Blue Wraith

Author notes

025: Cine

evergreen

on Sept. 20, 2009

VCPD interview, case no. 014698

Benjamin Ziskie found the body of Chastity King. Ziskie was on a morning walk with his dog

BEGIN INTERVIEW

Question: Could you, for the record, state your name and address please.
Answer: Benjamin Ziskie. I live at 107 Fairton Drive. That's in Old Town.

Question: What do you do Mr. Ziskie?
Answer: I'm an administrator over at VCU…uh…Venture City University. In the enrollment office.

Question: Could you describe what happened on the morning of August 9?
Answer: I was out for my walk. I walk with my dog every morning before getting ready for work.

Question: Where were you walking?
Answer: My usual route: out toward the high-school, up the hill and then back along the backside of the cemetery near the woods. That's where I found the boy. Actually my dog found the boy. She must've heard him or something because she pulled the leash out of my hand and ran into the woods. When I found her, she was with a little boy.

Question: Okay, let's talk about the boy.
Answer: Okay.

Question: What was he doing? Did he say anything to you?
Answer: He was crouched down on the ground. I heard some crying and then it sounded like he was talking to himself. He was completely ignoring my dog. I stopped and listened.

Question: Had you ever seen the boy before? Who was he?
Answer: I don't know him. It was still sort of dark. But I could see he had no shirt or shoes on and it was pretty chilly that morning.

Question: What happened next?
Answer: I walked towards him, called out. You know, to see if he was all right. I thought he might've been hurt or lost or something.

Question: And then?
Answer: Well, as I got closer, I could see that he was digging in the soil. He didn't hear me until I got closer. Then he just ran. I think I scared him or something because took off fast.

Question: How old do you think the boy was?
Answer: I don't know, eleven, twelve.

Question: Did you try to follow the boy?
Answer: Hell no, there's no way I could've caught up with him.

Question: So what did you do?
Answer: I went to where he was digging. It was getting lighter and I could see that he'd been digging something up.

Question: Could you, in your own words, describe what it was he was digging up?
Answer: Well, it was just a small, wooden box with a lid that came off. When you took the lid off, you could see that it was a tunnel, or something and there was an opening at the bottom. On the side actually.

Question: Were you able to see inside?
Answer: Yes, not very well at first, but after the sun came up more and my eyes adjusted to being in the woods, I could see that there was a person inside. All I could see was her hair at first. Brown hair. I don't know why but it wasn't until I realized it was a person that I smelled anything.

Question: A smell?
Answer: My God, yes. Rot. It was like the summer that a raccoon got wedged in the air-conditioning duct. You never forget that smell.

Question: Okay. What did you do next?
Answer: I dug next to it, above where the opening was and that's when I found the coffin part. It was strange, a coffin with this access door. Like for air or something. It was the girl inside. The one that's been in the papers. She didn't look so good, but I knew it was her.