Transcript of Roy Kronk Interview Conducted by Corporal Mike Ruggiero TRACKING #2008-Q20190 January 6, 2009 at Approximately 1556 Hours

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TRANSCRIPT OF ROY KRONK INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY CORPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO TRACKING #2008-Q20190 JANUARY 6, 2009 AT APPROXIMATELY 1556 HOURS MR - CORPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO RH - SERGEANT ROB HARDIMAN RK - ROY KRONK DE - DAVID EVANS, ESQUIRE
Okay. I am Corporal Mike Ruggiero with the Orange County Sheriffs Office, Professional Standards Section, Today's date is January 6 , 2009 and the time right now is 1556 hours. I am at the Orange County Sheriffs Office, Criminal Investigations Division, interview rooms and present is myself, as well as Sergeant Hardiman with the Professional Standards Section. Attorney, Mr. David Evans and Mr. Roy Kronk.
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Yes, sir. Mr. Kronk, do you understand that the statement you are about to provide will be recorded? Sure. And do you swear the statement you are about to provide will be true? Sure. Okay. Mr. Kronk, we're investigating the conduct of the deputies. Yes, sir. Involved in the calls that we responded to, the calls for service that you placed on August 11 , August 12 , August 13 of 2008.
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Yes, sir. As well as, I believe it was December 11 , 2008. Yes, sir. KRONK, ROY/Tracking #2008-Q20190/pjd
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Oka

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have a list of questions here. When you met with the deputy on August 13 th. Uh-huh (agreement). What information did you provide him when he arrived? I basically reiterated what I had said on my 911 calls. I was standing in the area. Uh, as I told them, the bag wasn't as prominent, the object was not as prominent then as it was prior, but it was still in the same area and I was like, "It's right there." And I also told them about the... It wasn't as prominent in August as it was in December? No, no, no. In August. In other words, on the; when I was there on the 10 th. You mean the 11th? The 11 t h , yeah. I'm horrible with dates. Uh, but the top of the, 'top of what I saw was more prominent than it was when they were there; what was it; three days later. Two days. Yeah. The 11th was a Monday. I'm horrible with dates. Just for clarification. Right.

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MR RK MR RK MR RK MR RK

August 11th was Monday. Okay. All right. August 12th was Tuesday. August 13' was Wednesday.
Okay. Right. Okay. All right. Yeah. Okay.

So it wasn't quite as prominent on the 13th? Right. Okay. Wasn't quite as observable or visible? Right. Exactly. -2KRONK, ROY/Tracking #2008-Q201901pjd

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MR

Okay. Had. Okay. So, what information did you provide him then? Did, did you specifically state that this? Did you tell the deputy? In other words, there's a skull over there or there's bones over there?

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I said. What exactly did you tell him, as best as you can recall? I said, like, like I can, like I said, I was sure it was what it was. I was sure it was a skull. Okay. I didn't say, well, and then we'll get into the skull part in a bit. But I said, "Okay. It's right over there. It's white. It's a dome-shaped object. It appeared to me to be a skull. That's what you told the deputy? Right. It's best to my recollection, yes, 'cause that's a long time ago. But, basically, this is what I remember happening. I told him about it. I showed him in the area where it was at. I showed him a picture. I don't remember if I showed him a picture of the snake or not but I told him about the six and a half foot, Eastern, diamond back, rattlesnake.

Uh-huh (agreement). Okay? He pulled his asp. Uh. I want to stay. I want to stay pretty, pretty specific before we; 'cause I have other questions I think.

RK
MR

Okay. That are gonna be covered there. Okay. Can I ask you a question about that real quick? Go ahead. The deputy specifically states in one of the interviews for the, the homicide detectives, that you said there was a bag of bones. You said, "Maybe a bag of bones."

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RK

I never said there was a bag of bones. -3-

KRONK, ROY/Tracking #2008-Q20190/pjd

Soil)p,

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Okay. I want to check with you because that's a serious thing. No, well, no, no, no. We're, we'll go into that. You are saying, well that is a different part of the timeline.

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Okay. This comes in later in the conversation. This has nothing to do with right now. Okay. Okay. So when he arrived you didn't say that. Well, no, I said, I said, "I saw a white object. It's over there. It appeared to me to be a skull. It's right there. I never said anything about a bag of bones. Did you say anything about bags? Yeah, I said it was a bag. I, I told him it was a bag, it was there, it was white, it was sticking out. It was right over there. Okay. Okay. Did he ask you or did you volunteer to show him what you had observed? Yeah, I pointed in the direction where it was at. Okay. Well, I mean, more than that. Did you actually? Did, did he say, "Hey, can you show me exactly where it is?" Or did you say, "Let me show you exactly," as opposed to just; it's a wooded area, obviously, and... Well, I mean, well, like I said, this was now later in the evening. Okay? The sun had shifted. The tree was still there. The white board was still there. It was still there, but it was not as prominent as it had been, uh, two days before. I don't know if the bag full of water. I don't know. All I know is you could still see the top of it and I said, "It's like right there." Did you follow him into the wooded area? Hell, no. There's a six and half foot rattlesnakes in there. You didn't. He never went into the woods. Okay? He.. .there was a bank. He went down to the bank. He pulled his asp because he was a, he... -4KRONK, ROY/Tracking #2008-Q201901pjd

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This is the bank that; and we were out there, but this is the bank that's several feet off the roadway?

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Yeah, because, yeah, he got through here. You've got the grass. Paved roadway? There's a shoulder, in other words, kind of there. Yeah, there's a shoulder. Right. And then. And then it drops off. And then he went down the drop-off and he looked 'cause he had his asp out 'cause he said, "Oh, shit, there was a snake down here?" I don't know if he said shit obviously, but, you know, he said, "There was a snake?" And I said, "Yeah." And he grabbed, he had his asp extended.

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Uh-huh (agreement). He had on, uh, he looked visibly afraid to me and I'm not trying to say anything against the guy 'cause I, you know, I don't really don't (inaudible), but he went down, he scanned, he went, "I don't see nothing." He came back up.

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Did he poke around with his, with his asp, with the stick? Yeah, maybe right there on the water's edge, but it wasn't at the water's edge. He knew that. It was further in. Okay. Okay?

RK

About how close to the bag would you say (inaudible)? He was about maybe, uh, about maybe four to six feet, basically.

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Well, I'm, I'm horrible with distance so, you know, but, you know.

Okay. Not quite the length of this room?


A little bit, a little bit more than this.

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More than this? Like I said, I'm horrible with distance. -5KRONK, ROY/Tracking #2008-Q20190/pjd

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Okay. Okay? Okay. Uh, and he started to come back up the bank. I extended my hand. He didn't take my hand. He fell. He came out and started going on about how this area has already been searched. And the one thing that really got to me is that I felt that I was still in my county uniform. I don't even think he was treating me professionally as a county employee. Right. Okay? And then I said, "Well, what I saw was white and it, it looked like a bone," and then he started arguing with me about whether the remains would have been skeletonized or not, at that point, and then I found myself having to defend my theory about how there was swamps on either side of the road and then how that this would have been a good place to dump a body because you had decay coming off the swamps, the school is closed right now, except for maintenance workers going up and down the road. And he basically made me feel like an idiot and I went home. Now, based, based on where you saw him stop. Right. Could he have seen the bag from where he was at? If he was looking for it. Okay. So he was close enough, from what you've seen, because you've seen the bag already. He didn't. He was close enough to have seen this bag? He might have spent all of three seconds scanning the area. He didn't stop. He didn't take his time. He didn't look.

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But what I'm asking is, in order for him to actually physically see this bag, would he have had to go farther, or could he have actually (inaudible)? -6KRONK, ROY/Tracking #2008-Q20190/pjd

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He might, he might have been able. If he was looking for the white, the little white object, he probably could have seen it.

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From where he was at? I mean, I just. He could have, but you don't know. It all depends on angles and everything else. You, you could say that, but I just got the thing that he just didn't care. Okay. Okay? He started telling me about how many tips they've run and, yada, yada, yada and it just seemed to me; like I said, he didn't; I don't even felt he treated me professionally, as a county employee. Uh-huh (agreement). Okay? And it just seemed like he didn't care. And even the, uh, female officer was agreeing when I said that there was swamp on either side. It would have been a good place to dump something like that. And he just made me feel like a jackass. So I went home. Now, that female officer was on the same day, right? Yes, yeah. That was the one that came to back him up? She came in the second; yeah, she came in the second car.

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Okay.
You know? And I, I said; I just felt belittled by it and that's why I never really pursued it any

further because I don't need this kind of abuse, you know? All right. Let me ask you, prior to the deputy's arrival on the 13 , when you met with the deputy, this deputy. Yeah. Had you went into the wooded area to verify the items you had observed were still there?
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No. It was way back in there and it was water and it was swampy and we had found a dead rattlesnake there. So, I...

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So you didn't walk back there? No. Prior to the deputy getting there? No. No, okay. I think you answered this, but I will go ahead and ask it anyway. What was your assessment of the performance of the responding deputy on the?

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RK MR RH

I think I pretty much covered that. Okay. Let me backtrack just a second, just so we can clarify what you just said. On the 13 , you didn't walk back in the woods to check to see if the bag was still there?
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Well, no, because, when you got down to that, you know, that little, uh, shoulder, or whatever you want to call it.

