Mira Lee interview #2

Monday, July 19, 2021 – 2:44 p.m.

Mira Lee worked for victim #1, Robert Pruitt.

Detectives Armstrong and Murphy talked to her again in the Pruitt & Rayburn law office at 1109 Van Buren Avenue in Oxford.

Participants:

• Detective T. Armstrong
• Detective S. Murphy
• Mira Lee

Detective Murphy: Thank you for talking to us again, Ms. Lee.

Mira Lee: Of course.

Detective Murphy: For the record, would you please state your name and address?

Mira Lee: I'm Mira Lee. As I mentioned to you last time, I'm still changing over some of my mail and stuff like that. My address is 401 Hathorn Road, # 101. My parents' address is 1704 Jackson Avenue.

Detective Murphy: And your occupation?

Mira Lee: I'm the secretary for the law firm of Robert Pruitt and Gary Rayburn.

Detective Armstrong: Y'all gonna keep that name?

Mira Lee: I don't know what Gary has decided. Or if he's even decided anything about the company name.

Detective Murphy: Ms. Lee, we just want to ask some follow-up questions to make sure we understand everything correctly.

Mira Lee: Certainly. I have plenty of time.

Detective Murphy: How would you describe your relationship with Robert Pruitt?

Mira Lee: I think I told you about that last time we spoke.

Detective Murphy: We'd like to go over it again.

Mira Lee: Well, okay. Mr. Pruitt was nice to me, a decent enough boss. But we weren't exactly friends. It was professional, and that's the extent of it.

Detective Armstrong: So you weren't friends with him? Didn't hang out at all?

Mira Lee: No.

Detective Armstrong: Were you ever at his residence?

Mira Lee: I was there once for an office party. It was back around Memorial Day. Everyone from the office was invited, even the cleaning staff.

Detective Armstrong: So who else was there, other than you?

Mira Lee: Well, Gary, of course. Clients. Other lawyers. The usual.

Detective Armstrong: What did you do?

Mira Lee: We just hung out, watched baseball and basketball on TV, sat around talking, played pool. That kind of thing.

Detective Armstrong: Was that the only time you were there?

Mira Lee: Yes.

Detective Murphy: Did you ever socialize with Robert Pruitt in any other manner?

Mira Lee: What do you mean?

Detective Murphy: Have dinner? Go out to bars?

Mira Lee: No. A few times, we were working late and ordered pizza or something, and everyone ate in the office, but it's not like he and I ever went out anywhere, just the two of us.

Detective Murphy: Did Robert Pruitt ever give you a key to his house? Ask you to water the plants while he was away or anything like that?

Mira Lee: No.

Detective Murphy: Are you sure?

Mira Lee: Yes. He never asked me to do anything like that.

Detective Armstrong: Was there ever any tension between your bosses?

Mira Lee: No. What do you mean?

Detective Armstrong: Of the two of them, which one would you say was in charge of what went on in the practice?

Mira Lee: I don't know. Mr. Pruitt, I guess.

Detective Armstrong: Did Mr. Rayburn ever resent that? Did he want to be the one in charge?

Mira Lee: No. Everything was fine. I don't think Gary ever wanted to be in charge of everything.

Detective Armstrong: But he is now, isn't he?

Mira Lee: Well, yes. But he wouldn't— you don't think he killed Mr. Pruitt because he wanted to be the boss, do you? Because Gary would never do anything like that.

Detective Armstrong: How do you know? It had to be hard for him, always playing second banana to his partner.

Mira Lee: It wasn't like that. They were friends. Gary was happy with the way things were.

Detective Armstrong: Did he ever talk to you about owing Mr. Pruitt money?

Mira Lee: No. You mean those bets they made with each other? That wasn't a big deal. It was all in fun, just to "make things interesting." That's what Gary always says.

Detective Armstrong: But Gary lost to Mr. Pruitt a lot, didn't he? That didn't bother him?

Mira Lee: Not as far as I know. Gary's not like that. He wouldn't get upset about something like that. It's just not the way he is.

Detective Murphy: Did Mr. Pruitt ever mention Fisher Pest Control?

Mira Lee: No. The property management takes care of pest control here, and they do a good job. We don't have bugs or anything.

Detective Murphy: What about for his home? Did Mr. Pruitt ever mention Fisher Pest Control doing work at his house?

Mira Lee: I don't think so. He didn't really talk to me about stuff like that. I think his wife took care of that kind of thing.

Detective Murphy: Mrs. Pruitt took care of what kind of thing?

Mira Lee: Whatever they needed done at their house. I don't know. Like I said, I wasn't involved with that stuff.

Detective Murphy: And Mr. Pruitt was happy with the way his wife took care of that kind of thing?

Mira Lee: As far as I know.

Detective Murphy: Was Mr. Pruitt happy in his marriage?

Mira Lee: I don't know. I guess so.

Detective Murphy: And was Mrs. Pruitt happy too?

Mira Lee: I don't know. I don't really know her very well. I just talked to her on the phone sometimes when she called for Mr. Pruitt.

Detective Murphy: Okay, thank you for your time. I believe that's all we have right now. We'll be in touch if we have any additional questions.

Interview ended – 3:12 p.m.