On the evenings of Thursday, July 17, and Friday, July 18, 2014, Detectives Armstrong and Murphy and other investigators interviewed employees at Duffy’s Bar & Grill, 2201 Jackson Avenue West.
The officers spoke with 23 employees, of whom 13 were working the night of Thursday, July 3, and/or the night of Sunday, July 13.
The 13 employees were questioned about:
- any unusual circumstances the night of July 3, and whether they had seen Andrew Fine and his wife, Cynthia, in the bar.
- whether they had seen John Reagle and the hand he brought to the bar the night of July 13.
The interviews summarized are some of the most typical or relevant to the investigation and are representative of all interviews conducted.
{tab2 Beaudette}
Jack Beaudette
Duffy’s bartender/server
1016 Benbow Circle, Oxford, MS
Beaudette, 31, was working July 3 as a server and behind the main bar.
Beaudette said he is finishing up at business school and helps out at Duffy’s mainly on weekends and for special events. He said Andrew Fine was a regular and described him as “a number one asshole type.”
Beaudette said Fine always drank a lot and seemed to get in a lot of fights. He said Patrick Mulvaney had to “escort him out on more than one occasion.”
Beaudette estimated Fine came to the bar at least three times a week and had “caused trouble” at least five times in the past two years.
Beaudette said he was working the back bar for much of the night of July 3 because it was so busy, but at one point he was serving food and drinks to customers in the booths along the window. He said Andrew Fine seemed to be “on his high horse, flashing a lot of money and hassling people.”
He said Carl and Andrew Fine were at the pool table, “acting loud,” and Eddie Dooley was sitting with a woman at one of the tables nearby. Beaudette said he had never seen the woman before, but described Eddie Dooley as “a piece of work” who once brought in some shoplifted merchandise and tried to sell it to him.
Beaudette said Andrew and Carl began fighting around 12:30 a.m., and Mulvaney had to stop them. Carl ended up leaving at that point. Beaudette didn’t notice any violence before then, and described the crowd as “loud but not rowdy.”
Beaudette said Mulvaney was trying to calm Andrew down until after closing, Andrew was asking everyone if they’d seen his watch. Beaudette said Mulvaney was too nice to Andrew and if it were up to him, he’d kick “[Andrew’s] sorry ass the hell out of here.”
Beaudette said he went home at 1:00 a.m. and didn’t notice anything unusual in the parking lot. He said he saw Andrew Fine heading out the door of the bar as he drove off. He said he hadn’t seen Andrew or Carl Fine in the bar since then, but Eddie Dooley was “definitely still around.”
{tab2 Castellon}
Ramon Castellon
Duffy’s line cook
212 Chandler Avenue, Oxford, MS
Castellon, 24, was working both nights in question in the kitchen.
Castellon said he was taking a break on July 3 in the parking lot around 7:30 p.m. when he saw a couple arrive. He said they caught his eye because “they didn’t look too happy.” He said the woman was wearing an “old-fashioned” dress, and the man was wearing jeans and a cheap polo shirt. “She looked nice. He did not look so nice.”
Castellon said the couple wasn’t talking to each other, and the man was pulling the woman along “like she didn’t want to go in.” Castellon said the woman was asking about getting some dinner, and the man told her to shut up.
Castellon said he didn’t recognize the couple and didn’t know the patrons that much because he works in the kitchen, never behind the bar or on the floor, and usually works from 4:00 p.m. to midnight. “Nobody wants no food after that.” He said he didn’t notice anything unusual when he left and didn’t see if the couple’s car was still there.
Castellon said he was working on July 13 in the kitchen for the duration of the evening, took a break but didn’t see anything unusual. Around 10:00 p.m., he said he heard the police were in the bar “arresting some drunk,” but he didn’t know anything about it.
{tab2 Mulvaney}
Patrick Mulvaney
Duffy’s bartender
1538 Jackson Ave E, Oxford, MS
Mulvaney, 25, was working behind the main bar on both nights in question.
July 3, 2014
Mulvaney said he saw Andrew and Cynthia Fine arrive just before happy hour ended at 8:00 p.m. and saw Cynthia Fine leave at around midnight or a little after.
Mulvaney said Andrew was a regular at the bar, but Cynthia rarely accompanies him. “He’s a ladies man, likes to talk with the ladies.”
Mulvaney said he didn’t notice Cynthia much because she was sitting at a table away from the bar, but said Andrew and his brother, Carl, were monopolizing the pool table all evening, apparently wagering.
He said Andrew Fine was also drinking heavily and ordered five pitchers of beer from him “and more from Ida” during the evening.
Mulvaney said, at around 11:00 p.m., Andrew Fine began harassing another man who was sitting at the table with Cynthia, and the man left. He said he heard later that man was Dudley Brinkman, who he had seen in the bar a couple of times before.