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Uh-huh (agreement). That's pretty much where the water started. Okay. Okay? Because. Well, let me go back just a little bit further. Uh-huh (agreement). You said that they, the skull was not as visible on the 13 as it was on the 11 ? No, it wasn't, no. No. So you did see it on the 13 ? Yeah, I did. I saw the white object in basically the same area that I saw before. Okay. How did you see the white object on the 13 , on the 13
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Because my eye was already trained to that area for what I'd seen from two days before. -8KRONK, ROY/Tracking #2008-Q20190/pjd

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Could you see it from the road or? From where you were? From the trail? No, you have to be standing right on the wood line to see it. Right. And you have, and you have to be kinda. I should probably bring this up. Uh, I was in the Coast Guard for 12 years. I was a boarding officer. Okay? Uh, I was a bail bondsman bounty hunter.

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I'm not doubting what you saw, what you saw. (inaudible) I wouldn't think that. No, no, no, please, let me finish. Okay? The one thing that I learned out of all of that was situational awareness. Okay? Where you are always paying attention to what's going on around you, because you never know in thos e situations what's gonna happen, So I was purposely scanning that day, on the 11 th, just trying to see if I saw anything. I saw it. So, when I got back, I used, and if you remember the 911 calls I gave, I gave almost the lat/long position of where the object was that I saw. I described it as best as I possibly could. So I not only gave them a visual reference of where to look; I gave myself a visual reference of where to look.

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Right.

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So. On the 13 th; getting back to that; you knew where to look. You actually did look through and actually see this (inaudible)?

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I, I said, but it was not as prominent as it had been before. Right. Okay. That's what I wanted to clarify. Yeah. No, it was just not as prominent. But you said you didn't go back in the woods. Well, no.

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It, it sounded like you didn't see it but you had already made the statement you did so I wanted to clarify it.

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Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Was it a different time of day, like? It was like early evening 'cause we were there like 1:30. This was now like, uh, closer to 4:30; somewhere in that area. I don't know the exact time. I get off at three. It took me like a half an hour to get over there, or 20 minutes to get over there. I don't know. I don't remember how long it took for him to show up so it was, yeah, it was much later in the afternoon the second time, so.

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Okay. On December 11 , were the items you saw in the wooded area the same items you

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11 previously observed in August when you called the sheriffs office? 12 13 14 15 16 17 MR 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 RK MR RK RK MR RK MR RK MR But it was the same area? Yeah, oh, yeah, it was the same area. And it looked the same? Well. Well, aside from. Yeah, well, give or take, yeah. I mean, yeah. It looked like the same thing, yeah. Yeah. I mean, a basketball's gonna look different at, you know, six o'clock in the morning, than it might at six o'clock at night or something like that. Right. Yeah. The shape of a skull is still the shape of a skull. Right. Both times I identified the shape of a skull. So, if you are going from that aspect, yes. -10RK MR RK I can't honestly answer that. You can't say? I can't say. I know that I saw on August 11 , which, uh, appeared to me to be a human skull. Okay? I know that on December 11 , I found a human skull. I can't.. .1 didn't sit there and watch it for five months so I can not, in all honesty.
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Okay. It was, it was. See, we don't go off of absolutes and Internal Affairs, our standard is a little bit lower. We are not proving a criminal case here. We are (inaudible) much less. Oh, I understand that. So we go by a reasonableness standard a lot of times and a probability. Was it probable that it was the same one? Was it? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but, yeah, okay. Yeah, no, yeah. Right. You know? Okay. Yeah, we are not asking you, what was it absolutely positively. Okay. But you see that's just (inaudible). As far, as far as your, your mind is, is concerned right now, it seems to be the same? Oh, yeah. Bag that (inaudible)? Well, I mean, I saw (inaudible). It's kind of funny. I see something on the 11 ; I get blown off and then by shear happenstance, and I do mean by shear happenstance, I find the damn thing again in December, uh, pretty much in the same area where I saw it in the first place. Well, you know, it doesn't take a genius to kind of figure that one out, so. Okay, I probably shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry. Well, it seems to us to be the same one. That's why we are confirming that with you, that, that it would appear to you to be the same one. Well, yeah. Okay. Right. You didn't meet with deputies when you called on the 11 and the 12 ? No, I called at like nine o'clock at night. Right. Okay?
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Yeah, I've, I've listened to those calls and I talked to the deputies that responded. Yeah, I know (inaudible). You didn't meet with any deputies on the 11 or 12 ? No, no. That's why I'm not asking you the questions about the 1 1 Oh, somebody actually went out there? Oh, yeah. Oh, I didn't know that. Cool. Yeah, they responded out there. There was nobody that, to meet with, to show them so they. Each night, actually. Yeah. Oh, well, cool. Oh, I didn't know that. Cool. Okay. Did you tell the deputies who responded on December ll ? Oh, yeah. That you had previously reported the items to the sheriff's office? Uh-huh (agreement). You did? What did you say? I told them I called crime line in on it. I said, "I reported this back in August." You told them that? Yeah. Okay. Urn, how did they respond? They told me to shut my mouth. Who did? I don't remember; one of the two of them told me that probably the best thing I could do was not say anything about it.
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and 12th.

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Why would they say that? -12KRONK, ROY/Tracking #2008-Q20190/pjd

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I don't know. Did they say this in passing? Did they say, "You'd better not say anything about this?" No. I mean, it's not like. What was? It's not like you giving me like a, uh, uh, the, an order, if you will. Maybe more like concerned about the fact that they might think, that somebody might think that I had something to do with it and they said, "Well, you know, I probably wouldn't say anything about that." So. But obviously, I did anyway, so.

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Can you describe that deputy who made that comment to you, or who said that to you? I honestly. Uh, it was, there was the male and the female and I honestly don't remember which one said it because I will tell you the same thing I told them. This is after I found the human skull. I was kind of in shock and it was all just happening really fast,

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Couldn't say whether he was tall, short, fat, skinny? No, it was a tall guy and the girl with the very white teeth. A tall guy and a girl with the very white teeth? Yeah, the deputy with the very white teeth. Short, short, cropped hair, uh. But it wasn't her. It was the male deputy that was with her. I'm. Yeah, it was a male. Well, no, the male deputy's the one that followed me into the woods, that kinda, you know, he kinda didn't seem. Well, I understand why too and I'm not, I'm not blaming anything on them but, you know, he seemed kind of, uh, like this wasn't what it was, because obviously, ya'll had gone through so many fake reports and so many fake sightings and all that other stuff and, when I told him what it was, he seemed like a little disbelieving that that's what it was and it wasn't until he saw it with his own eyes that he went, "Oh." You know, that's completely understandable to me. I mean I have no issue with that. And, uh, but I (inaudible). But it was after that that you said that you... It was after that.

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...made the comment about.


Because we were, because we were kinda joking around about the reward 'cause we still thought the reward, you know, because obviously, you try to use humor to release tension in those type of

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situations. Right. And I said, "Yeah," I said, "I called this back in, in back in August." And they were like, "Well, I wouldn't tell anybody that then." And I went, "Okay." You know. But I mean, but I also told, I called, what was it, Detective Melich, uh, God, the next day or the day after and gave him, even told him when I called the crime line (inaudible) because I wanted it out there.

MR

Okay. Well, let me ask you. Do you infer, from the comments made by the deputy, that he did not want you to fully cooperate with the investigators?

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No, not at all, no.

Okay.
RK No, no, no, no, no.

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So it didn't seem like he was telling you what to do? This was more of a (inaudible)?
Yeah, like I said, it didn't come like as an authoritative tone.

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Okay. Like you give me an order in the military. It was more like, "Dude, I wouldn't do that." You know? Okay. Kind of like a little piece of advice or a sage advice or something. Or like, this could be embarrassing type of thing? Yeah, this could be embarrassing type of thing, so, you know, so. To you or the sheriffs office, or maybe I'm not. You know what? But he didn't specify? He just made this comment. He just made it as a comment. I mean, put yourself in that situation. -14KRONK, ROY/Tracking #2008-Q20190/pjd

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Okay. Seriously, you know? One minute you are taking a leak, the next minute you find a little baby that the whole world's been looking for. Your mind's not exactly gonna be firing on all cylinders at that point. Okay? You're kind of trying to absorb everything that's going on. Would it? Did you say? Can you specifically recall it's December 11 , not that long ago, what you said to the deputy?
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Yeah, I said, yeah, I said, "You know, I called this in back in August." Anything more particular or specific than that? No. I said, "I made a crime line tip about this back in August." Okay. So you were referring this, what you located in December, on December 11` , to. Right. Exactly. What you had called in in August. Right. Okay. Any other questions? No. I went through mine, that I had. No, I don't have any. Okay. So you don't have any issue? Well. Just with the, with the performance of the deputies on the, on the 11 ? Oh, God, no, no, they were, yall, they were actually doing their best to try and keep me as calm as possible, to try and make sure that I. Okay. I just want to make sure that I understand that. They were one hundred percent professional. No. Okay. I got nothing against them. -15KRONK, ROY/Tracking #2008-Q20190/pjd
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Okay. The other guy, the other guy though, seriously, he made me feel like an idiot. He. But the female deputy that was with him? She was okay. She was professional? She was professional. She was fine. But he just; like I said, it just seemed to me he went down there, he looked back and forth, gazed and, you know, pretty much told me I was an idiot, was arguing with me over whether or not I had actually seen the skull because it was, you know, it would not have been skeletonized by that time. It was his adamant about that fact and. Okay. You know, he just made me feel like a jackass. And when were you having that conversation with him? After he came up the bank. Was the female deputy there at that time? More or less I think she was. She was walking up. She was walking back and forth. Getting there. 'Cause she was, she went out and looked at the fence at the, and looked at the swamp and it was, I mean, it's like he's got a point.

RH

Uh-huh (agreement). You know? Do you, do you remember anything that this male deputy told the female deputy? Not really, no, because, you know, like I said, I just felt that he wasn't even treating me professional as another county employee. Okay?

