Day 4 The Defense

11:06 a.m.

Myrna Ford (Ed Ford’s wife) is taking the stand. Mrs. Ford has been sitting outside the courtroom since Monday waiting to testify. The two have been married for 29 years. Ed Ford is looking at his wife very “caringly.” I hope you can visualize what I’m trying to convey. Mr. Ford just took a deep breath and is tearing up a little, wiping his eyes. Mrs. Ford smiles almost all of the time. Mrs. Ford does the book keeping, writes death certificates and basically everthing, “…but the embalming. I do not do that!”

Mrs. Ford says Joe Cooper was instrumental in moving them from an old leaky building to the one they are currently in on Elvis Presley.

Mrs. Ford says they did not need to lease a car, that they could have bought it and originally thought they were buying the car. At this point, Mr. Ford shakes his head agreeing with his wife. One juror, a male, keeps looking at Mrs. Ford then looking over at Mr. Ford. The lead prosecutor makes an objection here and there and Mr. Ford gives him a sneer each time.

We learn Ed Ford previously filed bankruptcy which is why his credit was so bad. Myrna Ford says she and her husband were surprised when they hear Rusty Hyneman co-signed for the car.

Mrs. Ford said Joe Cooper started showing up so frequently that an employee joked, “You need to get Mr. Cooper his own office here.”

 Mrs. Ford says she remembers being handed $3000 that she was told was to help catch them up on the car payment. Mrs. Ford says she tried to reach Mr. Hyneman to apologize for being late on the car payments (for which his name was a listed as a co-signer) and to figure out how to reimburse him but she never reached him.

Mrs. Ford says after another meeting with Mr. Cooper her husband handed her $1900 which she thought was to help with gaining financing to buy the building they were leasing. Mrs. Ford confirms all the payments were deposited into the bank.

The Day Of The Arrest: Mrs. Ford says she saw Mr. Cooper the day of the arrest and that he looked sickly. She says Cooper told her he was going to New York for medical reasons and really needed to speak with her husband. Mrs. Ford says she led the agents through the funeral home and then gave them a key to their home for it to be searched. Ed Ford is looking forward, apparently at nothing in particular.

11:35 a.m.

Prosecution Cross Examination:

Mrs. Ford says her husband stopped driving the leased Cadillac after Rusy Hyneman filed a lawsuit saying he never co-signed for the car and that his signature was forged.

We are dismissed for the weekend so the judge can attend a retirement ceremony in Jackson, TN.

We will start again Monday morning.