Denny Buchanan interview

Sunday, May 2, 2021 – 12:43 p.m.

Witnesses have described Denny Buchanan as a former beau of Barbara's and as a troublemaker at the YCCC during the pageant.

Detectives Armstrong and Murphy interviewed him at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department.

Participants:

• Detective T. Armstrong
• Detective S. Murphy
• Denny Buchanan

Detective Murphy: Thanks for talking to us.

Denny Buchanan: Sure.

Detective Murphy: Would you please state your name and address?

Denny Buchanan: I live at 982 Maple Forest Court in Madison, Mississippi. I also still own a home here in Oxford. Over near Beanland.

Detective Murphy: What do you do?

Denny Buchanan: I'm a business manager at Buchanan, Ives, and Allen.

Detective Armstrong: What kind of company is that?

Denny Buchanan: It's a law firm.

Detective Murphy: Mom's or Dad's?

Denny Buchanan: Dad's.

Detective Armstrong: How long have you been working there?

Denny Buchanan: A couple years, since I got out of school.

Detective Murphy: What brought you into town?

Denny Buchanan: I was just hanging out, visiting old fraternity brothers. Since I still have the house here, I come up for almost all the ball games. And any other time I need to get out of the Madison-Jackson area.

Detective Armstrong: How often would you think that is? That you visit Oxford?

Denny Buchanan: I don't know. Once a month or so.

Detective Armstrong: That's pretty often. You've been out of school for a little while now.

Denny Buchanan: Well, you know how it is. Madison is pretty boring.

Detective Murphy: Do you know why you're here, Mr. Buchanan?

Denny Buchanan: I'm sure you want to talk about that murder.

Detective Murphy: How do you feel about being interviewed?

Denny Buchanan: It's not comfortable. It's like you think I might be involved in some way.

Detective Armstrong: Did you have any involvement in Ms. Dubois's death?

Denny Buchanan: No. None.

Detective Murphy: Where were you Friday night?

Denny Buchanan: I was here.

Detective Murphy: In Oxford?

Denny Buchanan: Yes.

Detective Armstrong: What did you do that evening?

Denny Buchanan: I went to that party.

Detective Murphy: What party?

Denny Buchanan: The party for the beauty pageant. I went to that.

Detective Armstrong: Do you often hang around beauty pageants?

Denny Buchanan: I had some friends in the pageant and some friends that wanted to meet hot girls, so we went.

Detective Armstrong: So you just went to meet girls?

Denny Buchanan: That's about it.

Detective Armstrong: Any luck?

Denny Buchanan: Nothing to brag about.

Detective Armstrong: Why did you get a room?

Denny Buchanan: In case we needed some privacy, you know?

Detective Murphy: How well did you know Barbara Dubois?

Denny Buchanan: You know the answer to that, detective. You know we dated for a while. I wouldn't be here if you didn't have that information.

Detective Murphy: Did you talk to her that night?

Denny Buchanan: No.

Detective Armstrong: Can you take us through a timeline of your activities that evening?

Denny Buchanan: We went to the party. It started about dinnertime. I was there all night.

Detective Murphy: All night? What time did the party end?

Denny Buchanan: I think it ended around 10:00 or so.

Detective Murphy: What did you do afterward?

Denny Buchanan: I went up to my room, then I got bored, so I just wandered around the hotel. I was trying to find one of my friends. He hooked up with one of the girls that got cut in the early rounds of the pageant, so I was basically just hanging out, waiting on him.

Detective Murphy: All night?

Denny Buchanan: Yeah, pretty much. There really isn't much to report about that night. I mean, it was like channel surfing, you know? You know how you sit there, clicking on the remote, not really watching anything, and you look up, and five hours have gone by? That's kind of how that night went.

Detective Murphy: What time did you go back to your room?

Denny Buchanan: It was after they found Barbara.

Detective Armstrong: You spent all night just hanging around, waiting for your friend?

Denny Buchanan: That's what I said.

Detective Murphy: So you can't account for your whereabouts during the night?

Denny Buchanan: Well, I didn't want to be indiscreet. I guess I should confess that I made a new friend from the pageant. I mean, is that what you want to know? You want an alibi?

Detective Murphy: We aren't interrogating you, and you are not in custody, Mr. Buchanan. We're just trying to establish a timeline here.

Denny Buchanan: Doesn't matter to me. This girl, Ingrid. She's in the pageant. We ended up in her room, and I guess it was about 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning when I left. I was in the hotel lobby when all the commotion began.

Detective Murphy: Did you get this Ingrid's last name?

Denny Buchanan: Freeman. Ingrid Freeman.

Detective Armstrong: How would you describe the nature of your relationship with Barbara?

Denny Buchanan: There wasn't a relationship. It was a college thing. I'm not a college kid anymore. It's not a thing anymore. It's been over for two years.

Detective Murphy: Who ended it?

Denny Buchanan: It was mutual. She wasn't my type anyway.

Detective Murphy: So you had no feelings for Barbara? Nothing left over, one way or another?

Denny Buchanan: I can't imagine why I would hold anything against her, not that I would be wrong if I did.

Detective Armstrong: How's that?

Denny Buchanan: If a woman rejects you for no good reason, and you're what they call a catch otherwise, don't you think that's a pretty good signal she thinks she's better than you?

Detective Murphy: Is that what you thought?

Denny Buchanan: No way Barb Dubois is better than a Buchanan.

Detective Murphy: Can you think of anyone who might want to cause her harm?

Denny Buchanan: I don't know. She may have offended someone with her goody-two-shoes attitude. We all have faults. Or maybe she told some other guy he wasn't good enough, and he got mad and decided to teach her a lesson.

Detective Murphy: Did she need to be taught a lesson?

Denny Buchanan: She probably did, but I wasn't the one to give it to her.

Detective Armstrong: Did you ever think of teaching her a lesson?

Denny Buchanan: Never. Looks like she got one anyway.

Detective Armstrong: If you were investigating this, who would you look at first?

Denny Buchanan: Maybe some competitors? Maybe some crazy mom. You know, like a tiger mom? Y'all should check all the girls in the competition. Or maybe the judges. Guys sit there passing judgment on women. They've gotta be freaks. There's probably lots of folks for you to look into, but I can't name anyone in particular.

Detective Armstrong: Who would you say definitely did not do it?

Denny Buchanan: Ingrid. Not that kind of girl.

Detective Armstrong: We'll be doing a very thorough investigation, and we have an excellent forensics unit. Will there be any reason your name will come up again or a reason we might find something at the scene associated with you?

Denny Buchanan: My name? I dunno. I might have ticked someone off and not know about it. And what kind of stuff at the scene are you talking about?

Detective Armstrong: Fingerprints, semen, blood, that kind of thing. Or fibers from clothing. Maybe skin under her nails.

Denny Buchanan: Won't be mine.

Detective Murphy: Okay, thanks for your time. I'm sure we'll be talking to you again.

Denny Buchanan: Looking forward to it.

Interview ended – 1:21 p.m.