Thursday, November 2, 2000 - 6:30 p.m.

The witness, a twenty-eight year old man, was interviewed by the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department at his residence.

TA = Detective T. Armstrong

HB = Henry Butler

TA: Would you state your name and address, please?

HB: Henry Butler. 153 College Hill.

TA: And where do you work, Henry?

HB: I'm a mechanic at the Exxon station on North Lamar.

TA: Do you know Jack Swanson?

HB: Sure. We've been buddies for a while now.

TA: You guys hang out a lot?

HB. Yeah, we get together at least once or twice a week and drink a beer or two.

TA: What do you know about Jack and his girlfriend, Zoe?

HB: Well, what about them?

TA: Were they close?

HB: Kinda hard to say. I mean, she was always out screwing around with different guys. And Jack ain't no angel. But, for some reason or another, they always seem to end up back together. It's hard to explain.

TA: I see. Now, do you remember where you were on the night of October 14?

HB: Sure, kinda hard not to. That's the night Zoe was killed. Jack, Russell and me were all down to the Jubilee Lounge.

TA: And were you there all night?

HB: Yeah. We got pretty tore up. We had been out to a few places like Proud Larry's and all, but we spent most of the time at the Jubilee Lounge. We was there for a while. Shut the place down.

TA: What happened after you guys left?

HB: We all went home.

TA: Do you know where Jack went?

HB: I'm not really sure. We dropped him off at his car at the Beacon. He had left it there after we ate. He said something about going out to Zoe's but he also mentioned going home. He was pretty drunk. He told me later that he went home.

TA: Do you know if he went straight home?

HB: I don't think he did. He was pretty hammered and said he might nap a bit in his car before he tried to drive anywhere. He had called Zoe, but she wasn't home. So he just crashed in his car.

TA: Did you hear his call to Zoe?

HB: Hell, it was hard not to. Damn fool screaming on the phone. Like I said, he was pretty drunk and was just sort of rambling. Telling her he loved her and stuff but that he hoped she wasn't out with some dude. Just talking s---.

TA: And you guys just left him in his car?

HB: That's right. He's a grown man and he's spent more than a few nights in that car so we didn't think anything about it.

TA: Do you think he really spent the night there?

HB: As I said, I don't know for sure. He did tell me that he slept most of the night there at the Beacon and then drove home out to Abbeville come morning. I doubt he could have gone anywhere without a little sleep at least. He was so drunk, I imagine you guys would know if he'd tried to drive anywhere without sobering up.

TA: Okay. Thanks for your time, Henry.

End interview 6:47 p.m.