Mackenzie Collins interview #2

Wednesday, October 25, 2023 – 2:00 p.m.

Mackenzie Collins is a housemate at Hoyt Biffle's "Under Glass."

Detectives Magee and Beckwith spoke with her again at Under Glass.

Participants:

• Detective P. Beckwith
• Detective J. Magee
• Mackenzie Collins

Detective Magee: Mackenzie, we'd like to speak with you again if you have the time.

Mackenzie Collins: Yes, I'm good until my African History class at 5:00 this afternoon.

Detective Magee: We won't keep you that long. Can I get your name and address for the record?

Mackenzie Collins: Mackenzie Rae Collins. I still live here. The address is 903 Muirfield Drive. Kenny Ross is trying to restart the business, so he said I should stay on. I don't have anywhere else to live, so we'll see if things can go on without Hoyt. I sure hope so!

Detective Beckwith: We need to ask you about the former residents of Under Glass. Who were the residents when you first moved into Under Glass?

Mackenzie Collins:  Let me think. There was Augie Stafford … Shiloh Bates and Wyatt Yancey. Tanya, you know her, she's still here. Oh, and Violet Lamb. That's it.

Detective Magee: What was your relationship with Shiloh Bates and Wyatt Yancey?

Mackenzie Collins: Of the housemates, those two were my least favorite.

Detective Beckwith: Why?

Mackenzie Collins: Because they are completely full of themselves. Shiloh thinks the world revolves around her. She's a flirt, a shallow one at that. She wouldn't have lasted around here if she wasn't so provocative all the time. But in the end, it got her thrown out.

Detective Beckwith: How so?

Mackenzie Collins: She and Wyatt were boyfriend-girlfriend and were always trying to scam some side hustle behind Hoyt's back, like using Under Glass's notoriety to sell posters of Shiloh to students on campus.

Detective Beckwith: Did Hoyt find out?

Mackenzie Collins: I'm sure he did, but the poster thing was still an advertisement for the house. It was the porn flick thing that pissed Hoyt off.

Detective Magee: Porn flick thing?

Mackenzie Collins: Yeah, Shiloh and Wyatt got in their heads that they could side hustle short films of them doing it and sell that on campus. Considering there's plenty of that for free on the internet, I don't know why they'd try it. Anyway, they'd spend so much time away from the Under Glass cameras that Hoyt started wondering why he was paying them.

Detective Beckwith: Did he confront them with his concern?

Mackenzie Collins: Yeah, a few months ago. Shiloh got all huffy about it when she was here in the house. Wyatt told me that he thought I was on Hoyt's "side," so he stopped talking to me altogether, which was fine by me.

Detective Magee: How did the situation get resolved?

Mackenzie Collins: Hoyt threw them both out. I don't know if Wyatt ever found out that Shiloh was having sex with Grant before Grant left this July. If he did, Wyatt probably wouldn't be with Shiloh right now. I haven't talked to any of the three since they left the house.

Detective Beckwith: How do you know Grant was having sex with Shiloh?

Mackenzie Collins: He told me. He didn't really care who knew. He just didn't want it getting back to Wyatt because Wyatt would have blamed Grant more than Shiloh. And Grant didn't want to deal with Wyatt's anger issues.

Detective Magee: Because Wyatt would have tried to hurt Grant?

Mackenzie Collins: Maybe tried. But Grant would have broken him in half if Wyatt had thrown one punch. Trust me, it would've been no contest.

Detective Beckwith: Have you seen Shiloh or Wyatt on the Under Glass grounds since they were thrown out of the house?

Mackenzie Collins: Nope.

Detective Magee: Okay, how about your other housemates? What was your relationship with Augie Stafford like?

Mackenzie Collins: Augie? Augie was the best. Everyone was friends with Augie. I didn't do a whole lot of things with Augie, though, because ze left just a few months after I got here. It's all because of those scumbag COP people. That's why Violet left, too.

Detective Magee: Can you explain a bit further about that?

Mackenzie Collins: It's just that they're always on our case, like I told you the last time you were here. They don't have any real lives, so they're bent on destroying ours. Unfortunately, when Violet left, I inherited her COP stalker. 

Detective Beckwith: COP stalker?