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Uh-huh (agreement). -16KRONK, ROY/Tracking #2008-Q20190/pjd

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RK

And I understand ya'll were tired and I understand ya'll had been going through a lot of shit at that point and that's fine. You know? But I mean, I do believe that I, I was in the Coast Guard for 12 years. I believe that, you know, what; you're a county employee, even though you're a police officer, I'm a county employee even though I work for, you know, Utilities, but we still work for the same organization and we should treat each other as professional as humanly possible.

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Right. Right. And I just felt he was treating me like a nine year old, like I was some kind of an idiot. Okay. And. That's fair enough. You know? Anything else? No. Mr. Evans, is there anything you'd like to add to the interview? Nope. Mr. Kronk, anything else that you can think of regarding your contact with employees of the sheriffs office, that you think that we need to be informed about?

RK

Oh, no, everyone else has been, everyone has been completely professional, one hundred percent. You know, they have all been more than fine. You know? So.

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Okay. All right. Well, we're gonna go ahead and conclude the interview then. Okay. ...at this point and the time right now is 1613 hours.

I have reviewed this transcript for accuracy.

Signed this (1- day of CORPO

J i l r -

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IKE RUGGIERO
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TRANSCRIPT OF DEPUTY SHERIFF EDUARD TURSO INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY CORPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO TRACKING #2008-Q20190 JANUARY 8, 2009 AT APPROXIMATELY 1409 HOURS MR - CO RPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO

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SERGEANT ROB HARDIMAN DEPUTY SHERIFF EDUARD TURSO

This is Corporal Mike Ruggiero with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, Professional Standards Section. Today's date is January 81h, 2009 and the time right now is 1409 hours. This is being conducted at the Orange County Sheriffs Office, Professional Standards Section and present is myself, as well as

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Sergeant Rob Hardiman with Professional Standards, as well as Deputy Sheriff Eduard... 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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Turso. Turso. With Uniform Patrol Division, currently assigned to Sector Yes. And Deputy Turso, can you identify yourself, for the record? Uh, Eduard Turso. And are you aware this is being recorded? Yes.

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And do you swear the information you are about to provide will be true? Yes. Deputy Turso, we spoke some before we went on tape. You responded to a call on December 11 , 2008 on Suburban Drive, in the area of Suburban Drive. Is that correct?
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That's correct. Were you on duty that afternoon? I was. And can you tell me what happened when you responded to the call on Suburban Drive?

TURSO, EDUARD/Tracking #2008-Q20190/pjd

1 ET 2 MR 3 ET 4 MR 5 ET 6 they described the truck, which I don't remember what kind of truck he had right now. But, 7 that's it. And then it asked, they, the dispatcher asked me to call her, which I did, and she 8 passed me on to the supervisor and she explained it. She didn't want to put it out over the air. 9 10 11 MR 12 you? 13 ET 14 himself. He was peeing next to a, uh, trash bag and he was curious, he says, and he tapped it 15 with the meter reader. Urn, he says he heard a plastic-sounding noise and he kind of lifted it with, 16 uh, with the meter reader and out rolled out, what appeared to be a skull. And from there he 17 called his supervisors and they contacted 911. 18 19 20 21 ET 22 MR 23 ET 24 25 Uh, the plastic bag and right beside it was what appeared to be a, a skull, and right after that, you know, after I saw the, the skull and the tape and, um, I escorted him back out, we secured the area with crime scene tape and I started a crime scene contamination sheet. And what did you discover? Yes, he did. MR ET MR Okay. And then you asked him to lead you into the wooded area and show you? Yes. And did he do that? He stated that he had, urn, he had to go to the bathroom and went into the woods, uh, to relieve Okay. So you got there and you arrived with Mr. Kronk and do you recall what, what he, told MR ET Okay. That is was potentially related to Caylee Anthony and the Anthony investigation? Yes. It came out very vague. It was something about a, uh, it gave the directions and then meet a, How did the call come out to you? Do you recall how it came out? Uh, asked him what he had seen, what, why was I there. He... Okay. Uh, I made contact with Mr., uh, Kronk.

MR

Okay.

-2-

TURSO, EDUARD/Tracking #2008-Q20190/pjd

St-k

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

RH

Did, uh, Mr. Kronk ever tell you that he had reported this before, either to crime line or the sheriffs office?

ET RH ET RH

No, he did not. Okay. Did you ever hear him mention that to anyone else? No, not in my presence. All right. So you never made any comments to him just to clarify about whether or not he should say anything to anyone about that? If someone had said that, that was not you, correct?

ET RH MR ET MR ET

No. Okay. You provided Mr. Kronk with a statement form? Yes, sir. And did you provide directions or instructions with that form? Yes, I, um, asked. I completed the top, I always keep the top portion and then I asked him to just put down what had occurred and he kind of looked a little bit puzzled and I said, "Why did you go in there? If you went to relieve yourself, you went to relieve yourself. Just put that and what you saw and the outcome.

MR 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR ET MR ET MR ET MR ET

Okay. And, at the time you arrived, how many people were there? No deputies? I arrived... You were the first deputy to arrive? ...with, um, seconds before, um, Deputy Porter, Pam Porter. Okay. Uh, we were zone partners. Urn, as far as there was Mr. Kronk and I believe it was three supervisors. His supervisors? Yes. Okay. Not Orange County Sheriffs Office employees? -3TURSO, EDUARD/Tracking #2008-Q20190/pjd

SA,S3

ET 2 MR 3 ET 4 MR 5 ET 6 MR

No, no, no, no. But county employees of Public Works? Correct. Okay. And Mr. Kronk was a, also a county employee working for Public Works? Yes. And he was in uniform, or do you recall? I, it looked like plain clothes. Okay. I mean a, a polo shirt. I don't remember. Okay. Done? Any other contact that you had with Mr. Kronk, other than that afternoon? No. Where he might have said anything? No, that was it. Okay. All right. Other than what we asked you about, is there anything that you think is important to our portion of this investigation?

ET 8 MR

ET

10 MR 11 RH 12 MR 13 ET 14 MR 15 1 6 17 18 19 ET 20 RH 2 1 22 23 MR ET MR RH

Uh, no, nothing that comes to mind. Okay. All right. Well, that will conclude the interview and the time right now is 1414 hours.

I have reviewed this transcript for accuracy.

24 Signed thisd a y

o f

J i l t . )

, 2009.

25 ________________________

CORPORAL MI AROGGIERO -4TURSO, EDUARD/Tracking #2008-Q20190/pjd

SL1,S4

TRANSCRIPT OF CARL SPARE


2 3 4

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY CORPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO TRACKING #2008-V20190 JANUARY 20, 2009 AT APPROXIMATELY 922 HOURS

MR 6 7 8 9 10 CS 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 MR CS MR Utilities. Yes.

CORPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO CARL SPARE

CS -

This is Corporal Mike Ruggiero with the Orange County Sheriffs Office. Today's date is January 20 th , 2009 and the time right now is 922 hours. I am at the, I am at 9150 Curry Ford Road. It is the Orange County Administration Building for Utilities.

And I am in the office of Carl Spare. Yes. And, Mr. Spare, can you identify yourself, for the record? Yes. Uh, my name is Care Spare. I'm a Utilities Account Supervisor for Field Service. Okay. And you are aware that I'm recording our conversation? Yes. Okay. And you are the supervisor of Mr. Roy Kronk, correct?

CS
MR CS MR CS

Yes. And you had occasion to respond on, to Suburban Drive on December 11 , 2008? Yes. Can you tell me what sort of precipitated you going out there? Uh, we had radio conversation from Mr. Kronk from the field that he had found some type of item out into, uh, the swampy area on Suburban Drive. Urn, he went into a little bit of detail of what he found, urn, so I took the information down, called, uh, 911 and, uh, advised him that an officer would come out and meet with them and that I would get out there as quick as possible which took me about 15, 20 minutes.
th

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

MR CS MR CS

SPARE, CARL/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

1 2

MR CS

Okay. And, when you responded out there, were sheriffs office employees already there? Yes, there was least, uh, two at the front of Suburban, um, uh, delegating, uh, traffic to go in and out and I believe there was like three or four down at the scene.

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

MR CS MR CS MR CS MR CS

Okay. And did you make contact with Mr. Roy Kronk? Yes. And, it was rainy that, that morning? Yes, it was. Okay. So you all were kind of together in an area? Yes. There was other people that were present? Yes, I had, uh, my section manager, Kevin Simmons, and my manager, uh, Tim Armstrong and I don't know the two names, uh, Orville. I can't think of his last name, fror n Safety, and one of his Safety trainees, so there was a total of about five of us plus Mr. Kronk.
-

MR 15 16 17 18 19 20 MR 21 22 23 24 25 MR CS CS MR CS

Okay. And, what comments had Mr. Kronk made that morning? Uh. That you recall. He was describing the scene, not in a lot of detail, but was, uh, giving basic information what he had found, urn, when I got out there and then he was discussing about, uh, possibly if this is what he has found and come down, that there could possibly be a reward.

Did he specifically say what he thought he found? Did he think that he found Caylee Anthony who was, who had been reported missing? No, actually, actually he did not come up with a name but, uh, he was in the military and he had seen, urn, human remains so he said that he believed that was a, that was a human body, but really didn't go into detail what. He never really mentioned the name Caylee.