Mulvaney said that after Cynthia Fine left, Carl and Andrew Fine began arguing and Andrew threw a punch, at which point Mulvaney stepped in and “broke up the proceedings.” Mulvaney said Andrew told him that Carl stole his watch, which Carl denied vehemently before leaving the premises around 12:30 a.m.
Mulvaney said he helped Andrew search for his watch, quizzing everyone on duty and other patrons until past closing. He said Andrew insisted he brought the watch with him to the bar. Mulvaney said he suggested that maybe Cynthia took it home with her “for safekeeping,” at which point Andrew began swearing about “how that bitch wasn’t gonna be safe tonight.”
Mulvaney said he then suggested maybe it was misplaced or “some punk” stole it, at which point Andrew began swearing and declared Eddie Dooley, who’d been sitting with Cynthia Fine at the table, was the culprit. Mulvaney said Andrew demanded to be taken to Dooley’s residence immediately.
Mulvaney said he declined to help Andrew find Dooley and suggested Andrew return the following night, as Dooley is also a regular and was bound to show up again.
Mulvaney said, “I locked the door after him. It was after 1:00, I was beat, and he needed to dry out and get the hell home.”
Mulvaney said Andrew was not in the parking lot when he left for the night around 2:00 a.m. He said he didn’t see anyone else loitering in the parking area and there were no other cars in the lot.
Mulvaney said he didn’t see Andrew or Cynthia Fine in Duffy’s after that night.
July 13, 2014
Mulvaney said John Reagle arrived around 6:30 p.m. in high spirits and began drinking heavily.
Mulvaney said Reagle had a plastic Tupperware-style container “like for leftovers” and was telling everyone at the bar he had a hand inside it.
Mulvaney said Reagle also brought the container around to the tables and talked with acquaintances, including Eddie Dooley and “Razz” Huddlestein. When Reagle opened the container for Dooley, Dooley yelled, “Peeeeeww” and ran outside holding his nose, “like for laughs.”
Mulvaney said, by 8:00 or 9:00 p.m., the joke was wearing thin. He said a couple of women complained to him about Reagle, saying Reagle had approached them more than twice and offered to show them the hand.
Mulvaney said he approached Reagle and asked to see the hand, and Reagle showed him the container.
Mulvaney said he decided to contact authorities at that point.
{tab2 Pearl}
Marilyn Pearl
Duffy’s server
Trailor City, 436 Highway 6, Oxford, MS
Pearl, 48, was working July 3 as a server in the lounge/bar area.
Pearl said she knew Cynthia Fine from church and described her as “an absolute angel, God’s honest truth.”
Pearl said she saw Cynthia come in with Andrew Fine around 7:30 p.m., but because of the holiday, the bar was extremely crowded, and she didn’t have time to talk with Cynthia except to say hello.
Pearl said she didn’t know Andrew well, but Cynthia told her he was a “challenge.” Pearl said she’d heard from the other servers Andrew was a “bastard,” and he seemed to be a regular who got in a lot of fights. Pearl said the gossip at church was that Andrew hit Cynthia, but Cynthia never said so.
Pearl said she also saw Dudley Brinkman at the table with Cynthia until Andrew Fine “bullied him away.” Pearl said she’d seen Brinkman in the bar once or twice before but not regularly, and didn’t know him well except that he seems “timid, kind of reserved.”
Pearl said Eddie Dooley was also at the Fines’ table for a while and left around 11:30.
Pearl said Andrew and Carl Fine were at the pool table placing bets for most of the night, and Andrew appeared to be “wasting all his wages” because he went through a lot of cash.
Pearl said business was just quieting down enough for her to go chat with Cynthia when Andrew “blew up at Cindy and nearly slapped her across the face right in the middle of the bar.” Pearl said Cynthia left right after that, and it was close to 12:30 a.m. at that point.
Pearl said she left the bar at about 12:45 a.m. She said she didn’t see anyone loitering in the parking lot and went straight home as usual.
Pearl said she hasn’t seen Andrew or Carl Fine at the bar since then. She said Cynthia has been to church every Sunday since, but Pearl did not attend church herself the weekend of the 4th of July, so she doesn’t know for sure if Cynthia went.
{tab2 Rodrigues}
Elisa Rodrigues
Duffy’s bartender
102 Combs St, Oxford, Oxford, MS
Rodrigues, 28, was working July 13 behind the main bar.
Rodrigues said John Reagle arrived before 7:00 and began drinking “lots of Bud.” She said Reagle was eager to show her a plastic box that he said contained a hand, but she declined. “Johnny’s nothing but trouble, and I didn’t want to know what he was up to.”
Rodrigues said she’s seen Reagle in the bar several times before, but he’s “not a real regular.” Rodrigues said she was glad when Patrick Mulvaney called the cops. “It’s about time someone straightened Johnny out.”
Rodrigues said she also knows Eddie Dooley, describing him as “a real regular,” and Carl Fine.
She said she knew Andrew Fine, but he hadn’t been in the bar that night of July 13. She said she last remembered seeing him the night of Tuesday, July 1. Rodrigues said she had a week off after that and never saw Andrew again.
