Original Document at: http://www.docstoc.

com/docs/30881313/Brett-Churchill-transcript-released-23Mar2010 TAPED TRANSCRIPT OF BRETT CHURCHILL INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY CORPORAL WILLIAM ERIC WILLIAMS CASE NUMBER 08-74777 RECORDED ON AUGUST 21,2009 EE CORPORAL WILLIAM ERIC WILLIAMS MEDETECTIVE MICHAEL ERICKSON BCMR. BRETT CHURCHILL EE: August 21, 2009. Approximately 11:50 a.m. Corporal Eric Williams, Orange County Sheriffs Office, in a conference room at the Holiday Inn at, whats the address here sir? BC: 5750 T.G.Lee Boulevard EE: And in the room? ME: Detective Mike Erickson, Orange County Sheriffs Office, Homicide Unit. EE: And can you state your name for me sir? BC: Yes, its Brett Churchill EE: Is this your correct address here? BC: Yes sir. EE: Alright. Alright Brett, I, we had chatted for a couple of minutes here and uhm, before we got on tape, regarding your, uhm, your involvement with Texas Equusearch. And I had asked , I just wanted to establish whether or not you were currently a board member, or represented in any way by, by any attorney.... BC: No sir EE: ...that may be representing that? Okay. BC: No sir EE: ..that group. You had stated to me though, uh, uhm,back when Texas Equusearch was in town , and they made an Orlando chapter, you gave me a list of names of people that are actually, at that time were, were elected board members. Can you give me those names again?

BC: Yes. Uhm, it was myself. It was Bill Fitzgerald, Lynn Hinkle,Theolyn Brock,Jamie Copenhaver, and the last girl was Stephanie and I, I cannot remember her last name. I dont know her last name. EE: Okay. Now you told me that you were involved in mo...a majority of the searches when they came down here. BC: I was involved in all three of them. Plus in between the searches we did it on our own. A group of us stayed together and searched. EE: Who is it, what was that group? Who was that? BC: Uhm, in that group was my wife, Lori Cree, uhm, Tony Rovinsky, Anna. I dont know what Annas last name was. Uhm, Ralph (making sounds) I dont remember Ralphs last name. I just remember most of their first names. Michelle, her sister Karen. Uhm, Joe Jordan, and there was one other girl. Im trying to remember her name. Jennifer Craig. And that was pretty much it. EE: If I asked you, Jennifer Craig? BC: Uh-hum (affirmative) EE: Uhm, if I asked you for phone numbers on these people could you give them to me... BC: Uhm... EE: ..eventually, or... BC: I could probably give you all but,uh,Jennifer Craig and Joe Jordan. I dont know their numbers at all. Id have to look them up. EE: Okay thats fine. BC: I was just involved in the group. I wasnt kind of leading the group or anything. We were just a group of people that were dedicated in trying to help find that baby. EE: Right. Now the first topic Id like to talk to you about now that weve established who our main players are. During those searches, um, the three different searches, and then your own independent searches... BC: Uh-hum (affirmative) EE: Did you at any time go down and search the area that the child was eventually discovered? BC: Yes, absolutely. Ive been in that area four times. EE: Four times ? BC: Uh-hum (affirmative) EE: Okay

BC: Twice, once with Texas Equusearch, and three times on our own. EE: Once with Texas Equusearch? BC: Yes. The very first search that they conducted one of their members was Helen, and I dont know Helens last name. She was out of Texas. Uhm, she led us. And there was a fairly large group of people. And we ended up at the church off of (sighs) Chickasaw. And five of us left the church to go basically recon an area which was that area there. And those five people were Helen, Lori Cree, my wife, my daughter Kristen, and myself. That was at the very first search. EE: Brett and Shelly? BC: Uh-hum (affirmative) EE: Ad you said your daughter? BC: My daughter Kristen. Yeah, she was with us. EE: K-R ? BC: K R-I-S-T-E-N EE: Okay, how old is she? BC: Shes twenty-five. EE: Twenty-five, okay, so shes not a juvenile. BC: No EE: Alright, so when you went down and surveyed that area, uhm... BC: We basically went off to check this area out because the church with the rest of the people wasnt a very large area for the amount of people. So we decided to go check that area out to see if it was worthy of bringing all the people down there. Which we stayed on the very, let me see which end would this be. Its on the Econ side. Excuse me so I can turn this off. It was on the Econ side. I think its a utility area for OUC (Orlando Utilities Commission) or Progressive Energy or something like that. Its... EE: Down by the school? BC: Yes. It was down, that was the corner that we originally started in. And we just kind of looked around that area and realized it was big enough to bring the rest of the group in. Helen and myself at that time we went down into, there was a, a rolling gate at the end of the road. We went past that down into the what I call utility drive, or whatever is there. It was a pretty big dumping ground for, it looks like the neighbors have been dumping a lot of garbage in there. My wife, Kristen, and Lori, they walked the edge of the street, headed back towards where Caylees body was found. But they, to my knowledge they never made it exactly to the end of the, at the end of the, uhm, street where they actually found her. They stayed more on the curve there. Uhm, the growth, it was like six feet of briars and I think they call it potato vines. It was just terribly, terribly thick. You couldnt get into that, that area. And there was a couple of

