Sonya Davis interview

Wednesday, January 3, 2024 – 4:30 p.m.

Sonya Davis was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the Elvis conference but was replaced by Jared Plunk and given a lesser role instead.

Detectives Murphy and Parker talked to her at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department.

Participants:

• Detective S. Murphy
• Detective E. Parker
• Sonya Davis

Detective Murphy: Good afternoon, Mrs. Davis. Thank you for coming in to talk to us.

Sonya Davis: You're quite welcome. I'll be glad to help in any way I can.

Detective Murphy: I wish everyone felt that way. It would certainly help our investigation go much faster.

Detective Parker: Would you state your name and address for the record, please?

Sonya Davis: Yes, of course. My name is Sonya Davis, and I live at 622 Lincoln Avenue.

Detective Parker: Thank you. Now, what can you tell us about Mr. Plunk?

Sonya Davis: I didn't really know him that well, but from what I've heard, Mr. Plunk deserved exactly what he got, and I'm not going to pretend I feel bad about what happened to him.

Detective Murphy: What do you actually know about Mr. Plunk?

Sonya Davis: I know he's responsible for my sister-in-law's death.

Detective Murphy: What was your sister-in-law's name?

Sonya Davis: Joy Davis.

Detective Murphy: When did she pass away?

Sonya Davis: Just before Christmas.

Detective Murphy: We're very sorry for your loss. How was Jared Plunk involved?

Sonya Davis: Well, officially, she committed suicide, but Plunk might as well have done it himself. It's all his fault.

Detective Parker: Why do you say that?

Sonya Davis: Plunk used Kelly Bradley to get the letters he was going to use in his presentation, which was just hype for a book he was going to publish. Joy owned those letters.

Detective Parker: How do you know?

Sonya Davis: Joy left a note for Peter, explaining all about Jared Plunk and what he used Kelly to do to her. It's so sad. Peter supported Joy in everything she did, and they were extremely close. He was terribly shocked by her death and feels guilty because he wasn't there.

Detective Murphy: Do you still have Joy's note?

Sonya Davis: I don't. Peter was so upset he threw it away, I think.

Detective Parker: Do you know how Mr. Plunk used Kelly Bradley to get the letters?

Sonya Davis: I only know a little about it. Kelly and Joy spent a lot of time together and were good friends, or at least Joy thought so. But that was ruined when Joy found out Kelly had conned her, and Plunk was going to use the letters to discredit Elvis.

Detective Parker: How did Mr. Plunk learn about the letters?

Sonya Davis: According to Joy's note, Kelly told him.

Detective Parker: Tell us more about that.

Sonya Davis: Joy had told us about Kelly and Jared. Kelly was smitten with him and talked to Joy about him all the time. Apparently, Kelly and Jared were having a tawdry little affair.

Detective Murphy: Help us connect the dots here. Joy had some letters about Elvis or written by Elvis?

Sonya Davis: Written by Elvis. That's what Joy said, but she never let me see them.

Detective Parker: Why not?

Sonya Davis: I'm not sure. She was very protective of them. She once said they could damage Elvis's legacy if they were made public, but I don't know why she thought that.

Detective Murphy: Okay, so Joy had some letters Elvis wrote that she didn't want anyone to see. Kelly Bradley knew about the letters and told Jared Plunk about them.

Sonya Davis: Yes, and he used Kelly to get those letters from Joy.

Detective Murphy: How did he do that?

Sonya Davis: Kelly must've also told him how much Joy needed money when she told him about the letters. All I know is he paid Joy for the letters through Kelly. Both of them told Joy that he only wanted them for his private collection, which was a lie obviously.

Detective Murphy: It wasn't obvious to Joy?

Sonya Davis: No, Joy trusted Kelly, so when Kelly double-crossed her, it was just too much for Joy to deal with. She was always so fragile, and Kelly knew it, not that it stopped her.

Detective Murphy: So you had several reasons to want Mr. Plunk dead.

Sonya Davis: I hope you aren't insinuating that I had anything to do with his murder. I wouldn't dirty my hands with the likes of him. I wouldn't mind if Kelly Bradley were dead, too, after what she did to Joy, but I wouldn't kill her either.

Detective Parker: What about your husband, Mrs. Davis?

Sonya Davis: What do you mean?

Detective Parker: It seems like he would have an even greater desire to see Jared Plunk dead.

Sonya Davis: For your information, my husband is a wonderful man, a credit to his family and to the community. He is not a murderer! I doubt my husband is capable of killing anyone, especially now when he's still grieving over his sister's death.

Detective Parker: Is your husband so mild-mannered that he just accepted his sister's death without any animosity toward Mr. Plunk?

Sonya Davis: No, I wouldn't say that. Peter was distraught and angry after reading the note, but he didn't and wouldn't take the law into his own hands. Peter just isn't like that.

Detective Parker: So your husband didn't say anything about getting revenge for his sister's death?

Sonya Davis: No, of course not. But he did intend to speak to Plunk about it.

Detective Parker: So he planned to confront Mr. Plunk?

Sonya Davis: Yes, he did, but not the way you make it sound.

Detective Murphy: What about you? Were you planning to confront him?

Sonya Davis: Why would I do that?

Detective Murphy: You did lose your spot as keynote speaker to him, and it was because of those letters he got from your sister-in-law.

Sonya Davis: I might've wanted to speak to him about that if the opportunity had come up, but it didn't. Someone killed him before I got the chance to talk to him.

Detective Murphy: Where were you when Jared Plunk was killed?

Sonya Davis: I don't know. When was he killed?

Detective Murphy: How about you just tell us where you were between midnight Monday and 7:00 a.m. yesterday?

Sonya Davis: In my hotel room at the conference center.

Detective Murphy: Alone?

Sonya Davis: No, my husband was with me.

Detective Parker: Why did you stay at the YCCC when you live here in town?

Sonya Davis: It was more convenient, and it was free since the conference paid for it as part of my speaking fee.

Detective Murphy: And it gave both you and your husband more opportunities to confront Jared Plunk.

Sonya Davis: I don't like the way this conversation is going. It seems to me that there are others who hated Jared Plunk more than my husband and I did. What about Taylor Boyd or Max Snyder? Have you questioned them?

Detective Parker: We're talking to everyone, Mrs. Davis, especially anyone who may have had a reason to want Jared Plunk dead.

Sonya Davis: Well, you need to look at someone other than Peter and me because we didn't kill him. If you're going to keep accusing us, then I'm not going to answer any more of these ridiculous questions.

Detective Parker: That's your right, but we're not going to stop asking questions just because you don't like it.

Sonya Davis: Fine. Then I'd like to go. You aren't keeping me here, are you?

Detective Parker: No, ma'am. You're free to go, but we may need to contact you again.

Detective Murphy: Before you leave, do you know where those Elvis letters are now?

Sonya Davis: I thought Plunk had them. He didn't?

Detective Parker: Thanks again for your time, Mrs. Davis.

Interview ended – 4:54 p.m.