Okay. -2SPARE, CARL/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

S'ic

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 MR 11 to be saying some of the things that he was saying? 12 13 14 15 16 CS 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CS MR CS MR CS MR CS MR Yes. Yes. Okay. And you just cautioned him? Right. Okay. And you, you had told him that it would be a, that he should provide that information to the detectives or investigators. Yes. But not necessarily just sort of put it out there. Right. Okay, did you witness any interaction or did you have any interaction or witness any interaction of the deputies that were there with Mr. Kronk? Urn, no, actually, the, well, I, I can't say that because one of the officers came up from the scene itself 'cause they took Roy back down to the scene to take some more statements and they wanted his vehicle brought down to the scene which, when they came back, uh, Roy mentioned my name being a supervisor, so I took his truck down to the, where the scene was and parked it and so we did have a little interaction with the commander, or whoever it was in charge there and, and, and basically, he said, "You know, what you've seen here, you know, preferably don't talk Okay. With the other people that were around, it probably just wasn't real prudent of him maybe MR CS CS I, I believe he thought maybe that's what it was because of the location, but he didn't really emphasize. Okay, and you felt the comments were a little maybe premature or inappropriate? Yes, especially what's going on 'cause I knew there was gonna be an ongoing investigation and I didn't want any speculation or anything that would, would hinder the investigation, so I advised Roy that, before you made any statements, be sure you are making it to the officers and to limit your conversations to individuals such as myself, and even my, my managers.

'-3SPARE, CARL/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

1 2 3 MR 4 CS 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 CS MR CS MR CS MR

about it, but to, you know, just talk to us," and that's what basically. I didn't really see anything but...

Okay. I know he told Roy that, you know, what he's seen here that, you know. Just keep it to the, the detectives? To keep it to the detectives. And, in your opinion, did anybody; I say any sheriff's office employee, make any comment that you felt was unprofessional or inappropriate? No, no. They were very, very professional. Okay. Especially the two at the front of the, um, trying to delegate what traffic to come in and out, I thought they did a very good job, because it was a crazy scene at about 10 to 11. It went from four or five people on the scene to over a thousand, so I thought they did a very good job.

MR Right. I can imagine. It must have been a pretty crazy scene out there that, that morning. 15 Anything else that you can remember about, the actions that day, particularly concerning the 16 sheriff's office? Anything that you seen or witnessed that, that you think that I should know 17 about? 18 19 20 2 1 22 23 24 25 4SPARE, CARL/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd MR CS Right. Urn, I thought it was done very professional. It just, uh, there's no words I can describe the scene itself, though. CS No, I, I, I thought, considering the situation and the number of people that were involved, it was. Um, I can understand Roy being nervous or upset or, you know, 'cause something like this, uh, can change somebody's life and, uh, I mean I had chills going down my back just seeing the scene and not finding it, whatever, obviously, we know what he found, but.
,

cLi

I 2 3

MR

Right. Okay. All right. Well, I'll conclude the statement at this time and the time right now is 928 hours.

I have reviewed this transcript for accuracy. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 -5CORPORAL MIKE RU1ERO

Signed this

day of ___________________ 2009.


,

SPARE, CARLITracking #2008-V20190/pjd

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

TRANSCRIPT OF KEITH WILLIAMS INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY CORPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO TRACKING #2008-V20190 JANUARY 15, 2009 AT APPROXIMATELY 1312 HOURS MR - C ORP OR A L MIK E R U GGIE R O R H - S E R GE A N T R OB H A R D I M A N KW - KEITH WILLIAMS
Today's date is January 15th, 2009, and the time right now is 1312 hours. I am Corporal Mike Ruggiero with the Orange County Sheriffs Office, Professional Standards Section. Also present is Sergeant Rob Hardiman with the Sheriffs Office, Professional Standards Section, and we will be taking this statement. I am located in my vehicle right now at a 7-Eleven here at Oak Ridge and Millenia Boulevard. Present is Mr. Keith Williams.

13 14 15 MR 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 KW MR KW MR KW MR KW MR Mr. Williams, can you identify yourself, your full name, for the record? It's Keith Dustin Williams. And do you swear the statement you are about to provide will be true? Yes, sir. Mr. Williams, I, I showed you a call for service detail that you had called the sheriffs office on August 18th, 2008, at approximately 1230 hours. Do you recall making that telephone call to the sheriffs office? At what time, 12:30? At about 12:30 in the afternoon. Yeah, 12:24, actually, yeah. Okay. And can you explain to me a little detail about what led you to make the call? MR KW And your date of birth, Mr. Williams? It's 7/24/78.

WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

Sytt9

KW

Uh, the exact details is, um, I was suspicious of the area back there in the woods looking for Caylee Anthony and, urn, I originally.

MR KW MR KW MR

We have the address location here on our records indicates 8735 Grandee Drive. Yeah, that's where I used to live. Okay. So is that the address you provided? I didn't, I don't recall providing that. I might have told them I used to live there. Okay. So you might have told the dispatcher or somebody that you lived, that this was your old address?

KW 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 MR KW MR KW MR KW MR

I might have. I don't recall exactly. Okay. So this is the area you were in which is off Suburban Drive? Yeah, that's actually the house I sold a few years ago. I used to live there. Okay. And so you called and you requested a deputy to come out regarding stuff that you had found out there? Yeah, matter of fact, now that you say it, the reason I gave the 8735 is because they needed an address and I just gave them my old address. That you could meet with the deputy at? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Okay.

KW Yeah. MR KW What had you found out there? What I, at, at first, urn, I found, urn, I found an area where there was bags ripped open like, like four or five thick, heavy bags and there was also, urn, Father's Day balloon and, urn... MR KW Is this in a wooded area? Yeah, this is right, right in the area, right, right near the area where she was found. Okay. Near the school, off Suburban?

22 23 24 25 MR

-2WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

`5L161

1 2

KW

It's right on the, the right-hand side of the school in the woods. I'd say approximation to where she was found, where the, the bags were, would may, would maybe about 30 yards. MR Away?

4 5 MR 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 MR 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR KW MR KW MR KW MR KW MR KW MR KW KW Okay.

KW Away?

From where the bags were and then there was also a spot where I found, urn, some, some toys like, uh, it was a bunch of stuffed animals in a bag which was suspicious to me because, I don't know, they were nice stuffed animals. I didn't see no reason why someone would just throw 'em away, throw 'em out like that and I also found a little bit of garments of clothing and like a, I think it was a shoe or some, some little stuff that, urn, looked a little suspicious to me and, urn, yeah, that's the, and I tried to show the deputy that.

So you met with the deputy. Did you meet with him at the address here or, or somewhere off Grandee Drive? I, I, I might have met him, I, I believe I might have met him at the 8735 and just to meet him there and drove around with him to the back there. Then you directed him to where you had found these items? Yeah, yeah, I believe so. Okay. How many deputies responded, Mr. Williams? It was just the one. And do you recall his name or what he looked liked, by any chance? He was a white male. That's about all I remember. Okay. [Laughs]. Were you with anybody? Urn, no, but I was constantly on the phone with my girlfriend. Okay. And, uh. -3WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

9.1A

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

KW MR KW MR KW

And I was on the phone with the, a psychic lady. Did you direct him to these items that you had found, the bags? Yes, yes. And what were his actions at that time?
Um, I showed him the bags and he looked at it and he told me, told me, well, this bag looks like

it's too deteriorated and he threw it back in the woods. MR KW MR KW MR KW What was? What can? What was contained in that bag, that particular bag (inaudible)? Stuffed animals. Okay. Did he pick it up? Yes. Well, I picked it up. I had it, picked it up at first. And then he picked it up? Did it fall apart or anything? And then, I was showing the man and he was just like, "Well, this bag, it looks too deteriorated," and then he, and, at first, I thought he was holding it. I thought he was gonna keep the stuff to, to look into it more and, but then he basically was just like, "Well, we'll look into it" and I also tried to explain the story about that, you know, why I was originally out there also, about the psychic giving me a bunch of details, which have later come up true and, uh, he just kind of looked at me like, I don't know, like, I felt like I was, he thought I was full of shit or something, or something, and he just like kind of, kind of brushed me off.
MR Did he encourage you to call Crime Line or anything? He just told me... Or tell you?

11 12 13 14
15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

KW
MR

KW
RH

...he'd take my number down and then, if anything further pops up, he'll give me a call.
How close were you, when you were pointing out the bags to him? Where were you standing, compared to where he was standing? Like, like, in feet or distance? Where was I? Well, at first, when I was still trying to show him the area, I tried to walk over there, he didn't really; he walked kind of back but he didn't really walk completely in the area and then, -4-

KW

WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

KW

When I, when I just specifically showed him the stuffed animals, was it over there or was it next to, in front of the house?

UF KW MR KW MR KW MR

That's what I cannot remember. That's what we're trying to remember. Okay. You are not sure. But you showed him. I just not a hundred percent sure. But you've opened your trunk and you showed him the bag that contained the stuffed animals. Yes. Yeah, I did. I was showing him the stuffed... actually I handed it to him. So it wasn't in the wooded areas where you showed him this bag? Mr. Williams, can you, can you stay with me?

KW MR

Yeah, I'm trying to, yeah. Okay. It was not in the wooded area that you showed him this bag containing stuffed animals, it was in, in your trunk?

KW MR KW MR KW

It wasn't. Yeah, it was actually me pulling out of the trunk. So you pulled it out of the trunk and then you handed it to the deputy? Yeah, yeah, I pulled out the. You showed him? Yeah, I pulled it out the trunk and I handed it to him and said, "Look, this. I found this right over here and there's other stuff over here, if, you know, I, I think you should look" and I also explained the whole psychic and the whole story.

MR KW

Okay. What did he do with the bag? He, uh, he held it, he told me the bag looked, looked too deteriorated for it to have been it and, uh, right when we process of, you know, right when this everything, right when our conversation ended, he, uh, he tossed it back in, in the woods.

