Witness Interview: David Woolworth

 

Q: For the record could you state your name, date of birth, and place of residence.
A: David Sage Woolworth, June 14, 1961, 104 Twin Oaks Cove, Yoknapatawpha Gardens, Oxford, Mississippi 38655.

Q: What was your relationship to Purity Knight?
A: She was a student in my calculus class.

Q: How well did you know her?
A: Not all that well. She kept to herself mostly.

Q: When was the last time you saw Purity?
A: It was early in the afternoon on March 3, 1997.

Q: What was the point of her visit that day?
A: It was school related. She mentioned that she was having financial problems, and was inquiring about work this summer.

Q: Did there seem to be anything unusual about her that day-nervous, upset, or anything like that?
A: No, not anymore than normal. Of course, I saw her quite frequently and one could tell that she was preoccupied with something most of the time, but I would call that normal considering the circumstances.

Q: What circumstances are those?
A: Well, the ones about her sister's murder.

Q: Did you talk about that at all, or anything else such as the media deluge, her boy friend or other people?
A: We didn't talk much about anything else. Purity is a fairly reserved young lady but I could tell the whole issue of her sister's murder was putting a pretty good strain on her. By tacit agreement, I think, we didn't discuss that. Sometimes what's left unsaid is more powerful than the stated.

Q: So, nothing peculiar at all?
A: Well, there is one thing that struck me...

Q: Go ahead Professor.
A: You see I have secondary area of research. It has to do with doomsday groups, end of the worlders, cults. Especially ones that include salvation by aliens in their ideology. You know, like the Heaven's Gate group.

Q: I understand.
A: Anyway, I don't broadcast this to my students or any of the faculty for that matter. I might, you understand, if I was skeptical about these groups, but... it's a small conservative town, detective, and I'm very comfortable here... I hope you get my meaning. I'm not a quack.

Q: No not at all, but we were discussing Purity, Professor.
A: Oh yes. Well that day that Purity was here I had an advance copy of "The End is Nearer" lying on my desk. That's my latest book on alien cult worship. Purity seemed to have a piqued interest in it, not the book really but the subject as a whole.

Q: Go on.
A: She asked me if I had ever heard of a local cult group who called themselves Ego Shovel. Of course I had but I didn't tell her that so as not to encourage her. Well, it seems that someone at a party had told her about the group. Said that he was persistently bugging her about it

Q: To join?
A: She didn't say. But I remember thinking at the time that she'd be a perfect candidate considering her religious upbringing, recent trauma, and general disillusionment. That was about the end of our cnversation. All of a sudden she seemed to be in a hurry and left abruptly.

 

Q: Did she mention the person's name?
A: No.

Q: Professor, Tell me, what do you know about this group Ego Shovel?
A: They're a younger group, and they have a variety of means to reach salvation.One method unique to them is the combination of live music and the downer Rohypynol. They're a band and through music and drugs, they try to pave the way to salvation-- dig the dirt out of their minds, so to speak. The end of the road to salvation is this place called Pleasuredome. And in there, it consists of beat Zen, New Age rhetoric, and nineties hystericism. I can't really say if they'll try to be rescued by a space ship or something like that. But you know, detective, that there are more vehicles than just spaceships.

Q: Yes, of course Professor. Thanks for your time.