Saturday, July 31, 2004 -- 9:00 AM

The arrestee, who was a student of the victim, was taken into custody on July 30, 2004. He was interviewed at the Yoknapatawpha County Detention Center. The interview was conducted by Detectives Armstrong and Murphy and was recorded on a portable tape recorder.

SM: So what do you have to say for yourself, Weldon?

WF: Say for myself? I'm not quite sure yet.

SM: For the record, please state your name and address.

WF: I am Weldon Foyle and I live at 604 North 14th Street, #B.

SM: Also for the record, you have been advised of your rights?

WF: Yes.

SM: And you have chosen to talk with us today?

WF: Yes.

SM: And you have opted not to have an attorney present?

WF: Yeah.

TA: Okay, here's the deal. I had to get up early this morning for a dentist appointment. I'm tired and I'm in a bad mood. So let's get this over with quickly.

WF: Sorry to hear that.

TA: Just tell us why you killed Kristi Waterson and we can all go home. Well, we can go home at least. Not you, I'm afraid.

WF: I have nothing to confess. I have done nothing wrong.

SM: Murdering an innocent woman isn't wrong?

TA: What kind of monster are you? Do you really think killing an innocent victim isn't wrong?

WF: Well, I'm not sure that Kristi Waterson was anyone's definition of innocent, if you understand what I mean.

SM: So you killed her?

WF: I didn't say that I killed her. I just disagreed with your statement of her being innocent.

SM: Where did you go on the night of Kristi Waterson's murder?

WF: I told you that I was working at Myra Olander's house.

TA: That's not what Myra told us.

SM: You're lying, Weldon.

TA: Tell us where you really went.

WF: I was working--

SM: Myra told us about your cover-up. So don't give us that crap about working. Where were you?

TA: You were at Kristi's, weren't you?

SM: You better help us, Weldon. You better tell us the truth.

WF: Okay, I know this looks bad. I know you caught me lying. I wasn't really at Myra's. I was just scared. I thought I would get in trouble... See, I was walking home late at night and I passed by Neilson's. These guys were there and--

TA: Spare us that nonsense. We know that story is all a big lie. We checked with Nielson's. They don't have any record of any trouble on the night you killed Kristi Waterson.

WF: Who said I killed her?

SM: We said it! Come on, Weldon. Just be honest. Tell us why you did it and we can help you. We can tell the DA that you cooperated.

TA: I don't want to waste any more time on this thing, kid. We've got evidence. You want the list? One, we know you lied about your whereabouts on the night of the murder. Two, we've got hair samples linking you to the crime. Your hair samples. In fact, your pubic hair sample. We also have witnesses who saw you in a restaurant parking lot near Kristi Waterson's apartment--

SM: Where you parked so you could walk over to her place.

TA: We've got a bag that was recovered from your home with the victim's fluids in it. Which just happens to match a bag that witnesses saw a man carrying towards the victim's apartment. Should I go on?

WF: You've got all that, huh? I'm impressed. After your debacle with Hunter Nelson, I figured you guys were really hurting on this investigation.

TA: We weren't doing quite as poorly as you thought. We've got more than enough to send you to death row. Sentencing won't be a problem. Sadistic murder. Sexual deviance. Cold-blooded, methodical planning.

SM: That's true. Very methodical. I have to hand it to you. You did good work here. Most of the crime in this town is hot-blooded stuff. Someone gets liquored up, or someone gets done wrong, their temper flares up and next thing you know, there's a body on the ground. We don't often see people like you.

WF: Like me?

SM: Intelligent. Diligent. Calculating. I'd even say you were hard-working. I mean, it takes brains and sweat both to pull of something like this.

WF: You're definitely right on that account. It wouldn't be easy.

TA: But it was easy for you, right? Because you're smarter than everyone else.

WF: I'm not smarter than everyone, but I do work hard. It's only right that people who work hard should get what they deserve, and that people who don't work hard get what they deserve too.

TA: And Kristi Waterson deserved what she got because she wasn't fair to you? Hell, you got an A in her class.

