GBI FORM #28 WAIVER OF COUNSEL BY DEFENDANT IN I, $4sz #7515 have been informed by the undersigned law ehforcement officers, prior to being questioned by them, that I am sus ected of the offense of in L0 County, Georgia, on the ;2 day of g22?g? 1924, we: and have been informed by them of my Rights as follo 1. That I may remain silent and do not have to make any statement at all. 2. That any statement which I might make may be used against me in Court. 3. That I have a right to consult with an attorney before making any statement and to have such attorney present with me while I am making a statement. 4. That if I do not have enough money to employ an attorney, I have the right to have one appointed by the Court to represent me; to consult with him before making any statement; and to have him present with me while I am making a statement. 5. That if I request an attorney, no questions will be asked me until an attorney is present to represent me. After having my Rights explained to me, I freely and voluntarily waive my right to an attorney. I am willing to make a statement to the officers. I can read and write the English language and fully understand my Rights to an attorney. I have read this Waiver of Counsel and fully understand it. No threats or promises have been made to me to induce me to sign this Waiver of Counsel and to make a statement to the officers. This day of ,1972. if g/ y? All of the Rights in the above Waiver of Counsel were read and explained to the above defendant by me and he freely and voluntarily waived his right to an attorney. No threats, promises, tricks, or persuasion were employed by me or anyone in my presence to induce him to waive his rights to an attorney and to make a statement without an attorney. He freely and voluntarily signed the above waiver of Counsel in my presence after having read it. 24/? g/gz-zf, 452: (Title) Witnessed by: ?E4v?ufz.424z?.k. EXHIBIT 1 5 lb"- INVESTIGATIVE SUMMARY JOEL POLSON SPECIAL AGENT S. L. THOMPSON 5/17/74 Case Agent interviewed Ralph Howard Fox at the White County Jail at approximately 11:00 a.m. and he gave the following statement. Case Agent: Okay, Now Ralph, you stated to me that you left Michigan and went to New Orleans, and from New Orleans you went to Fort Lauderdale, and after Fort Lauderdale, you came up to Atlanta. Then approximately two weeks ago, you hitchhiked to the top of Woodys Gap, which is in Lumpkin County, and you started hiking the trail there. Now the first day you said that you got to Blood Mountain, is that right? Fox: That's right. Case Agent: And it was raining and you got there fairly early so you stayed in the shelter there on Blood Mountain the remainder of that day. Fox: Yes. Case Agent: Okay, now, just start from there. Fox: And then I went past Neals Gap the next day and I don't remember the name of the shelter, but it's about a mile off the road, there's a spring there, and I stayed there the se?ond night. Then the third day I went to Low Mountain, or Low Gap and I stayed there that night and the fourth day, as you know, every? thing happened. From there I walked out to the highway and hitchhiked to Helnn and stayed the night in Helen in a motel. PAGE 2 Case Agent: Was anyone with you when you hiked on out from Low Gap? Fox: Yes. Case Agent: All right, now who was with you? Fox: Margaret Harritt. Case Agent: Now, you and Margaret in other wordswhat? Wednesday night? Fox: I4believe - I can't recall the dates. Case Agent: Was anybody at the shelter when you first got there? Fox: Yes, there was some other people there. Case Agent: Do you know who they were? Did you talk with them or anything? Fox: There was three people already there, and they were at the shelter, so V?p I camped out beside the shelter. And then later on in the day two other hikers came (V and they stayed the night in the shelter with the other three, and early in the Mg - . mornin they left, so I stayed that da in the shelter. 8 Ugdgi? Case Agent: So you were there by yourself all day that day? . - . Fox. Until about 4.00 clock, I guess. {a 6 Case Agent: Four in the afternoon? Okay, now is that when Margaret and Joel came into the shelter? Fox: Yes. Case Agent: All right, then ya'll stayed there that night. Right? Fox: Yes. Case Agent: About what time early the next morning did this take place? Fox: Seven. Case Agent: Around 7:00 a.m. Fox: Early. 7:00 o'clock, early in the morning. Case Agent: So the incident happened about 7:00. All right, now, did you tied her up in the shelter first? In other words, you tied her up two times, Is that right? PAGE 3 Fox: Yes. Case Agent: The first time was inside the shelter? Right? Fox: Yes. Case Agent: And then where did you take her the second time? Fox: There's a small trail that leads off of - alongside the creek - from the shelter, down that trail about a 100 yards or more. Case Agent: Okay, now what took place when?you got down there? Fox: I tied her to the tree. Case Agent: Now the pack that you originally had, the one that belonged to to you, what did you do with it? Fox: About fifty feet away from where I tied her, I threw it against a hollow stump. Case Agent: You put the pack and a black leather coat, is that right? Fox: That's right. Case Agent: Now there was a hard-shelled hat, sort of like you wear in the jungle, what did you do with it? Fox: Just threw it. Case