Quote from John Tabor from Jan. 12, 2008 in his made for TV news interview with Jerry Carnes: So, I didn't think twice, I of course immediately called the GBI as soon as I could locate their phone numbers..." Oh Really?
After 5 years, notorious crime still haunts
Witness, authorities left asking, 'What if?'
http://www.prod.myajc.com/news/news/after-5-years-notorious-crime-still-haunts/nTyq3/
Late the morning of Jan. 3, authorities held a
news conference to announce a “person of interest” in the case, a man
hiking with a dog. Near Atlanta, businessman John Tabor was watching
CNN before lunchtime and realized he knew the unnamed suspect. He
called the tip line.
Gary Hilton had done marketing work for his house
siding business, he said. Tabor gave authorities Hilton’s birth date,
description, his dog’s name, that Hilton drove a white Chevrolet Astro
van and even its tag number.
A deputy drove to the parking lot near the trail
to pass that information to a GBI agent. It was about 1:25 p.m.,
according to a report. Cagle does not know the reason for the apparent
delay from the time Tabor called other than cell phone service was bad
there.
The GBI called Tabor 45 minutes later. Tabor said
Hilton once threatened his life, had talked about wanting to kill
others and was “a very crafty individual who could elude law
enforcement.”
Jan. 3: Hilton wanted
Later that afternoon, Cagle is not exactly sure
when, authorities put Hilton’s description on a BOLO (be on the lookout
for), to alert law enforcement that Hilton was wanted.
While Segars and other volunteers combed Blood
Mountain that afternoon, Hilton — with Emerson in his van — was at a
Huddle House restaurant in Marble Hill, 50 miles away.
Two hours after the GBI interviewed Tabor by phone,
Hilton called him; first from a cell phone and minutes later from a
pay phone at the restaurant.
Hilton wanted money. He told Tabor to leave a check for him at a DeKalb County business Tabor owned.
Tabor said he first called his family, telling
them to leave the house and then his brother, telling him to arm
himself and head to his home. Then Tabor said he went into a business
meeting.
During the late afternoon newscast, authorities
released Hilton’s name and photo to the public. Calls flooded in to the
tip line.
About 6:30 p.m., according to a GBI report, an agent called Tabor for followup information. During the conversation, Tabor, according to a report, told the agent of Hilton’s two calls.
Authorities traced one call to the Huddle House.
Agents called DeKalb police telling them to head to the business where
the fugitive might pick up a check. Hilton never showed up. Cagle made
it up to the Huddle House later that night. Hilton was long gone.
Cagle is still incredulous that Tabor did not immediately let authorities know Hilton called him.
“That was one of
the critical parts of the investigation,” he said.
Tabor, in a recent interview, said he was in his car when the wanted man called, frightening him to the core. “After hanging up, I’m thinking he’s coming after me,” Tabor said. “He’s nothing to lose.”
“As I look back, that is something I’ll always be
troubled by,” said Tabor.
“Had the GBI planted a seed in my mind that
he had a hostage, I clearly would have changed what I did.”
“If I didn’t care, why would I pick up the phone
in the first place?” he continued. “I’m the one who started the whole
thing. If not for me, he might still be out there killing people.”
WHO DOES THAT? Who pushes a crazy person who you know is drugged up out of his mind over the edge? That is what Tabor later claimed this note was for! What kind of individual doesn't report he is being threatened with extortion to the Law Enforcement agency that could actually do something about it, namely Dekalb where that employee is actually living in Tabor's own house? What kind of idiot gets 2 phone calls from the known kidnapper and extortionist and doesn't immediately dial 911?
Now what does he claim he needed? They being the GBI needed to plant a seed? GIVE US A BREAK TABOR! WHAT DID YOU NEED A WRITTEN INVITATION? Your own words recorded in this interview reveals they told you what to do, in advance of those phone calls from Hilton! You are caught in your own web of deceit once again! Hasn't your attorney told you yet to STOP digging yourself a deeper hole, own your mistakes? WIN AT ALL COST, that is what he told you, right? Or is that what you told him KEEP THE TRUTH HIDDEN?
