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“On page thirty-one of the interview,” he wrote with emphasis, “Byers tells Ridge that John Fogleman had promised him and the other fathers that he would seek the death penalty for the individuals responsible,regardless of their age . Fogleman also allegedly told the fathers he did not see how the responsible parties could claim insanity since they had tried to cover up the crime.” Noting that this interview was conducted on May19, two weeks after the murders and two weeks before Jessie’s confession, Lax asked pointedly, “Why would Fogleman refer to the age of the responsible party(ies) this early in the investigation?”

Damien

Lax felt unusually unprepared as the trial dates drew nearer. He still did not see how Fogleman was going make his case. At the same time, however, he and Shettles shared deep concerns about certain aspects of the defense. Damien’s mental state was one. Although his mother and sister, and both Joe Hutchison and Jack Echols, had stood by Damien since his arrest, Lax and Shettles worried that his obvious psychological problems would cloud his prospects at trial. As the date of his trial approached, those concerns grew more acute.

Becoming a father had not helped. Damien and Domini’s son, Seth Damien Azariah Teer, was born, as expected, in September.186Domini brought him to the jail soon afterward, but the sheriff would not allow Damien to touch the baby. The following month, Damien’s maternal grandmother died.187When Lax and Shettles visited Damien during the first week of November, Shettles noted that “he appeared frightened,” he was “biting his nails,” and “his hands were shaking rather violently.” Lax brought a pack of cigarettes, which, Shettles observed, Damien “practically snatched from his hand.” She noted, “He began chain smoking and consumed at least eight cigarettes in our hour to hour-and-a-half visit.” Lax asked what was wrong, but Damien did not answer. When Lax asked Damien if things were “getting to him,” Damien answered, ‘Sometimes.’”

Lax wrote in his notes following the visit that he believed Damien was “suffering from great depression.” Nonetheless, Lax felt he needed to confront Damien about a key issue in the case. Had Damien ever told people that he’d committed the murders? Shettles had posed the question to Damien on a visit a few weeks before. She’d explained to him that some girls at a softball game had reported that they’d heard Damien claim responsibility. Shettles advised Damien that the girls might be witnesses against him. Shettles wrote that Damien “admitted that prior to his arrest, he made remarks to various persons, when asked about the murders, that might be misconstrued.” However, she added, “He stated he did not make any remarks in a serious nature, although some of his comments could have been misinterpreted.” Now that Lax was visiting, he pressed Damien to be more specific. But Damien seemed unwilling or unable to acknowledge to the investigator that he may have hurt his own case. Lax wrote, “When I asked him about the numerous references in the police files regarding individuals who say Damien either told them he was responsible, or they overheard Damien say this, he does not answer, but merely sits there and stares.”

When Shettles visited the following week, Damien said he was feeling better, although she noted that his hands were still shaking.188In December, Shettles brought cupcakes to the jail, along with a couple of books, for Damien’s nineteenth birthday. But the event was overshadowed by discussions of the upcoming trial. Shettles recalled Damien saying that if the jury found him not guilty, he wanted to “move out of state, and would like to own a bookstore. However, he informed me, if he is found guilty, he will throw himself ‘out of a third story window.’ Michael is anxious to have his trial over, ‘one way or another.’”

Loose Ends

In late December, Fogleman released the transcript of an interview that Detective Bill Durham had conducted with Jerry Driver earlier in the month. According to the transcript,