Agent: Threw it down the side of the mountain? Fox: That's right. Case Agent: Now, you tied her to that tree. She was sitting on a tree and then you tied her to that little tree. You left your pack and your coat down there in the hollow stump. Then you went back up to the shelter area. Right? Fox: Thath right . Case Agent. Then what did you do when you got back up to the shelter? Fox: Well, I organized things, getting ready to leave. PAGE 4 Case Agent: Had you already moved the body at that time? Fox: That's something I'd rather wait for the lawyer. Agent: Okay. So then you went back and you Spent Some time there and then you started organizing to get out? Fox: That's right. Case Agent: Then did you decide to go back down there and untie her? Fox: Yeah, I was thinking about it while I was up there cleaning up. I didn't want to leave her there. I didn't know how long she would be there, or what would happenthe highway where she could get out. Case Agent: In other words, you didn't want to hurt her? Fox: No, I didn't want to hurt her. Case Agent: Then ya'l] hitchhiked. You went back down there and untied her and brought her back up, and in the meantime, you took Joel's pack and all that, in other words, you'd had all that arranged so you could carry it out? Fox: That's right. Case Agent: Okay, then you put his pack on your back. Fox: Yes. Case Agent: Then ya'll started hitchhiking out from the area, from the Low Gap Shelter. Fox: Yeah, we hiked out. Case Agent: we11, that's what I meant, I didn't mean hitchhiking, I meant hiking. So ya'll started hiking from Low Gap Shelter then, and this was about what time Thursday? Fox: It must have been 10:00 o'clock at least. Case Agent: So after the incident took place, at then ya'll stayed in the area there until about 10:00 - it took you that long to get everything arranged. PAGE 5 Fox: Yes. Case Agent: Then you left the shelter area, you and Margaret Harritt, and started hiking on further down the trail? Now tell us what happened, step by step, from there? Fox: We hiked for a ways, I don't know where it was, but we ran into a couple of foresters. I don't think they were rangers. They were working in the forest clearing stumps off the trail, and we talked to them for awhile. Case Agent: You know who they were? Fox: Never seen them before. And then we went on down the trail and before we got to the highway, there was three people coming a gentleman and, I presume, his wife, and another woman. They were hiking back down south and we asked them about the highway and where the nearest town was and we went on to the highway. We started hitchhiking and a woman picked us up and took us into Helen. And in Helen, we got a motel room and stayed there the night, and next day about 9:00 or 9:30 in the morning - Case Agent: This would have been Friday? Fox: Yes. we hitchhiked, uh, - Does this town have just a Trailways Bus Station? Case Agent: Yes. Fox: We hitchhiked to here and we found out that they only had a Trailways Station, and the only place a Trailways went was to Atlanta, so the guy there, he advised us to go to Cornelia, that they had a Greyhound Station there. So we went to Cornelia. We had to wait until afternoon - 3:00 in the afternoon, and I caught one to Atlanta and she supposedly caught one to Columbia, S.C. and we left. Case Agent: In other words, you left the bus station in Cornelia before She did. She was still there whenjyou left. Fox: Yeah- PAGE 6 Case Agent: All right, now, during the night that - well, first, what time did you get into Atlanta on Friday? Fox: Six o'clock. The bus was running late. It was supposed to be there at 5:30 and it got there around 6:00. Case Agent: You got into Atlanta Bus Station about 6:00 o'clock. Now, where did you go from there? Fox: I put my pack in a locker and I got started looking around for a place where I could stay, and I found that place on Street. I got it right away and I took a cab back, got my stuff out of the locker, and went back to Street. Case Agent: Okay, now when ya'll got to Cornelia, didn't you cash some travelers checks that belonged to Joel? Where all did you cash those? Fox: The First National Bank and at a restaurant. I can't remember the name of it. Case Agent: You cashed same in Helen, also, didn't you? Fox: I cashed one at a gas station. Case Agent: There in Helen, the little town where you spent the night? Okay, Now I believe Harritt cashed some of hers there in that town also, didn't she? Did she co-sign one of Joel's travelers checks with you? Fox: No. Case Agent: In other words, no one signed them but you? Fox: That's right. Case Agent: After you got to Atlanta, did you have any of the travelers checks left? Fox: No, I cashed them all before I left. Case Agent: Cornelia? Fox: Yes. PAGE 7 Case Agent: You got your room rented in Atlanta Friday night, and you went back to the bus station and got the pack out of the locker and carried it over there. You also had Joel's wallet and all of his identification, now, what happened to that? Fox: When I got to my room, I started going through it carefully, the whole backpack, everything that would identify him, I put in a paper sack and put it in'a trashbasket on the sidewalk, I put it in there. Case Agent: The gun that you had, the Rosse .38 caliber five-shot revolver, where did you come by that gun? Fox: Fort Lauderdale. Case