In an interview with investigators, Rowland did not deny pulling Cox out of the car by her hair and pointing a gun at her head, though he said he did not have his finger on the trigger, according to the affidavit. Rowland added that he’d drank one alcoholic beverage Nov. 9 but “was clear as a freaking bell” during the 8 p.m. incident.
The switch from daylight saving time, which moved the clock back one hour a couple of nights before, had “really messed me up,” he told investigators.
The youth group members, seven girls between the ages of 12 and 16, had been delivering what they called “thankful turkeys” to several homes that night, Cox told investigators. At each house, they taped a turkey to the door, rang the doorbell and ran away before the recipient knew who had done it. The group had made a turkey for Rowland’s wife and delivered all but two before reaching the sheriff’s home.
