David Mackey

David Mackey, an FBI agent, testified on Day 14 about joining the investigation after Timothy Ray Jones, Jr. was found in Mississippi while the children were missing. He said Jones received rights advisements, agreed to speak, and later signed the form admitted as State's Exhibit 144.

Mackey recounted investigators' interview account, including Jones's statements about the children, the purchases and notes investigators confronted him with, and Jones's later assistance in narrowing the Alabama recovery location. He testified that officers located and accounted for all five children at the Alabama site.

Before the jury heard his testimony, the court allowed questioning about Jones's refusal to consent to blood and hair samples and the later search warrant, while barring questions about an invocation of rights on the 6th. Mackey also explained that the original recorder did not capture part of the interview; a later summary recording was admitted as State's Exhibit 166 and played for the jury.

On cross-examination, defense counsel questioned Mackey's memory, the absence of notes or a report, and two earlier statements he agreed were incorrect. Mackey said Jones agreed to speak before signing the rights form, and that the recording began after part of the interview. On redirect, he testified that Jones had said he hit and spanked Nahtahn before the recorder was operating, and that Jones described Nahtahn as defiant rather than saying fear drove the events.