accesses where you could. Youd have to fight to get in there. But the water on the side it was, it was thick. There was snakes. I did see, uhm, copperheads at another time when we were in there. EE: Okay BC: But the water, all the way to the last search, there was water in that area to the point where I always wore rubber boots, knee high boots, and it would be at least eight, ten inches deep in that area where you couldnt walk in there without knowing what youre walking in. EE: Let me ask you though, so thats the very first while youre with Texas? BC: The very first time. I never even got down to that area. I always, I was on that far end. EE: But Lori, Shelly, and Kristen did? BC: They walked up the street yeah (affirmative). EE: Okay BC: But I dont know if they ever got to that.... EE: Okay BC: Area EE: So I could, at least I have three people that I know I can check with... BC: Sure EE: Specifically for that. BC: Sure EE: ..for that particular time. BC: Uh-hum (affirmative) EE: Now that hundred people that was at the church or so, when they came down and yall said have at it, it was more towards the school or so..(unintelligible) BC: Yes. It was more on the end of the school. We all went down into the utility area and just started combing that area pretty thick. EE: Okay, so... BC: (inaudible) EE: ..there was never, now, you know, knowing what you know and seeing, well, on the television, and maybe even youve driven past there now and can see where the recovery was made... BC: I was there the day after she was found and...

EE: Okay BC: ..it, how they... EE: Uh-hum (affirmative) BC: ...pretty much raked that area pretty bad... EE: Well, we searched it, we searched it very, very... BC: Yes EE: ..thoroughly BC: (chuckles) EE: Uhm, with that being said though, you playing an active role in coordinating searches in that area, do you ever recall an actual grid, search, or a shoulder to shoulder, or any kind of a foot march through that area... BC: No way EE; ..that would have...okay BC: No way. EE: You know what Im getting at. And... BC: Yeah (affirmative) EE: Were looking for if there was a, if there was a group of people, or a small group, large group, whatever ,that went through that area, we want to determine if it was, if... BC: No way. Theres no way you can. I mean I ventured on, on our own at times I ventured down in that area because uh, the ladies couldnt. There was no way. But I would get in there chopping my way with a machete. And it was, no, people couldnt walk in there. It was all water. It was water all the way up to the vegetation. It was like a steep, the vegetationd come from the road in. And it was just a steep drop off down to the water and, and the wet area in there. EE: Okay BC: Theres no way that they could do any kind of grid search. EE: So as far as your involvement with Texas Equusearch, and your independent searches with these other people that you named... BC: Uh-hum (affirmative) EE: ...never was there a shoulder to shoulder walk through that area.... BC: No sir

EE: ..that would have definitely located this, this discovery? BC: No sir EE: Okay, and... BC: Or we would have found it. EE: And if you could say the primary reasons, and you could list them, what would they be? BC: The brush was thick in the water. There was no possible way. You couldnt step in the water without pulling out of your shoe... EE: Okay BC: Because the mud was you know, so nasty and terrible there... EE: Well that, what time frame would that be then? That would be the first time that you were with Texas Equusearch. BC: Yeah (affirmative) EE: And those other three times that you were on your own. What months are we talking about? BC: Well, lets see. They, when did they come the first time? Was it August, September? I, I dont remember the dates when they first came. From that point all the way to the third search, we spent many many days searching on our own. And we were down in that area. Something kept drawing us back there. I dont know what. Uhm, but weve, we searched quite heavily down in the trails back on that far end. As far as that area there, we, we kind of steered away from it because we knew the conditions. You couldnt physically get in there. It was really really hard to get in there. EE: Okay. Now, that, that mass force of a hundred people never were instructed to search there? What about K-9 searches? Do you know on that particular day was there any cadaver dog activity? BC: I believe I remember one individual with a dog. His name is Danny, Ibison I believe his last name was. He went in there with a, tried to get in there with a dog. Uhm, I believe he might have been with Lori, Lori Cree at that time. EE: Uh-hum (affirmative) BC: And we were like all on the other end. I dont know if that was the same day or not. I dont remember. EE: Okay BC: And we, we killed ourselves searching for that little girl. I mean Ive been in areas that humans dont belong and that was one of them (chuckles). EE: So there was no conversation that you can recall of that, hey, we, we had an alert over here, or you know, this, the, thisll...