Agent: Did you buy it from somebody down there, or how did you come in possession of it? Fox: Bought it on the beach off of Sunshine Boulevard. Case Agent: Was it hot when you bought it? Did anybody tell you it was hot or anything? Fox: They didn't tell me it was hot, but I assumed it was. It was a Saturday night special. Case Agent: Did you get into any kind of trouble in Lauderdale? Fox: No, all I did was live there. Case Agent: So you're not wanted in Florida? Fox: No. Case Agent: The reason I asked is that Florida has made some inquiries, wanting to know a description, and all, of who we were looking for on this thing up here. And of course, we sent yours down there. we had a fairly accurate description of you, from some composite drawings and whatnot, but I just wanted to make sure. Are you wanted anywhere other than Michigan for parole violation? PAGE 8 Fox: No. Case Agent: The night that you stayed in Helen, you and Margaret Harritt, in the motel, what all did you do that night? Did you just stay in the room, or did you go out into town, or do anything at all? Fox: we went out to get something to eat. There was a small pavilion that served hamburgers, etc., about a hundred yards from the motel and we went there and got something to eat. They had a beer store there, and I bought some beer and then went back to the motel. Case Agent: Now, did you in any way molest, or attempt to molest Margaret? You didn't touch her in any way? Fox: No. Case Agent: I believe you signed into thamotel. You registered for the room. Is that right? Fox: Yes, sir. Case Agent: Now, after you decided to take Margaret with you, what in~ structions did you tell her about trying to notify her or anything, about this thing? Fox: I can't remember everything I said. I told her I was just trying all the time to keep her scared, you know, so that she wouldn't run for help or any- thing like that. She seemed to be pretty well in control of herself on the outside, but you could tell on the inside she was pretty well shook up. When I left her at the bus station, I knew she would - the only thing she had on her mind was getting home. At the time that's all she could talk about. I figured I had at least a couple of hours headstart when I left. So I just got on the bus for Atlanta. Case Agent: Sheriff, do you want to ask him anything? Sheriff Baker: Yeah, did you have any food with you at the Low Gap Shelter? Fox: Of my own? PAGES 9 Sheriff Baker: Yeah. Fox: I had some beef jerky. I was making some soup out of it. Sheriff Baker: Joel - was he a friendly type of fellow? Fox: I didn't talk to him much. Sheriff Baker: You were going back north to Michigan? Fox: No, I wasn't going to go back to Michigan. I was going to try to work my way northwest. Sheriff Baker: Had you ever walked the trail before? Fox: No. Case Agent: In other words, you spent about two weeks on the trail before Joel and Margaret showed up? Is that right? Fox: No. The first night I got there late, the day at Blood Mountain, the day at the Spring, and a full day at the other spring, and it took Spent a day at Low Gap, than a day coming out, would be five days. Case Agent: Did you hike with anybody when you first got on the trail? Did you hike with somebody part of the way? Fox: There was a couple of guys at Blood Mountain. They came there right after I did and I got to talking to them, and knowing them a little bit, and intermediately throughout the trail, I was meeting them, going with them a little way. Case Agent: There wasn't anyone else you were going to meet on the trail, or anything like that? This is just something you made up to - for what reason did you say? Fox: well, when I was going to put Harritt out in the woods and then I left the pack and everything there, you know for anybody's benefit that came along, and I wrote this note like I was going to meet somebody. Case Agent: How did you sign that note? PAGE 10 Fox: Jimmy and signed it Bob. Case Agent: You addressed it to Jimmy and you signed it Bob? Fox: Yes. Case Agent: Did you need the gear, the camping equipment and all that, is that the purpose? Fox: No. Case Agent: Did you get into an argument, some kind of argument or anything? Fox: No, just something, I'll have to wait for a lawyer. Case Agent: Okay, we'll respect that. Now, Ralph, I'm going to take this recording we've made back down to my office and have the stenographer type it up and then I want to bring it back read it, or we'll read it to you and make sure that it's like you said, and if there's any changes you want to make or anything like that, then of course we'll acknowledge that, and get you to sign it, and I'll try to get that done and it may be tomorrow before I can get back up here. Is there anything else you'd like to tell us? Is there anything like that? Fox: Not before I have some kind of legal advice, then I'll talk pretty freely. Case Agent: we're going to get you an attorney appointed and get him up here and let him have time to talk to you, and if you want to continue to talk to us, then of course we'd like to talk to you further. I have read this statement and found it to be true and accurate as I have related it to Agent Thompson and Sheriff Baker. I have made this statement of my own free will without any promises of reward or any threats made against me. SPECIAL AGENT s. L. Tnomsonzsz'?? ax