Trial Transcripts


August 17, 1979

P. E. Beasley

Scans of original transcript
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5738
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5738
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5739
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5739
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5740
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5740
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5741
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5741
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5742
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5742
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5743
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5743
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5744
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5744
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5745
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5745
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5746
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5746
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5747
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5747
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5748
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5748
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5749
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5749
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5750
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5750
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5751
August 17, 1979: P. E. Beasley, trial p. 5751

Webmaster note: 
Directly after the testimony of Helena Stoeckley on August 17, 1979, six witnesses testified on voir dire, in the absence of the jury and alternates, per the bench discussions shown at the end of Stoeckley's testimony.  P. E. Beasley was the fifth of these witnesses to testify.
(Whereupon, P. E. BEASLEY was called as a witness, duly sworn, and testified as follows:)


D I R E C T  E X A M I N A T I O N  2:49 p.m.

BY MR. SMITH:
Q  Your name, please, sir.
A  P. E. Beasley.
Q  Where do you live?
A  Fayetteville.
Q  What do you do, Mr. Beasley?
A  I'm retired.
Q  What did you do before you retired?
A  I was a Fayettevill police detective.
Q  During the period of time in which you were a Fayetteville police detective, would you say whether or not you ever knew Helena Stoeckley?
A  Yes; I did.
Q  When did you first meet her?
A  1968.
Q  Could you state whether or not, during the period of time in which you knew Helena Stoeckley, you ever had conversations with her about the MacDonald murders -- what took place in February of 1970?
A  Yes; I did.
Q  Do you recall on about what date it was when you had your first conversation with Helena about that?
A  On the morning of February 17th, I believe.
Q  All right; and where were you when you had that conversation?
A  In the driveway of an apartment where she was going into.
Q  Mr. Beasley, would you tell the Court in your own words what you recall about that conversation?
A  I had gotten off work prior to the incident that we are discussing and went home and went to bed about 2:00 o'clock that morning.  I was called at home at approximately 7:30 or 8:00 o'clock and advised of this and gave descriptions of the suspects that was given out.
     I got dressed and went downtown, or to the office and pulled out my notes and got some information that Ms. Stoeckley had given me on a trailer near Fort Bragg.
Q  Let me interrupt you just for a moment, if I may, Mr. Beasley.  I take it you had had many conversations with Ms. Stoeckley prior to that day?
A  Yes; I did.
Q  Had you found her to be a reliable person?
A  The most reliable informant I ever had.
Q  All right; you may proceed.
A  Then, after I received descriptions of the suspects, I went to this trailer I knew she had been living at, and there was no one there.  So I proceeded to look for her that day, and I couldn't find her or anyone else -- the ones I was looking for.
     So I went back home and went to bed.  During the time I was at home, some other officers got my warrant and went back to the trailer, but we had searched this trailer prior to this -- and recovered a large amount of drugs that she had told us was there, and they were there.  We confiscated these drugs and we returned to the police station.  I signed a warrant -- I believe I signed it, and they went back later that afternoon and arrested one man.
     And when I went to work, I found out that this had been done, so I went back to the apartment house where Helena was supposed to have been living.  There was no one there, so I staked the place out, I guess, until 2:30 or 3:00 that morning.
     She drove into the driveway with a group of people in -- I believe it was an old convertible, Plymouth-looking car.
Q  All right; Mr. Beasley, at this time it would be the 18th of February?
A  Yes, sir; I believe it would.
Q  All right; go ahead.  What happened?
A  I was driving an unmarked car and I was dressed in dungarees and leather jacket.  I walked up behind the car and I called her to me, and as I called her she came towards me and the other subjects in the car also came toward me.
     She turned around and told them it would be all right to sit down.  So I took her to my car and asked her had she heard about this incident at Fort Bragg.  She said she had, and I said, "Well, Helena, according to the information we've got, you and these people you are with fit the description that was given out."  I said, "Now, I am going to ask you straight out, I know you and you know me.  I want to ask you to tell me the truth."
     She backed off and hung her head.  She says, "In my mind, it seems that I saw this thing happen"; but she says, "I was heavy on mescaline."  And she would not commit herself any further.
Q  All right; what happened next?
A  I got names of the other people that was in the car with her.  I called CID at Fort Bragg and told them that I had some suspects in custody that fit the description -- would the police come down?
     I believe that was about 2:30 and at 4:30, or almost daylight, nobody had ever come or either returned my call.  I released these people and let them go.
Q  Did you ever see any of them again, other than Helena Stoeckley?
A  Never.
Q  Did you ever see Helena Stoeckley again?
A  Yes; I did.
Q  When did you next see her?
A  I can't recall the time, but it wasn't long after that.  Later, I went up to her apartment, tried to locate her again, and I believe the last time I saw her there was a bunch of wreaths out in the front yard, and I believe there was also one hanging on the front door.
Q  Did you ever talk with Helena about that?
A  Yes; I did.
Q  What did she say?
A  She said that she was in mourning.
Q  In mourning?
A  Yes, sir.
Q  What was she in mourning about?
A  In reference to the MacDonald murders.
Q  Did she tell you she was in mourning about the MacDonald murders?
A  Yes; she did, and she was wearing black, and I might add that she would not -- I was really wanting some information really -- and she would not even talk to me about it.
Q  When did you next talk to Helena?
A  I can't remember, Mr. Smith.  I don't know.
Q  Did you ever talk with her out in Nashville?
A  Oh, yeah, yeah.  That was a year later -- about a year later.
Q  Why did you go out to Nashville to see her?
A  An agent -- I believe his name was Mr. Mahon -- from Washington, D.C., came around the police station and contacted me; asked me about the situation and, of course, I told him what I know and he asked me would I assist him in locating her and I said, "Sure, be glad to."
Q  When you were out in Nashville talking to Helena, did you talk with her any about the MacDonald murders?
A  Yes; I did.
Q  Do you remember anything she told you out there?
A  Basically the same thing she told me in Fayetteville.
Q  Now, I take it that during the time you knew Helena in 1969-1970, you knew that she was a drug user?
A  Yes, I did.
Q  Nevertheless, did you find you could rely upon Helena to tell you the truth?
A  Yes, sir.
Q  When Helena told you she was going to be somewhere, would she be there?
A  She would always be there.  She was never late.  She was always on time.  If anything, she was early.
Q  When Helena told you that you could find drugs at a location, did you find the drugs there?
A  I found the drugs there.
Q  Mr. Beasley, was that always the case?
A  Always.
Q  Did you feel that Helena was under the influence of drugs at times when she gave you information?
A  At times I had suspicions.  I didn't know for sure, but I did have suspicions that she might be.
Q  Even under those circumstances when you had the feeling she was under the influence of drugs, did you find you could rely upon her --
A  (Interposing)  Yes, sir.
Q  -- to tell you the truth?
A  Yes, sir.

