Mee-Yon Kim interview

Sunday, October 11, 2020 – 9:30 p.m.

Mee-Yon Kim was Courtney Morris's best friend and one of the people who found her body.

Detectives Murphy and Parker interviewed her at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department.

Participants:

• Detective S. Murphy
• Detective E. Parker
• Mee-Yon Kim

Detective Parker: Please state your name and address for the record.

Mee-Yon Kim: My name is Mee-Yon Kim, and I live at 319 Williams Avenue here in Oxford. My permanent address is 2206 North 47th Street, in Kansas City, Kansas.

Detective Murphy: We can see that you're upset, Mee-Yon, and I know this is difficult, but we need to find out how this happened.

Mee-Yon Kim: I know you do, and I want to help, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this. I feel like I'm in a fog, and this isn't real.

Detective Murphy: We'll try to make this as quick as we can for you. Are you ready? Need another tissue?

Mee-Yon Kim: I'm ready. I just… yes, let's do this.

Detective Parker: Try to compose yourself. We really need your help to find out who killed your friend.

Mee-Yon Kim: Okay, I'll try to stop this crying. I will.

Detective Parker: We understand. Let's start with something easy. Do you have a job?

Mee-Yon Kim: Yes, I help out at the Oxford Health Club. I'm a trained kickboxer, and I love working with the younger kids.

Detective Parker: By trained, what do you mean?

Mee-Yon Kim: I compete in kickboxing matches. I have a room full of trophies. I'm one of the best kickboxers around. Can you please just tell me what you think happened to Courtney?

Detective Murphy: How long have you known Courtney?

Mee-Yon Kim: Since the fifth grade. We're next-door neighbors back home.

Detective Parker: How did you both end up at the same college?

Mee-Yon Kim: That's been our plan since the eighth grade. We applied to all the same colleges and accepted the invites to the one we had in common. We had other offers, but we wanted to go together. Ole Miss wanted us both, so here we are … or were.

Detective Parker: When was the last time you saw her?

Mee-Yon Kim: Last night. We went to Tupelo to eat and go shopping. We went to Sweet Peppers at Barnes Crossing. She's been craving that lately. Leave it to Courtney to crave something we have to drive an hour to get. Anyway, after we ate, we walked around the mall for a little while, and then we went over to Babies"R"Us because she wanted to look at things for the baby. Oh my god! I forgot about the baby.

Detective Murphy: Do you need a minute?

Mee-Yon Kim: No, I'm okay.

Detective Parker: What baby?

Mee-Yon Kim: Courtney was three months pregnant. She was so excited about being a mommy.

Detective Parker: Who is the baby's father?

Mee-Yon Kim: She wasn't sure. She thought it could be one of three people: her boyfriend, her lover, or this guy she met at a bar. She doesn't even know the name of the last one. It was a one-night stand. She was just so drunk. She never would have been with him, but … you know.

Detective Murphy: Can you give us the names of her boyfriend and her lover?

Mee-Yon Kim: Her boyfriend is Justin Landry. Her lover's name is Douglas, but I don't know if that's his first name or his last name. She wouldn't tell me anything else about him. I just thought maybe he was married or something. I know he's older, and he gives her money, so she doesn't have to work. He even pays the rent on the apartment.

Detective Murphy: You never met this older lover?

Mee-Yon Kim: Oh, no. I don't think they ever saw each other when anyone else was around.

Detective Murphy: Where did they see each other?

Mee-Yon Kim: As far as I know, just at her apartment.

Detective Parker: Did he know she was also seeing Justin?

Mee-Yon Kim: I don't know. I don't think so, though.

Detective Parker: Did Justin know about this other man?

Mee-Yon Kim: No way. He would… not be okay with that.

Detective Murphy: What do you mean?

Mee-Yon Kim: Well, Courtney and Justin used to get along pretty well, but recently, there's been some tension. Courtney has been kind of avoiding him because she didn't know what to do about the baby. I think Justin was suspicious because he was calling her a lot more and checking on her.

Detective Parker: She didn't tell him she was pregnant?

Mee-Yon Kim: Not yet. I'm the only person who knows. She knew she had to tell him soon—tell both of them, really—and she knew they'd both be upset when they found out there was another man. Or two.

Detective Parker: You think she was going to tell both of them the truth about that?