WHO DOES THAT? Who pushes a crazy person who you know is drugged up out of his mind over the edge? That is what Tabor later claimed this note was for! What kind of individual doesn't report he is being threatened with extortion to the Law Enforcement agency that could actually do something about it, namely Dekalb where that employee is actually living in Tabor's own house? What kind of idiot gets 2 phone calls from the known kidnapper and extortionist and doesn't immediately dial 911?
Now what does he claim he needed? They being the GBI needed to plant a seed? GIVE US A BREAK TABOR! WHAT DID YOU NEED A WRITTEN INVITATION? Your own words recorded in this interview reveals they told you what to do, in advance of those phone calls from Hilton! You are caught in your own web of deceit once again! Hasn't your attorney told you yet to STOP digging yourself a deeper hole, own your mistakes? WIN AT ALL COST, that is what he told you, right? Or is that what you told him KEEP THE TRUTH HIDDEN?
Transcript of John Tabor interview with Jerry Carnes
Transcript of WXIA Carnes and Tabor
interview
From the interview conducted by Atlanta, Georgia’s,
WXIA-11 Alive Investigative Reporter Jerry Carnes with John Tabor. Interview was
broadcast on 11Alive on January 12, 2008 concerning an Atlanta
Journal-Constitution article on Gary Michael Hilton. The interview was a
three-part video with the first part being 15:11 minutes long; the second part
10:54 minutes long, and the third part 5:49 minutes long.
[Relevant parts
of Tabor's interview with reference to Robyn McKinney are found in the beginning
and then repeated again at the end.]
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
Jerry Carnes: John,
start off I guess talking about your relationship with Mr. Hilton. How did you
meet him and how did that kind of progress?
John Tabor: Right, I um first
met him about ten years ago. He had responded to a help wanted ad placed in a
local newspaper for a telemarketing position. And he came to the office to
interview. He had experience working as a telemarketer for other siding
companies, so in the same line of work, and he was hired at that
point.
Jerry Carnes: And then how did things go? Is that what he did for
you the entire time is...
John Tabor: Correct. All he uh all he ever did
was office work, um for the first number of years. Possibly five years he worked
as a telemarketer. I had a uh office on Clairmont Road and that is primarily
what was done there. Um, I had a lot of telemarketers, a lot of them would come
and go. Its a high turn over rate. Um, he had a job to do and he did his job.
And there wasn't that much else to say about him.
Um. and then there was
a period of time, around five years ago, where I ceased doing the telemarketing
operations in that office building. At that time um, he was looking for
something else to do. He may have worked for another company for a short while.
You know, b-bear in mind that I've had lots of uh employees that that did this
type of work over the years. But when I closed down that operation, he um, kinda
went on his own and would do his own independent telemarketing and leafleting
and that type of thing to try and uh generate business. So he worked in a
different capacity, but, but he did continue to work over the next five years
and um generate business for my company.
Jerry Carnes: But it was
strictly an office kind of thing, did he ever go out and do home...?
John
Tabor: Strictly in the office unless maybe he was out possibly handing um
putting leaflets on mail boxes or that type of thing. But no under no
circumstances did he ever go to a customer’s home or ever work on a customer’s
property. Uh, I am aware of a of an article that was published in the Atlanta
Journal Constitution yesterday. And there was an interview with a one Robyn
McKinney of Snellville. She um, she st.., she told lies, she she made
mis-statements of fact and um basically slandered me and my company in that
article. Um, unfortunately I was out of town this past week, and uh I was never
contacted before this before this story was printed. So uh today I'm trying to
correct some of the errors that were made and also answer questions that uh the
public has about this uh (sighs) heartless, vicious murderer, Gary Michael
Hilton. So that's why I am here. I’ve been talking a lot today so um, excuse me
if I have to drink some water every now and then.
Jerry Carnes: Oh you go
ahead. Um, tell me about Hilton when he worked for you, for those 10 years he
was telemarketing, some in your office, some out of the office, what, what kind
of...
John Tabor: Right, well going back to what we were just discussing,
uh the the what was printed in the Atlanta Journal Constitution was that Gary
Michael Hilton had actually performed work at this woman's home. And that is
absolutely unequivocally untrue. Period. End of Question. Um, he never, ever, as
long as he uh had anything to do with me or my company performed work of any
sort like that on a customer’s property. I don't believe he would have uh he
would have even known how to construct a deck or do any other type of carpentry
work. So I wanted to clear the air on that first to make sure that um the public
knows that uh th-this person was not visiting my customer’s house and putting
anyone in danger.