BC: No EE: ..be a good place but we cant get in it, or anything along that line...? BC: No EE: Okay, theres another topic thats been mentioned through doing these interviews. Whats that number two? Uhm, its been brought to our attention, that during, Im not sure, one of the searches, that yall were here in this facility... BC: Uh-hum (affirmative) EE: ..that Tim Miller actually visited the Anthony home. Do you, when... BC: I dont believe that was during one of the searches. That was a time where Tim and, uh, and his girlfriend Lisa were here and they were talking with, I believe, the Anthonys at that time. It was before the second search maybe, or before the third search. It was, it was a week or two before the actual search took place. Uhm, I, I remember Tim go to their house just to talk to Casey and uhm, and her parents. EE: Who was with him ? Do you know? BC: I believe (sighs) his girlfriend Lisa was with him. And I believe that was all that I know of. Just those two. EE: Okay BC: I, I didnt get involved with them because thats not my cup of tea. I, I wanted to search. Thats all, thats my main thing. EE: Okay BC: I stayed away from the politics and the drama is what I call it. Uhm, he did come back here to the hotel. Unfortunately I work here and he, he was staying here. And I was talking to him one evening. And he, uhm, he did mention, he was very angry and the words he said to me was I almost had her. And I said What are you talking about? And hes like I had talked to Casey and I had a map in her bedroom with her. And I had convinced her to put an X on the map of the location of the body. And hes like I had left the room to give her a chance to think about it and her father went in there. And her father came out approximately thirty minutes later and said Shes ready to put the X on the paper And I believe thats when her mother stood up at that time and saidNo, get the hell out of my house.I dont ever want to see you again. And that was, Tim was very upset with that. And uhm, he came back to us at that time and asked us to stop searching for Caylee and divert our attention over to the Jennifer Kesse. Uh, apparently Mr. Kesse wanted some help. So uhm, my, the group that I normally searched with we all got together the following weekend and did some work for Jennifer Kesses family. And that was pretty much the last thing I heard about that incident. Uh, really it wasnt none of my business. I really... EE: Well, let me ask you, I mean knowing that, let me go back. I got to get a couple things... BC: Uh-hum (affirmative)

EE:...shored up here. So Tim and Lisa from Equusearch went to the Anthonys home with this map, and came back here. Who witnessed, or who eventually became aware of that occurrence? BC: I know myself was here, and Lori Cree was here, and those are the, we were the two that actually heard it from Tim. And a little, eventually later on in the evening, my wife came in and we mentioned it to her. She stopped by the hotel (inaudible). EE: Did Tim talk to Shelly about it or...? BC: No EE: No? You guys just told Shelly about it? BC: Yeah, we told her about that. EE: Okay. What, what other parties may have seen Tim upset about that, that shared that story? Just the two of you, you and Lori, or were there more individuals? BC: Uhm, well there was a lady that he had with him here. Her name was Judy. She was I believe on his board of directors in Texas. Judy McNalty. Judy McNalty I believe her name was. She was here to get an idea of the things that Tim did. And that particular evening he met with with Mark Nejame. I dont know if they discussed any of that though. That was... EE: You actually saw Mark here? BC: Yes sir. I, I was introduced to Mark, shook his hand, and left it at that because they were having a media event. EE: A media event right here? BC: Yes sir. And it was between Tim, Lisa and Mark. Those three stayed up, uh... EE: Where? BC: ..at the bar area, talking. EE: Their bar,at the bar? BC: Well they were sitting at the tables back by the bar yeah (affirmative). EE: Was, during that conversation was Lee, Lori, or any of these others present as well, or... BC: No sir. They, Lori and I were together. And thats when my wife came outside and we talked about it and then we left. We actually had done some searching that day and we were reporting it back to Tim. Because a lot of the things that we would find that we thought would be of interest we would report back to him, hoping they would go back and check it or whatever. Uhm, a lot of it didnt get checked. A lot of it never got, went back on the (inaudible). EE: Whatever was flagged.