Mee-Yon Kim: I know she was. She told me so. That's why she was nervous about it.

Detective Parker: She could've just lied. She could've just picked the man she thought would be the best father and told him the baby was his.

Mee-Yon Kim: Yeah, but that's not how Courtney is. She wouldn't be able to live with a lie like that. Oh my god! I can't believe I just said that.

Detective Murphy: Just take a moment.

Mee-Yon Kim: No, no. I want to get this over with. What else do you want to know?

Detective Parker: How did you and Courtney get along?

Mee-Yon Kim: Great. Perfect. We're like sisters.

Detective Murphy: Even sisters argue sometimes.

Mee-Yon Kim: Well, yeah, everybody has little arguments sometimes, but we can never stay mad at each other.

Detective Murphy: Did you have a little argument last night?

Mee-Yon Kim: No. Everything was great. We had the best time planning for the baby and everything.

Detective Murphy: What time did you two part company?

Mee-Yon Kim: Babies"R"Us closed at 10:00, so I guess we got back to her place around 11:00. We hung out for a little while, and I went home around midnight, I guess.

Detective Parker: Did you talk to her today?

Mee-Yon Kim: No, I texted her, but she didn't answer. That's not like her, so I thought something was up. I drove over to check on her, and I heard her radio faintly from outside the door. That's when I knew something was wrong, so I ran to Craig's apartment to get him to let me in.

Detective Parker: I don't understand. How does a radio playing mean something's wrong?

Mee-Yon Kim: Courtney has OCD. She couldn't leave her bedroom without turning the radio off. That's how I knew she was in there and couldn't get to the door.

Detective Murphy: So you went to get Craig to let you in?

Mee-Yon Kim: Yeah. Craig— Mr. Albright likes Courtney, and he's also the manager, so I knew he had a key.

Detective Murphy: And he just agreed to let you in?

Mee-Yon Kim: Yeah. He knows I'm Courtney's best friend.

Detective Murphy: You don't have your own key to her apartment?

Mee-Yon Kim: No. We talked about it. With her being pregnant now, she thought maybe I should be able to get in, in case she needed something. But she hasn't given me one yet.

Detective Parker: Do you think there's any chance Courtney might have killed herself?

Mee-Yon Kim: No way! She would never do something like that ever. And especially with the baby? No way.

Detective Parker: Did you kill her?

Mee-Yon Kim: Are you crazy? I would never. Ever!

Detective Murphy: Do you know of anyone who would have wanted Courtney dead?

Mee-Yon Kim: No. Why would they? Courtney never did anything to anyone.

Detective Parker: Okay, but someone killed her. Who do you think might have done that?

Mee-Yon Kim:  I don't know. I mean, Craig is crazy about her, but I don't think he would hurt her. He always kind of creeps me out, to be honest.

Detective Parker: Was Courtney creeped out?

Mee-Yon Kim: No, she feels sorry for him. She says he's harmless and just needs a friend. She's always been a sucker for the underdog.

Detective Murphy: Is there any chance Craig is her older lover?

Mee-Yon Kim: Ew, no. He's, like, more than twice our age. Gross.

Detective Murphy: But you said her lover was older.

Mee-Yon Kim: Yeah, older. Not old. Gross.

Detective Parker: What about Justin? Would he hurt her?

Mee-Yon Kim: I don't know. I don't think so. He might yell or punch the wall or something, but he loves Courtney. He wouldn't hurt her.

Detective Murphy: If you were running this investigation, who would you talk to?

Mee-Yon Kim: Definitely Craig. I don't think he killed her or anything, but he's always watching her. It's creepy. And that nosy neighbor lady who lives across from Courtney. I don't know her name, but it's like every time I came over or left, she was right there. Unless it was really late, like last night.

Detective Murphy: You think she might have done something to Courtney?

Mee-Yon Kim: Oh, no, but maybe she saw something. I always thought it was weird how she always just happened to be at her door when we were going in or out, but Courtney said she was probably just lonely and wanted to talk to someone.

Detective Parker: Anyone else?

Mee-Yon Kim: I don't know. I can't think anymore. Can I go home? Please? I'll talk to you again whenever you want. I swear. I just can't do this anymore right now. I'm sorry.

Detective Murphy: Yes. Thank you for your time. We'll be in touch if we have any more questions.

Interview ended – 9:24 p.m.