MR KW

Did the bag fall apart? The bag was kind of falling apart. -4WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

1 2 3 4

MR KW UF KW

The bottom? Did? Do you recall if the bottom fell out of the bag, or? I don't recall if the bottom fell out. I just remember the bag being kind of... The car. (inaudible). Like. Car. Towards there and that. That wouldn't (inaudible). Yeah. I think it was right when we were about to leave he threw a bag back. We're like kind of looking at it like, wow, he just threw the bag back in.

5 6 7

UF KW

Was that when we were driving away? I don't remember. That was when we got back in the car, yeah. That's when I saw him throw the bag back in the woods.

MR 9 KW 10

Okay. Did, at any time, he walk into the wooded area and, and start going through bags or picking up bags? No. He never actually went and picked up any, he just went back there and looked. Not even looked, looked, I mean he just walked back in that little trail thing and just kind of looked, but

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 KW 22 23 24 25 MR

didn't actually walk to the area I was trying to really show 'em. So the only bag that you saw him physically touch is the bag that you took out of your trunk and handed to him? KW Yes. MR Okay. And, did he use his asp? Do you know what the asp is, the expandable baton? Did he ever use that to go through anything? KW No. MR N o ? KW No. MR KW MR Okay. He didn't even go, he didn't go through anything. Okay. All right. All right. All right. Urn, that's good. I just wanted... Are you telling me he was telling you he used a baton?

-5WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

1 2

MR

No, this is on another issue. I just wanted to find out if he, if he had in, in the call that went out with, that he was out with you on, this particular deputy, if he used his, expandable baton or asp to go through anything.

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

KW

No, he actually, he just, he grabbed the bag, he, uh, he just walked back there and looked. He didn't. He didn't really do nothing.

MR KW MR KW

Okay. And he just told me he, that he'd contact me and, uh, like I said, I never was contacted again. Okay. All right. Yeah, I didn't. So that's when I actually went back there and tried to look again myself. That's when I got the trespassing warning, because I just didn't feel like the police were doing anything.

MR KW

Okay. All right. Well, do you swear the statement that you've given is true? It's true as I can make it, man. My memory. I'm trying to remember exactly everything on point but, yeah.

MR KW MR KW

Okay. It sums up, there's so many times trying, you know? Right. Well, I appreciate your time, Mr. Williams. I'm gonna, I'm gonna go ahead and go off tape. Okay. Okay.

I have reviewed this transcript for accuracy.

Signed this

022-

day of Je9t)

2009.

CORPORA IcW E RUGGIERO

e7

-6WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

SliVo

TRANSCRIPT OF KEITH WILLIAMS INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY CORPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO TRACKING #2008-V20190 JANUARY 16, 2009 AT APPROXIMATELY 1432 HOURS

2 3

MR - CO RPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO UF


8 9 Professional Standards Section. Today's date is January 16 1h, 2009 and the time right now is 1432 hours. 10
I am on the phone with Keith D. Williams. He is a white male. Date of birth is 7/24/1978.

UNKNOWN FEMALE

K W - K E I TH W I L L I AM S
Okay. We are on tape. This is Corporal Mike Ruggiero with the Orange County Sheriffs Office,

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
KW KW

MR
KW

Mr. Williams, can you identify yourself for the record? Yes, my name is Keith Williams. Okay. And, are you aware that this conversation is being recorded, Mr. Williams? Yes, sir. Okay. I wanted to get on tape, I, I had spoken to you a little bit earlier and I talked to you yesterday and got a statement and, I wanted to clarify some things with you. When you met with the deputy on August 18th, 2008, I asked you if it was wet over there where you met with him on, on, when you actually, when you led him over, led him over to Suburban Drive, was the ground particularly wet that day, or, or moist or muddy?
I believe it might have been damp, but I don't think it was, um, flooded or anything in, in, in that

MR
KW

MR

case. I think it might have been damp but I'm not a hundred percent sure. MR Okay, the bag that you located there; one of the bags that you located you had stated was, it contained stuffed animals. Is that correct? That's correct. Yes. Okay. And what did you do with that bag when you located it? You were alon e. This is before you had called the deputy.

MR

WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

Sut,1

KW

Before I called the deputy, when I had, you know, went out there, I told you, I'd spoke to a psychic and all that other stuff. I went out there and I looked at that. I was looking around and, uh, I went

3 4 5 6 7 MR 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 MR KW KW MR KW MR KW MR KW

to, urn, that area where the stuffed animals was found and I seen a couple things, you know, 'cause there was a couple things just laying around there. At that bag, I specifically picked up and I grabbed it and then I brought it with me and, to the mom's house. You put it. Where did you put it? You put it inside your car? I laid it inside my trunk. Inside your trunk, and then you went over to the Anthony residence?

KW Yes. MR You wanted to see if the Anthony's could determine if that, if those items actually belonged to Caylee? Could I. Yes, could identify 'em. Okay. Did you make contact with anybody there? Yes, with the mother. Okay. And did she look at these things? Urn, yes, yes, I believe she did and she kind of was like, "No," she said she didn't know nothing and she just kind of, she just said, "No, they weren't, I didn't know what they were" and that was kind of it. All right. Then you left these items in your trunk? And then, at that point, I just took it back to the trunk and, urn, I actually went over to my, urn, 'cause like I said I felt like, I felt with the TIPS line and then the other stuff, I wasn't getting nowhere, so I was actually gonna maybe even hold it and call me, my little sister which I heard she, yeah, she had just gotten into forensics. I was actually gonna, she, maybe she could check into it somehow or something. I was just trying to, just trying to take matters in my own hands a little bit.

23 MR 24 25 Right.

2-

WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

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.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

KW

You know? And, uh, so I actually went to my girlfriend's house. That's when she was like, "No, you gotta call the, the police and just do it that way." So I went again.

MR KW MR KW

So you actually went to see your girlfriend over her house and she lives somewhere in that area? Yeah, she lives close. Okay. And then she was with you when you actually made contact with the deputy? Yeah, at that point, I, she's like call, so we called the deputy again and then finally got to where he would meet up with me and that's when, uh, I told him, "Meet me at my, my old home where I used to live over there" and we met out in front of the house and, uh, yeah, I got, I spoke to him for a little bit and then, um, we went over to, uh, the place and I showed him the, the, the bag or whatever.

UF 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 MR 23 24 25 UF KW MR KW KW

(inaudible) He followed. Yeah, he followed me over to this, the area and, uh, I got out of the car, my girlfriend stayed in the car and I, urn, showed him. No, we stayed there for a while, watching, I don't know (inaudible) car. Well no, we, yeah, he was doing something to his car. We were waiting for him for a second. Uh-huh (agreement). Yeah, we didn't. I, we didn't know what he was doing. My girlfriend's getting all worried somehow like it is gonna make me, incriminate me somehow and, uh, I told her, you know, I didn't think it was nothing to worry about. We put the little DVD in my car. We were just sitting for a second. Then, urn, I got out and spoke to him, told him I'd show him the stuffed animals and then I told him about the area right there and he walked back beyond the fence with me.

Hold on a second. Let me, let me stop ya.

KW Yeah. MR At what point did you show him the stuffed animals? At what point was this? Was this over by your residence? Was it? Where, where were you when you showed him this? -3-WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

when I showed him the bag, I, urn, handed it to him and he was just like, This bag looks too deteriorated" and he was holding it at first and then I seen him just toss it back in.

3 RH 4 5 KW RH KW 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR KW MR KW RH KW RH How close were you when this was going on? I was right next to him. Okay. So every bag that he picked up, you would have been able to see? Every bag he picked up? Right. Would I have been able to see? Urn, yeah. Was there ever a time when he could have been looking through the stuff when you didn't see him? Uh, no, because he, I believe he, he left right when I left, like I think we left the same time. How far into the wooded area were these, were these bags at? Well, on the, the one area, it was right there behind the, the gate and behind a big piece of wood and the other area, which I was trying, which he didn't actually even, he didn't even look into, you know, was that, was behind the, the gate, was like if where Caylee Anthony was supposedly found, there's a, there's a barbed wire fence that is a trespassing and that barbed wire fence goes, goes around the edge of the woods. It was on that same barbed wire fence on the edge but like 30 yards up, but he didn't, he didn't even respond to that. Like I said, I just felt like he didn't really respond to nothing. And, even afterwards, I mean, later, after the case was closed I went back over there, the last day I heard they were checking over there and I went and spoke to a police officer and which I was trying to explain to him my story, and the other police officer walks up and he's like, "Oh, like I haven't heard this story before." It made me feel like an asshole. I was like, "Man, I'm not." I was like, "I'm not trying to. You think I'm wasting my time to come out here to tell you this for no reason?" I was like, "I believe this is something you might want to look into" and he just kind of, he made me feel like shit so I just. I just said.

This is another deputy though, another time? -5WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

KW
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 MR

This is another deputy at the end of the whole thing. I, I, to be honest with you, man, I, I don't think I was. Before she was found though? No, this was after. Towards (inaudible)? This was after even, after she was found. After the remains were found? Yeah, this was after the remains were found. I tried to explain the story. I was telling him how, you know, originally told the police about it over here and I felt like you guys brushed me off and then I was trying to explain to him about the, urn, psychic thing and stuff and he looked at me like, uh, like, you know, like he almost had a smirk on his face.

KW
MR

KW
MR

KW

11 12
RH

You guys correct me if you've already covered this and I just missed it; you know where Hope Spring and Suburban meet, the intersection there, basically?

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 KW MR KW MR KW RH KW
RH

Yes, yes, yes, that's where that, yeah. And you know where the, the wooden fence is on the back of the house line there on Suburban?