Mackenzie Collins: Yeah, Mr. Vance. He would watch me whenever he was here protesting—like, leering. If I got anywhere close to him, he'd start quoting Bible verses and saying that I'm too "good" for Under Glass and that Hoyt is going to hell. Violet told me Mr. Vance used to do the same thing to her, and he's the reason she left Under Glass. He had his hooks in her, she said. It was the only way she could break free. I know how she feels. 

Detective Beckwith: Why don't you leave Under Glass, then?

Mackenzie Collins: Why should I have to leave if he's the scumbag? No, then he wins. That's what he says he wants. I'm not giving him another victory like he got with Violet.

Detective Beckwith: He told you he wanted you to leave Under Glass personally?

Mackenzie Collins: Yes. More than that, he threatened me.

Detective Magee: When?

Mackenzie Collins: A month ago. 

Detective Magee: What did he tell you?

Mackenzie Collins: He said if I didn't leave Under Glass, he'd make sure I'd lose my scholarship at Ole Miss.

Detective Beckwith: Okay, back up a bit. Where did he tell you this? 

Mackenzie Collins: I was coming back to Under Glass from my Poli Sci class on campus. It was a Monday. Near the Under Glass house, I saw Mr. Vance just off the sidewalk—on the curb—leaning against his green car like he was waiting for me. He watched me as I got near, smiling and chewing on a toothpick. When I got close enough, he said, "Hey there, Mac."

Detective Beckwith: What did you say? 

Mackenzie Collins: I said, "Don't talk to me." I don't let anyone call me "Mac." My dad used to call me that. Anyway, I tried to walk past him, and he said, "You're being pretty rude to someone who could cause you to lose your scholarship just like that," and then he snapped his fingers. I turned back and asked him what he meant by that.

Detective Magee: What did he say?

Mackenzie Collins: He said he knew the head of the Oxford Chapter of the Coalition of Voice United—Mr. Lassiter—and that he was a God-fearing man. If I stayed at Under Glass, he would convince Mr. Lassiter that I was a dirty little whore who was using the Coalition's money to lure pure-hearted Ole Miss men into my bed and into their ruin. He gave me a week to "pack my bags."

Detective Beckwith: And you believed him?

Mackenzie Collins: What choice did I have? These COP scumbags are friends with a lot of people in power—the church leaders, the city board, the Ole Miss administration. The mayor used to be president of their awful cult.

Detective Beckwith: Did you tell him you'd leave?

Mackenzie Collins: Yes. I told him not to talk to Mr. Lassiter, that I would leave the house that weekend—the 23rd of September, I think. I also told him not to speak to me ever again.

Detective Magee: How did he take that news?

Mackenzie Collins: He just spit out his toothpick, smiled smugly, and clasped his hands. When I turned back around to go to Under Glass, he said, "Thank you, Mac." I had to swallow hard not to puke.  

Detective Magee: What did you do next?

Mackenzie Collins: When I got back here, it was about 6:00 p.m. I was crying pretty bad. Hoyt was changing shifts with Kenny at the shed, and he saw from across the yard that I was all busted up. I was trying not to look at him. He said, "Hold up there, girl" and ran over to me. I must've looked horrible. When he got to me, I remember how gentle he was when he said, and I kid you not, "What's eatin' at ya, Sweets?"

Detective Beckwith: Did you tell him?

Mackenzie Collins: Yeah. Yeah, I did. The whole thing.

Detective Magee: What did he say?

Mackenzie Collins: He told me not to worry, that he knew Mr. Lassiter too, and it wouldn't be a problem. He said he'd have a little talk with Mr. Vance. I urged him not to because I was still afraid of what Mr. Vance would do, but Hoyt just said, "Trust me. I've never let ya down yet, have I?" I just nodded and let him take care of it.

Detective Beckwith: Did Hoyt take care of it?

Mackenzie Collins: He must've because Mr. Vance hasn't said a word to me since. He still leers at me though. I hate him. 

Detective Beckwith: Why didn't you mention this episode to us the last time we spoke?

Mackenzie Collins: I told you about the COP people the last time we spoke. It's not like Mr. Vance is any worse than the rest of them. They are all "Mr. Vance."

Detective Magee: Okay, Mackenzie, I think we have everything we need from you right now. I hope everything works out for you here and at school. 

Mackenzie Collins: Thank you, I hope so too.

Interview ended – 2:32 p.m.