11.Jaimeet Aneja — Direct/Cross
150 linesJAIMEET ANEJA, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:
COURT CLERK: If you'll have a seat over there. State your name and spell your last for the record.
JAIMEET ANEJA: My name is Jaimeet Aneja. Last name is spelled A-N-E-J-A.
COURT REPORTER: And how do you spell your first name?
JAIMEET ANEJA: First name is spelled J-A-I-M-E-E-T.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. SECOR:
CASEY SECOR: Mr. Aneja, tell us how you know Tim?
JAIMEET ANEJA: I worked with him at Intel.
CASEY SECOR: For about how long?
JAIMEET ANEJA: The whole time he was there.
CASEY SECOR: Which was about 2011 --
JAIMEET ANEJA: Three years or so.
CASEY SECOR: Okay. Were y'all on the same team or no?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes. I was not on his same mini team, but we reported to the same manager.
CASEY SECOR: Okay. And did you know that he had a family of his own?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes.
CASEY SECOR: And did you ever meet Amber?
JAIMEET ANEJA: No.
CASEY SECOR: And did you ever meet any of his children?
JAIMEET ANEJA: No.
CASEY SECOR: Before we -- before I ask you about your specific memories of Tim, I just want to ask you a couple of things. While you knew Tim, did he ever tell you that he was afraid of his kids?
JAIMEET ANEJA: No.
CASEY SECOR: Did he ever tell you that he was hearing voices?
JAIMEET ANEJA: No.
CASEY SECOR: Did he ever tell you about his mother, Cynthia?
JAIMEET ANEJA: No.
CASEY SECOR: How did you become aware, at least, from Tim that he was going through a divorce?
JAIMEET ANEJA: We went out one weekend and he got relatively drunk and he told me that he was going through a divorce. He talked to me quite a bit that night.
CASEY SECOR: Okay. And what was your impression of how it was affecting him?
JAIMEET ANEJA: He was pretty devastated. He was very insulted by the fact that she had cheated on him with -- insulted by who she had cheated on him with. And that was basically it. He felt that he had done really well for himself. He was the first person to go to college in his family. And this was a kid and he was insulted by that.
CASEY SECOR: Okay. Did you all socialize a lot like that?
JAIMEET ANEJA: No, that was actually the one and only time I remember.
CASEY SECOR: Now, when -- when Tim and Amber got separated, did he end up living with you?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes. So right after he lived with Brantley, he moved in with me for a few months.
CASEY SECOR: And how was it he wound up moving in with you?
JAIMEET ANEJA: So I think he must have mentioned something to Jim McConnell about needing a place and Jim mentioned that I have a house with a spare bedroom.
CASEY SECOR: And that was summer of --
JAIMEET ANEJA: I am actually not sure. I think it was either '12 or '13, whenever he was going through the divorce.
CASEY SECOR: Right. 2012?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes. Yes, 2012 or '13.
CASEY SECOR: And did you know where his kids were that summer?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes. So the night we had gone out drinking is when he had told me his kids -- this was before he had moved in with me. And, in fact, he moved in very soon after that. He told me his kids were in Mississippi with his parents.
CASEY SECOR: What was your reaction to Jim McConnell telling Tim you had an extra bedroom?
JAIMEET ANEJA: I was not very happy about that.
CASEY SECOR: Okay. Why?
JAIMEET ANEJA: I always got a strange vibe from Tim. I couldn't really put my finger on why, but I always thought he was like an odd duck. And it was just -- I was just mildly uncomfortable with that.
CASEY SECOR: Okay. So why did you do it? Why did you say yes?
JAIMEET ANEJA: He needed help. He was going through something and I can't imagine how rough it was. It wasn't a big deal, it just -- mild discomfort is not reason enough to say no.
CASEY SECOR: Okay. What was it that gave you a strange vibe? Why was he weird?
JAIMEET ANEJA: So before he moved in, I couldn't really put my finger on what it was. I mean, I'm not sure I could now, but there were some incidents after he moved in that kind of confirmed that for me. The one I remember is he made his food for himself, ate by himself, didn't really socialize much, which is very unlike the way I live. He -- my living room had a computer and a projector screen, so I didn't really have a TV, I had a computer and a projector screen. And I created an account for him on that computer for him to be able to use -- to get on Facebook, et cetera, and he was very anti-Facebook. For some reason, he had like a conspiracy theory about it and how they can do things and they can find him and track him. It was just way out there. And it was very tin foil hat kind of thing to me.
CASEY SECOR: Okay. You mentioned that he did stuff alone. Is that something that was consistent over the time that he was with you?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes. I remember him hanging out in the living room maybe once or twice over the course of a little over two months that I think he was there, maybe three months. Even if I had my girlfriend over and we were watching a movie, he never stayed out there.
CASEY SECOR: Did y'all invite him to watch movies with you?
JAIMEET ANEJA: A couple of times. I mean, I didn't make it a point.
CASEY SECOR: Right.
JAIMEET ANEJA: But if he came in and something was going on, yes.
CASEY SECOR: Okay. Did he ever express to you that he wanted to be social?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes, he did. I used to go out a lot with friends. And -- a lot of Intel friends at that. And he would mention wanting to go out, yes. Never did.
CASEY SECOR: Other than that one time?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Other than that one time before he moved in, yes.
CASEY SECOR: Okay. When he was living with you, did he talk to you about his children?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes. He would mention them and he would mention how he was going to go see them. And then he would every Friday, usually straight from work without even stopping by the house, he would just drive all the way to Mississippi and then I would see him Monday at work. I don't -- I'm not even sure I remember him stopping by the house on Monday morning. I think he just basically got on the road at midnight Sunday or something.