KW Yes.
RH Pretty close to where Caylee was found?

KW Yes. RH
How close were the bags to there? Did you guys already cover this? I wasn't sure if I came in (inaudible) question.

No, the exact. No, the exact, 'cause I rode. It was about, um. It was a few hundred yards. I'd say it's about a, yeah, I'd say it's about what, 300 yard road or something like that? Yeah, I would say something like that. Something like that and then, uh. How far down from the fence line, would you say? -6WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

1 KW 2
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If she was; if the fence line was there and she was found maybe about 20 yards back; when I,
were I originally brought him was a little bit more towards the end. I'd say about. Closer to the school? Closer to the school, yeah. Another 30 yards. You said about another 30 yards from whereabout where she was found. Another 30, yeah. About 30, yeah, 30 to 50 yards or so, I'd say. Yeah.

KW 4
MR

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

KW
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KW W as wh e re I was .
MR Just an estimate. Yeah, but that, but that, but that was actually the back area I showed him. The actual.. .the area I was showing him was maybe like, maybe even a little more then, maybe 70, 80 yards was the area where I was telling him, but the area I was also telling him was the one that I told is about 30 yards from where she was found. MR Okay. That was the area that he didn't even, he didn't even like... Want to check out? He didn't even listen. It's almost like I was talking to air. [Laughs]. It was like nothin'. I don't know. I don't feel like he.

KW

KW
MR

KW

RH KW MR

And you said he left when you did? I, I, I, I might have even asked him if he could bring a dog out or something, if he can. Did he mention anything about the, the area having been searched before, any, any chance, by the search teams that were out there?

KW

I believe he just said. I believe he was just kind of stood back there and, you know, I felt like he was just listening, where he didn't really say much and he kind of like looked and kind of looked, looked around but he didn't like, look, look around, he just kind of like looked with his head, just

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moved his head around and looked and then he was like, uh, "Well," he goes, "Well, we'll get back in touch with you," kind of. That was kind of...

Okay. ...the scenario. Did any of the bags that you saw in the woods contain yard debris, the ones that you were, that you pointed out or that the deputy looked at? Did they contain sticks or leaves or debris or anything like that?

KW MR KW

They might have just because of being back there in the woods. I mean it is. Was there a lot of bags? Well, the one I was just real suspicious of, man, is, is a bag of, of, like I said, stuffed animals. They were all nice. They were. You could tell these were, they were in good condition but they were put in a bag and thrown in the back and then there's also like I said some clothing and some other little, little shit that I, I thought would, you know, I was kind of, in my mind thinking the police were really into it I thought they would at least, none of that would be there. Maybe they would actually have took it somewhere else. I'm surprised they didn't see that. In the other area with the, the ripped open bags and the Father's Day balloon, I was surprised because when I told him about that, I came back there a few weeks later and saw that the stuff was unmoved so I could tell nobody looked into it and that's when I got the trespassing warning for being back there.

That was weeks later though?

KW Yeah. MR KW RH MR RH Okay. Weeks later, but it was still way before she was found. When you were. Right. When you were there with this deputy, the time when he came to check these bags out, did you ever see a, a bag rip open or a bag that he lifted up, rip open or anything (inaudible)? -8WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

*TA'M

1 2 3 4

KW MR KW RH KW

Well, the one bag was kind of. Falling apart? Falling apart anyways, the one bag with the stuffed animals. Were there any other bags that he lifted up and moved (inaudible)? That was the only bag. That was the only bag I actually, physically brought to him. Okay. Besides that, he just, like I said, he just kind of, like I said, I just felt like I was kind of brushed off. When you were there, did you ever see him pick up another bag and, and, anything like that? Uh, no, no, no, he, no, he simply just stood next to me and then when I walked back behind the fence area he kind of walked back and just kind of stood there and, uh, walked forward and he was just like, "You know, we'll have someone contact you." And I expected to be contacted after that and I never, never was.

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MR KW RH KW

RH 12 KW 13 14 15 16 17 KW 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR MR KW MR RH KW MR

Until today? Until right now. [Laughs]. Yeah. Anything else? No. All right. Okay. Is there anything else about your contact with the deputy on August 18 , 2008 that you can think about? Uh, not, not really. He just, like I said, he just kind of, urn... And there was no other deputy that responded? It was just the one? No, it was just, just the one and, and, you know, like I said, I originally called at, you know, my records, I originally called at 8:19 in the morning and I didn't call in TIPS line and I felt like I was getting nowhere and this was, the whole time, I was out there from six in the morning and trying to do something and I wasn't actually, I don't believe he actually came out there 'til about 12:45. Yeah, yeah, we have his arrival time actually at 12:51.
th

-9WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

Stilt

KW

12:51. Yeah, you, you called. We had, he was dispatched at 12:33 and then arrived at 12:51. So you, it just shows, it was kind of difficult even showing anything. How long was he out there? Couple minutes. Okay. All right. Well, that will conclude the interview and the time right now is 1325 hours. Hey, but I think you should look more into that whole psychic thing 'cause, I mean, I'm not a firm believer, but I believe she was pretty, you know, on point with the things she told me.

2 MR 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR KW MR KW MR KW

Okay. Well, we'll conclude the interview at 1325.

I have reviewed this transcript for accuracy.

Signed

this

da y

of

JA

2009.
,

CORPORAL MI .E fUGGIERO

WILLIAMS, KEITH/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

Tins-

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TRANSCRIPT OF ROSA HEISLER INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY CORPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO TRACKING #2008-V20190 JANUARY 21, 2009 AT APPROXIMATELY 1333 HOURS MR RH st

CORPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO ROSA HEISLER

Today's date is January 21 , 2009, and the time right now is 1333 hours. I am at, 5218 Millennia Boulevard, in my car, and present is Miss Rosa Heisler.

Miss Heisler, can you identify yourself, for the record? Yeah. Your full name. My name is, uh, Rosa Heisler. And we'll be talking about an incident that occurred on August 18 , 2008. Miss Heisler, are you aware that we are recording the conversation? Yes. Okay. And, Rosa, you were present on August 18 , apparently, with your boyfriend and his name is Keith Williams. Yes. And Mr. Williams had telephoned the Orange County Sheriffs Office regarding some items that he had discovered or, located off Suburban Drive. Is that correct? Uh, where is that; Suburban Drive? Is it by Liberty, by that, uh, middle school? Yes. Yes. By the school out there. Uh-huh (agreement). Yeah.
th th

HEISLER, ROSA/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

Sotl

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MR

Okay. And can you tell me what, how did you become involved? Did Keith come and pick you up at your residence or how, what happened? This was on August 18Ih.

3 RH 4 5 6 MR 7

That specific day, um, well, he came to my house and, you know, he showed me what he found. I mean, he's always been, he's always eager to, you know, to look for her and everything and then so he found this and, you know, I was like, "Well, that doesn't look right." You know? What, what did he? What did he show you? Did he show you something? Yeah, he showed me the, urn, the stuffed animals and they were like in a bag. See he, urn,

RH

previously, like probably a month before he met, urn, some lady and her morn was a psychic. 9 MR 10 1 1 12 MR 13 1 4 Uh-huh (agreement). And so, this whole time she's been calling him and telling him where, you know, what her visions were and everything and, you know, and, and where he could probably find something and so. Where was the bag when you saw it? In his trunk. In his trunk of his vehicle? Yeah. And, what kind of bag was it? It was, uh. Paper bag, plastic bag? Urn, it was almost exactly what she, what she described, which was like a, yeah, maybe a white bag (inaudible). MR So like a kitchen garbage bag type thing? Something like that. Okay, so was there anything else in the trunk that he showed you or was it just the bag containing the stuffed animals?

RH

RH
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RH
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MR

No, it was just a bag with the stuff animals and...


Okay. -2-

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RH

Urn, and I was like, you know, "You need to call the police. You need to give them, you know, give them, urn, give it to them right away."

MR RH

Okay. And, urn, so that's when he, I think he finally contacted one, one of the sheriffs. I don't remember what his name was. I didn't...I wasn't really paying attention but, urn._

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR RH MR RH MR RH RH MR RH MR RH MR RH MR RH MR RH MR

Let me ask you. Were you present when he went to the Anthony residence? No. It was after that? Yeah, it was after he went, he went over there. Did he tell you that he did that? Yeah. Okay. And then he tried to show it to. And he said that she was acting all weird or something. Okay. Yeah. All right. So it was after that but before, obviously, he had called the sheriff's office and the deputy responded? I'm not sure if he called them right when he was at my house and like he was trying to contact them and he finally did. And then. And you met a... That's when, that's when we were like, "Well, let's go." You know, let's go meet him up and then that's when, urn, it was like right by where he used to live. Okay. And, urn. And that's where you met the deputy? Yes. -3HEISLER, ROSA/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

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MR RH

What happened when you met him? Um, he. I don't even remember but he spoke to him and, you know, and then he; I don't remember what they said but then he followed us to, urn, the middle school and he actually stayed in the car for a while 'cause we were actually watching a movie. And I don't know what he was doing in his car.

MR 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 RH 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 RH MR RH MR RH MR RH MR RH MR MR RH MR RH MR

The deputy? But. The deputy. I have no idea what he was doing. Did? And, urn... Let me ask you; when you, when you actually met him and you met him at this other location so you could provide an address, I guess, and actually meet the deputy at a location, as opposed to a wooded area.

Right. Did the deputy actually see the, the stuffed animals in the trunk then? Did Keith show him then or was it after he drove over to Suburban Drive, over by the school? I'm not sure if it was there or at Liberty. You are not positive? No, it's. Okay. That's a long time ago. I don't remember. So either way though you are not, you are not positive, but the deputy follows Keith and yourself? Yeah, he followed us. Over to, near the school. Yeah, right. Okay. And then what happened?

