April 14, 1986
DERRY'S RECORDED PHONE CONVERSATION WITH PERCY SARGENT
 
After my recorded conversation with Percy, Derry listened to our conversation and decided to call the prison and leave a message for Percy to call him collect. We didn’t know if Percy would call back. But he did; and Derry also taped his conversation with Percy. Derry started the conversation by saying, “I wanted to get a chance to talk with you.”

Percy said, “Well, geez, not much I can tell you. I’d like to get that bird up there. When I got busted that night, they were listening to a police scanner radio, Paul and Mike, and when they heard that I had gotten busted, this Pollard, he freaked out a little bit. ... he thought that Mike had set me up for that drug bust and this Pollard was talking to Mike about doing drug robberies and things, you know, so he just freaked out. He thought Mike was an informer; killed him and tried to cover up the evidence by burning that camp down, you know. It’s rather simple.

“You know something, Derald? They’ve never asked me one question about that fire. I’ve never been—not one investigator has ever asked me one question about what happened that night; and I sat in that county jail right after the fire, for four or five days waiting bail, and not one cop ever questioned me or anything, ’cause they didn’t give a #*&#, you know?”

Derry said, “Listen Percy, between you and—I mean there’s no way this is gonna hurt anybody anymore anyway. Do you have any evidence, solid information, or corroborating testimony from somebody else that would convict Pollard?”

“I’m probably the only one, me and his brother Cormier, you know and maybe my brother Richard Sargent, you know, if they’d let it in court because that next morning after the fire… see Pollard was down to my mother’s and sister’s house down in Winterport about 9:30 that morning, you know, and they went back out to Lucerne and tried to make like they’d, he’s called Lionel Cormier up or something to come out there and pick him up ... It was just this Pollard freaking out on that coke and, you know.”

“I talked to Cormier,” Derry said.

“What did he have to say?”

“He told me that he did pick up his brother like you said ... across from Mark’s [Ashe]. And he said when he picked him up he asked him, ‘what about Cochran’ and Pollard said, ‘forget about Cochran, they’re gonna find his body.’”

"Pollard is the culprit in this whole thing,” Percy said.

He shot Mike?”

Freaked out, didn’t know what to do about the body and you know, just poured gasoline over the inside of that place and lit her up.”

He shot Mike, didn’t he>?” Derry repeated.

I believe so.”

“You believe so. Is that what you said, you believe so?”

“... Well see, Pollard thought that night, when they were sitting there listening to a police, that police scan radio, was that Mike had called the cops after I left that house to set up that drug deal or something like that and people get paranoid on coke and you know, it’s hard to explain their actions or anything and he just figured he’d done it before so why not do it again, you know? And that’s what we’re gonna try to bring up in this trial of mine next month.”

“Well, listen, Percy, I’m going to tell you something and it’s not because of any love that I have for you, but I’m gonna do every God damn thing in my power to bring this son-of-a-bitch to trial before I see him walk free.”

“Well, let me tell you something! I risked my life going to jail to hide Mike out there.”

 “I know that.”

“I left that house that night at eleven o’clock when Linda Gray was there and Pollard was there; and I was in jail, you know, at one o’clock that morning. I had gotten busted. If we could get the attorney, the assistant Attorney General, on this, Thomas Goodwin. You know if we could get him to listen to this.”

“Alright. Well look, Percy, I’m going to be getting a hold of [Assisant Attorney General]Tom Goodwin the first of the week. And I’m going to discuss the things that we discussed and the things that I already have in my possession.”

Well, you want to be sure to tell Thomas Goodwin that not one person has ever asked me about this whole case, you know; no DA, no cop, nothing.”

“Well, that's because of the #*%#ing #**hole Shuman they’ve got on this case.”

“They say I’m a hostile witness, you know.”

“Well, you’re pretty hostile anyway. Well, look Percy, thanks for calling me and look, I’ll keep in touch with you and give me a call if you think of something else.”

All right, but you want to be sure to tell this Goodwin that not nobody’s ever investigated me or asked me any questions about this or anything, you know.”

“I will do.”