She said Andrew was at the bar “all the time” and frequently propositioned her for sex. She said Andrew called her “my little enchilada,” and once mentioned going to “his mansion in the woods for a little night romance.”
Rodrigues said she’d complained about Andrew to management but was told that kind of thing goes with the territory.
Rodrigues said she didn’t know Andrew’s wife, Cynthia, but said, “she must be some saint.” She added that she had never seen Andrew come to the bar with a woman.
{tab2 Thornley}
Ida Thornley
Duffy’s server
549 North 9th Street, Oxford, MS
Thornley, 26, was working on both nights in question as a server in the lounge/bar area.
July 3, 2014
Thornley said Andrew and Cynthia Fine arrived around 7:30 p.m. and took a table in her section. She said Duffy’s was extremely crowded due to the holiday weekend and so she didn’t notice much, but Andrew “was drinking like a fish” and ordered three pitchers of Bud from her.
Thornley said Andrew was a regular and came to the bar three or four times per week. “He was a real handful, always grabbing at me.”
She said Cynthia had been to the bar “once or twice.”
Thornley said Eddie Dooley was sitting at the table with Cynthia Fine while “Andy and his damn fool brother” were at the pool table most of the night.
She said she didn’t recognize another man who sat at the table briefly, but said Andrew “hassled him real good,” and the man left without having any beer from the pitcher on the table.
Thornley said Andrew and Cynthia had an argument — “I thought that poor girl was gonna faint, she was so scared” — and then Cynthia left the premises immediately afterward, around 12:15 a.m. Thornley said she noticed the exact time because “my shift ends at 12:30, and by that time, I watch every minute.”
Thornley said there were still 10 or 11 patrons in the bar when she left, including Carl and Andrew. She said Eddie Dooley left sometime before midnight, “definitely before Cindy.”
She said she didn’t notice anything unusual in the parking lot when she left and didn’t see Andrew or Cynthia Fine in the bar again after that night.
July 13, 2014
Thornley said she heard John Reagle and Eddie Dooley “whooping it up as usual” in another section of the bar around 9:00 p.m. but didn’t notice anything unusual.
She said Reagle approached her later in the evening with a box and offered to show her a human hand. She said when she asked him about it, he boasted, “You know that bitch, Lisa? I done cut her arm off!!”
Thornley said she took a peek at the box, and Reagle opened the lid a little. She said, “it smelled worse than a baby’s diaper,” and she had to go outside to get some fresh air.
Thornley said Reagle was at the bar for quite a while and was pretty loud. She said the bar wasn’t crowded, so he kept on showing his box to the same people over and over.
Thornley said she saw the police car pull up, but didn’t know anything much about it.
{tab2 Wilks}
Greg Wilks
Duffy’s busser
Pike house, Fraternity Row, University, MS
Wilks was working both nights in question, bussing tables.
Wilks said he liked hanging out at Duffy’s and was excited to get a job there in March. “It’s like being paid to party.”
He said he knew Andrew and Carl Fine pretty well and said they are both regulars that he talked to occasionally. “They’re hella funny.”
Wilks said Eddie Dooley was also a regular, but he didn’t know him too well.
July 3, 2014
Wilks said the bar was crowded and he was “working too hard to have fun.” He said he had to keep going out on the floor to retrieve empty glasses so they could restock the bar.
He said Patrick Mulvaney was “riding [his] ass” and kept ordering him around. Wilks said Mulvaney was always breaking up the fights Andrew started, though Wilks said Andrew was “just kidding around” most of the time.
Wilks said he saw Andrew and Carl playing pool, and they invited him to join them. “I was totally bummed. He would’ve bought me shots. He had like this huge stash of money he was waving around.”
Wilks said Eddie Dooley was sitting at one of the tables near the pool table with a woman. He said there were “three or four” pitchers on the table at one point and several glasses. Wilks said the woman had ordered a hamburger and a Coke and barely had room for her plate on the table.
Wilks said there was some kind of fight between Andrew and another man, and then later Andrew and Carl began “messing around.”
Wilks said the woman left before Andrew and Carl were “messing around,” but Wilks didn’t notice anything unusual about her.
Wilks said he left around 1:00 a.m. that night and walked back to campus. He said he didn’t notice anything unusual in the parking lot or area of the bar.
Wilks said the place hasn’t been the same since the news about Andy. “He sure liked to party hearty.”
July 13, 2014
Wilks said the bar was pretty quiet, and after happy hour was over, he poured himself a beer and relaxed. He said “some weirdo guy” was in the bar, telling everyone he’d cut off a woman’s hand and had it with him in a box. Wilks said, “It was hella funny. He was totally freaking out the girls.”
Wilks said he wanted to see the box, but Mulvaney called the cops before he got the chance. “Pat always ruins the fun.”
Wilks said he left early, around 11:30 p.m., and walked back to campus. He said he didn’t see anything unusual in the parking lot.
{/tabs2}