-4HEISLER, ROSA/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

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RH

And then, urn, so we drove up to, I guess the gate was open and, urn, we stayed in the car for a while. I don't know what he was doing in his car. And, urn, so we're like, "Okay." And maybe like 20 minutes and, urn, finally, you know, he came up and I don't quite remember if he, you know, he opened the trunk and then he showed him everything, but he was like really nonchalant about it, the cop. He was just.

MR 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 RH 16 17 18 19 MR 20 RH 21 22 23 24 25 RH MR RH MR MR MR RH RH MR RH

Okay. You know, maybe this is kind of crap. Right. Kind of thing and, urn, that's. I'm not sure if Keith started telling him about the whole psychic thing and, you know, and, urn. Did you get out of the car at this point, or were you still inside the car? Do you remember? I don't remember. I probably. I do not remember if I stayed in there. I know I stayed in the car when they actually walked through the woods 'cause I was like, I don't even. You know?

MR W anna go?

No, no, I didn't, no. And, urn, and then he walked him back there and, and then they walked back and I'm not even sure if he even wrote anything down, which I thought was pretty weird because, you know, something really important, it's a big case. You know, how could you take something so lightly.

Right. And, urn, and then. So Keith directed the deputy into the wooded area or something? Did they, did you lose sight of them? Yeah, I didn't see them. Okay. So they walked into an area and you didn't see them. They walked. No, no. Okay. And then they came back. -5HEISLER, ROSAITracking #2008-V20190/pjd

SIV8,0

RH 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 MR 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 MR 23 24 25 RH MR RH MR RH RH MR RH MR RH MR RH

Right. How long were they gone? Estimate. Five minutes. Okay. A few minutes? I'm not sure if they even went too far. I don't... Okay. Do you remember what happened with the bag in the trunk? He took it. He took it.

MR W ho did? RH MR RH Urn, the deputy. Okay. I think he took it, and we drove off first. So I'm not sure if he actually threw it away and just threw it right back in there, like it was nothing. Like it was just a bag. I mean, how would you do that? You know?

Okay. So, and then, I mean, we were hoping to get a call, urn, you know, later, you know, maybe asking any questions or something. On a follow-up or something? Of course. You know, something so important's nothing, absolutely nothing. And he called several times. He called the hotline and many, many times, you know, maybe you might want to, you know, search here and here and here and, you know, and the psychic thing and nobody was ever even paying attention. It was... nobody was even listening.

Did you observe the deputy, examine any other plastic bags in that area that day, that afternoon, that morning? Pick up any other bags, or examine any other bags? No, no. It was just a bag that was. It was just that bag. Just that one? Yeah. -6HEISLER, ROSA/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

1 MR 2 3 RH MR

Okay. You didn't see any others? No, 'cause I didn't see them. Where they went. I, where, I didn't see where they went. When they, when they went into the wooded area or something? Okay. Right. I didn't see where they, where they walked or anything. And that's pretty much it. Urn... Okay. Did the deputy take the bag out of the trunk or do you remember? He took it. He definitely took it. He definitely took it? He definitely took it. I'd... What kind of shape was this bag in? It, pretty deteriorated. Deteriorated? Was the bottom falling out, or was it kind of like hard to handle because the, the top portion of the bag was, you couldn't really grab it? Do you remember? I don't remember. But you think it... 'Cause he put it within, I, I think like he, he put it. I don't even know. Like within a clean bag, or maybe, or?

4 RH 5 MR 6 RH 7 MR 8 RH 9 MR 10 RH 1 MR 1 12 RH 13 MR 14 15 RH 16 MR 17 RH 18 19 20 21 22 23 MR 24 25 RH MR MR RH

Do? But it was a white? Uh, but I know there was, it was deteriorated and there was maybe a big stuffed animal and, urn, some, urn, type of cloth or something. I didn't really. I didn't really want to even look at it 'cause it stunk so bad.

It smelled? Yes. Okay.

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RH

And, urn, so that's when, that's when I paused like, I was like, "You have to. No, you have to, you know, give it to them. That's, that's evidence."

MR RH 5 MR

Was there other stuff in there like, leaves or twigs or anything inside the bag? I'm not sure. Um, not that I remember. Nothing you noticed though? No, I, like I said, I didn't try to. Go through it. Exact. No, because. Right. You know, you don't want to tamper anything. Okay. So, I was just like. Okay. And you said it was a white, a white sort of plastic trash bag? I think so. Okay. If, if I'm not mistaken. I'm not sure. Okay. Anything else? I don't... That you recall? From that specific day? Yeah. That's pretty much it. Just, you know, before, before that he told me he went to the lady's house and, you know, he showed her the stuff to see if she even recognized anything.

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RH MR 8 RH 9 MR 10 RH

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MR RH MR RH

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Uh-huh (agreement). And she was like. He told me she was like, "No, no, no." You know? Kind of brushing him off. Right. Okay. -8HEISLER, ROSA/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

RH MR

And then, um, that's it. Okay. All right. Well, we'll conclude the statement at this time and the time right now is 1343 hours.

I have reviewed this transcript for accuracy.

Signed this _______ day of

20 9. 0
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CORPORAL MIIQ UGGIERO

-9HEISLER, ROSA/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

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TRANSCRIPT OF CORPORAL YURI MELICH INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY CORPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO TRACKING #2008-V20190 JANUARY 22, 2009 AT APPROXIMATELY 1122 HOURS MR - CO RPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO RH - SERGE ANT ROB HARDI M AN YM - CORPOR AL YURI MELICH
This is Corporal Mike Ruggiero with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, Professional Standards Section. Today's date is January 22, 2009, and the time right now is 1122 hours. We are at the offices of Professional Standards and I'm speaking with Yuri Melich of the sheriff's office, currently assigned to Criminal Investigations Division. Present also is Sergeant Rob Hardiman with the sheriff's office, Professional Standards Section.

Corporal Melich, do you swear the statement you are about to provide will be true?

YM
MR

I do.
Can you state, state your name for the record? Yuri Melich. Corporal Melich, you had an interview. Are you aware that we're recording this, correct? Yes. You had an interview with Deputy Richard Cain on December 18th, 2008. Is that correct? Yes. You were one of the lead investigators in the Caylee Anthony case. Yes. And that was what you were interviewing him in reference to, your criminal investigation? Correct.

YM
MR

YM
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MELICH, YURI/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

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MR

Can you tell me, when you interviewed Corporal Melich, and, and I have a transcript of that interview, it occurred at 903 hours, according to your transcript here, on December 18th, what was the...

RH 5 MR 6 RH

Who did he interview at that time? I'm sorry? Who did he interview at that time? He interviewed Deputy Richard Cain. Okay.

7 MR 8 RH 9 MR

On that, on that date and time. What was the reason for the interview on that date and time? Roy Kronk, the person who found the body had said that he had called a couple of times in August. We found calls in August that Roy made and we found out that deputies had been dispatch to the location a couple of times. On August 13th, Deputy Cain was one of the deputies that responded to meet with Roy Kronk in reference to a call he made about some suspicious items he found in the woods.

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MR

Okay. So you had identified Deputy Cain as one of the deputies who responded on August 13 th to a call from Roy Kronk? Yes. Okay. And you spoke to him before you went on tape? Yes.
And can you tell me some, some of the conversation that had occurred?

Sure.
What did you, what did you tell Deputy Cain about why he was coming in?

We told him that we found out that, uh, Roy Kronk had called a couple times before and we found
out he was one of the deputies who had responded to the scene with him before. I showed him the call. I read him the call. I said, "You, you know, we are gonna ask you about this. I want you to remember it." I said, "The reason we are bringing you in here is because we need to, -2-

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obviously, he is saying that you met with him and he's saying that, you know, certain things transpired. We need to get your version of. We need to find out, you know, what you remember and what he had you do, what you saw and then everything else, 'cause, at the time, what we're trying to find out is if Roy Kronk was telling us the truth, if Roy Kronk actually saw what he saw, if it's the same size, same area, same items. MR YM Right. I expressed to him also, I said, "Listen. We are just here. We just want you to tell us the truth. If you don't remember, you don't remember." I said, "What we don't want to do, and what we want

7 8 to try and avoid is we want to avoid anyone looking back and saying that somebody, you know, 9 wasn't truthful with us." For instance, uh, Anthony Rusciano; and I brought that up. I said, 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 things that Deputy Cain had told you didn't exactly corroborate with some of the other testimony 19 that you had already gathered? 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR YM MR YM Uh. What led to you bringing him back in? He came back in for a second interview on December 18 During the statement he, urn, he mentioned he had, he had, he had called crime line. He mentioned he had actually physically taken the bag, lifted it up and, and the bottom fell out. Right. That's in his first interview.
th

"Anthony Rusciano was a deputy and he, we, we asked him to come in and tell us the truth and he hadn't done anything wrong but what happened was he decided to, to not tell us the truth and that's what ended up, you know, you know what happened to him." So that's, I brought that up in context before, just trying to implore upon him the gravity of the situation, the seriousness of it and just the fact that all we want is him to tell us the truth. MR Okay. Fair enough. And then you went on tape and obviously you and Sergeant Allen took a taped statement from Deputy Cain? YM MR Yes. Some time, during that statement, or maybe after that statement you realized that, some of the

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We found out, you know, later on by talking to Roy is that, that didn't actually occur. I'm trying to think if, uh, I can't remember if, uh, if, if Eric Edwards; we were in the command post from the back and while we are talking to him, there's a, at some point in time Eric Edwards is sitting in the front. I can't remember if he was actually calling Roy at the time, hearing a little bit of the conversation and clarifying (inaudible). I can't remember if that's it. Point is, we found out from

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the first interview to the second interview that what he was telling us wasn't probably the whole truth so we wanted to bring him back and then kind of clarify. Maybe he got it confused with something we don't know but we wanted to, to sit him down and say, "Listen, you've had some time to think. Let's go over this again. Let's make sure that we remember what happened or what you remember what happened." Okay. When you brought him in, was it in relation to the criminal interview or were you, did you believe that you were conducting an administrative interview into his truthfulness? No, strictly a criminal, criminal investigation where he was a witness, a potential witness. That's the only reason we wanted to talk to him a second time. Okay. And, did that interview, was conducted the same day. Did he provide the same information or did he provide sort of, a different recollection of the events? A different version of the events. Okay. And, again, did you go out of your way, I want to say, to explain to Deputy Cain, the, the nature of the call that he responded to, trying to, trying to refresh his memory?

