Joey Beecher interview #2

Friday, September 2, 2022 – 5:33 p.m.

Joey Beecher had a run-in with Oscar Knight at The Roadhouse on the evening of August 19, 2022.

Detectives Murphy and Parker re-interviewed him at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department.

Participants:

• Detective S. Murphy
• Detective E. Parker
• Joey Beecher

Detective Murphy: Mr. Beecher, before we ask you a few more questions, we need your name and address for the record.

Joey Beecher: Again? Joey Beecher. 1172 Magnolia. What do you want now?

Detective Murphy: We want to talk about Oscar Knight some more.

Joey Beecher: There's nothing else I can tell you. I heard the news about him. What else is there to say?

Detective Parker: We still need to find out who was involved in what happened to him.

Joey Beecher: I guess he must have hit on the wrong woman this time.

Detective Parker: The last woman he hit on was your wife. Are you confessing?

Joey Beecher: Hell no! I didn't like the guy hitting on my wife, but to do that to someone? No way. The guy was a jerk, but to be cut up in pieces like that is sick.

Detective Parker: You told us before that you left The Roadhouse at 10:00 p.m. and went to your friend Miguel Ochoa's house until 12:30 a.m. Then you went home.

Joey Beecher: That sounds about right.

Detective Murphy: So, if we asked Miguel, he'd tell us the same thing?

Joey Beecher: Yeah?

Detective Murphy: What if I told you we spoke to Miguel and Tammy, and they said you left at 11:30 p.m., not 12:30 a.m.?

Joey Beecher: Okay, I know it looks bad. I should have told you the truth before, but I didn't think you'd believe me. I didn't do anything to that guy.

Detective Parker: So tell us where you were from the time you left Mr. Ochoa's house until you got home. This time it better be the truth.

Joey Beecher: I left the bar around 10:00 p.m., like I said before, and went to Miguel and Tammy's. But I don't know what time I left. If they said it was 11:30 p.m., then I'm sure it was. I was still pissed at Stacy. By then, I had forgotten about Oscar Knight. He's just one in a long line of men that Stacy has flirted with.

Detective Parker: So where were you after 11:30 p.m.?

Joey Beecher: I went for a long drive to think and get my head straight. Then I went home and watched TV till Stacy came home. I know I should have told the truth, but you said that guy was missing, and I didn't want you to think I had something to do with that. I have kind of a reputation.

Detective Parker: Maybe we wouldn't have thought you were involved, but since you lied to us, here we are again. Did you stop anywhere while you were driving around? Did anyone see you?

Joey Beecher: No.

Detective Parker: Where did you go on this drive?

Joey Beecher: I don't know. I was coming down Highway 7 towards home, but when I got to the turnoff, I just didn't want to go home. I wanted Stacy to come home and find me not there for a change, so I just kept going.

Detective Parker: How far did you go?

Joey Beecher: I told you. I don't know. Till I got tired. Then I turned around and went home. And she still wasn't there.

Detective Parker: That's not a very good alibi. You sure there's nothing else you want to say to us, Mr. Beecher?

Joey Beecher: Like what? What can I say?

Detective Murphy: Why don't we talk about the work you used to do for Philip Fontaine?

Joey Beecher: What about it?

Detective Murphy: Part of your job was to… how should I put this? To convince people to come around to Mr. Fontaine's way of thinking, right?

Joey Beecher: Yeah, I guess.

Detective Murphy: And probably some people resisted changing their minds at first, right? Maybe even resented you trying to persuade them?

Joey Beecher: Well, yeah.

Detective Murphy: Did you ever bring anything with you for protection in case someone got physical?

Joey Beecher: I never threatened any of those people with a gun, and anyone who told you that is lying.

Detective Murphy: Oh, no. I didn't think you had a gun, but what about something non-lethal? Something just for protection?

Joey Beecher: Like what? A knife?

Detective Murphy: You tell me. Did you ever bring a knife with you?

Joey Beecher: No.

Detective Murphy: Okay. What about something for self-defense, like pepper spray or a stun gun or a baton?

Joey Beecher: Do I look like a guy who would need anything like that?

Detective Murphy: Fair enough. Did anyone you visited ever try to use any of those on you?

Joey Beecher: I think you got the wrong idea about what I did for Mr. Fontaine. And why are we talking about this? I don't have that job anymore, so why does it matter?

Detective Murphy: Just covering all the bases. You never know what's going to turn out to be important.

Joey Beecher: Well, are you done?

Detective Murphy: I think so. For now.

Joey Beecher: So can I go?

Detective Murphy: Yes. But Joey?

Joey Beecher: What?

Detective Murphy: You let us know if you think of any way to prove where you were that night you said you were driving around.

Joey Beecher: Yeah, okay.

Interview ended – 5:51 p.m.