Raymond Jennings interview

Wednesday, February 26 – 9:30 a.m.

Raymond Jennings was Victor's younger brother.

Detectives Murphy and Parker talked with him at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department.

Participants:

• Detective S. Murphy
• Detective E. Parker
• Raymond Jennings

Detective Parker: Please state your name and address before we begin.

Raymond Jennings: My name is Raymond Maurice Jennings. You can call me Ray. I live on County Road 313, number 122.

Detective Parker: Thank you, Ray. We're sorry about your brother's passing. We know how difficult this will be for you.

Detective Murphy: We need to ask you a few questions.

Raymond Jennings: Really, it's no problem. Victor and I weren't close. In fact, we didn't like each other at all.

Detective Murphy: That's too bad. Did the two of you argue often?

Raymond Jennings: Oh no, nothing like that. I just avoided him. I certainly didn't hate him. I just didn't feel anything where he was concerned. Victor was not a nice person.

Detective Parker: Did he have any enemies that you know of?

Raymond Jennings: Many, I'm sure. The better question would be if he had any friends. My father and Carl were the only two people I know of who actually enjoyed Vic's company.

Detective Parker: Carl?

Raymond Jennings: Oh, I apologize. I thought you knew. Carl Asher. He and Vic have been friends since high school. My wife and I often joke that Carl is—I mean, was Victor's "leg-breaker," I think you call it.

Detective Parker: Meaning what?

Raymond Jennings: Meaning when Victor wanted someone to do something they didn't want to do, he sent Carl to convince them.

Detective Parker: Does that include you?

Raymond Jennings: Me? I don't have anything Vic wanted.

Detective Murphy: You say your father was close to Victor. What about your mother?

Raymond Jennings: She didn't bother with him. He broke her heart and let her down too many times. She gave up on him a long time ago.

Detective Parker: What about his personal assistant? How did she get along with Victor?

Raymond Jennings: Lee? I honestly don't know. I don't know her very well. She seems like a nice person.

Detective Murphy: When was the last time you spoke with your brother?

Raymond Jennings: The day he died.

Detective Murphy: Where did this conversation take place?

Raymond Jennings: Not in person. I had called him earlier in the day. Our father wanted Victor and I to come and visit him the next day. He was always trying to get us to come see him at the same time. 

Detective Parker: Why's that?

Raymond Jennings: He loved to see Vic berate me. Dad is dying and is too weak to get out, so he wanted us to bring the show to him. He might be losing his mind because he forgot Victor was under house arrest. Anyway, I called Victor and asked him to at least give Dad a call.

Detective Parker: Does it bother you that your father feels this way about you?

Raymond Jennings: It did when I was young. I'm not a fighter like Victor. I'd rather walk away than battle over something that doesn't even matter, and my dad takes that as a weakness. He admires the way Vic always gets what he wants, no matter who he has to trample to do it.

Detective Murphy: How did Victor respond when you called him?

Raymond Jennings: Vic's a jerk, detective. He told me to send my "sexy little wife" over with a piece of my birthday cake for him to devour. I hung up on him.

Detective Murphy: Yesterday was your birthday?

Raymond Jennings: No, it was a few weeks ago. We had a small party, but we wouldn't have invited him even if he could've left his house. I told you, detective. Victor's a jerk.

Detective Murphy: So, that was how your last conversation with your brother ended?

Raymond Jennings: No, he called me a couple hours later to tell me that he was going to kill himself. Then he said, "Happy Birthday, wimp," and hung up on me.

Detective Parker: Why didn't you call the police? He told you he was going to commit suicide, and you did nothing?

Raymond Jennings: I didn't believe him. He's pulled this stunt before to get me to run over there so he could laugh in my face. I just thought he was trying to aggravate me—again. I wish now that I had called 911. Maybe he'd still be alive? I don't know.

Detective Parker: So you think Victor did commit suicide this time?

Raymond Jennings: Didn't he? He was about to go to prison for a long time.

Detective Parker: You think so?

Raymond Jennings: Oh, yeah. He was obviously guilty. He blackmailed those people because they were rich and famous, and I'm sure they weren't the first. It was easier than working for a living like the rest of us.

Detective Parker: Do you have any evidence that proves he was guilty?

Raymond Jennings: Only everything I know from 42 years of being his brother.

Detective Murphy: If it turns out it wasn't suicide, can you think of anyone who might've wanted to kill him?

Raymond Jennings: Everyone who ever met him? Except for my dad and Carl, I guess.

Detective Murphy: Where were you when Victor was killed?

Raymond Jennings: I was home with my family. What are you trying to say?

Detective Murphy: We have to ask for the record. Thanks for your time. If you think of anything else, please let us know.

Raymond Jennings: I will. Good day.

Interview ended – 9:53 a.m.