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YM MR

Yes. We actually. Did Deputy Cain tell you or, or, or, state to you that you recall, having been on Suburban Drive in reference to another call?

YM MR

At that time, I can't recall. Did he say that he was confusing the first statement, the first statement that he gave you? Did he say he was confused? Did he intimate that he was confused and, and was confusing his calls?

YM 24 25

No.

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Okay. The, when you called him back in the second time, was he treated any different than any other witness, say a non-law enforcement witness who you needed to obtain more information from a criminal perspective? Not at all. So he was treated the same? Nothing he said had anything to do with the fact that he was a deputy? Was just because you needed more information criminally? Yes. Okay. Would you characterize the interview, either interview that you did with Sergeant Allen and yourself did with Deputy Cain as hostile? No. Okay. Did he intimate or, or state that he was having a problem recalling the call? I'd like to say he said he, he, he was having trouble remembering specifics but, after reviewing the transcripts and then listening to it, he was, you know, pretty specific on the fact that the guy was, worked for some service. No, he didn't.

RH

RH

MR

MR
YM

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Okay. All right. Well, I don't have any further questions at this time. We'll go ahead and conclude the interview and the time right now is 1129 hours.

I have reviewed this transcript for accuracy.

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22 CORPORA A ii RUGGIERO 23
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-5MELICH, YURIlTracking #2008-V20190/pjd

TRANSCRIPT OF SERGEANT JOHN ALLEN


2 3 4 5

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY CORPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO TRACKING #2008-V20190 JANUARY 22, 2009 AT APPROXIMATELY 1334 HOURS MR CORPORAL MIKE RUGGIERO

RH - SERGEANT ROB HARDIMAN


7 8 9 10 Office, Criminal Investigations Division, as well as Sergeant Rob Hardiman with the sheriff's office, 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 am assigned to the Missing Persons squad in the Criminal Investigations Division. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 JA MR JA MR Sergeant Allen, on December 18 , did you interview Deputy Sheriff Richard Cain? Yeah. Yes, we did. Can you tell me what led you; I have that you interviewed him the first time at about nine o'clock in the morning on December 18 . Can you, kind of explain what led you to call Richard Cain in for an interview? Yes, he was an initial responding deputy, uh, to a call, urn, uh, on Suburban Drive where we ultimately, where ultimately the remains of Caylee Anthony were found. Uh, we called him, uh,
th th

J A - SERGE ANT JOHN ALLEN


This is Corporal Mike Ruggiero with the Orange County Sheriffs Office, Professional Standards Section. Today's date is January 22, 2009 and the time right now is 1334 hours. I am at the Professional Standards offices and present is Sergeant John Allen with the Orange County Sheriffs

Professional Standards Section. MR JA MR JA MR JA Sergeant Allen, do you realize that we are recording the conversation? Yes, I do. And, do you swear the information you are about to provide will be true? I do. Can you identify yourself for the record? Uh, my name is John Allen. I'm a sergeant with the Orange County Sheriffs Office. Currently, I

ALLEN, JOHN/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

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1 2 3 MR 4 5 6 JA

uh, in to interview him regarding, uh, his response, uh, uh, to that location, uh, back in August of 2008.

Okay. And you were assigned as one of the investigators in the Caylee Anthony case? That's correct. Uh, Yuri Melich was the primary investigator. At the time I was his supervisor and, and, I did the interview with him. Actually, interviewed, uh, Deputy Cain and other deputies that were potentially, uh, had been out there, um, on calls.

MR 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 MR 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 JA MR MR JA JA JA MR JA

Okay. And, when Deputy Cain arrived for his interview, do you recall a conversation that you had with him, maybe before you actually went on tape with him? Uh, yes. Maybe you, or, or Corporal Melich? Yes, we both. We, uh, we, we, we'd had; but prior to putting him on tape, we did talk with him about the incident. Uh, we did get some background information from him and, as we, as we did with the other deputies, as well.

Did you tell him that it was, trying, refresh his memory or improve his recollection possibly of the call by showing him information such as the call for service detail? The call detail? Yes, I believe we did that. I, I think at the time we had the, uh, I think Melich may have had the printout in, of, of the, of that call. Okay. Did you or Corporal Melich mention Anthony Rusciano? Yes, I, I believe one of us did it. I think one of us did just indicate to him that, you know, that it was important that everybody tell us the truth, that, urn, you know, that, uh, that you know that, uh, we were just simply looking into, uh, the details surrounding, urn, these calls that were dispatched out there.

Right. And did you tell him that he wasn't being investigated? He wasn't the subject of this investigation at all, he was a witness. No, he was simply. No, I made it clear there was, this, this, this wasn't. As a matter of fact, I think at one point he even asked, uh, if, if, uh, this was a, was an internal or, uh, if it was. I don't recall

-2ALLEN, JOHN/Tracking #2008-V201901pjd

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the exact words,but I believe he asked about whether or not this was some type of internal inquiry or investigation. We indicated that it, that it was not, that...

Okay. That he was there as a witness, uh, as were the other deputies, uh, to try to help us sort out the details from, uh, from earlier in the year.

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

MR JA MR JA

Okay. You took his statement and he left? That's correct. And, what led you to request him to come back later that afternoon? We looked at, uh, all of the statements, looked at, uh, information he had provided to us, uh, information that the other deputies had provided and also Mr. Kronk. We wanted to bring him back to talk to him about, uh...

MR 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 MR 22 23 24 25 JA MR JA

Some discrepancies? Some discrepancies, um, you know, uh, we wanted to be sure. I mean, there were a num ber of issues that we needed to discuss with him, namely, where; one of the things that we were trying to determine was where in the wooded area they actually went in, you know, uh, uh, uh, of that wooded area, urn, um, on Suburban Drive. We knew there were other trash bags in the woods. We were, we were really trying to figure out; we were trying to nail down some of the things he, that he had said to us and some things that other people had said to us and try to determine and, you know, had; did, did they go into the woods at the same place? Were there two different bags? Were there more than one bag?

Okay. There were a number of issues we were simply trying to sort out to, to, to, uh, in the case. Okay. Suffice to say this was not an administrative interview that you were conducting, but it was in relation to your criminal investigation?

-3ALLEN, JOHN/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

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JA

Yeah, that's correct. We, at no time, had we done any administrative investigations, uh, um, or internal investigations of any type. Our role is, has always been, uh, to investigate the death of Caylee Anthony.

MR

Recalling the two statements that Deputy Cain provided both you and Corporal Melich on December 18 , were they the same or was there pretty significant differences?
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JA MR

There were some differences in, in, in the two statements. Did Deputy Cain provide an explanation for the differences in his testimony at nine o'clock and then later in the afternoon?

JA

Um, I, I think if you look on the, uh, you know, the tape, you know, he indicated that he was confused, um, um, you know, that, uh, you know. Some of the things he indicated he, he, he, he wasn't sure. I think initially he said there was a bag, then later he said he wasn't sure there was a bag. Urn, you know, we, we tried to help him. We, we actually, at one point, even walked down the road with him to try to help him determine where he was, urn...

MR JA MR

Okay. To try and refresh his memory? Correct. Yes. Okay. Did Deputy Cain mention to you or do you recall him saying anything about confusing the call that he answered involving Mr. Kronk with another call?

JA

No, uh, I don't, I don't think he ever indicated that he'd answered to us, that he had answered more than one call there.

MR RH

Okay. Was there, when you interviewed him the first time, the tone before it and going into the interview, up to the time when you realize he may be giving some information that doesn't seem accurate, was the tone adversarial?

JA RH

No, not at all. Would it have placed in fear for, of anything to where you couldn't, would be confused or could not think straight? -4ALLEN, JOHN/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

JA

No, uh, as a matter of fact, we were really trying to kind of put him at ease, uh, you know, given the gravity of the case, you know, given the, you know, the attention the case has gotten. Uh, we were really trying to put him at ease and just make him aware that, you know, that it was important that he be completely honest with us.

RH

Right. Because, at that time, you had no idea that, what he was about to say, may not be the, the whole truth.

JA

No. I mean we assumed that he was a deputy sheriff. He was, he had answered a call out there Urn, we were trying to get him to help us with the information, uh, that we needed.

RH JA RH MR JA MR

Right. Urn, you know, that's, that's how the interview started out. Okay. I don't have anything else. Okay. Is there anything else that you can think of? No. Okay. Well, we'll conclude the interview at this time and the time right now is 1341 hours.

I have reviewed this transcript for accuracy.

Signed th's :11

day of J t \ oi ,

, 2009.

CORPORAL MI

GGIERO

-5ALLEN, JOHN/Tracking #2008-V20190/pjd

S'abte\N

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