Jerry Carnes: What, wh-wh-what kind of character was he
when, did you ever, ever anything ever unusual about him the whole time he was
working for you?
John Tabor: I would best describe him as uh being
unconventional in the sense that um when I first met him he was a 50 year old
man, he uh said he basically had no family, he had a dog, a large dog and he
said that was his only family. He could only work and live in places that would
allow him to bring the dog with him because they uh they never left each
other.
So y’know, I'm a dog lover myself, I've always loved dogs and uh
so I somewhat sympathized with with his predicament and helped to accommodate
him where he could take his dog to work and do his job and and he did
that.
Jerry Carnes: So did you, ever have problems with him during that
time?
John Tabor: No for the first number of years I cannot really recall
any, any problems at all. I know that he uh didn't interact well with others on
a personal basis. Although he was, he was a talkative person on the telephone.
Uh in person, with strangers, I would notice that he would be awkward, and
uncomfortable. And I think I could best describe him as somewhat of a loner, who
didn't really prefer to be around other people all that much.
But um
nothing in his history um, that would have led you to believe he would be a
violent person, um certainly not to the extent of the the horrible vicious crime
that he has committed, um. There is nothing I can point to over this 10 year
period. However, I I have to back up and go back to the past year. Because the
past year is when things seemed to change, uh about a year ago.
He was
not doing his job, he wasn't working, he was becoming more withdrawn, more
difficult to uh to talk to, um.....He complained of being ill quite often, he
told other people he was ill, that, that he even had MS. Which um I I don't
believe there was ever any clinical diagnosis of such. I think this was just
these were just stories he would tell people, whether real or not, I don't
know.
But I know that he wasn't working, and uh he still needed and de,
he still needed and wanted money to simply to survive. So I helped him out the
best I could, um. But as time past on into the summer things were just getting
worse, not better. He still wasn't working and it got to the point where he was
demanding money. Not just asking for it. Even though at that point, he probably
had, I had probably advanced him in the neighborhood of ten-thousand dollars
[$10,000] he he um demanded more.
It got to the point where I told him
that there was to be no more. He wasn't working. I had been...discussing this
with him for several months now, and he wasn't doing anything about it and he
was going to have to move on.
And at that point he told me he wanted
ten-thousand dollars, period. He said I don't care how you get it, but uh ah,
you better give it to me, or else.
He said I'ld take half now and I could
get the rest later, but um, he said it would be th-the easy thing to do, or else
I would pay the price.
And he made no mistake, and I could see from
th-the tone of his voice that he was uh in a state I had never seen him before.
And I became very concerned.
Jerry Carnes: Was this, you said, summer of
2007 or 2006?
John Tabor: 2007, that was this past summer...
Jerry
Carnes: Just this past summer.
John Tabor: Yes.
Jerry Carnes: Not
even a year ago....
John Tabor: Not even a year ago, right, like I said.
He he started behaving oddly, and talking about his illness the first part,
about a year ago.
Jerry Carnes: Mmm hmm.
John Tabor: And then like
I said, things went on through the summer to the point when it came to a head,
when he basically threatened to kill me unless I gave him ten-thousand dollars
and um. I was very concerned, as I just said. I contacted local police
authorities and and filed a report there. And told them basically what I’ve just
told you.
The um Fulton County Police told me that based on what I told
them and I also let them listen to several voice mails that he had left on my
cell phone that clearly demonstrated um his unpredictable state. I let them
listen to that, they heard my story. I told them I seriously thought this man
was a danger that that uh, that people may be at risk, I may well be at risk.
And at the end of my interview there, um they basically told me that all they
could do was fill out a report for harassing phone calls. And then they gave me
a a pamphlet about a victim’s assistance center I could visit. I was also told
that a detective would be contacting me t-to follow up after reading the report.
Um, well No one ever called back, no one ever followed up. So I was basically
left on my left on my own devices.