WF: So did a bunch of people who didn't earn it. You just don't get it, do you, Detective?

SM: You know, if you tell us why you did this, we can better understand. It's simple to figure out why some Bubba killed his wife after he caught her cheating. But this is difficult. This is challenging. You weren't jealous of her, were you?

WF: Why in the world would someone be jealous of a slut? You don't get possessive of the town pump.

TA: So then why? Man, I can't sleep at night when something gets to bothering me. And I'll never figure this one out.

WF: You probably won't.

SM: I think I have, Weldon. And you know, you're right.

WF: Of course I am. But what do you mean?

SM: You know how much cops make, Weldon?

WF: No, I never even thought about it.

SM: Sure you didn't. Nobody does. You know how long we work on homicide cases? A lot of times, we go 24, 48, 72 hours straight until we get it solved. We do the grunt work, and we get paid dirt. Then the rich boys who can afford to go to law school and buy their way into office get to be prosecutors and take all the credit.

WF: Yeah?

SM: Yeah. Doesn't sound fair, does it?

WF: It doesn't at all to me.

SM: And just like your situation, they get away with it every day and they're right in your face about it. You know how that feels?

WF: Yeah, I do.

SM: I'm so tired of it.

WF: Me too. I'm tired of the rich getting to do whatever they want. I'm tired of walking home at night after work and being so exhausted that I can't find my way. Just standing there, on a big street in a small town and simply being so mentally drained that I can't figure out which way is home. And just at the moment, as I struggle to get out of the fog enough, a car full of sorority girls goes cruising by. The top down, pony-tails trailing in the breeze, Dave Matthews cranked up. And those are the very same girls who are going to be absent during roll call tomorrow morning in class. It's just not fair.

SM: And the worst part is not being able to do a damn thing about it and, all the while, they're so smug.

WF: Yeah, really. But you can do something.

SM: No, you can't. They'll find out.

WF: Not necessarily. You just have to be careful, and thorough.

TA: So you killed Kristi Waterson because she was rich?

WF: He still doesn't get it.

SM: No, he doesn't. But go ahead and try to explain it to him.

WF: That wasn't just a killing. It was class warfare. It was an assassination. It was striking a blow.

SM: You know this is going to make you a hero to a bunch of hard working students, right?

WF: I don't think--

SM: Except...

WF: Except what?

SM: The story the public is hearing is already starting to change. At first, it was all about what a bad teacher she was and so forth, but now people are starting to talk about Kristi's heroic struggle against her attacker, the fight she put up to save her honor--

WF: That's such a bunch of crap! She wanted it--

SM: They're talking about Kristi the victim, the brave girl who stood for independence and for giving the students a break. How her vicious killer murdered her and then took it even further by looping that belt around her lifeless neck, tying that square knot in the other end around the closet rod, and stringing her dead body up in her own closet--

WF: Half-hitch.

SM: Pardon me?

WF: Not a square knot. A half-hitch.

SM: Is that right?

WF: I can't believe I just said that.

SM: It's okay, Weldon. Really. I think we all know the score here. Don't we?

WF: I guess so.

TA: So... how did you pick out Kristi?

WF: Can you think of anyone better? Rich, spoiled, irresponsible. The sex thing was just a cover, but an easy one. Kristi Waterson represented everything that is wrong with privilege. So she was the perfect choice. You remember our last conversation? Well, Kristi Waterson needed killing.

SM: And so you methodically planned her murder, uh, execution as you put it, and coolly tried to frame Hunter Nelson for it?

WF: If you say so.

SM: Why would you do that to him?

WF: You've talked to him. What do you think?

TA: Sounds like a lot of work to frame somebody like that.

WF: Hard work, Detective, very hard work. Some of us have to work hard for a living. We can't just coast on Daddy's money.

TA: This is disgusting. You'll be working hard all right, punk. When you get to Parchman, you'll be working plenty hard. I can't listen to any more of this.

Interview ends -- 10:03 AM