friend?
A: I told you. My boyfriend. Listen I gotta go. I've got rehearsal this afternoon.

Q: Just a few more questions. What about the stalker? Did you ever notice anyone suspicious around?
A: No, not around me, and Purity and I weren't really friends. We didn't hang out that much, just lunch at the union a couple of times. She was nice enough, just too quiet for me. It was like pulling teeth to have a conversation with her. I thought she was boring really.

Q: One more question: Was Ed around when you got any of the calls?
A: I don't know. Well, I guess, he usually comes over late and Purity had usually taken off the phone by that time. We didn't really talk about it. I mean, everybody gets prank phone calls. Hers were strange, but I've heard worse, The "what are you wearing?" kind.

Q: Thank you for your time Ms Perez. Let us know if you hear anything or get anymore calls.