Alibi check – Jordan

Buchanan

Peter "Buck" Buchanan
Age 64

When asked about Doug Jordan's whereabouts in the first week of January, Buck Buchanan, the oldest auto body technician at Laughlin's, was pretty sure that Doug called in sick on the 4th, which Buck took to mean that he was hungover. But he remembered Doug working his regular shifts, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., the rest of the week.

On Friday, January 1st, Buck went out to The Roadhouse for a few beers and ran into Doug, which was par for the course. Doug said that his brother, Ike, was in town and invited Buck to drink with them at a nearby booth. Buck declined because he knew the drinking would get out of hand but didn't say that to Doug. Then, Doug insisted that Buck should play cards the next night at his mother's. Not wishing to refuse both offers or pass up Maybelle's famous fried chicken, Buck said he would show up.

Buck confirmed that Doug was at his mother's home that Saturday when he arrived at 5:00 p.m. until Buck left at 11:15 p.m. or so.

Jordan, I.

Isaac "Ike" Jordan
Age 53

Ike Jordan, Doug Jordan's younger brother, is a railroader for the Luxapalila Valley Railroad, which runs from Columbus, Mississippi, to Belk, Alabama. He lives in Tibbee, Mississippi, with his wife, Carmen, and two girls, Kaley and Jenny. When he gets time, he likes to get back to Oxford to visit his brother and their mother, Maybelle.

Ike's wife and daughters went to visit her side of the family in Montgomery, Alabama, after Christmas, but Ike only had a little vacation time available at the beginning of January 2021, so he went up to Oxford. Ike said he got into Oxford on Thursday, December 31st, at around 9:00 p.m. and stayed at his mother's home. He met up with Doug on Friday and went down to The Roadhouse for beers. At around midnight, Doug went home, and Ike went back over to Maybelle's to sleep.

On Saturday night, Doug visited Ike at Maybelle's for supper. Buck Buchanan, one of Doug's co-workers from Laughlin Auto Body, also came over for the home cooking. The four played cards and drank beer until 11:00 p.m. After Doug and Buck left for the night, Ike remained at his mother's until the next day, Sunday, January 3rd, and went home around mid-afternoon.

Jordan, M.

Maybelle Jordan
Age 79

Maybelle Jordan is a retired cook and restaurant owner. She and Franklin Jordan, her husband, had owned one of the first fried chicken and waffle restaurants in the south in the 1960s. When the Jordan children, Doug and Isaac, were in their teens, Frank died of a heart attack. The fried chicken and waffle idea was a flop in Northern Mississippi, and despite Maybelle changing menu after menu, the restaurant failed in 1975.

Maybelle did what she could to raise her two boys by barely making ends meet as a short-order cook. What little retirement money Maybelle had left she lost in a timeshare scam in 2010. She settled into a small house on the east side of Oxford.

When asked to recount the first weekend in January, Maybelle said Doug never came over to celebrate the New Year. He told her that he was going up north to Cornith, Mississippi, to visit a lady-friend named Ms. Sadie Valentine. Maybelle hoped that she was a good woman since Doug was in his fifties, and he should have settled down by now. Maybelle didn't inquire too much about her, though, because she didn't want to seem like the overbearing mother.

Maybelle did say that Doug, Ike, and Buck Buchanan came over for fried chicken at 5:00 p.m. on that Saturday the 2nd, and they played cards until late that night. She told investigators that even though she and the boys didn't have that much money, they were happy and content with what they have.

Kirkland

Rachel Kirkland
Age 27

Rachel Kirkland is a waitress at The Roadhouse in Oxford. Rachel said, for the four years that she has worked at The Roadhouse, Doug Jordan has always been a regular.

Rachel could not specifically remember the details of the night or nights that Doug came into the bar in the first week of January. She was sure that Doug was present at The Roadhouse every Friday in January to take advantage of The Roadhouse's two-for-one drafts specials they were running that month.

Rachel added that when Doug comes in with his co-workers from the body shop, they drink plenty of beers and generally act like macho asses, so the experienced waitstaff, especially the female ones, try to avoid their table. Rachel said that she sometimes wishes that The Roadhouse would toss them out for their comments but feels that management excuses them because of their age and the portion of their paychecks they spend on beer.

Rachel did say that, occasionally, Doug would come in alone and sit at the bar. At these times, Doug was much less abrasive and drank less. If Rachel didn't know that he was such a sleazy guy most of the time, she would feel sorry for him when he was alone. She never thought about him much, though, because he would eventually engage the bartender, Will Sands, in conversation, whether Will wanted it or not.

Valentine

Sadie Valentine
Age 32

Sadie Valentine, whose real name is Sandra L. Northrup, formerly was an adult entertainer at a gentlemen's club in Corinth, Mississippi. She was working at the club in January 2021 but has since stopped dancing. She now works reception at Mug's Choppers, a motorcycle repair shop, in Farmington, and does some modeling on the side.

Sadie said she knew Doug Jordan pretty well and felt sad for him. Doug used to come up to the club quite a bit but always alone. Given that Corinth is two hours out of Oxford, Sadie suspected that Doug didn't want his buddies to know that he was lonely or that he didn't really know how to conduct himself with a woman in a bonafide relationship. It was okay for Sadie, though, as long as Doug brought a pocket full of cash with him.

The last time Sadie saw Doug was at the club's New Year's Eve party. Doug was alone and, in her mind, drinking heavily for an old guy. By 1:00 a.m., she was worried that he'd try to drive home to Oxford in his inebriated state and get pulled over by police or worse. A little while later, around 1:45 a.m., she noticed Doug wasn't at his usual table anymore, and all that remained was a half dozen empty beer bottles.