Kenny Ross interview #2

Friday, October 20, 2023 – 1:00 p.m.

Kenny Ross works as a production assistant at Hoyt Biffle's Under Glass, the site of Biffle's murder.

Detectives Beckwith and Magee re-interviewed him at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department.

Participants:

• Detective P. Beckwith
• Detective J. Magee
• Kenny Ross

Detective Magee: Have a seat, Kenny. You know the drill—full name and address.

Kenny Ross: Kenny Ross. 805 College Hill Road.

Detective Magee: All right, Kenny, we'd like to follow up with you on some evidence we found in the Under Glass control shed. 

Kenny Ross: Okay?

Detective Magee: Take a look at this pair of thong underwear. 

Kenny Ross: Really?

Detective Magee: Just do it. Can you identify whether or not one of the women at Under Glass owns these panties?

Kenny Ross: Um. Yeah, I think I can. But she isn't at Under Glass anymore.

Detective Beckwith: Who does the thong belong to, Kenny?

Kenny Ross: Shiloh Bates. She was one of our most provocative Under Glassers. She used to wear this thong with a half-shirt that said "Parental Advisory: Explicit Content,"you know, like the warning sticker on CDs. If Shiloh spent a couple of hours on a Saturday night that way, you could guarantee the livestream would be packed. 

Detective Magee: Okay, so the next obvious question is why was this thong in the control room shed?

Kenny Ross: How should I know?

Detective Beckwith: You said Shiloh wasn't at Under Glass anymore. When did she leave?

Kenny Ross: She didn't leave. She got tossed out on her a**.

Detective Beckwith: Why?

Kenny Ross: ‘Cuz she went from being provocative and in love with the camera to all prim and proper and in love with another housemate.

Detective Beckwith: Who?

Kenny Ross: Wyatt Yancey. 

Detective Magee: So they got kicked out of the house for not being provocative enough?

Kenny Ross: Hell, no, if you know Shiloh, there isn't anything prim and proper about her. She got it in her head that she and Wyatt would record themselves privately and make money from it on the side. That way she could use Under Glass to get a fan base and sell the good stuff for herself.

Detective Beckwith: And Hoyt wasn't happy about that arrangement?

Kenny Ross: You could say that. I don't know how Hoyt found out what they were planning, but it seemed like he always figured out if someone was double-crossing him. So Hoyt threw them out on their asses.

Detective Magee: When did he do that?

Kenny Ross: Around the end of September. 

Detective Beckwith: I imagine Shiloh wasn't happy about that.

Kenny Ross: Neither was Wyatt.

Detective Magee: What do you mean?

Kenny Ross: Wyatt went off on Hoyt to one of the Under Glass cameras, and Shiloh scrawled some choice stuff on a mirror, like "Karma's a bitch" or something.

Detective Magee: Wyatt went off on camera? Was it recorded?

Kenny Ross: Everything that happens in the house is recorded.

Detective Beckwith: How come you didn't say anything about Shiloh and Wyatt when we asked you about Hoyt's enemies in your earlier interview?

Kenny Ross: I guess I never thought of them as Hoyt's enemies, not like the COP scumbags.  

Detective Magee: So, has Shiloh returned to the Under Glass house or shed in the last three weeks as a non-employee?

Kenny Ross: Not as far as I know… uh, at least, I haven't seen her.

Detective Magee: So why would her thong be in the shed if she hadn't been there for three weeks?

Kenny Ross: I'm telling y'all I don't know. 

Detective Beckwith: Okay, Kenny, fill us in on the external drives we found in the shed that have labels like this one named "Tanya."

Kenny Ross: These are compilations of the housemates' "greatest hits." Hoyt told me to monitor internet viewership, and if it got to a certain high point for a housemate, to save that footage on one of these drives. That was my main job when everyone was sleeping.

Detective Magee: What happens to the video that isn't saved on one of these compilation drives?