And um, that very day that I contacted
the authorities, I called Hilton back, he wouldn’t accept the call, he just let
it go to voice mail. And I let him know that I had been in contact with the
police. And um, he had previously threatened me that if I, if I went to the
police, he would take action. So when that happened, um I I basically had to get
family members out of the house. And I armed myself and remained armed 24/7 from
that day forward until he was captured.
And I, I ah, took extra security
measures around my house. Um that’s, this is how seriously I took his threats.
And as the days passed um and I heard nothing from him, saw nothing of him, and
I had no idea of his whereabouts, I guess my comfort level grew a little bit,
but I still remained looking over my shoulder until the day he was
captured.
Jerry Carnes: Did you, I understand you took out a restraining
order as well?
John Tabor: No, I did not. I never took out a restraining
order, um. They told me I couldn't do that, at the police station that day. And
here again they told me to wait on a detective to call me. But they were quite
honest and said there was really nothing that we could do for you.
Jerry
Carnes: Except, file the harassing phone calls charge?
John Tabor:
Right,
Jerry Carnes: Did that ever go through?
John Tabor: File
for harassing phone calls? No, no there was nothing that ever happened after
that visit.
Jerry Carnes: So, did they suggest you take out a report? Or
or file the charges or was that up to them?
John Tabor: They didn't
really make that clear. But I knew in my own mind that taking out some sort of
charge for harassing phone calls, would be simply just a waste of time, that
they wouldn’t do anything about it. And clearly they, no one ever did anything
about it. So here again, I did what I thought I needed to do, to protect myself,
and waited it out to see if he showed up. And uh, he did not.
Jerry
Carnes: And when, what month was that do you think?
John Tabor: This was
the beginning of September.
Jerry Carnes: September of...
John
Tabor: Mhm.
Jerry Carnes: September 2007, okay so you didn't hear from
him after that, until...
John Tabor: That is correct
Jerry Carnes:
Thursday, last Thursday?
John Tabor: I had absolutely no, no contact with
him after that date um that I filed the police report, um... the next thing I
knew was on January the third, I woke up and for some reason I turned on CNN,
late in the morning, which I typically don't do. It’s almost as though it was
divine intervention because uh as soon as I turned on the television the news
story, ah, appeared that described uh this monster in detail. And when they
mentioned the name of the dog, I believe they said Dandy, but I knew that was, I
mean I believe they said Randy, and I knew that was very similar to the name
Dandy. All the pieces came, came together, and my uh, my heart literally sank to
my stomach and I thought oh my God, this, this must be Gary.
So I uh
immediately, um,,,,,,,contacted the authorities. I I I had to look up their
number in Union County. I called the Sheriff in Union County first, and told
them that I knew who this this person of interest is. I was 99.9 percent certain
that I had the information they needed. And they were very happy to hear from
me. So I was able to give them his full name, I gave them, I gave them the
description of his vehicle, I gave them the tag number, and um everything else I
could think of, I gave them all that information.
Uh shortly after that
phone call I believe the GBI started calling ME within a few minutes, and they
seemed very appreciative of the information I was giving them, and uh wanted to
know if it would be okay to continue to contact me. I said of course. They said
if you hear anything else or you think of anything else, let us know.
So
I ah, tried to salvage what I had left of the day. I was I was quite disturbed
by what what I was hearing. Of course at this point he was he was still just a
pers a person they wanted to take in for questioning.
Well about four or
five hours later in that afternoon I was out, on business, and I got a phone
call and the person on the other end just started talking and after just a few
seconds to my shock I realized it was Hilton. Um...........Excuse me just a
second drink of water my mouth is very dry.
Jerry Carnes: So he called
you that same day it hit....Y-You called the authorities, later that day he
called you. So you called them in the morning, about what time did he call you,
you think?
John Tabor: Um like I said it was about four or five hours
later. I’m thinking I called the authorities around 11 in the morning and it
must have been sometime around
[SOUND OF VIBRATING CELL PHONE GOING OFF.
NOT BEING ANSWERED. CONTINUES TO VIBRATE TO END OF VIDEO 1]
four o'clock
when when I got his phone call. When he called me he seemed very calm. He um
acted as though nothing had happened, nothing was wrong. He told me that uh, he
was ready to come back to wo....
