Transcription (with a little commentary)
Jan 31st 2019 –
Lori Vallow, Tylee Ryan and Melanie Gibb arrive at GPD to speak to officers about Lori’s stolen purse and phone that morning.
LV approaches the first officer (O) with a wide smile and shakes his hand. The three of them are then shown to an interview room by two officers (O and O2). LV and TR sit at the table opposite O, and MG and O2 sit on chairs to O’s right.
LV: I don’t think I’ll file a report but my friend who is a police officer told me to file a report, so.
O: okay.
LV: He said it’s just good to have it on record, so
O: Yeah, okay, I’ve got a little bit of info from dispatch.
LV: Yeah.
O: Um, said he stole your phone and your purse
O2: What happened?
LV: My whole purse. So yesterday I got in an argument with my husband on the phone and he was in Texas working, and I found some stuff that he’d been doing, so he was really defensive, and so I took the kids, we spent the night in a hotel cause I knew he was coming home, and um, so this morning when I took my son [redacted] when I went into the school to take him into school, he was waiting somewhere and like stole my purse out of the car. My whole purse, so, my phone, my wallet, my money, my everything was in there. So I didn’t have, I had the door locked but the sunroof was open, because we have a service dog and he was in the car and I didn’t want to, my son was kind of throwing a fit I didn’t want to get them both out of the car cause it was a mess this morning, (laughs - flirty) we didn’t have any of our stuff cause we spent the night in a hotel and he was out of his…element and… So I didn’t lock the door for like the first time ever, and he like whatever. Either got it out, I don’t know if the door was locked he got it out or he reached through the sunroof and just got it. But then he started texting all my family and all my friends and impersonating me, and tried, and got my friend lured over to the [MG tries to interrupt but officer indicates not to interrupt] house to meet him, where he had like kicked in the door to get into the house, and stuff, so.
O: And he did that this morning?
LV: Last night.
O: Last night.
LV: That’s [why?] I’m glad we weren’t there.
O: Right. Okay.
MG: When I got there I’m like, ‘Lori?’ ‘Where’s Lori?’
LV: Well he texted [shouts over MG] her from my phone because he was pretending to be me, saying ‘oh come meet me at the house’, whatever…so.
O: Okay. [Asks MG] How did he, what did he say to you, then?
MG: He said, ‘can you come to the house now?’ And I said ‘sure’. And [I?] proceeded to act like he was himself.
TR: Do you have those text messages on your phone?
MG: I don’t have it on my phone. But, so when I got there I said um, ‘you’ve been using Lori’s phone to connect with me’. He was ‘sorry, I’ve deceived you’. I said ’Oh, okay, how you doing, luckily there were some other people there that were…
LV: [interrupts] So he got, he was changing the locks and probably having the door fixed where he’d kicked it in.
MG [shouting over Lori] the locksmiths were there, the locksmiths were there, so they were there, but there was a white suburban which I, you know, I don’t know, I don’t know where he got that car but anyway, there was a few vehicles so I didn’t know, you know, who, I, I, I suspected it would be her.. I should have noticed that your car wasn’t there, but I didn’t notice that.
O: Okay [to LV] what kind of car do you drive?
LV: An Infiniti QX80
TR: Black.
O; So you got to the house, and then, you got there, he said ‘yeah I deceived you’ and then? What was he calling you there for?
MG: He wanted me to come over there and get some information about her, pretty much.
O: Oh okay, what did he ask you?
MG: He was asking like, ‘what’s got into her?’, like
LV: [interrupts] where is she, right?
MG: ‘Where is she?’ Course I didn’t say where she was. I didn’t know where she was, she didn’t actually tell me.
LV: I didn’t tell anybody what hotel we’re at cause I said it’s safer for everybody to not know [laughing]
MG: He just basically wanted me to take a side of things and just say
LV: [interrupts] Told her how crazy I was and stuff like that.
MG: Right.
O: Hmm. What was your name?
MG: Melanie.
O: Your last name?
MG: Gibb.
O: Okay, just for documentation later, what’s your date of birth? [redacted]
O: So okay, he had you come there, he was asking you questions, so like is this something that’s happened before, is this like…?
LV: Yeah. Unfortunately. Yeah, we’ve had to leave and go to hotels just until he calms down or something. You know. So, we’ve done that before.
O: What is it, like that motivates him doing this kind of stuff, is it, does he say why?
LV: He just goes nuts sometimes.
O: Just goes nuts sometimes?
LV: [shouts over him] But, this time I caught him cheating and I had evidence and I told him about it and he travels a lot for business so, I told him about it, and told him not to come home and that his stuff would be gone and that his car would be gone and all those things (Tylee puts her hand over on the table in front of LV, in a quieten down motion) (lots of laughter from LV and MG) So he was a little mad..