BC: Yeah (affirmative) EE: ...wasnt checked later? BC: No EE: Okay, so this Judy may have been aware of it... BC: I know very little... EE: ...as well? BC: ..of Judy. I know shes a famous book author and she was joining onto Tims board of directors. And she came along with Tim I believe to get a feel for what he does in the field. I sat outside and talked to her a few times and learned about her, and uhm, you know, type of, she writes books is all I know. EE: She, she knew about the incident with the map though? BC: That I have no idea. EE: Okay BC: That I have no idea EE: P..possibly is what... BC: possibly.. EE: Okay BC: She could have, yeah (affirmative) EE: (sighs) Now you said outside here with, with Tim Miller BC: Uh-hum (affirmative) EE: That same evening? BC: Uh-hum (affirmative) EE: And he... BC: Yeah, he, he came out, and he was a smoker and theres no smoking in our building. So he would go out front and sit on the bench and have a cigarette. And we were talking to him that evening when he told us this, what had happened during the daytime events and... EE: And you said George Anthony had driven by? BC: Yes sir EE: What time was that?

BC: Uh... EE: In the same time fr..... BC: It was dark out. I, I dont know. It was during the same time frame. It was probably nine-ish at night. He drove by (coughs) out on T.G.Lee Boulevard here. Uhm, I dont know what he was looking for, who he was looking for, but he did drive by and.... EE: And you actually saw him then? BC: Yes sir EE: Did he come through the lot where you saw him or did you..... BC: Uh, no. He just, I didnt see him come through the lot. He just drove down the main street out front. EE: And what did Tim Miller say about that? BC: He just said, Theres George and he jumped up and ran back in the building. That was all he said. I, I dont know if he really wanted to be seen by George Anthony. I dont know. I didnt have a whole lot to say to Tim. I tried to keep my nose out of it because my purpose was just to try and help him search. EE: Alright. Ill probably get with you for phone numbers for these other individuals that may have witnessed that or were involved in those searches down there,the,after... BC: Uh, sure. EE: .. searches. So, you know, I just, those are going to be the same people that everyone else is interested in talking to. We try to do the same and make sure we look into everything thats brought to our attention. Do you have any questions for me Brett? BC: No sir. Uhm, like I said, uhm, just answer any questions you have truthfully. I dont have no reason not to. Uhm, it was kind of upsetting that we didnt find her. But, unfortunately the conditions werent really in our favor down there. And like I said, we never really really got into that are because of the amount of water and the brush and stuff so. It was very upsetting for my wife that night when she actually found out where she was at. EE: Hmmm BC: Because of the amount of times wed been in that area. EE: Do you know if during those other Equusearch, you know, where they, people were logging in and going and doing searches, do you know of any other group separate from yours that was sent to that same area to search? BC: Well you know I, I do know of two other guys that went in there. One of thems name is Richard Cree. Richard Cree. I do have his cell phone number if youd like. EE: Okay, Cree?

BC: Yeah EE: C-R-E-E ? BC: I believe thats how you spell it. Im really terrible with names though. EE: Is that kin to..Lori.? BC: No, no theres Lori. I guess youd call him Richard Creek. Everybodys got funny names. But heres his number if youd like it. EE: Okay BC: Its uh, xxx-xxx-xxxx and he lives down in the St.Cloud, Kissimmee area. And another one along with him is a gentleman by the name of Brett Riley. And I think Ive got Bretts number in my phone here too. Lets see, there he is. xxx-xxx-xxxx. I havent talked to neither one of these guys for quite some time. But I remember Richard telling me he remembers being in that area at one time. Uhm, I think Ive got a few more numbers that you want on your list there. EE: Okay BC: Lets see if I can find them. Uh, Tony Rovinsky. EE: Uh-hum (affirmative) BC: I got his number here. Uhm, (making sounds) right there. Xxx-xxx-xxxx. And then I got Theolyn Brock. Her number is xxx..... EE: Give me one second. BC: Sure. Some of these people have stayed together and weve joined a different organization and weve all became federally certified in search and rescue. So its just something we like to do I guess. EE: Phelan Brock? Phelan Brock? BC: Theolyn T-H-E-O-L-Y-N . Brock is B-R-O-C-K. And her number is xxx.. EE: Uh0hum (affirmative) BC: xxx-xxxx EE: Alright BC: Let me see if I got Bill, Bill Fitzgerald. I might still have his number. I believe Bill is still involved with Texas Equusearch. I dont see it here anymore. I must have deleted. EE: Was, was Bill aware of the incident down at the Anthony home that youre aware of? BC: I dont believe so no. At least I dont know of him knowing that. He, uh, wasnt actually with like the group of people that I was with that searched all the time. He was the, he actually did some mapping work

