Alibi summaries
YOKNAPATAWPHA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT
Investigating Officer(s): Det. S. Murphy. Det. T. Armstrong
Incident No.: 000153-06A-2023
Case Description: Veronica Smith homicide investigation
Based on witness statements during interviews, investigators have put together the following summary of the witnesses’ alibis for the evening of Friday, January 6, 2023, when Veronica Smith was killed.
An alibi is designated partially or tentatively substantiated when:
- The witness's alibi is corroborated only by another witness who has a close personal relationship with him/her.
- One or more portions of the witness's time remain uncorroborated.
- The corroboration for all or part of the alibi is not conclusive.
Burns
Name: Hilton Burns
Description: Veronica Smith's medical practice partner
Alibi: Hilton Burns said he left the clinic around 5:00 p.m., grabbed dinner at Asian Thai, and took it home because he had a presentation to work on. He was alone.
Confirmed? No.
Foreman
Name: Ruthie Foreman
Description: Head surgical nurse at the hospital
Alibi: Ruthie Foreman said she left the hospital and went home for supper, returned to check on a patient. Foreman said she left the hospital after midnight.
Confirmed? Partially. Ruthie Foreman’s co-workers saw her off and on that night. Janet Colson saw Foreman leaving at 6:00 p.m. Joan Myles saw Foreman leaving the hospital and returning at 11:30 p.m. Sandra Wells saw Foreman at 9:30 p.m.
Kramer
Name: Dwight Kramer
Description: Hospital assistant administrator
Alibi: Dwight Kramer said he wasn’t sure what time he left the hospital. He said he arrived home after dinner, ate leftovers, and went out back to his workshop at the far end of the property.
Confirmed? No. Angela Kramer said she knew her husband had come home from work, gotten the plate she'd left him, and gone out to his workshop, but she didn't actually see him didn't see him until around 11:00 p.m.
Lemmons
Name: Kenneth Lemmons
Description: Suing Veronica Smith for malpractice
Alibi: Kenneth Lemmons said he went to the movies at the Malco Theater in Oxford.
Confirmed? Partially. Malco Theater employees remembered seeing Lemmons after being shown a photo of him. They said interacted with Lemmons at the ticket window, the concessions stand, and the ticket collection point. No one remembered seeing him leave the theater.
Mendoza
Name: James Mendoza
Description: Veronica Smith's medical practice partner
Alibi: Virginia Mendoza said her husband, James Mendoza, arrived home between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and took her to the ER at Baptist Memorial around 8:00 p.m. Mrs. Mendoza said her husband remained by her side the rest of the night.
Confirmed? Yes. The ER physician confirmed the Mendozas were there.
O'Connor, G
Name: George O'Connor
Description: Veronica Smith's husband
Alibi: George O’Connor said he was at the Father-Daughter dance with his daughter.
Confirmed? Partially. Other dance attendees saw him there. John Simms said he saw George O’Connor leave for the men’s room at approximately 8:00 p.m., and he estimated it had been twenty minutes when O’Connor returned. Bill Barton saw O’Connor around 8:00 p.m. in the men’s room, where O’Connor was wiping off his shirt.
O'Connor, M
Name: Michael O'Connor
Description: Veronica Smith's brother-in-law & ex-boyfriend
Alibi: Michael O’Connor said he left the hospital at 8:00 p.m. and went home, where he stayed for the rest of the evening.
Confirmed? No. Hospital employees saw Dr. O'Connor leaving around 8:00 p.m., and a neighbor said he arrived home by 9:00 p.m. However, O'Connor couldn’t explain how it took him an hour to get from the hospital to his house if he didn’t stop anywhere. He said he must have been wrong about the times.
Sherman
Name: Elizabeth Sherman
Description: Veronica Smith's sister
Alibi: Elizabeth Sherman said she was home most of the evening, except when she made a run to Walmart and her clinic to check on a poodle.
Confirmed? No. Sherman’s live-in boyfriend, Heath Barrows, said he thought Sherman left sometime after 6:00 p.m. and came home a couple hours later. Neighbor Dorothy Moore saw Elizabeth Sherman pull out of her driveway around 6:30 p.m., but wasn’t positive about the time. Moore said she didn’t see Sherman return.
Smith
Name: Wallace Smith
Description: Veronica Smith's ex-husband & father of her daughter
Alibi: Wallace Smith said he was alone in his Jamaica, Queens apartment on the night of the murder.
Confirmed? No. Wallace Smith’s neighbor Thomas King said Smith didn't answer his door when King knocked on Friday, January 6, 2023. Neighbor Chet Lamar didn't recall seeing Smith's car in the apartment parking lot that weekend. Neighbor Brenda Curtis thought she saw Smith enter his apartment at approximately 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 7, 2023.