CASEY SECOR: And what did that -- what did that say to you about him and his relationship --
JAIMEET ANEJA: He was devoted to them. I can't think of anything but the fact that he really loved them.
CASEY SECOR: Did he mention to you that he missed them during the week?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes, he did.
CASEY SECOR: Did he ever complain to you about being a father?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Not that I recall, no.
CASEY SECOR: In terms of the Tim that you know and the Tim that I'm sure you've read about since his arrest, how does that -- how do you feel about him now?
JAIMEET ANEJA: I can't reconcile those two people at all. It was a complete shock when I found out and it still surprises me to this day.
CASEY SECOR: Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. HUBBARD:
RICK HUBBARD: Is it Aneja?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes.
RICK HUBBARD: Okay. I'm good at butchering names, so I'm going to butcher yours.
JAIMEET ANEJA: You actually got that right. Better than most.
RICK HUBBARD: Let me ask you, the Defendant lived with you for a while, but at the office, did y'all interact much?
JAIMEET ANEJA: We weren't on the same team, so we did interact, not quite as much as the other two, like Brice or Todd, but yes, we did interact.
RICK HUBBARD: And although, initially, you were apprehensive about him moving in, he wasn't a bad roommate?
JAIMEET ANEJA: No, he was just almost antisocial. It was just not -- I mean, we never ended up becoming friends, which is unusual for me.
RICK HUBBARD: You had a girlfriend?
JAIMEET ANEJA: I did at the time.
RICK HUBBARD: You know what a third wheel is?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Sure.
RICK HUBBARD: Okay. Was he a little bit older than you?
JAIMEET ANEJA: My --
RICK HUBBARD: Was he?
JAIMEET ANEJA: No, I think he's a little bit younger than me.
RICK HUBBARD: Little bit younger than you?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes.
RICK HUBBARD: Okay. But he had his own family?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Sure.
RICK HUBBARD: And although he wanted to do things, his family and his kids were out of state?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Right.
RICK HUBBARD: And so, he just kind of hung to himself and then Friday comes along, he'd go see his kids?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Right, that's pretty much what would happen.
RICK HUBBARD: Yeah.
JAIMEET ANEJA: He would want to go out and he never ended up doing it. And my guess has always been that he didn't have the time. He wanted to hang out with his kids instead.
RICK HUBBARD: So he had work and he had his kids?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yeah, absolutely.
RICK HUBBARD: And he seemed to be managing both?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Seemed to be.
RICK HUBBARD: I mean, that's a lot to handle?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yeah. I mean, I don't know how well he was managing work because I didn't work with him closely enough to give you an idea of that, but --
RICK HUBBARD: You did know he got a raise in, I believe, it was March or April of 2014, got promoted?
JAIMEET ANEJA: A lot of people do.
RICK HUBBARD: Yeah. He must have been doing all right?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes.
RICK HUBBARD: Okay. You mentioned that he was devastated going through a divorce, but mostly about who his wife actually had picked over him?
JAIMEET ANEJA: He was insulted by that.
RICK HUBBARD: Insulted?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes.
RICK HUBBARD: Because Mr. Jones had a good job?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes, a good job.
RICK HUBBARD: Good money?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Went to college. He was very happy -- he was very proud of the fact that he was the first person in his family to go to college and I thought that was a big deal, too.
RICK HUBBARD: She dumped him for a kid, is that what --
JAIMEET ANEJA: Those might be words, not his, but that's the impression I walked away with, yes.
RICK HUBBARD: You say he's a little odd. He made his own food, ate by himself. He just didn't bother you?
JAIMEET ANEJA: No, but he wasn't social at all. He was -- it was odd. I mean, I've had other roommates. It was odd.
RICK HUBBARD: He wasn't a bad guy -- he wasn't a bad guy to have --
JAIMEET ANEJA: No, he wasn't, no.
RICK HUBBARD: He seemed to understand how to do his work, how to interact?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Sure.
RICK HUBBARD: And he just chose to let you be?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Yes.
RICK HUBBARD: Okay. And you mentioned a bit about Facebook, about people are suspicious of things?
JAIMEET ANEJA: They are now.
RICK HUBBARD: And come to find out, there's probably good reason. They're out selling your personal information, right?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Perhaps.
RICK HUBBARD: Maybe that's not so odd after all?
JAIMEET ANEJA: I'm not sure I agree with you on that.
RICK HUBBARD: There's a lot of us kind of shy away. Your life goes on there, everybody gets to read it?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Sure.
RICK HUBBARD: And then you've got a company that sells it?
JAIMEET ANEJA: Your life goes on there as much as you choose to put on there.
RICK HUBBARD: Some people like being private?
JAIMEET ANEJA: I agree. It did sound odd to me.
RICK HUBBARD: Not quite a tin foil hat?
JAIMEET ANEJA: I'm sorry?
RICK HUBBARD: Not quite a tin foil hat?
JAIMEET ANEJA: We'll agree to disagree.
RICK HUBBARD: All right. We'll end it on that. Thank you.
CASEY SECOR: Nothing further.
THE COURT: You may step down.
JAIMEET ANEJA: Thank you.
CASEY SECOR: Nothing further today, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Y'all enjoy your evening. Don't talk about the case. Step to the jury room. See you in the morning same time. (Whereupon, the jury was excused from open court for the day.)
THE COURT: All right. Anything y'all need to do tonight?
CASEY SECOR: No, Your Honor.