for them, uhm, during the searches. Hes what we call the map guy. But I believe hes like their chairperson now for their local organization. EE: If anyone calls you and, you know, regarding you guys being bombarded with these media release calls and things of that nature... BC: Uh-hum (affirmative) EE: ...and they, and you know, like these fellows for instance, I may reach out to them today, or try. But if they give you a shout, just give them my number and let them know Im looking to interview everybody. BC: Sure EE: Alright. Do you mind? BC: (inaudible) EE: Will you raise your right hand? Oops. ME: When, each time you went into that area where, where she was found eventually... BC: Uh-hum (affirmative) ME: ...was it, was it always very wet, or did, was it ever dried up, or... BC: No it was never dry. I was actually surprised when they found her and they stripped that land how dry it was. And that was quite awhile after that search that you know. And I, I never even, I actually never left their command center on the last search. I was doing the debriefing forms when people came back. So I dont know what the condition was on the last search, uhm, but I can uh, tell you this. I was actually involved in uh, riding in Orange Countys helicopter where we took some pictures of the area. And from the sky the water was very evident. We flew over that area, or they flew over for us. EE: Thats where some fellow was taking pictures, with a new piece of equipment or something? BC: Yeah (affirmative). There was two of us, uhm, in the, in the plane. One gentlemans name was Bill Todd. Were in the helicopter. His name is Bill Todd. He lives in California. He was one of the Equusearch people that came to Florida here. And him and I went up in the helicopter with the two officers. And we took pictures out both sides of the window. And I believe his side, the right side of the, the craft is where he was taking, because they were turned to the right. He took a lot of the pictures up there with the cameras. And, uhm, it was very very wet. You could see it right through the tree line that it was still soaking wet in there. EE: His name was Shawn? BC: No, his, Shawn, Shawn Henady is the one that asked us to go up. His name was Bill Todd. EE: Bill Todd?

BC: Yes. Bill and Caroline Todd. And I might even have their numbers too. Let me look (chuckles). I know I, Im sure I got it at home. EE: Bill Todd? BC: Yup (affirmative). Let me see if I still got Carolines number here. Him and his wife Caroline were, no, I dont have his number. Dammit. Not with me anyway. EE; Aright, so those are, Shawn didnt go up and take those pictures? You and... BC: No sir. Shawn was, actually Shawn Henady was actually from, hes from Indiana. And he was here, I dont really know his reason why he was here to be honest with you. But he kind of ran the, the command center on his last search. And what he does for a living I believe is creates these, uh, drones for the military That are able to fly in and out and take pictures whatever. But he has also created some sort of computer module that you can input pictures and it enhances it into 3D form where they can get a clear picture of it from the ground. Quite an operation he had and he asked us to go up and get the pictures for him. And then I handed the cameras back over to him that day. It was actually the Friday before the third search started. I went back on Saturday to the airport,uh, over here, the business airport and spoke to the officers that took us up. And they gave me a CD of what their cameras took too. And I handed that over to Shawn. And I believe he gave that to John Allen that day. I believe thats what he did with that. EE: Okay BC: But the pictures were just basically, they were going to put them, input them into this model and see if they could, uh, detect anything from the air. ME: Hmmm EE: Which search was that? BC: That was the last one. EE: The last search. BC: The third one yeah (affirmative) I didnt, like I said, I didnt get to go out and search that one. I stayed right at their command center and was,uh, Bill Todd and I were actually, is what they call the debriefing team. We took care of debriefing the teams that came back in. EE: Okay. Yeah (affirmative) because we didnt have our hands in that very deep. We just were kind of standing by I remember. BC: Uh-huh, (affirmative) because we were going to go up in the helicopter again and it was kind of funny. We went out there that same night that I went up there in the morning. And there were going to take us out. And they said, oh we cant do it. Too many rivets fell out of the helicopter. ME: laughs BC: We dont want to put it off the ground right now, so...laughing

EE: Okay, you had, youd gotten to ride in one of the old ones. BC: Well I didnt know if it was old. It was a nice, a nice chopper. It was my first time and it was real nice. Like were sitting on the couch watching TV. Thats what, its really nice. EE: Just a little bumpier. ME: Yeah (affirmative) BC: Well it was bumpy when we got over the dump because of the birds. And they were bobbing and weaving to miss all the birds and... EE: Nice BC: Yeah, huh. ME: unintelligible EE: Brett, can you raise your right hand for me. BC: Yes sir EE: Do you swear everything you said today is true? BC: Absolutely yes. EE: And freely given? BC: Yes sir. EE: Okay this will stand as your sworn statement regarding these topics. And it is currently 12:16 in the afternoon. End of recorded statement. This transcript has been reviewed for accuracy. Corporal William Eric Edwards January 22,2010 OCSO Deputy Sheriff