Incident report

 Res Phone 662-801-XXXX
 Bus Phone 662-801-XXXX

At 6:54 p.m., Dispatch received a 911 call reporting an accident at the Oxford Warehouse Theatre at 3 County Road 280 in Oxford. The caller identified himself as Neal Caine (Person 2), a Yoknapatawpha Players board member.

Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Officer P. J. Watson (Unit #305) was dispatched and arrived at the scene at 6:59 p.m. After confirming the presence of the body, R/O Watson secured the scene and contacted Dispatch to request backup and medical assistance.

Reporting Investigators (R/Is) Detectives J. Magee and P. Beckwith were assigned and proceeded directly to the scene. At R/Is' request, Coroner's Inspector L. Johnson and a CSU team were notified to respond to the scene.

R/Is arrived at the Oxford Warehouse Theatre at 7:14 p.m. and found that R/O had secured the area. Environmental conditions at the scene upon arrival are as follows: Weather: Cloudy; Exterior Ambient Temperature: 68° F/ 20° C; Relative Humidity: 52%; Interior Ambient Temperature 70° F / 21° C; Interior Relative Humidity: 55%.

R/Is entered the warehouse through the double doors in the southwest area of the warehouse's west wall. Inside the warehouse, R/Is observed theatrical scenery that resembled a military stronghold including fencing and other barriers. Throughout the theatrical set, assorted prop weapons had been discarded, and a reddish liquid substance was visible on multiple surfaces, but no bodies or persons were present in the area.

R/Is were directed toward a set room made to look like a mobile lab. On the set room's exterior walls, which faced the warehouse's interior, R/Is observed a red cross symbol associated with medical services and smears of a reddish substance. Just past that room was the backstage area secured by R/O Watson.

R/O Watson made the following verbal report, which is stated in summary and not verbatim.

On arrival, R/O was met in the west parking area by an adult male who identified himself as Neal Caine (Person 2). Caine said the deceased was in a backstage area in the warehouse, and the rest of the actors, crew, and audience were gathered at the east end of the warehouse. Caine led R/O through the warehouse and theatrical set to a backstage area on the north side of the warehouse.

At that location, R/O observed an adult male in a supine position on the floor near a piece of the theatrical set. The individual was wearing what appeared to be zombie-style makeup, and a large pool of reddish liquid surrounded the head area.

Also present was an adult male who identified himself as Ervin Cyr (Person 3), a physician who had attended the dress rehearsal. Cyr was performing CPR on the victim when R/O arrived.

At R/O's request, Caine returned to the parking lot to direct backup and medical personnel to R/O's location.

R/O said YCFD EMTs R. Peterson and J. Bilkey arrived at approximately 7:02 p.m. and took over resuscitation efforts from Cyr. The EMTs quickly determined in consensus with Cyr that the victim was deceased and withdrew from the area.

R/O said Officers A.L. Quinlan (Unit #202) and Richard Squire (Unit #225) arrived at his location at 7:07 p.m. While R/O secured the scene around the body, Officers Quinlan and Squire gathered all other persons present at the east end of the warehouse for additional information gathering.

R/O Watson further stated that, to the best of his knowledge, the following personnel had occasion to enter the crime scene area and must be documented by CSU personnel: witnesses Neal Caine and Ervin Cyr, EMTs Peterson and Bilkey, and himself.

After receiving the report from R/O Watson, R/Is conducted a preliminary evaluation of the scene.

R/Is observed a lifeless human body, a male estimated to be in his 40s, wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt, blue denim jeans, and black shoes. The decedent was lying face up, arms at his sides and parallel to the still-standing theatrical set with his head to the west and his feet to the east. He was costumed like a zombie, making the actual wound(s) on the decedent unclear.

The decedent had what appeared to be slashing and/or blunt force injuries to his face and skull. The extent of the injuries is undetermined because of the stage makeup and appliances. Stage blood, human blood, or a combination of both was pooled around his head. R/Is delayed further inspection of the body until the arrival of the Coroner's Inspector.

Five feet west of the decedent's head, an approximately 4-foot by 6-foot section of plywood wall lay on the floor. R/O Watson said Cyr had told him that Cyr and three others had lifted the wall off the decedent before flipping the decedent over to perform CPR.

On the floor in the area, R/Is observed intermittent marks or smears of a reddish substance extending approximately eleven feet to the east of the body.

Coroner's Inspector Luwinda Johnson arrived at the scene at approximately 7:42 p.m. and CSU at approximately 7:52 p.m.

Inspector Johnson joined R/Is at the body's location. Inspector Johnson pronounced the victim deceased at 7:47 p.m. by visual observation that the victim was not breathing and by tactile observation that the victim did not have a palpable carotid pulse or any other indications of heartbeat or respiration.

Inspector Johnson observed that the decedent had sustained a head wound of some nature, but further details would have to wait until the autopsy due to the decedent's makeup. She noted that the body was still warm to the touch, and while she withheld an official estimate pending an autopsy, Inspector Johnson speculated the victim had been dead no more than 1 to 2 hours. Inspector Johnson indicated that further details would be available in the official autopsy report.

After Inspector Johnson completed her initial inspection of the body, she stayed with the CSU team to ensure the integrity of the body while the team took photographs of the scene and performed preliminary analyses until the body could be removed from the scene without affecting other evidence.

After photographing the section of plywood wall, CSU technicians examined its unfinished side that originally faced the backstage area, revealing evidence of reddish staining at its base and near its center. The wall itself was taken into evidence.

The body of the deceased was remanded into the custody of Coroner's Inspector Luwinda Johnson and was removed from the scene at 9:01 p.m. and transported to the coroner's office for autopsy.

Evidence was remanded into the custody of Forensics Officer T. R. Douglas for transport to the State Crime Lab for routine analysis. CSU is expected to submit an inventory of items taken into evidence within fourteen days of this report, with detailed report(s) of their findings to follow at a later date.

R/Is left the scene at 9:13 p.m. to interview the witnesses who had been transported to the Sheriff's Department.

Before leaving, R/I Beckwith instructed CSU to seal the scene upon completion or end-of-day suspension of processing. CSU to notify R/Is of progress by the end of this date. As of this filing, CSU is still actively processing at the scene.

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