MR. SMITH:  You may examine.


C R O S S - E X A M I N A T I O N  2:58 p.m.

BY MR. BLACKBURN:
Q  Mr. Beasley, when you were in Nashville, Tennessee, do you recall making a statement dated March the 1st, 1971, concerning this?
A  Any statements -- I don't recall.  It has been a long time.  The files on this case have been misplaced.  I have no idea where they are.  I have all my statements in this folder, and if I could refer to them, I could tell you that.
Q  I'll be happy to show you what I am talking about.
A  All right, sir.
Q  It may speed it up.  Take a look at this, Mr. Beasley, and see if you recognize it.  Do you recognize this as your statement?
A  Yeah.

MR. BLACKBURN:  For the record, Your Honor, he has identified a four-page statement.

BY MR. BLACKBURN:
Q  Is that your signature?
A  This is my signature.
Q  Could you speak up, sir?  We want to hear.
A  That is my signature there.
Q  Directing your attention, if you would, sir, to the second paragraph on the first page of a statement dated March the 1st, 1971, if you wold read right there that sentence, sir?
A  "She stated that she did not remember anything that happened on the night of the murders except that she did remember getting into a blue car she thought was a Mustang and it belonged to one Bruce Fowler."
Q  Now, if you would read the sentence -- let me see -- the same statement, the third page, the second paragraph, the sentence which I have underlined, sir.
A  "She again told me she had no knowledge of this night after 12:30 a.m. and that she does not know for sure what happened."
Q  On the last page, the last sentence, sir.
A  "It is my conviction that she is involved in the MacDonald case or at least she thinks she is or that she is doing this just to get all the attention she possibly can."
Q  Now, I believe that you stated on the 17th or 18th, when you picked her up, the CID did not come or return your call; is that correct?
A  No, sir.
Q  Do you know whether or not the CID ever subsequently interviewed her?
A  No; I don't.
Q  With respect to your first interview with Helena Stoeckley on the evening of the 17th of February, do you recall making a statement that, "Ms. Stoeckley did not indicate involvement in the murders at that time, nor did she indicate that she could recall her activities on that day in question"?
A  I don't recall.
Q  You don't recall making that statement?
A  No, sir.
Q  Do you recall ever making the statement that during the investigation of the MacDonald murders, she was interviewed by the FBI and the CID and nothing concrete was established regarding her involvement?
A  I don't know that either.

MR. BLACKBURN:  No further questions.

MR. SMITH:  May I ask one additional question?

THE COURT:  Yes, sir.


R E D I R E C T  E X A M I N A T I O N  3:02 p.m.

BY MR. SMITH:
Q  On page 2, I believe -- on the material that has been given you, Mr. Beasley -- if you will turn to the second page -- do you have any material up there now?
A  I don't have anything.
Q  Let me hand it to you.

THE COURT:  Just read it to him.

BY MR. SMITH:
Q  Mr. Beasley, do you recall making this statement or writing this statement down?  "...After the night of the MacDonald murders I picked Helena Stoeckley up for questioning.  I talked with her in reference to the case.  She was in a joyful mood and joked about her ice pick."  Do you remember that?
A  Your Honor -- I mean Mr. Smith -- she said so many -- if I put it down there, she said it, because I didn't make it up.
Q  All right, then; you do recall writing the material down in this statement that you have been furnished?
A  Yes, sir; I wrote everything down that I could get.
Q  Do you recall that what you wrote down in this statement was true at the time you wrote it down?
A  Yes, sir.

MR. SMITH:  That is all the questions we have.

MR. SEGAL:  Thank you, Mr. Beasley.  You may step down.

(Witness excused.)