END OF VIDEO
1
*
*
*
BEGINNING OF VIDEO 2
John Tabor: When he called
me he seemed very calm. He um acted as though nothing had happened, nothing was
wrong. He told me that uh, he was ready to come back to work. That he had
cleared his mind. That he he felt good for the first time in a long
time.
[VIBRATING CELL PHONE CEASES VIBRATING]
And I was listening
to this, and here again I was uh still in a state of shock but I think I did my
best to remain, retain my composure, and not let on to him that I had already
turned him into authorities. Um.
Jerry Carnes: Now all this time, they
have already put his picture out. They’re, it’s well-known, publicized
everywhere, that that authorities want to talk to him.
John Tabor: I
believe so, here again I wasn't watching the n, you know, I was in my vehicle in
the afternoon, so I wasn't really abreast of what was going on,
[CELL
PHONE BEGINS VIBRATING AGAIN. UNANSWERED...]
other than the radio news.
But ah, right I believe at that point they had already published his name and uh
y’know from the information I had given them, earlier, earlier in the
morning.
So uh while he was talking to me, he apologized for his past
behaviors, and y’know since he left on the terms that I described and ah, he he
said that he had he had been sick, and that now he was well and that everything
was going to be fine, And um, said he would like to come back to work and he
said that uh he had no money. And he was desperate for money, and that he would
need some money to start working again.
So, I remained calm and I
pretended as though I was actually happy to hear from him and that um, that he
would be welcome back to work, and that I would be willing to advance him uh,
eight hundred dollars to get started.
[CELL PHONE BEGINS VIBRATING
AGAIN...]
So I told him I would leave a check for him at the office on
Clairmont Rd. We discussed where I would leave it, on the back deck under a uh,
under a sundial. And he told me that he was extremely grateful for that and that
uh I wouldn't regret it. And that he would come by to get it sometime Friday
afternoon, Friday evening or possibly Saturday morning.
He told me after
he got that money he would be able to go get a uh disposable cell phone and then
he would be able to contact me. I uh asked if there was any way I would be able
to contact him in the meantime and he said no, uh absolutely not, but that he
would be in touch with me as, as soon as he possibly could.
And then he
hung up. That was the end of that conversation and...
Jerry Carnes: How
long a conversation?
John Tabor: I don't know maybe five or ten minutes
its, its, it um, like I said it was so startling to me, that..
Jerry
Carnes: I was gonna say, what, what was your reaction when he called? I guess
you you never would have expected that in a million years?
John Tabor: Oh
of course not, no that was the last thing I was expecting. And and here again
I'd been fielding a lot of phone calls all afternoon from the GBI and other law
enforcement agencies, just you know whatever questions they might have I told
them they could call me anytime, and they all had my cell phone number. So, I
like I said I was getting, there was a lot going on in my mind, and and of
course I wanted to do everything I could to see that this, that he was captured.
Even though at the time I guess there was a part of me that didn't um, that
didn’t want to believe that someone I knew could, could commit such a, such a
heartless vicious murder uh as was committed.
But on the other hand, I
also (sigh) knew what I'ld been through for the past year and I knew that there
was certainly the potential that that he could have done something
bad.
So, I didn't think twice, I of course immediately called the GBI as
soon as I could locate their phone numbers and uh I gave them the the number of
the pay phone he had called me from and uh I told them of my plan uh to uh bring
him to Atlanta to the office to get the check and then I discussed with the GBI
agents what I should do next, whether I should actually go to the office, should
I y’know leave the check for him. Or what should I do? I of course had no idea
what to do at this point. They advised me not to go anywhere near the office. Um
They told me that the entire area would be put under surveillance and they would
just hope that he showed up there if they weren’t able to capture him any
sooner.
So at that point I uh I realized if he if he did go there and get
that or look for that check and if he somehow managed to allude the authorities,
because he, he was a smart person, he he knew how the police operated and uh um
I thought there was a chance he might be able to get to the office without being
apprehended, and I also thought that if he did that, and if he drove all the way
to Atlanta, and there was no check waiting for him. that I would be the next one
on his list. So here again I had to evacuate my house and uh I stayed behind and
I literally stayed up all night with an assault riffle, waiting to see if he
were going to show up.
[CELL PHONE VIBRATES AGAIN]
Jerry Carnes:
So you were putting yourself at risk by doing this?
