Nora Percy interview #2

Friday, June 17, 2022 – 1:40 p.m.

Nora Percy is an Associate Professor at the University of Mississippi School of Business and was the victim's girlfriend.

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

Participants:

• Detective S. Murphy
• Detective E. Parker
• Nora Percy

Detective Murphy: We appreciate your time today, Ms. Percy. Would you please state your name and address for the record?

Nora Percy: Yes. Nora Percy. I live at 115 Westbury Circle.

Detective Parker: Ms. Percy, how many committed relationships have you had?

Nora Percy: Do you mean boyfriends?

Detective Parker: Yes, boyfriends.

Nora Percy: Including high school, three.

Detective Murphy: Counting Douglas Reed?

Nora Percy: Yes. Doug was my second "adult" relationship. Why?

Detective Parker: How long had it been since you were involved with this other man?

Nora Percy: Six years. Why is that important, detective?

Detective Murphy: Your name has come up numerous times during this investigation.

Nora Percy: Of course it has. My relationship with Doug was no secret.

Detective Murphy: How did you two meet?

Nora Percy: I was tutoring one of his students who was going through a rough patch. I called Doug to let him know that the kid wasn't a slacker. We started dating.

Detective Parker: Were you sexually active with him?

Nora Percy: With the student? No. With Doug, yes, we were sexually active. Athletic even.

Detective Parker: Were you sexually active outside of your relationship with the victim?

Nora Percy: No, I was not.

Detective Murphy: But your boyfriend was. And according to the witnesses we've interviewed, he was extremely so.

Nora Percy: Yes, I know, detective. My boyfriend, Professor Douglas Reed, was having sex with numerous females outside of our relationship. Many of them were one-night stands, and he didn't bother to learn their names. Some of them were beautiful. Some of them were butch. Some of us were older. What we had in common was that we all had a vagina.

Detective Parker: What set you apart?

Nora Percy: I didn't care. That's what set me apart. I didn't expect any kind of commitment from him. Doug didn't go outside of our relationship because he was dissatisfied. He did it because that's who he was. He liked sex. He liked variety.

Detective Murphy: To your knowledge, how frequently did this happen?

Nora Percy: To my knowledge? I tried not to have any knowledge. Often, I would say, but just how often, I couldn't tell you.

Detective Murphy: Were you concerned for your health?

Nora Percy: No. Doug always used a condom.

Detective Murphy: How do you know?

Nora Percy: Because he wasn't stupid, and even if he were, we always used a condom.

Detective Parker: Have you been tested for any sexually transmitted diseases?

Nora Percy: Yes, regularly. Oh! I just got your line of questioning. To reiterate, no, detectives, I was not at all jealous of Doug's sexual conquests outside of our relationship. I didn't kill him in a jealous rage. And to clarify, Doug didn't give me an STD, and even if he had, I didn't kill him in a vengeful rage.

Detective Murphy: Then why did you kill him?

Nora Percy: I didn't! I didn't kill him!

Detective Parker: In our experience—

Nora Percy: Well, you can stop trying to shove my situation into that mindset. I am not the murderous lover covered in oozing herpes sores that you're trying to make me out to be. I am a mature, independent woman with an admirable career doing gratifying work contributing to the betterment of young adults. My relationship with Doug was open and loving, and as hard as it is to grasp, respectful.

Detective Murphy: I'm sure it was, Ms. Percy, but understand that we have to pursue the possibility.

Nora Percy: You could've saved a lot of time by asking directly.

Detective Murphy: If only that were always the case, Ms. Percy.

Detective Parker: Did Mr. Reed ever express any fear for his safety?

Nora Percy: Fear from whom?

Detective Parker: From the husbands or boyfriends of the women he had sex with?

Nora Percy: Doug wasn't afraid of anything but failure. And aside from the fact that he could handle himself in a physical confrontation, he had other protection.

Detective Parker: What protection would that be?

Nora Percy: He had a handgun.

Detective Parker: Did he carry it on him?

Nora Percy: No, he kept it in his car.

Detective Murphy: Did you have access to his handgun?

Nora Percy: I suppose so, but I don't recall seeing it.

Detective Parker: What kind of gun was it?

Nora Percy: I don't know. I never really looked at it.

Detective Murphy: When did he acquire it?

Nora Percy: He's had it ever since I've known him.

Detective Murphy: Did he mention why he felt he needed to get a handgun?

Nora Percy: He didn't feel that way. Or at least he never told me he needed it.

Detective Parker: Then why did he get it? Did he say?

Nora Percy: Apparently, it was a gift from an old flame. Sort of a joke. Her husband was a truck driver who, for protection, carried a baseball bat named "Hot Rod." Doug's flame had a pistol that she called "The Persuader." She thought a man with Doug's lifestyle should have a gun for his protection, presumably from her husband, so she bought him one. Doug named it "The Smoke Stick."

Detective Parker: Professor Reed had a weapon named "Smoke Stick?"

Nora Percy: Yes.

Detective Parker: And this was a joke to him?

Nora Percy: I didn't say it was funny. Actually, it was funny to hear Doug tell it. Obviously, now it's grotesque.

Detective Murphy: Ms. Percy, did you leave Rowan Oak at any time during the dinner?

Nora Percy: No.

Detective Murphy: You didn't follow Doug Reed out of Rowan Oak when he left around 8:30 p.m.?

Nora Percy: I didn't know he had left Rowan Oak. I assumed he had gone to chat up the bartender. In any case, no, detective, I didn't leave Rowan Oak until I went home just after 10:00 p.m.

Detective Parker: You previously said that you spoke with Mr. Marcos at 9:30 p.m. is that correct?

Nora Percy: I believe it was sometime after 9:30 p.m. You might want to check with him. I think he'd know better since he was frantically checking his cell phone at the time.

Detective Murphy: Did he say why?

Nora Percy: No, he didn't say much of anything. He just mumbled a reply to me when I asked him if he had seen Doug.

Detective Parker: Did you see Jill Osborne at Rowan Oak around that time?

Nora Percy: Yes, I saw Jill and Carol Fitch together, which was not unusual. Jill seemed upset, which also was not unusual.

Detective Parker: Upset how?

Nora Percy: Jill is kind of high-strung, from what I understand. Doug hated her dramatics and Carol's constant mothering. That night, Jill seemed upset, and Carol was mothering her.

Detective Murphy: Do you have any idea why?

Nora Percy: No. They didn't like Doug, so they weren't particularly friendly with me. Guilt by association, I guess. But Monte went over to them, and the three of them had a hushed conversation.

Detective Murphy: Why do you say "hushed?"

Nora Percy: They all leaned their heads in. I assumed it was hushed.

Detective Parker: Did you see Jake Hemphill then?

Nora Percy: No. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing Jake around at that time.

Detective Murphy: All right, Ms. Percy, we're through for today. Thank you.

Interview ended – 2:12 p.m.