Sandra Moss interview #2

Monday, February 10 – 9:25 a.m.

Sandra Moss was the victim's supervisor at the University of Mississippi.

Detectives Armstrong and Murphy re-interviewed her at her office on the Ole Miss campus.

Participants:

• Detective T. Armstrong
• Detective S. Murphy
• Sandra Moss

Detective Armstrong: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us again.

Sandra Moss: Sure. What else can I tell you?

Detective Armstrong: Just quickly, before we get to that, would you state your name and address for the record?

Sandra Moss: Of course. Sandra Moss, 288 North 14th Street, Oxford.

Detective Armstrong: Thank you. Now, we wanted to ask you more about Mrs. Coates's work on the Barksdale Literature Conference.

Sandra Moss: Ask away.

Detective Armstrong: How did Mrs. Coates select and schedule the authors for the conference?

Sandra Moss: Selecting the authors was my job. I attend a bunch of other conferences in the Southeast and around the country, and of course, I'm following the latest releases and new authors. I pull together a list of potential attendees and topics for panels and then contact them myself to see who's interested and who's available for the dates.

Detective Armstrong: When did Mrs. Coates get involved?

Sandra Moss: Once the authors had tentatively agreed, I handed it off to Diane. She took care of the travel arrangements, as necessary, and the actual conference schedule.

Detective Armstrong: So you aren't involved in the timing of panels and placement of authors for the conference?

Sandra Moss: Not down to the last detail, no. I would give her the author list and my ideas for which panels they could sit on. You know, some writers can talk about being first-time authors, others about writing historical novels, and so on. I left the rest up to her, and she did okay at it.

Detective Murphy: Did you ever receive complaints from authors about the way Diane handled the conference?

Sandra Moss: To be honest, we had a problem there. She was really heavy-handed with the scheduling, playing favorites with authors. I got a couple of complaints about Diane's system, as they called it. I talked with her about it, but the discussion always deteriorated into an argument.

Detective Murphy: Why was that?

Sandra Moss: Diane was very defensive about it and said the authors were all just prima donnas desperate for publicity. It was becoming a performance issue, and I'd actually given her a written warning about how she handled the scheduling for this year.

Detective Murphy: Did any of the authors mention money being involved?

Sandra Moss: No. Was there?

Detective Murphy: I'm afraid so. Apparently, Mrs. Coates pressured authors to pay her in exchange for prime placement.

Sandra Moss: S**t! How much?

Detective Murphy: The amount varied by author, but it was always in the thousands of dollars.

Sandra Moss: Wow. I can't believe that. Why didn't anyone tell me? If I'd known that, she'd have been fired on the spot. That's outrageous!

Detective Armstrong: It sounds like she was already on her way to being fired, even without that.

Sandra Moss: Possibly, yes. I'll be honest. There was no love lost between us.

Detective Armstrong: Several people told us there was a lot of hostility between you and Mrs. Coates.

Sandra Moss: Yes. I wouldn't say we were sworn enemies, but I'd say it was getting difficult to be civil on the job.

Detective Murphy: Tell us, Ms. Moss, did you and Mrs. Coates eat together much?

Sandra Moss: Eat together? What does that have to do with anything?

Detective Murphy: Bear with us.

Sandra Moss: Well, gosh, let's see. Yeah, most of us either bring our lunch or run out for a quick bite. Sometimes we go out as a group for lunch, but that's more of a special occasion kind of thing—holidays, successful completion of a big project, things like that.

Detective Armstrong: Is there a common area or something where you all store the food you bring from home?

Sandra Moss: Yeah, there's a refrigerator and a microwave in the break room.

Detective Armstrong: What did Mrs. Coates like to eat?

Sandra Moss: I never noticed, to be honest. I think for a while, she was trying to diet, you know, a lot of frozen diet meals.

Detective Armstrong: Is there a water cooler in the office?

Sandra Moss: Yeah. We all use it. Look, I didn't tamper with her food, if that's what you're thinking.

Detective Murphy: Did you ever see Mrs. Coates taking any kind of medication?

Sandra Moss: Except for aspirin, no. She was always complaining about headaches, always asking if we had any aspirin. I'd heard she was quite a drinker, so that didn't surprise me. Plus, she was so irritable.

Detective Murphy: Have you taken any prescription drugs recently? Had a prescription?

Sandra Moss: Um, let's see. I had an ear infection last year before Christmas and had some antibiotics. It was a one-time prescription.

Detective Armstrong: Ms. Moss, you mentioned earlier you didn't really know Mrs. Coates' husband.

Sandra Moss: That's right.

Detective Armstrong: Did she ever talk about him in the office?

Sandra Moss: Oh, sure. I overheard her all the time saying he was a real wimp. I guess she despised him, but then she didn't exactly express much affection for anyone.

Detective Armstrong: Did she ever mention him threatening her or harming her in any way?

Sandra Moss: No. Nothing like that—the opposite, in fact. It sounded like he just took whatever she dealt him in terms of abuse. I don't think she was physically violent, but she certainly seemed to rip into him a lot. It wouldn't surprise me if she was haranguing him constantly.

Detective Armstrong: All right. What about Mrs. Coates's boyfriend?

Sandra Moss: I just know she gossiped about him a lot, saying he was a man of action compared to her loser husband. I tried to tune that stuff out whenever I could. I didn't want to know about Diane's private life. I had a hard enough time separating my dislike for her from her job performance, to be honest.

Detective Armstrong: Did you know any details about her relationship with the boyfriend, such as how often they met or where?

Sandra Moss: No. Nothing.

Detective Murphy: All right. Thanks for your time. We'll be in touch if we have any more questions.

Sandra Moss: Okay.

Interview ended – 9:43 a.m.