Ray Jennings interview #3

Saturday, March 16, 2019 – 2:42 p.m.

Raymond Jennings was Victor's younger brother.

Detectives Murphy and Parker re-interviewed 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: I'm Raymond Jennings. My address is 122 County Road 313.

Detective Murphy: When we first met with you, Ray, you told us that you and Victor didn't like one another.

Raymond Jennings: That's true.

Detective Parker: Isn't it a fact that you hated him?

Raymond Jennings: Absolutely not. I have never hated anyone, and I did not hate my brother.

Detective Murphy: Did you love your brother?

Raymond Jennings: No, I did not. Please try to understand. He treated me like dirt. When we were boys, he beat me up, broke or stole my toys, and blamed everything that went wrong in our home on me. How could I possibly love him?

Detective Parker: We hear that you took down the fence that Victor had up between his house and the next-door neighbors.

Raymond Jennings: Yes, I did.

Detective Parker: What made you think it was okay for you to do that?

Raymond Jennings: Someone had to. That poor man, I felt terrible for him. The fence was on his property after all.

Detective Parker: Oh, get real! You tried to pin the murder on "that poor man."

Raymond Jennings: I only said that he hated my brother, not that he killed him.

Detective Parker: You also pointed the finger at Carl Asher. Do you still think he may be the killer?

Raymond Jennings: More so than ever, now that I know Carl was the beneficiary of Victor's will. That sure has been reason enough for plenty of murders in the past, hasn't it?

Detective Murphy: How do you know what the terms of Victor's will are?

Raymond Jennings: I don't. My mother told me about Carl. She couldn't believe it either.

Detective Murphy: Did she tell you anything else about the will? Other beneficiaries or anything like that?

Raymond Jennings: No, should she have?

Detective Parker: You know what else has been a motive in a lot of murders? Jealousy.

Raymond Jennings: What person in their right mind would be jealous of Vic?

Detective Parker: What do you know about your wife's relationship with your brother?

Raymond Jennings: Oh please, not this again.

Detective Murphy: We talked to Gayle. She wasn't at home with you all day on March 9th, was she?

Raymond Jennings: Did she tell you that?

Detective Murphy: See, the problem is that it means neither one of you has an alibi.

Raymond Jennings: Gayle didn't kill Victor, and neither did I.

Detective Parker: Then who are you protecting?

Raymond Jennings: I'm trying to protect my wife's reputation here. Can't you just let this go? She didn't kill him. That's all you need to know.

Detective Murphy: We know that she was sleeping with Victor. It's not a secret.

Raymond Jennings: Oh god, the kids. I didn't want this to get out.

Detective Murphy: How long have you known, Ray?

Raymond Jennings: I found out the day Victor died. Gayle told me she was going to a friend's house to have her nails done. I knew something was up because why would she go off and do something like that when we were spending time together as a family.

Detective Murphy: What did you do?

Raymond Jennings: When she went to get her coat, I looked at her cell phone, and I saw the last person she'd talked to was Vic.

Detective Murphy: What did you think when you saw that?

Raymond Jennings: I had no clue what was going on, so I waited a few minutes after she left, and then I told the kids we were going out for ice cream.

Detective Murphy: Where did you go?

Raymond Jennings: We went for ice cream. We just drove by Vic's on the way.

Detective Parker: That's not really on the way, though, is it?

Raymond Jennings: Close enough.

Detective Parker: So you drove by Vic's. What did you see?

Raymond Jennings: I saw Gayle's car parked at his house.

Detective Parker: That's it?

Raymond Jennings: Yeah, that's it.

Detective Murphy: You didn't stop? You didn't go to the door to see if she was really in there?

Raymond Jennings: No, of course not. The kids were with me. I didn't want them to see … that.

Detective Parker: So what did you do then?

Raymond Jennings: I took the kids to get ice cream, and then we went home.

Detective Murphy: When Gayle got home later, did you talk to her about what you'd seen?

Raymond Jennings: No. I acted as normal as possible.

Detective Parker: Why?

Raymond Jennings: I didn't know what to say. I wanted to think about it first.

Detective Murphy: Were you with Gayle for the rest of the day?

Raymond Jennings: Yes.

Detective Parker: She was never out of your sight at any time?

 Raymond Jennings: Well, we took a short nap after she got back.

Detective Murphy: Both of you?

Raymond Jennings: Yes. Gayle said she had a headache and laid down on our bed. When I went in to check on her, she was asleep, so I went back to my recliner, and I guess I fell asleep too.

Detective Parker: So one more time, did you kill Victor?

Raymond Jennings: No. Can I go now?

Detective Parker: Not just yet. Have you ever heard the name John Raymond?

Raymond Jennings: I don't know. It sounds familiar, but I can't place it. Does he have something to do with Vic's death?

Detective Murphy: Maybe you heard your mother or father talk about him? Or maybe Victor mentioned him?

Raymond Jennings: If they did, I don't remember. Is it important?

Detective Parker: What about the name Troy Daniels?

Raymond Jennings: No, who is he?

Detective Parker: Barbara Daniels?

Raymond Jennings: No. Oh, wait. I think Vic dated a girl by that name back in college. Is that who you mean? He was with her longer than any other woman in his life, I think. That's the only reason I remember her.

Detective Murphy: Do you know if he'd been in contact with her recently?

Raymond Jennings: I wouldn't know. Vic and I didn't talk about things like that.

Detective Murphy: Things like what?

Raymond Jennings: Like things that happened in our lives. Look, we had a rotten relationship. I've been telling you that from the start. So no matter how you try to look at it, the answer's always going to be the same. Vic didn't like me. We didn't get along. We weren't close. I don't know how many more ways to say it, and I don't want to talk about it anymore. Please, can I leave now?

Detective Murphy: Okay, Ray. You can go. Thank you for coming in.

Detective Parker: We'll be in touch if anything else comes up.

Interview ended – 3:08 p.m.