Kenny Ross: It's saved on a drive for 24 hours until I can harvest the good clips. Then, it's recorded over to save space on the drive. No one but the kinkiest peeper cares about hours of footage of people sleeping.

Detective Beckwith: What was Hoyt going to do with these compilations?

Kenny Ross: I don't know … edit them and sell them later? That's what I would have done.

Detective Magee: Did he have one of these drives for each housemate?

Kenny Ross: Yep, everyone.

Detective Magee: Did everyone know Hoyt was collecting material for these compilations?

Kenny Ross: Sure did. It was in their contracts. Hoyt's lawyer made sure of that.

Detective Beckwith: What about former housemates? Did Hoyt have drives for them?

Kenny Ross: Yep.

Detective Magee: How many other former housemates are there?

Kenny Ross: Five.

Detective Magee: Names?

Kenny Ross: Nash Matson and Grant Hooper, both party boys. The goth girl, Violet Lamb. Um, August Stafford, who goes by Augie, easily the most over-the-top personality I have ever known. And Raisa Hahn, who was the complete opposite of Augie. That's it.

Detective Beckwith: Did any of these former housemates leave on bad terms?

Kenny Ross: Not that I know of. Raisa wasn't cut out for the house. That, we found out early on. I remember she didn't want to have footage saved for a compilation. Hoyt told them it was part of living in the house, so she left. I guess that wasn't really good terms, but she didn't seem to be mad about it—to me anyway.

Detective Beckwith: Did Hoyt still have a drive with Raisa'sfootage on it?

Kenny Ross: Yeah, we would keep the drives on-site in the shed until the leaving housemate was replaced, in case they decided to return. Then Hoyt would archive it.

Detective Magee: What do you mean by "archive it?"

Kenny Ross: Uh, Hoyt would take the drive with him.

Detective Magee: So none of the former housemates' drives are in the shed?

Kenny Ross: Nope. Their current location went to the grave with Hoyt.

Detective Beckwith: What about Shiloh and WWyatt'sdrives?

Kenny Ross: They hadn't been officially replaced yet by other housemates. Their drives were still in the shed. Y'all should have them. They were in the same place as you found Tanya's drive.

Detective Beckwith: Would Wyatt's drive have his threat recorded on it?

Kenny Ross: Likely. His threat was like, "I'll have your a**" or something like that. That can have all kinds of useful connotations on a "Greatest Hits" compilation. 

Detective Magee: All right, let's move on. Kenny, do you know Birdie Tarver?

Kenny Ross: HHoyt'sex? Yeah, I know of her, but that's it.

Detective Magee: How about Alden Puckett?

Kenny Ross: I don't know him, but I've heard about him from Zeke.

Detective Beckwith: Zeke? Who'sZeke?

Kenny Ross: Zeke Evans. I was in the joint with him a few years back. He was one of Hoyt and Alden's buddies back in the day. When Zeke found out I was interested in computers, we'd talk about them in the yard. When he heard I was getting out, he told me he had a buddy in Oxford who would hire ex-cons as long as they weren't in prison for stealing.

Detective Magee: So you name-dropped Zeke to get your job at Under Glass?

Kenny Ross: It's not what you know. It's who you know.

Detective Magee: What did Zeke tell you about Alden?

Kenny Ross: Only that he implied that Alden helped Zeke and Hoyt pull some major computer heists back in their day. Zeke would never get into the details, but you could tell the guy was itching to tell someone of his glory days.

Detective Beckwith: WWhere'sZeke Evans now?

Kenny Ross: Still in lockup for all I know, up in Holly Springs.

Detective Beckwith: We'll check on that. Now, Kenny, you had a lot of information you've held back. Are you sure you've told us everything we need to know about Hoyt going forward?

Kenny Ross: Yeah, man, I didn't think I was holding things back. Maybe y'all aren't asking the right questions.

Detective Magee: Well, stick around where we can talk again because I have a feeling we'll be back.

Kenny Ross: Yeah, great. Why do I get that feeling, too? 

Interview ended – 1:31 p.m.