John Tabor: Well I
suppose in hindsight I was, but quite honestly at the time that really wasn't
even a thought. I mean uh I didn't, um, ah I wouldn't let fear get in the way of
doing the right thing. I didn't have to think twice about it.
Jerry
Carnes: This whole time your going through this, are you thinking, this is
really strange? I mean, or were you just kind of reacting to
everything?
John Tabor: I still feel that as we sit here. I still feel
sick to my stomach. Um thinking about uh this gruesome crime and that that I
actually knew this monster that has committed it. It makes me sick to my
stomach. And I have felt that way since the very moment I contacted the
authorities and identified him, and it continues to this day. And as more
details come out, about possibly other crimes, it it just makes me feel, even
more sick. I just, um, I just hope that uh, I stopped him. Excuse me (Rubs nose,
drinks water.)
Jerry Carnes: That was my next question. Do you feel some
satisfaction in knowing at least that you got the police on the right trail, and
did....
John Tabor: Well, I would certainly like to think so. I mean um
from the agents that I have talked to, and people that profile criminals of this
type, have all told me the same thing, that apparently once they start this type
of murderous crime spree, there is really no stopping them until they are
apprehended.
So so yes, I certainly do feel some satisfaction at the end
of the day, that he is never to be uh released to harm the public again. But uh
I also think about the victims. huh huh, and that's what chokes me up. Of
course, I wish there was something, I could have done sooner, but um, I just
don't believe there was.
Jerry Carnes: Hmm. So those those ten years that
you knew him, everything, he was an odd character, but nothing out of the
ordinary until that day in in September when things just turned sour and
um?
But still um I guess even at that point did you think? You still, I
guess even at that point when he was being threatening, didn't think he would do
something like what he is accused of now?
John Tabor: Well that's
correct, but like I said, over the past year he really had changed quite a bit.
He said a lot of things. He did a lot of talking and didn't do much listening.
So I, I. Just thinking of the things he said along the way and just the way he
acted. I I knew he he was a danger and um, I did what I could, all that I
thought I could, to try and bring him to the attention of the police. But
apparently there was nothing they could do about him.
Jerry Carnes: What
do you think changed him?
John Tabor: That's a good question. I wish I
knew, um. One thing that I know he, he did as I described earlier, as I
discussed earlier, he um, he’d complained of illness. And I know he started
taking prescription drugs, Ritalin in particular. Um, I think in large doses
because there were times he would call and his, his speech would be so fast and
furious, I could barely understand what he was saying.
It was like he had
just had thirty cups of coffee to drink. Um, he was also taking some other
medicines I am not familiar with. And I know at one point he told me that he, he
really needed these medicines because when he stopped taking them the demons
came back. And and this type of language I had never really heard from him
before. Um, So I, I'm not suggesting that these particular drugs changed him.
But that's the only factor I can identify that, that seemed to change over the
years that I knew him. and um...
Jerry Carnes: That's when the behavior
changed anyway was, was when he got on these medications?
John Tabor:
Yes, around that time, maybe shortly before, maybe shortly after. I can't
pinpoint the dates because, here again it’s not, I didn't generally see uh this
monster on a daily basis. I rarely saw him in person over the past several
years, maybe not more than once a month or so if that. Most of our uh dealings
would be by telephone and um. So I didn't see his physical change although I
remember at one point seeing him with teeth missing which he had, had never had
that issue before. I believe he told me a one of his crowns or bridge or some
dental work had just come loose and fallen out and he told me that another tooth
uh was decayed or he had a problem with it, so he told me he actually took a
pair of pliers and pulled it out himself.
END OF VIDEO
2
*
*
*
BEGINNING OF VIDEO 3
John Tabor: And he seemed to
delight in the fact that his appearance would actually scare people. Here again
this is the type of conversation and behavior that I'd never seen before, that
that appeared this, this summer.
Jerry Carnes: That's quite a
change.
John Tabor: Yes.
Jerry Carnes: And this was all happening
at once then, this, uh, the medications and then this strange behavior, and
wanting to look scary, and and the demon talk and...
John Tabor: Well it
seemed to progress right from the first of the year on, but it really seemed to
accelerate into the summer.
