Dorothy Rebine interview #2

Monday, June 5, 2023 – 10:33 a.m.

Dorothy Rebine is a friend of Mickie Webster. They spoke on the phone the night Devlin Beauchamp was killed.

Detectives Armstrong and Murphy re-interviewed Ms. Rebine in her home.

Participants:

• Detective T. Armstrong
• Detective S. Murphy
• Dorothy Rebine

Detective Murphy: Could you please state your full name and address for the record?

Dorothy Rebine: Dorothy Marie Rebine, 505 N 14th, Oxford, Mississippi.

Detective Armstrong: Ms. Rebine, thank you for letting us come by to ask you a few more questions. We'll try to make it quick, okay?

Dorothy Rebine: That's fine, detective. I don't mind cooperating at all.

Detective Armstrong: As I explained earlier on the phone, we need a bit more clarification regarding your earlier statement. I'm afraid we never did establish why you called Ms. Webster on May 20th.

Dorothy Rebine: Well, I'm sure I said that I called her about a movie I saw that we wanted to see.

Detective Armstrong: Oh, that's right. I wonder though, why did you call so late? According to my notes, it was about 11:30 p.m.

Dorothy Rebine: Well, I tried her earlier but kept getting the voicemail.

Detective Armstrong: Sorry? The phone records don't show any calls from you other than the one at 11:26 p.m.

Dorothy Rebine: Well, I didn't leave a message. I never do. Who listens to voicemail these days? Anyway, you can tell if you're going to get the voicemail because the ring sounds different. Whenever I get that, I just hang up. I was trying off and on most of the day and not getting her, so that's why I called so late.

Detective Murphy: When you talked to her, did you notice any background noise?

Dorothy Rebine: Background noise? No, not that I recall. Just the sound of her smoking.

Detective Murphy: That's all?

Dorothy Rebine: Yes, that's all. All I can remember anyway… I did have my television on.

Detective Armstrong: You spoke for 27 minutes. What did you talk about, exactly?

Dorothy Rebine: Well, I called her to see if she wanted to see that movie, but I heard her smoking, so I asked her why, and she said she was stressing.

Detective Armstrong: Did she say what she was stressing about?

Dorothy Rebine: She said she had to make a decision about what she was going to do with her life. That she knew it was over, really over with her and Dev.

Detective Armstrong: Did she ask you if you thought she should leave town, start over?

Dorothy Rebine: She talked about starting over, yes, but that's Mickie. Whenever she gets worked up, she starts talking about going away and finding a new town. So that night when she started talking about doing that, I knew she didn't mean it. I know she never got over her insecurities over being left and alone.

Detective Murphy: Did the breakup with Mr. Beauchamp renew those insecurities for her?

Dorothy Rebine: I would say so. You know, she leaned on him a lot. I think she really felt she could trust him, and then… well, the breakup, I think, shocked her. She didn't see it coming.

Detective Murphy: Really? We heard the break up was mutual, that Ms. Webster and Mr. Beauchamp both believed it was the best thing.

Dorothy Rebine: Well, that's what she told people, but truth be told, she didn't want it to happen. She was trying to find a way for them to reconcile. They'd been having a lot of discussions about it, but I don't think they weren't going anywhere.

Detective Murphy: Do you know why? Did she ever say what the problem was?

Dorothy Rebine: She never said exactly. Just something about her having disappointed Dev, and he couldn't forgive her. I guessed it was about another man, but I never did find out. Was there another man?

Detective Murphy: Did she ever talk to you about a woman named Natalie Posner?

Dorothy Rebine: Natalie? I don't think so. Is she why they broke up?

Detective Armstrong: Did she mention to you that she had swapped vehicles with Jessica Durham that weekend?

Dorothy Rebine: No, she didn't

Detective Armstrong: Do you find that odd? Wouldn't you have expected her to tell you about that?

Dorothy Rebine: No, not really. There wouldn't be any reason to mention it to me except as maybe small talk. Mickie lends her truck out a lot. It's just something she does. Carl Dixon is always borrowing it to pick up stuff for the restaurant. No big deal if you ask me.

Detective Murphy: Anything else you talked about that night?

Dorothy Rebine: Just stuff… clothes and new shoes and things like that. There was a half-off sale at JC Penny, but I guess she already knew about it and wasn't interested.

Detective Murphy: And y'all never did see that movie?

Dorothy Rebine: No, we never did. I finally saw it with another friend. Mickie just hasn't been interested in socializing since this thing happened to Dev.

Detective Armstrong: Have you tried to get her to socialize since Mr. Beauchamp's death?

Dorothy Rebine: Of course I have.

Detective Armstrong: And she's refused? Can you give us a "for instance?"

Dorothy Rebine: Well, last week, I dropped by her place, you know, just to check on her. And she wouldn't answer the door. I knew she was home. I saw her truck, and I could hear her inside, but she just wouldn't come to the door. Then a few days later, I saw her in the Bottletree, and I asked her to sit down with me, but she said she was too busy and took off.

Detective Armstrong: Have you seen her since then?

Dorothy Rebine: Well, I finally got her to talk to me on the phone, but she just can't concentrate on anything. She's stuck in her depression. Sounds to me like she's barely functioning outside of work.

Detective Murphy: The call on the 20th, who ended it?

Dorothy Rebine: She did. She finally said she had to go. Her head was still bothering her, so I said fine and hung up.

Detective Murphy: Was that sudden, her ending the conversation?

Dorothy Rebine: No, she was really kind of distracted for the whole conversation, so I guess it didn't seem that way.

Detective Armstrong: Okay. Is there anything we haven't asked you about that you think we should know?

Dorothy Rebine: I can't think of anything.

Detective Armstrong: Well, if you do, you know how to reach us. Thanks for talking to us. If we have any further questions, we'll give you a call.

Dorothy Rebine: You're welcome, detective. Good luck.

Detective Armstrong: Yes, ma'am. Goodbye.

Interview ended – 10:52 a.m.