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Jessica was alive for days, Couey said

Interviews with John Couey are released. He said Jessica Lunsford stayed in his closet before he buried her alive. Without physical evidence, prosecutors are skeptical of Couey's story.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published June 24, 2005

INVERNESS - In the months since Jessica Lunsford's death, a debate has raged about how long the young girl was kept captive before she was killed.

For the first time Thursday, the public learned exactly what John Couey, accused in her death, has said about the time line.

For weeks prosecutors have repeated their belief that the 9-year-old girl died within hours of her abduction.

But during two lengthy interviews with authorities, Couey repeated variations on the same theme: He kept Jessica in his bedroom closet for about three days before he got so worried about getting caught that he dug a hole and buried her alive.

Prosecutors said they have no physical evidence that proves Jessica was in Couey's mobile home for three days, and Couey's time line ranged from two to six days.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway said his "instinct" tells him Couey is lying.

"You're skeptical about everything until you can establish it independently," Ridgway said.

Prosecutors on Thursday released 303 pages of documents, including the autopsy report and transcripts of the three interviews with Couey - two conducted in Georgia, the other in Citrus County after his arrest in connection with the case.

During those interviews, Couey, 46, detailed the crime from the moment he slipped into Jessica's home in the middle of the night to her burial. He has pleaded not guilty and awaits trial at the Citrus County jail.

The length of time Jessica was kept alive isn't likely to change the case against Couey.

But it adds to the haunting possibility that Jessica was alive even as sheriff's investigators stood inside the home to question Couey's housemate and half-sister, Dorothy Dixon.

Couey, a convicted sex offender, was staying at the mobile home in Homosassa even though it wasn't the address he registered with authorities. The mobile home was within eyesight of the Lunsford home.

During the interviews, Couey said he sneaked into the home through an unlocked door at 3 a.m. Feb. 24 and brought Jessica back to his bedroom. He said she slept in his bed that night.

With Jessica in his bed, Couey said he watched as the sheriff's command center pulled up in front of the Lunsford home.

He then put Jessica in the closet, he said. She sang softly to herself but never tried to leave, he said.

"And I'd leave the door open," he said, according to a transcript. "She could have screamed or knocked on the wall. Anybody could have heard her 'cause she wasn't tied up. I didn't have her tied up or nothing, you know, but I don't know why she didn't. She just, she just sat there."

Couey told investigators Jessica was hidden in the closet, and he in his bedroom, when officers stopped at the mobile home during the search.

"The first time they came around, if they would have came in, they would have caught her in my closet," Couey said.

He said he buried Jessica after he learned Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy planned to scale back the number of searchers. The weekend after Jessica's disappearance, rainy weather and fog made the search difficult.

That's when Couey dug a hole in the back yard and told Jessica to get inside two garbage bags, he said. He told her he was taking her outside and didn't want her to see where he was taking her.

Her body was found where Couey said it would be: directly behind the mobile home.

State law does not require prosecutors to release Couey's statements to the public. But Ridgway said his office released them to correct misinformation.

"The truth in this case is less damaging than the speculation of what we've been trying to hide," he said.

For example, Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford, and others have said Couey's confession might not hold up in court because he wasn't read his rights and wasn't allowed an attorney.

According to the documents, Couey was advised of his rights multiple times. He asked for an attorney after he was arrested in Augusta, Ga., and asked to take a polygraph test.

"John, would you take a lie detector test for us?" asked Detective Scott Grace.

"I guess. I'm just, I want a lawyer, you know," Couey replied.

Couey again asked for an attorney, but he eventually agreed to the polygraph. It was after the test, and after being read his rights again, that he asked to speak with investigators again and confessed.

Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 352 860-7312 or vansickle@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 24, 2005, 10:59:13]