MG: She’s just trying to protect herself.
LV: But I just left with the kids cause I don’t want them in all the drama (says with a sickly smile and turning to look straight at Tylee by her side), so
TR: Yeah.
O: So then he took your phone and purse and has he tried to make contact with you since?
LV: He’s tried to contact me through her… I don’t have a way to be contacted (lots of cross-talking and inaudible words)
MG: I didn’t know what her ph…, I couldn’t contact her
LV: Nobody could contact me, I just went and bought a phone so I could have a phone, a little throwaway phone so I could
O2: Have you called him to ask him if he’d bring your stuff back?
LV: Well he talked to her about it (points at MG) so he says sh…
MG: Yeah. I said would you be willing to give me the purse for Lori? You know. Um. And he goes ‘no, unless she does this, this and’ you know ‘all these things done.
O2: Don’t speak in generalities, we want specifics.
MG: Oh sorry. He wants me to meet him at therapy today,
LV: [for some money or something?] (lots of cross-talking hard to decipher who says what) –
MG: He [wasn’t going to?] give you the purse he’s just is saying he’d give it to me if I meet him there. (I think this is MG, could be LV): I don’t really want to talk to him today if I don’t have to.
O2: Okay, so if we get, if we have him bring the purse back are we all good? Like, I mean, you’re not willing to meet with him at, with the therapist or anything?
LV: Well…
O2: To try to get it back?
LV: I don’t want to meet him, cause I don’t know, (childish voice) he’s very sneaky, so like what he’ll do is meet me in the parking lot and mess around with me, you know, whatever, like he’s not going to just…
O2: What if we call him and see if he’ll come here
LV: [continues shouting over O2] …let me walk into therapy but
O2: and we can facilitate him giving your purse back?
LV: (sheepishly & unconvincingly) that will be fine, if you want to try that (mouse-like voice). (louder) I know he has it because he, he’s texting and (shouting) all my family, and the kids too!
MG: Definitely, so we know it was him that took the purse. Because he had her phone.
O: What’s he texting you? (to TR)
TR: Um, he, I have the text (pulls out her phone). He was basically just texting me
LV: (interrupts) He’s acting like my son was in danger, ‘I’ve been worried about JJ’s safety and…’
TR: (raises her hand to Lori and says okay, then shushes her)
LV: And things and texting her like he’s gonna
TR: So he at first text me, ‘are you doing okay today, hey girl are you [redacted] please [redacted] your mum I may not be home for a bit, love you, sent me a strange link to a website about our church,
LV: about [??cussing??] people
TR: Yeah, um said this is what’s happening, and then he text me at almost midnight ‘I’m so [redacted] but I have no choice, I’m just sick [redacted] danger, I had no choice’. Which I’m, he didn’t file a police report or anything as far as we know, so I’m just assuming he was trying to get a response, and then ‘I love you’. He was
O: A police report about what?
TR: Err, I don’t know, but he was acting like he did something [?]. ((my note - I’m assuming this was to do with Charles getting a committal order for Lori))
O: And then those text messages came from, do you have it entered as Mom’s phone?
TR: No that was from him.
LV: No that was before, that’s before, he didn’t take the purse until 8:30 this morning
TR: This was last night.
LV: At school.
TR: And he was sending word for word this same text to my cousin, like
O: What’s his name?
LV: Charles
O: What’s his phone number? [redacted] Does he have the same last name as you?
LV: Yeah Vallow. Mhm. Charles Vallow. So my friend told me, my friend that’s a police officer, he said go file a report, file a [(garbled words) restraining order?] all that stuff, I don’t want to do all that stuff, I just wanted it to be on record and if we can get the purse back that’ll be lovely, cause all my stuff is in there. I’m really mad about my lip gloss. (laughter) He has all the cards with all the stuff, so he’s mad cause I took the money out of our account but it’s a joint account, so he wants me to give him money, and
O2: Okay, that’s all a civil issue. Purse? There’s no reason why he’s walking around with your purse, your I.D., that he doesn’t have a right to.
LV: Right, that’s what I’m saying, all the rest of the stuff is our joint stuff together, so.
O: Alright, um, we’re going to leave the room temporarily, we’re going to try to give him a call, see if we can’t get this rectified.
LV: (saccharin voice) That’d be great.
TR: Thank you.
O: You’re welcome.
Officers leave room
O2: Do you want to make this call or do you want me to call
O: I don’t know, this one’s a little confusing for me, honestly, laughs.