Jerry Carnes: Started strange and then just
got progressively stranger?
John Tabor: Correct, Yes, that is, that's
true.
Jerry Carnes: [whistles] Wow. Um, now did you literally, I guess
once this uh demand for money came up that’s when you just told him, I'm not
giving you money and we’re separating ways? Or did you fire him or how did that
come about?
John Tabor: Well by telling him that I was not going to give
him any more money that basically, had the same effect.
Jerry Carnes:
Terminating your relationship?
John Tabor: Right, uh huh.
Jerry
Carnes: And his reaction was threatening?
John Tabor: Yes, yes there was
no, no question about that. So um, like I said I became very concerned at that
point.
Jerry Carnes: So you spent the last, since September quite
frightened of him then?
John Tabor: Well, you know, I don't know if
frightened is the right word, um, concerned more so about uh family, than than
myself (sniffs) but um, but I realized that that he was a threat. There was no
doubt about that. How severe a threat? I just, no one knew. And I, I did
everything I think humanly possibly to, to find out.
Jerry Carnes: Uh, do
you think there was anywhere along the line that others dropped the ball,
uh....?
John Tabor: (sighs) Well, I can't, I can't say that at this
point. Um, when I went to local authorities, after he threatened my life, they
basically said, well it would be his word against your word because he he wasn't
dumb enough to actually leave a threat like that on a recording. He wouldn’t do
that. He would dance around it and play with words even on the recordings. But
no I think at one point it even says on the voice mail that he’s not stupid
enough to leave a threat. Um, so so I understand that that it made it difficult
for the authorities, I’m not necessarily blaming them uh for what happened but I
I just want everyone to know that I had been to the police, I had told them that
this man was dangerous, and uh wanted to see if anything could be done about it,
and obviously nothing was.
Jerry Carnes: So you you you attempted then to
warn people and then and then later on did all you could to, to try to capture
him. And it appears that he was on his way to the office to get that money when
he was actually seen and captured?
John Tabor: Well that’s, yes, that’s
the direct path he would be taking from coming uh up 400 South to my office on
on Claremont Road. Yes you you would travel down 285 and get off at
Ashford-Dunwoody Road and you would pass right by that gas station where he was
apprehended. So yes I certainly believe that’s what brought him all the way from
North Georgia back to Atlanta was you know he was a mile, maybe a mile and a
half away from my office. And it was Friday night just like uh, just like he
told me that’s when he would be coming.
Jerry Carnes: He called you from
that Huddle House, is that it, in...
John Tabor: I understand it’s a
Huddle House yes...
Jerry Carnes: North Pickens County?
John
Tabor: Yes. Yes when, uh...
Jerry Carnes: Um, I can’t think of anything
else to ask unless yo..there’s something we’re missing. This is quite an
unbelievable story. Um...
John Tabor: It’s all unbelievable, you’re
right. I never in my wildest dreams...
Jerry Carnes: What what, um, I
don’t know, it, did, did, has your, in any way other than this one article, of
course, has your work been taking any kind of backlash, do you feel like? I mean
are others saying why’d you ever hire this guy, that sort of thing?
John
Tabor: Well yes yes, Yes, I mean, I think clearly because of the Atlanta Journal
Constitution article, that was published yesterday and it was also followed up
on by WSB TV in their interviews. They actually put this, this woman, this uh
um, McKinney, Robin McKinney, on television, publishing her lies across the
state so yes, it certainly has has damaged my reputation, my business’s
reputation and um....
Jerry Carnes: Other than that, other than her thing
has there been other...?
John Tabor: I’ve gotten emails from people who
said I would never do business in their neighborhood again and accused me of of
somehow being involved with with these murders and it’s just. I can only, I can
only shake my head and and and believe that these people are just simply
ignorant of the facts and they don't know what happened and they were misled by
the uh Journal Constitution. But that's one of the reasons why I'm here today to
to set the record straight.
Jerry Carnes: So by just purely by fact
because he worked for you at one time, people are ...?
John Tabor: Well
right, and like I said and and the fact that this woman actually said that he
worked on her property, which is ridiculous and absolutely untrue.
Correct.
[Carnes mumbles something I can’t hear while Tabor is
speaking]
END OF VIDEO 3